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| Darryl, Brandon and Ibrahima |
Ibrahima is having a great visit in Kansas City. He has met
new people and renewed friendships with many others. He handles everything we throw at him with
grace and wisdom. He has already given multiple talks about God, Grace school
and life in Mali to church groups and dinner parties.
The other night our family was blessed to have Darryl Burton
over for dinner. He was imprisoned in 1984 by the state of Missouri for a crime
he didn’t commit. He went in to prison an angry, directionless poor urban kid.
God has a way of working on the hardest of hearts though. Over the next 20 some
years as he fought his case- singlehandedly at first, and later with a team of
attorneys from the Midwest Innocence Project- he began to follow Christ. By the
time he was released in 2008 and showed up the next week with his attorney at
the church I was attending, his anger had been replaced with forgiveness and
love and a fire within to spread the Gospel. He is a remarkable man. Working
his way through seminary at St Paul’s he gives his message to anyone that will
listen. And it is a strong message.
It was an amazing evening, witnessing Darryl and Ibrahima
trade stories and experiences. Darryl has a heart for Africa and all of its
people. He understands the importance of
education. And he understands the power
of Christ to transform lives in a way that most of can’t fathom. He was very interested and encouraging in our
work with Grace School. He and Ibrahima have a very similar calling to spread the Gospel and they both do so in such an inpiring and inclusive way.
This weekend Ibrahima is making the rounds at Church of the
Resurrection and also meeting many families at an impromptu end of summer party
at the Nelson art gallery with Melissa and her many friends. He is enjoying the heat – it feels like home
to him. Although at home there is no
escape from it. Very few places in Koro have fans. He said most people just
have manual fans- their hand!
Don’t wait too long to buy your ticket to our fun event on
September 6th. Tickets are limited and really starting to go fast.
We want everyone there!
Peace,
Brandon
