Burkina Faso (MNN) — You put a fence around things you love to keep them safe, right?
Greg Yoder, Vice President of Christian World Outreach, says CWO is taking it a step further in Burkina Faso.
"We are building a wall around our property to protect the young ladies that are in the school there," he states.
"We just started this campaign, so not a lot has been done yet. But people have started to respond already, and we're excited about that."
Traffickers take young women from, to, and through Burkina, making it a prime resource for the world's second-largest illegal industry. CWO is currently protecting 29 young girls from this evil at their training center/boarding school.
Along with protecting students from predators, a cement wall will also protect the property from danger of a different kind: wildfires.
"The fires can pretty much sweep across the land, burning up the dry grasses, and [a wall] stops that kind of damage from coming across the property as well," says Yoder.
The boarding school–appropriately dubbed Village of Opportunity (VOO)–teaches job skills and how to start a home business to young women ages 15 to 25. As it currently stands, the center is a bit of an oddity in Burkina.
Yoder says most construction in Burkina begins with the construction of a wall. This way, materials and the builders themselves are protected as they form the structures. In the eyes of the locals, CWO did everything "backwards" on this project.
In 2010, CWO moved their vocational training classes into a new facility. At the end of 2012, the project change, and students celebrated the construction of a new dormitory.
Through it all, God kept His people safe. Ask Him to keep protecting the innocent.
"God can build a wall that we don't necessarily see with our physical eyes, and so far He's done that," says Yoder. "He's protected these young ladies."
In addition to gaining job skills and business knowledge at the VOO, girls learn about their worth in Christ. That alone is a game-changer in Burkina. From a young age, the region's culture teaches girls they're worthless.
As young women discover their value and identity in Christ, they carry that Truth to others.
"Many of the young ladies come from Muslim or animist families," says Yoder. "They're hearing the Gospel, becoming Christians, and sharing Christ with the people in their village."
You can sponsor a portion of the wall and help CWO complete this project in Burkina. Just click here!
