Sabe Village - part two

Pastor Ray, Maryanne and Boss boarded a plane here in Bujumbura about 2 hours ago. They’re flying to Ottawa, where Pastor Ray’s parents lived. His mom passed away in June of this year, and on Sunday he received a call saying his dad had been found dead that morning in an armchair, presumably having suffered a heart attack. Please pray for them.
There’s no school again today, due to the fact that Burundi is commemorating the death of another past president. We really don’t mind though, a little R&R is very welcome.
We took the opportunity to go to Sabe village again with Honda and Libby. I will try to post pictures today; there are some other “mzungu’s” in some of the pictures, namely Andrew and Christine from England; he teaches at secondary, she teaches at primary; there’s Luke and Caleb, 2 guys from Niagara, Ontario who graduated from high school in June and are both at primary as well. The well dressed Africans in the pictures are some of Honda and Libby’s 60 plus boys that they’ve rescued off the streets of Bujumbura and have been transformed by Jesus Christ. There’s also sweet Donah, who’s from Uganda; she teaches at secondary. The kids wearing the soccer jerseys are the poorest of the poor, sporting the brand new jerseys that were donated by the head of a soccer club in England. This guy, a non-Christian, is coming out in April.
We went into the village today. No World Vision program could prepare you for what we witnessed today. Last week when we were there, we stayed at the edge of the village, and I stood there with tears rolling down my face. Today we went in, and there were no tears; tears may come once the shock has worn off.
The sewage system (holding tank) is only effective if it is utilized. Using the street is much faster and more convenient. The stench made Isaac’s stomach sick. The houses I wrote about last week, saying they’re the size of a small bedroom were the ones on the edge of the village. Today we saw many homes where I don’t know if a grown man could stretch out in;  children with seemingly perpetually runny noses wearing short rags on the top part of their bodies with nothing at all on the bottom part. We saw the men sitting in the shade whiling the day away, leisurely sipping on their yellow banana hooch, gradually, wilfully blinding themselves.
We saw their tiny “market” consisting of perhaps 5 makeshift tables with the wares, mostly questionable to bad quality vegetables and fly covered little fish displayed. These are awful images. But the ones that get to you are the ones that are etched on the inside of your eye lids; when you close your eyes you see the big, empty, staring at nothing eyes of some of the children. Where is the happiness of childhood in these eyes; the curiosity of an ever inquisitive mind, the occasional glint of mischievous behaviour? Where is the hope in these big, black eyes?
Enter ‘Restoration Of Hope’. The Lord has given Honda a massive vision for this place. Believe me, apart from the Lord, one would think, ‘where do you start’, but we serve a God of all possibilities!! And when the Lord calls He makes a way.
The village is about the size of a residential block or smaller, housing about 400 dwellings. Like I said previously, it’s home to 1700 people. ‘Restoration of Hope’  is renting a large shed that is situated about 30 seconds from the entrance of the village. A congregation from England is paying for the rental of this property; a one time gift from an English lady paid for the water installation. Honda has plumbed in fresh, safe drinking water to this location in the last while. There are 6 taps where people come with their little jugs twice a day to get water. There is no electricity. Both times that we’ve gone so far Honda brings in a generator and the rescued street boys give haircuts; about 200 heads, male and female, get shaved each time. Meanwhile, some of Honda’s other boys organize kid’s games on the  compound. It’s a wonder that these malnourished children have the strength and energy to run.
In one corner is a tiny chicken coop that Honda wants to grow into a big operation that will yield a few 1000 eggs per day. One chick costs $2500 francs - about $2.50 CND.
Honda and Libby, Lord willing, are planning on starting a school in January. Initially they will limit it to about 60 students. They’ve held 2 crusades here to date, with 153 people having accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour!!!
We are praying about how the Lord wants to use us in these peoples’ lives. Even though we pray the people that we touch will feel the love of Jesus through us, or that they will see the love of Jesus when we look into their eyes, this does not fill their distended bellies, or improve their hygiene, or provide much needed medicine or clothing. Will you please pray about how God wants to use you as well? Christmas is coming up; perhaps instead of buying gifts for family and friends, you want to contribute to the realization of the vision that God has given to Honda. If so, please email us at: ircfroese@gmail.com
P.S. Oct. 28 2009  (This was written Wednesday, Oct. 21; due to the fact that internet access has not been possible here for a number of days, or when it is accessible it is incredibly slow, so I have still not been able to post it. Also, the pictures may or may not work to post, as they are even trickier to post than just text from here. Sorry for the great delay, and please don’t give up on reading our blog, as we continue to covet your prayers.)
Rosel