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
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Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
Introducing Sabe village - part one
We’re getting more and more involved with the CRIB kids. The pastor couple from England, Dave and Sheena, are allowing us to walk along side them with doing a weekly Monday evening Bible study for all the CRIB kids age 11 and up. We started this 3 weeks ago. The first week Dave and Sheena asked if I would do a call to salvation. Three people responded and caused the angels in heaven to rejoice!!! “… I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Lk 15:10b
We prayed over them and they where baptized by the Holy Spirit. Praise the Lord, He is so good!! Every week so far we’ve had a deep moving of the Spirit. God is really working in these kids, but not surprisingly, the enemy knows he’s losing ground and is doing “overtime” to try and destroy what Jesus has and is doing. Things have happened among a handful of kids that make this very evident. Please pray for the blood of Jesus to cover the compound and every person that steps foot on it. Please pray for Dave and Sheena, Isaac, Colton and myself as we seek to minister to them and love them with the love of Jesus Christ.
You know, they know Bible stories and most of them say they are Christians, but once they step out of Dave and Sheena’s living room and life happens…
So every Monday at 4:00 we trek over to the Pailthorpe’s, who live in the CRIB compound. We spend a lot of time praying for the evening, discussing the lesson, etc., followed by tea. (People here, including us, have “tea” and not supper. Basically what this means is that lunch and supper are just reversed here - the main, hot meal is at 1:00 - 1:30, and “tea” is a lighter evening meal.) After this we get the space ready for 32 people and at 7:00 we begin.
On Saturday mornings, also starting 3 weeks ago, we go over as well and just play active games. This is “family time” for the kids. The aim is to teach them to play together as a team, without fighting, without screaming at each other, just good clean fun. Keep in mind, when you put almost 50 kids in a fenced space without parental love, guidance, teaching and discipline, things can’t be without challenges.
We are planning on starting an art time as well. Oh, and we’re on a rotating schedule to supervise groups of kids when they go swimming at Chrissie’s. I think that’s all for the structured time we spend there.
There’s a guy who dropped out of high school and ran away from CRIB in late winter that was a very bad influence on the rest of the kids. He lived with some buddies and on the street till about a month ago. At this time his buddies kicked him out, which left him solely on the street. He came back to Chrissie’s, being at wit’s end. The CRIB kids didn’t want him back, so he is living at Chrissie’s with the guard/house worker. To occupy his time and to hopefully teach him some things, he is spending Mon. - Fri. with Isaac. This can be very challenging for Isaac, as he has to watch him at all times. Please pray for Isaac in this regard, and pray for this guy.
We finally got to see the “real” Burundi today. With our busy schedule, we had not yet seen Honda and Libby’s village till this morning. With today being a national holiday commemorating the death of a past president, which meant no school, we finally had the opportunity.
You know the saying: “what you don’t know won’t hurt you.”? Well, Honda and Libby had told us lots about the village and showed us a video they made, but nothing prepares you for seeing and smelling and living what we experienced today.
This tiny “village” of 1700 people is hidden behind a massive, high- fenced UN compound that stretches on for probably a few miles. Honda was introduced to this village in November of last year by a mentally challenged guy that they partially support. Almost nobody knows about this village; the government has chosen to turn a blind eye to the absolute poverty conditions almost without fail. In April of this year they had a huge flood, where many, many of the stick/mud huts collapsed in the approximately one meter plus flood waters. The huts, which are the size of a small bedroom, house families of up to 13 children plus the parent. They are 1-2 meters apart; there is no furniture; the roof consists of mostly garbage they’ve strategically placed to serve as a roof; they have one meal a day consisting of bugali ( basically nutritionally void, root of a common plant made into flour mixed with water), and maybe a bit of beans, but some days there isn’t even this. Some days there is nothing. The flood was a blessing in that now they at least have a sewage system, a holding tank for the sewage, which they collect in a bag and deposit into the tank which is located at the entrance of the village. Mothers deliver their babies on the bare ground, as this is their bed. The wealthier may have a straw mat to sleep on, but even with just a normal rainfall, the water comes into the hut and that mat doesn’t do much good anyway. The villagers’ entire wardrobe is that which they wear, day in and day out. A majority of the clothing is rags really, and worse, held together by dirt and filth, especially the childrens‘. Even though a child is wearing a skirt doesn’t mean it’s a girl, but that’s the only piece of clothing available. Diapers consist of a bit of material covered with a plastic bag.
People die of aids; alcoholism is a problem; the hooch, which is made from bananas, blinds the consumer with time. Education is non-existent - there is no school. Of the 1700 people, about 900 are children.
I need to go now, I will continue with this next time I blog. However, I want to add that for the last months I’ve prayed that the Father would make my heart hurt over the things that hurt His heart; my heart hurts.
Rosel
We prayed over them and they where baptized by the Holy Spirit. Praise the Lord, He is so good!! Every week so far we’ve had a deep moving of the Spirit. God is really working in these kids, but not surprisingly, the enemy knows he’s losing ground and is doing “overtime” to try and destroy what Jesus has and is doing. Things have happened among a handful of kids that make this very evident. Please pray for the blood of Jesus to cover the compound and every person that steps foot on it. Please pray for Dave and Sheena, Isaac, Colton and myself as we seek to minister to them and love them with the love of Jesus Christ.
You know, they know Bible stories and most of them say they are Christians, but once they step out of Dave and Sheena’s living room and life happens…
So every Monday at 4:00 we trek over to the Pailthorpe’s, who live in the CRIB compound. We spend a lot of time praying for the evening, discussing the lesson, etc., followed by tea. (People here, including us, have “tea” and not supper. Basically what this means is that lunch and supper are just reversed here - the main, hot meal is at 1:00 - 1:30, and “tea” is a lighter evening meal.) After this we get the space ready for 32 people and at 7:00 we begin.
On Saturday mornings, also starting 3 weeks ago, we go over as well and just play active games. This is “family time” for the kids. The aim is to teach them to play together as a team, without fighting, without screaming at each other, just good clean fun. Keep in mind, when you put almost 50 kids in a fenced space without parental love, guidance, teaching and discipline, things can’t be without challenges.
We are planning on starting an art time as well. Oh, and we’re on a rotating schedule to supervise groups of kids when they go swimming at Chrissie’s. I think that’s all for the structured time we spend there.
There’s a guy who dropped out of high school and ran away from CRIB in late winter that was a very bad influence on the rest of the kids. He lived with some buddies and on the street till about a month ago. At this time his buddies kicked him out, which left him solely on the street. He came back to Chrissie’s, being at wit’s end. The CRIB kids didn’t want him back, so he is living at Chrissie’s with the guard/house worker. To occupy his time and to hopefully teach him some things, he is spending Mon. - Fri. with Isaac. This can be very challenging for Isaac, as he has to watch him at all times. Please pray for Isaac in this regard, and pray for this guy.
We finally got to see the “real” Burundi today. With our busy schedule, we had not yet seen Honda and Libby’s village till this morning. With today being a national holiday commemorating the death of a past president, which meant no school, we finally had the opportunity.
You know the saying: “what you don’t know won’t hurt you.”? Well, Honda and Libby had told us lots about the village and showed us a video they made, but nothing prepares you for seeing and smelling and living what we experienced today.
This tiny “village” of 1700 people is hidden behind a massive, high- fenced UN compound that stretches on for probably a few miles. Honda was introduced to this village in November of last year by a mentally challenged guy that they partially support. Almost nobody knows about this village; the government has chosen to turn a blind eye to the absolute poverty conditions almost without fail. In April of this year they had a huge flood, where many, many of the stick/mud huts collapsed in the approximately one meter plus flood waters. The huts, which are the size of a small bedroom, house families of up to 13 children plus the parent. They are 1-2 meters apart; there is no furniture; the roof consists of mostly garbage they’ve strategically placed to serve as a roof; they have one meal a day consisting of bugali ( basically nutritionally void, root of a common plant made into flour mixed with water), and maybe a bit of beans, but some days there isn’t even this. Some days there is nothing. The flood was a blessing in that now they at least have a sewage system, a holding tank for the sewage, which they collect in a bag and deposit into the tank which is located at the entrance of the village. Mothers deliver their babies on the bare ground, as this is their bed. The wealthier may have a straw mat to sleep on, but even with just a normal rainfall, the water comes into the hut and that mat doesn’t do much good anyway. The villagers’ entire wardrobe is that which they wear, day in and day out. A majority of the clothing is rags really, and worse, held together by dirt and filth, especially the childrens‘. Even though a child is wearing a skirt doesn’t mean it’s a girl, but that’s the only piece of clothing available. Diapers consist of a bit of material covered with a plastic bag.
People die of aids; alcoholism is a problem; the hooch, which is made from bananas, blinds the consumer with time. Education is non-existent - there is no school. Of the 1700 people, about 900 are children.
I need to go now, I will continue with this next time I blog. However, I want to add that for the last months I’ve prayed that the Father would make my heart hurt over the things that hurt His heart; my heart hurts.
Rosel
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Dry Bones and Sandals
I was telling my boys over lunch that I had dreamt about bags of chocolate chips. Colton quite longingly sighed, “I wish I would have had that dream.” Yea, we’re missing food from home.
Have I got something to tell you!!!
I had bought a really nice, comfy, expensive pair of dress sandals before we came out here. I don’t walk to school in them, but put on my trusty Vans, and yes, I look like a geek walking to school every day wearing a skirt and Vans, but anyway, once at school, I change into my sandals, which I just left at school in my art room closet everyday after changing into my Vans again to trek home in.
So 2 weeks ago I come to school after the weekend, and my shoes are gone. Vamoos!! I couldn’t believe it. Someone went into the closet and helped themselves to my shoes in a Christian school. I was pretty ticked, I mean if they would have just been in plain view on the floor, that’s one thing, but to snoop in the closet and take them, that just irritated me. By the way, I “happened” to bring another pair of sandals to school that day - thank you Jesus - so I didn’t have to look geeky all day.
The next day I told Irene, the head teacher. She was pretty upset about it for the same reasons as I was; you should be able to trust in a Christian school. The next morning after staff devotions she announced what happened, and by now I’m feeling kind of sheepish, after all, they’re just shoes!! I’d been praying about my attitude, and yes, I’d like my shoes back, but really, it wasn’t a big deal. That day I had many of the teachers and guards come into my room wanting to see where they had disappeared from. People were really taking this serious. They too saw this as a violation in trust at The KING”S school. They prayed. We prayed. This is God’s school, the enemy has no right here.
The next morning it was Antoinette’s turn to do devotions. She told us how she used to come by the gate of The King’s School and prophesy, out loud, that this would be her place of work. She wanted to teach here rather than at the public university where she was. Needless to say, she’s a great teacher there now. Her Scripture passage was Ezekiel 37:1-14. This really went deep into my Spirit; I mean, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.“ 2 Ti 3:16. In other words, the account of the dry bones coming to life is not just a really cool event that took place years ago, but God ordained it to be in the Bible to impart something to believers; it’s relevant for today. So this means that, as silly as it may sound to some of you, we can , in the ALL mighty name of Jesus Christ prophesy to even inanimate objects!! How sweet is that!!?? God is so good. He’s provided us with everything for life and godliness. Also, “ For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Heb 4:12. I was praying the Word of God and I was also acutely aware of the spiritual warfare raging as a result. God was on the move to spur me ( and fellow staff ) on in my/our faith.
Please read Ezekiel 37:1-14. It’s about the Lord telling Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones to come to life. So he did as the Sovereign Lord commanded. As he prophesied, “there was a noise, a rattling sound,” GOD was on the move!! Bone came to bone, tendons and flesh and skin appeared on the bones! God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the breath to come from the four winds into the slain that they would live. So the breath entered the slain and they came to life, and they stood to there feet!!! A vast army!! Alive!! By the power of the Sovereign Lord.
Prophesy is one of the nine gifts of the Spirit mentioned in 1 Co 12:7-10; being seated in Christ Jesus in the heavenly realms ( Eph 2:6 ), and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we have authority and power over all rule, power, authority, dominion and every title. The same power that God exerted when He rose Jesus from the dead is available to us when we pray in the name and will of Jesus Christ. (Eph 1:19-21).
Before I go on, I want you to know that if the issue at hand was just a pair of shoes, I would not bother to write any of this. Stolen shoes is simply the “vehicle” that the Lord chose to use for a huge revelation of Himself, and the power of believing, biblical prayer.
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Heb 11:1
So I prayed. I prophesied in the name of Jesus that my shoes would be returned. I prayed for the person that stole the sandals. I sensed such a great power in and through the praying, I actually felt sorry for the person who took them, because I knew the conviction they were experiencing. The battle raging in them, knowing they should return them, but what if they got found out, … etc.
Well, the power of the Lord overcame the deeds of darkness yet again, and my shoes were anonymously returned the following Wednesday. First thing every morning I checked, expectantly, in my closet to see if they were there; this particular morning I did the same, they weren’t there, so I just started getting art materials ready for the day; I opened the other closet, and there they were in plain view. I was so overwhelmed by God’s faithfulness!!! I went on my knees and praised and worshipped God for coming through; and please remember, it wasn’t about the shoes, but about how God heard and answered prayer.
I was so fantastically pumped!! The word spread quickly as I had told 2 teachers, and there was rejoicing and relief. God was certainly at work at The King’s School.
I am currently praying/prophesying about 3 huge “only God can do that” issues. And I believe in God’s time, they will come to pass.
I had read Ezekiel 37 many times thinking, “yeah, that must have been so cool to see all those bones coming to life,” but never seeing the relevancy of it for my life. Now it’s chock full of relevancy. God opened the eyes of my heart to reveal the power of that passage, and I will never be the same again. This will be one of a growing pile of Ebenezer stones in my life. In 1 Samuel 7:12, Samuel sets up a stone of remembrance naming it Ebenezer, saying: “Thus far has the Lord helped us.” I want to testify to you, “thus far the Lord has been so gracious and compassionate to me, revealing Himself to me in wonderful ways.”
Look at Eze 37 again. Verse 11 says: “… Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.” That sounds like the epitome of destitution of soul and spirit. (Though in this case it’s literal.) If you’re anything like me, sometimes you feel dry, hopeless and alone. But listen to what God says in response:
“… O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them.” I think sometimes our faith is near death, and sad to say, some people lose their faith altogether because they think that God hasn’t answered their prayers the way they want Him to. But God wants to resurrect us from our spiritual graves and fill us anew with hope and faith and an abundant life.
Another thing that now jumps out at me is v: 9 where it says: “…breathe into these slain, that they may live.” These guys were killed, they did not die a natural death. It was a premature death. Life was snatched from them. What has the enemy snatched from you that you need to, and can, by the power of the indwelling Spirit take back from the enemy? Like the song says, ”Well I went to the enemies camp and I took back what he stole from me, took back what he stole from me, took back what he stole from me, I went to the enemies camp and I took back what he stole from me, he’s under my feet, he’s under my feet, satan is under my feet.”
Check out verse 1 and 2: There weren’t just a few bones; no, “it was full of bones. He (God) led me back and forth among them…bones that were very dry.” Sometimes, when it rains it pours. That is, sometimes we haven’t got just a few challenges to deal with at once, but we feel we can hardly, if at all, stand up under the burden of all our problems. And they are persistent problems, problems that just don’t get resolved and that bog you down. But if God can resurrect “very dry” bones, bones that aren’t still meaty fresh, he can surely breath life and truth into your 20 year old problem! And what about the “led me back and forth among them” part?! Why can it not be just a quick sprint through? How often have you heard the phrase’ “It’s in the desert that you grow the most.” Maybe it’s taking a while for you to attain all the growth that the Father has intended for you. But you’ll come out stronger for it.
Verse 3 God asks: “ …can these bones live?” God knew what Ezekiel’s answer would be, but it’s good to verbalize our faith, or lack thereof. Where is your faith meter? Do you believe that God can and still does the impossible?? A daily prayer of mine is found in Lk 17:5 - Lord, increase my faith in you!!!
The bottom line is this: v 14a says; “I will put my Spirit in you and you will live.” Hallelujah!! 2 Co 3:17 says; “…where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Freedom means you’re not in bondage, you’re not oppressed, you’re not beaten down. Freedom in Christ means you’re VICTORIOUS !! Live accordingly!
In Christ, Rosel
Have I got something to tell you!!!
I had bought a really nice, comfy, expensive pair of dress sandals before we came out here. I don’t walk to school in them, but put on my trusty Vans, and yes, I look like a geek walking to school every day wearing a skirt and Vans, but anyway, once at school, I change into my sandals, which I just left at school in my art room closet everyday after changing into my Vans again to trek home in.
So 2 weeks ago I come to school after the weekend, and my shoes are gone. Vamoos!! I couldn’t believe it. Someone went into the closet and helped themselves to my shoes in a Christian school. I was pretty ticked, I mean if they would have just been in plain view on the floor, that’s one thing, but to snoop in the closet and take them, that just irritated me. By the way, I “happened” to bring another pair of sandals to school that day - thank you Jesus - so I didn’t have to look geeky all day.
The next day I told Irene, the head teacher. She was pretty upset about it for the same reasons as I was; you should be able to trust in a Christian school. The next morning after staff devotions she announced what happened, and by now I’m feeling kind of sheepish, after all, they’re just shoes!! I’d been praying about my attitude, and yes, I’d like my shoes back, but really, it wasn’t a big deal. That day I had many of the teachers and guards come into my room wanting to see where they had disappeared from. People were really taking this serious. They too saw this as a violation in trust at The KING”S school. They prayed. We prayed. This is God’s school, the enemy has no right here.
The next morning it was Antoinette’s turn to do devotions. She told us how she used to come by the gate of The King’s School and prophesy, out loud, that this would be her place of work. She wanted to teach here rather than at the public university where she was. Needless to say, she’s a great teacher there now. Her Scripture passage was Ezekiel 37:1-14. This really went deep into my Spirit; I mean, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.“ 2 Ti 3:16. In other words, the account of the dry bones coming to life is not just a really cool event that took place years ago, but God ordained it to be in the Bible to impart something to believers; it’s relevant for today. So this means that, as silly as it may sound to some of you, we can , in the ALL mighty name of Jesus Christ prophesy to even inanimate objects!! How sweet is that!!?? God is so good. He’s provided us with everything for life and godliness. Also, “ For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Heb 4:12. I was praying the Word of God and I was also acutely aware of the spiritual warfare raging as a result. God was on the move to spur me ( and fellow staff ) on in my/our faith.
Please read Ezekiel 37:1-14. It’s about the Lord telling Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones to come to life. So he did as the Sovereign Lord commanded. As he prophesied, “there was a noise, a rattling sound,” GOD was on the move!! Bone came to bone, tendons and flesh and skin appeared on the bones! God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the breath to come from the four winds into the slain that they would live. So the breath entered the slain and they came to life, and they stood to there feet!!! A vast army!! Alive!! By the power of the Sovereign Lord.
Prophesy is one of the nine gifts of the Spirit mentioned in 1 Co 12:7-10; being seated in Christ Jesus in the heavenly realms ( Eph 2:6 ), and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we have authority and power over all rule, power, authority, dominion and every title. The same power that God exerted when He rose Jesus from the dead is available to us when we pray in the name and will of Jesus Christ. (Eph 1:19-21).
Before I go on, I want you to know that if the issue at hand was just a pair of shoes, I would not bother to write any of this. Stolen shoes is simply the “vehicle” that the Lord chose to use for a huge revelation of Himself, and the power of believing, biblical prayer.
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Heb 11:1
So I prayed. I prophesied in the name of Jesus that my shoes would be returned. I prayed for the person that stole the sandals. I sensed such a great power in and through the praying, I actually felt sorry for the person who took them, because I knew the conviction they were experiencing. The battle raging in them, knowing they should return them, but what if they got found out, … etc.
Well, the power of the Lord overcame the deeds of darkness yet again, and my shoes were anonymously returned the following Wednesday. First thing every morning I checked, expectantly, in my closet to see if they were there; this particular morning I did the same, they weren’t there, so I just started getting art materials ready for the day; I opened the other closet, and there they were in plain view. I was so overwhelmed by God’s faithfulness!!! I went on my knees and praised and worshipped God for coming through; and please remember, it wasn’t about the shoes, but about how God heard and answered prayer.
I was so fantastically pumped!! The word spread quickly as I had told 2 teachers, and there was rejoicing and relief. God was certainly at work at The King’s School.
I am currently praying/prophesying about 3 huge “only God can do that” issues. And I believe in God’s time, they will come to pass.
I had read Ezekiel 37 many times thinking, “yeah, that must have been so cool to see all those bones coming to life,” but never seeing the relevancy of it for my life. Now it’s chock full of relevancy. God opened the eyes of my heart to reveal the power of that passage, and I will never be the same again. This will be one of a growing pile of Ebenezer stones in my life. In 1 Samuel 7:12, Samuel sets up a stone of remembrance naming it Ebenezer, saying: “Thus far has the Lord helped us.” I want to testify to you, “thus far the Lord has been so gracious and compassionate to me, revealing Himself to me in wonderful ways.”
Look at Eze 37 again. Verse 11 says: “… Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.” That sounds like the epitome of destitution of soul and spirit. (Though in this case it’s literal.) If you’re anything like me, sometimes you feel dry, hopeless and alone. But listen to what God says in response:
“… O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them.” I think sometimes our faith is near death, and sad to say, some people lose their faith altogether because they think that God hasn’t answered their prayers the way they want Him to. But God wants to resurrect us from our spiritual graves and fill us anew with hope and faith and an abundant life.
Another thing that now jumps out at me is v: 9 where it says: “…breathe into these slain, that they may live.” These guys were killed, they did not die a natural death. It was a premature death. Life was snatched from them. What has the enemy snatched from you that you need to, and can, by the power of the indwelling Spirit take back from the enemy? Like the song says, ”Well I went to the enemies camp and I took back what he stole from me, took back what he stole from me, took back what he stole from me, I went to the enemies camp and I took back what he stole from me, he’s under my feet, he’s under my feet, satan is under my feet.”
Check out verse 1 and 2: There weren’t just a few bones; no, “it was full of bones. He (God) led me back and forth among them…bones that were very dry.” Sometimes, when it rains it pours. That is, sometimes we haven’t got just a few challenges to deal with at once, but we feel we can hardly, if at all, stand up under the burden of all our problems. And they are persistent problems, problems that just don’t get resolved and that bog you down. But if God can resurrect “very dry” bones, bones that aren’t still meaty fresh, he can surely breath life and truth into your 20 year old problem! And what about the “led me back and forth among them” part?! Why can it not be just a quick sprint through? How often have you heard the phrase’ “It’s in the desert that you grow the most.” Maybe it’s taking a while for you to attain all the growth that the Father has intended for you. But you’ll come out stronger for it.
Verse 3 God asks: “ …can these bones live?” God knew what Ezekiel’s answer would be, but it’s good to verbalize our faith, or lack thereof. Where is your faith meter? Do you believe that God can and still does the impossible?? A daily prayer of mine is found in Lk 17:5 - Lord, increase my faith in you!!!
The bottom line is this: v 14a says; “I will put my Spirit in you and you will live.” Hallelujah!! 2 Co 3:17 says; “…where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Freedom means you’re not in bondage, you’re not oppressed, you’re not beaten down. Freedom in Christ means you’re VICTORIOUS !! Live accordingly!
In Christ, Rosel
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Lord, send me.
Hey, hey everyone!!
I pray that you, the reader, is doing well spiritually, physically, emotionally, relationally, in every sense.
The enemy has taken great measures lately to get us to loose our focus on Jesus Christ. He knows that the Lord called us here and has and continues to equip us, and that the Kingdom of God will increase as long as we completely trust in Him and allow Him to flow into and through us, - praise His holy name!!!
Now that we’ve settled into the school year, and things aren’t as foreign anymore, we’re really focusing our prayers on God’s “hidden agenda.” Before coming out we knew, more or less, what we’d be doing here. You know, things we knew we could do; build, fix, teach, love, hug kids, encourage, pray for others, etc. Things that don’t necessarily stretch us. Things we can do with our hands. Thing’s that we can do “on our own.“
You see, a few months before we left home, Isaac said to me that he believes that God is calling us to do much more than what we are currently doing at CRIB, school, New Hope, etc. But if God had revealed to us all the things He wants to accomplish in and through us, we would most likely have said, “No Lord, you’ve got the wrong people, send someone else.” - the Moses syndrome: God calls Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, and Moses says, Lord you’ve got the wrong guy, I don’t speak very well. Send someone else.
And so here we are, serving in different areas, and yet sensing in our spirit that we haven’t yet tapped into all that we’re called to do here.
We believe that God started illuminating His will in this regard almost right after we got here. We were spending a lot of time at the CRIB home, and almost immediately noticed there was a lot of fighting between the kids, they were watching unwholesome movies, listening to music that doesn’t edify their souls, etc. A person might be tempted to think that this is normal and natural in today’s world, especially in a home with about 50 kids. But this could be very different by the power of God. I mean, for anyone, but also especially for these kids; God hand picked them; they too could have been killed along with many other children during the war; He spared them. He wants them to have an abundant life. Many of these children and teenagers know Jesus as their Saviour; they receive a Christian education and have a number of other Christian influences in their lives. But they also have a lot of strikes against them.
We feel that God is calling us to do a weekly Bible study with the kids. Not just skimming over the surface, shallow stuff, but a deep, Spirit led and filled time of praying/studying/discipling. A time where we would allow the Holy Spirit to use us to speak into these kids’ hearts and lives with words of knowledge, wisdom and prophesy. A time to pray over them for a powerful, life changing, personal encounter and baptism of the Holy Spirit. A time to walk along side them and model purity in heart, a deep love and need for studying the Scripture; a passion for prayer, a complete submission and devotion to Jesus Christ.
Wow, as I read this last paragraph, it hits me again. We can do none of this on our own. None!!!!! We don’t even live like this all the time. We sin; we stumble; we fall; we’re so far from perfect. But praise be to God, He calls sinners saved by grace to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.“ Mt 28: 19-20.
So we shared our hearts with Chrissie, the “mama” to the kids; the founder of the orphanage. She informed us that there would be a couple coming in a few weeks, the pastor and his wife from her church in England, and they would be living on site at CRIB for 6 months; their main focus here would be to pour into the kids. At this point we’re like, “okay Lord, did we hear wrong, there’s someone with fantastic credentials coming to minister to the kids, they don’t need us.” But we told Chrissie that if this couple wanted, we’d be willing to help them. We continued to pray.
Last week Pastor David and Sheena arrived. They are one dynamite couple! I would guesstimate they’re about 55-60 yrs. old, but boy do they have spunk in them. David is used very powerfully by the Lord in the area of prophesy. This last Sunday we were so blessed to experience, along with 7,000 other people, a huge outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Jabe church. Pastor Edmond was introducing them to the church as they will be doing some work with Jabe, and immediately after the intro., Pastor David opens his mouth and pours forth the heart of God. This released the Spirit, and it was probably 30 minutes before Pastor Edmond could start the message. (By the way, church is always between three and a half to four hours long. We worship for an hour and a half to two hours.)
On Tuesday we were at CRIB after school, and David and Sheena said that Chrissie had told them about our willingness to help them. I wonder how much helping we’ll be doing versus soaking up what this couple has to offer. Please pray for a deep anointing and equipping for us; for eyes that see the kids the way our heavenly Father sees them; for our hugs to soothe hurts and mend broken hearts as if the arms of Jesus were enfolding them; for humble hearts, fully committed to administering all that the Lord imparts to us for these kids. For the kids to allow themselves to be vulnerable and ‘moldable’ by the Potter. Please pray for constant guidance and direction as we seek to be and do all the Lord calls us to.
And finally, pray that we will “Be still, and know that I am God.”
Lord, send me!!
In Christ
Isaac, Rosel and Colton
I pray that you, the reader, is doing well spiritually, physically, emotionally, relationally, in every sense.
The enemy has taken great measures lately to get us to loose our focus on Jesus Christ. He knows that the Lord called us here and has and continues to equip us, and that the Kingdom of God will increase as long as we completely trust in Him and allow Him to flow into and through us, - praise His holy name!!!
Now that we’ve settled into the school year, and things aren’t as foreign anymore, we’re really focusing our prayers on God’s “hidden agenda.” Before coming out we knew, more or less, what we’d be doing here. You know, things we knew we could do; build, fix, teach, love, hug kids, encourage, pray for others, etc. Things that don’t necessarily stretch us. Things we can do with our hands. Thing’s that we can do “on our own.“
You see, a few months before we left home, Isaac said to me that he believes that God is calling us to do much more than what we are currently doing at CRIB, school, New Hope, etc. But if God had revealed to us all the things He wants to accomplish in and through us, we would most likely have said, “No Lord, you’ve got the wrong people, send someone else.” - the Moses syndrome: God calls Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, and Moses says, Lord you’ve got the wrong guy, I don’t speak very well. Send someone else.
And so here we are, serving in different areas, and yet sensing in our spirit that we haven’t yet tapped into all that we’re called to do here.
We believe that God started illuminating His will in this regard almost right after we got here. We were spending a lot of time at the CRIB home, and almost immediately noticed there was a lot of fighting between the kids, they were watching unwholesome movies, listening to music that doesn’t edify their souls, etc. A person might be tempted to think that this is normal and natural in today’s world, especially in a home with about 50 kids. But this could be very different by the power of God. I mean, for anyone, but also especially for these kids; God hand picked them; they too could have been killed along with many other children during the war; He spared them. He wants them to have an abundant life. Many of these children and teenagers know Jesus as their Saviour; they receive a Christian education and have a number of other Christian influences in their lives. But they also have a lot of strikes against them.
We feel that God is calling us to do a weekly Bible study with the kids. Not just skimming over the surface, shallow stuff, but a deep, Spirit led and filled time of praying/studying/discipling. A time where we would allow the Holy Spirit to use us to speak into these kids’ hearts and lives with words of knowledge, wisdom and prophesy. A time to pray over them for a powerful, life changing, personal encounter and baptism of the Holy Spirit. A time to walk along side them and model purity in heart, a deep love and need for studying the Scripture; a passion for prayer, a complete submission and devotion to Jesus Christ.
Wow, as I read this last paragraph, it hits me again. We can do none of this on our own. None!!!!! We don’t even live like this all the time. We sin; we stumble; we fall; we’re so far from perfect. But praise be to God, He calls sinners saved by grace to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.“ Mt 28: 19-20.
So we shared our hearts with Chrissie, the “mama” to the kids; the founder of the orphanage. She informed us that there would be a couple coming in a few weeks, the pastor and his wife from her church in England, and they would be living on site at CRIB for 6 months; their main focus here would be to pour into the kids. At this point we’re like, “okay Lord, did we hear wrong, there’s someone with fantastic credentials coming to minister to the kids, they don’t need us.” But we told Chrissie that if this couple wanted, we’d be willing to help them. We continued to pray.
Last week Pastor David and Sheena arrived. They are one dynamite couple! I would guesstimate they’re about 55-60 yrs. old, but boy do they have spunk in them. David is used very powerfully by the Lord in the area of prophesy. This last Sunday we were so blessed to experience, along with 7,000 other people, a huge outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Jabe church. Pastor Edmond was introducing them to the church as they will be doing some work with Jabe, and immediately after the intro., Pastor David opens his mouth and pours forth the heart of God. This released the Spirit, and it was probably 30 minutes before Pastor Edmond could start the message. (By the way, church is always between three and a half to four hours long. We worship for an hour and a half to two hours.)
On Tuesday we were at CRIB after school, and David and Sheena said that Chrissie had told them about our willingness to help them. I wonder how much helping we’ll be doing versus soaking up what this couple has to offer. Please pray for a deep anointing and equipping for us; for eyes that see the kids the way our heavenly Father sees them; for our hugs to soothe hurts and mend broken hearts as if the arms of Jesus were enfolding them; for humble hearts, fully committed to administering all that the Lord imparts to us for these kids. For the kids to allow themselves to be vulnerable and ‘moldable’ by the Potter. Please pray for constant guidance and direction as we seek to be and do all the Lord calls us to.
And finally, pray that we will “Be still, and know that I am God.”
Lord, send me!!
In Christ
Isaac, Rosel and Colton
Friday, September 18, 2009
Run to Jesus
Hey everyone;
We’re missing my (Rosel) favorite season - fall. The beautiful and colourful oranges, reds and yellows in the foliage, the crisper air, the lengthening evenings, ahhhh, all signs of relief from the heat of summer.
The rains are late in coming; as I wrote last week, we had one down pour, but the daily, almost torrential rains is what the land and the people are waiting for. Because of the delay, the electricity generating dam up country is at low levels and Bujumbura is on a very tight conservation schedule. For the last week plus, generally, we have power 24 hours on/24 hours off.
A few days ago I was thinking that I’d much rather go without electricity than without running water. Showers have always been important to me; long, relaxing ones, not rushed. Now in this heat, the thought of going to bed in sticky skin and not being able to wash my hands many, many times a day is most unwelcome. But not having running water is also a very real possibility here. I’m getting some where’s with this. The question I was wrestling with is this: in the event there would be no running water for even just half a day, never mind an extended period of time, would I be able to endure this joyfully, patiently, even thankfully!!! with a godly attitude?
I’m reminded of the apostle Paul, who was imprisoned, flogged, exposed to death, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked thrice, hungry, thirsty, cold and naked. Did he grumble and gripe? In 2 Co 1:8 he talks about suffering hardships far beyond his ability to endure, so that he even despaired of life. Sounds pretty dire. But he continues on, stating that this happened so that he would not rely on himself, but on God.
Being thankful seems like a huge stretch, but 1 Thess 5:16 - 18 admonishes me to: “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Ouch!!
Heb.12:7 says: “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.”
2 Ti 2:3 & 4:5: “Endure hardships with us like a good soldier of Christ. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” You mean I’d still have to serve, in public, humbly, faithfully, joyfully, obediently, the people that the Lord has called us to when I haven’t showered in days and I’m stinky??!!
In contrast to Paul‘s hardships, our “light and momentary troubles” - 2 Co 4:17, sure seem insignificant. I mean, running water and refreshing showers compared to being stoned!!??
But praise be to God, He cares about the smaller ’what if’s’ in our lives too, not just apostle Paul sized hardships. So whether or not we will be faced with no running water, one thing I do know without a doubt is this: when Jesus, in 2 Co 12:9 said, “My grace is sufficient for you…” He meant what He said. The rest is up to me… will I accept and walk in that all sufficient grace?
What is your ‘what if’ concern, or a very real issue that is burdening you? Run to Jesus and leave it at His feet. He is more than able, He is more than sufficient, He is more than we can imagine!
I’m preaching to myself.
Please pray for us. We’re in a hardship, and it has nothing to do with running water.
In Christ,
Isaac, Rosel and Colton
We’re missing my (Rosel) favorite season - fall. The beautiful and colourful oranges, reds and yellows in the foliage, the crisper air, the lengthening evenings, ahhhh, all signs of relief from the heat of summer.
The rains are late in coming; as I wrote last week, we had one down pour, but the daily, almost torrential rains is what the land and the people are waiting for. Because of the delay, the electricity generating dam up country is at low levels and Bujumbura is on a very tight conservation schedule. For the last week plus, generally, we have power 24 hours on/24 hours off.
A few days ago I was thinking that I’d much rather go without electricity than without running water. Showers have always been important to me; long, relaxing ones, not rushed. Now in this heat, the thought of going to bed in sticky skin and not being able to wash my hands many, many times a day is most unwelcome. But not having running water is also a very real possibility here. I’m getting some where’s with this. The question I was wrestling with is this: in the event there would be no running water for even just half a day, never mind an extended period of time, would I be able to endure this joyfully, patiently, even thankfully!!! with a godly attitude?
I’m reminded of the apostle Paul, who was imprisoned, flogged, exposed to death, beaten, stoned, shipwrecked thrice, hungry, thirsty, cold and naked. Did he grumble and gripe? In 2 Co 1:8 he talks about suffering hardships far beyond his ability to endure, so that he even despaired of life. Sounds pretty dire. But he continues on, stating that this happened so that he would not rely on himself, but on God.
Being thankful seems like a huge stretch, but 1 Thess 5:16 - 18 admonishes me to: “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Ouch!!
Heb.12:7 says: “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.”
2 Ti 2:3 & 4:5: “Endure hardships with us like a good soldier of Christ. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” You mean I’d still have to serve, in public, humbly, faithfully, joyfully, obediently, the people that the Lord has called us to when I haven’t showered in days and I’m stinky??!!
In contrast to Paul‘s hardships, our “light and momentary troubles” - 2 Co 4:17, sure seem insignificant. I mean, running water and refreshing showers compared to being stoned!!??
But praise be to God, He cares about the smaller ’what if’s’ in our lives too, not just apostle Paul sized hardships. So whether or not we will be faced with no running water, one thing I do know without a doubt is this: when Jesus, in 2 Co 12:9 said, “My grace is sufficient for you…” He meant what He said. The rest is up to me… will I accept and walk in that all sufficient grace?
What is your ‘what if’ concern, or a very real issue that is burdening you? Run to Jesus and leave it at His feet. He is more than able, He is more than sufficient, He is more than we can imagine!
I’m preaching to myself.
Please pray for us. We’re in a hardship, and it has nothing to do with running water.
In Christ,
Isaac, Rosel and Colton
Friday, September 11, 2009
God's providing for and stretching us
Hey everyone; we bless you, our dear family and friends in the name of Jesus.
God is faithful - He continues to protect, equip, strengthen and stretch us.
We had a really good down pour a few days ago, so now with the rising temperature we also have humidity. The fact that we haven’t had hot water since the second day we got here is, for the most part, becoming less of an issue. After the initial shock of the cold water hitting your hot body in the shower, it’s wonderfully refreshing.
Power outages have posed to be stretching for us. In the last week we’ve been without electricity far more than with. In the last 72 hours we’ve had power for about 6-8 hours. This is problematic for many reasons; the food spoils in the fridge, classes at school have to be revised because of the photocopier not running, you can’t get any relief from the heat from the use of fans, which also affects your sleep, etc., etc.
But in all this, God truly is helping us cope. Yes, there are times when you wonder why the government doesn’t do things differently and channel money into infrastructure instead of some other things, but I believe that we are being stretched by this for a purpose. Leave it to Colton to often bring humour into a situation; yesterday as we sat down to our simple evening meal, he quipped; “ I thought candlelight dinners were supposed to have fancier food than this.”
School is going well, both for Colton the student and myself the assistant/teacher. Both Secondary and Primary begin with devotions every day - what a huge blessing to corporately start the day like this. Isaac joins the staff devotions with me at Primary. So far Pastor Ray does them, however, we will start a rota shortly. There is so much power in welcoming the Holy Spirit into every aspect of the day, and being challenged to incorporate a godly principle into every lesson that is taught. What a joy to see Muslim/Hindu children enthusiastically singing Christian songs, learning Scripture and praying. Twenty two percent of our students come from these homes; the reason they are at this school? It’s English - the only one in Bujumbura. Being knowledgeable in English is very important to this community of people, and they are willing to have their children fully integrate into a Christian school to accommodate this. What a fantastic opportunity to evangelize and disciple these children. Parents as well have seeds planted in them when they come to school programs and celebrations.
The Lord is answering our prayers as He gives Isaac creative and often unusual ways to fix/do things in his work. For instance, Isaac had tried to fix our constantly running kitchen faucet to no avail. With no plumbing parts and only a screwdriver, your options are limited. After a few attempts, he used a pencil for the solution; the metal part that holds the eraser makes a wonderful faucet part; who would have known!? With God all things are possible.
Isaac does find it frustrating that there are so very few materials available to do his job. He knew this would be the case before we came, but when you live it every day, and the things are so very basic that he needs sometimes, it can be taxing. Please pray for continued and an increase of creativity and improvisation skills for Isaac.
Jehovah Jirah -God our provider. There’s a guy by the name of John who’s from England, who’s lived here for about 20 years that donated some tools yesterday that people have shipped out to him over the years. He works for the President of Burundi, and I don’t know exactly what else he does. All of a sudden he’s at the Primary school, wanting to see Isaac to arrange the donation. It’s so faith building, the Lord putting it on John’s heart to do this now, at the perfect time when there’s someone here that needs the tools.
Speaking of tools, the crate that contains more tools that our church put in there is held up here in Bujumbura because of red tape. It arrived close to two weeks ago; hopefully we’ll get possession of it this coming week. Please also pray in this regard.
You’ve probably heard stories of how living things have crawled through sewer pipes into toilets. I had, and the thought wasn’t pleasant. Neither is the experience!! Here’s what happened: I was at Secondary, the main building was locked, so I had to use the outdoor toilet. It was relatively dark in there compared to the bright sunshine outside, and my eyes took some time to adjust. Obviously, you never sit down in public facilities, so as I hovered over the loo, I happened to look into it. At first I thought that the girl that came out of the loo just before I entered had forgotten to flush, but then I saw “it” move!! I suddenly didn’t need to go anymore, as by this time the creature was in sharp focus and trying to scale the side of the toilet. ( My hair at the nape, even in the re-telling of the event, is doing weird things.) I flushed, hoping to rid the earth of this intruder, but “the thing” was determined not to co-operate. I stood and watched as it flailed and wiggled and struggled to not be sucked under by the powerful current. African toilets have a much more powerful flush, more like a vacuum. So when the waters had calmed, there he was, all 7-8 inches of him, shiny black and much more relaxed. At this point I high-tailed it out of there and informed a guy standing nearby about the goings on. He came to evaluate the situation, sauntered off and came back with a long branch. He was going to rescue the thing!! He stuck the branch into the toilet, and slowly it climbed onto it. He brought the approximately 3 inch circumference, snake-like, ugly thing with 4 short legs out and it scurried off. I wonder who it’s next victim will be!?
We get to sleep in tomorrow! We have to get up at the uncivilized hour of 5:45 A.M. to get to school by 7:00 for staff devotions during the week, so with our earplugs in place to shut out the loud sounds of the night and early morning, the slumber will be most welcome.
I’ll try and post some pictures tomorrow.
Goodnight, we miss you, we love you.
The Froese’s
God is faithful - He continues to protect, equip, strengthen and stretch us.
We had a really good down pour a few days ago, so now with the rising temperature we also have humidity. The fact that we haven’t had hot water since the second day we got here is, for the most part, becoming less of an issue. After the initial shock of the cold water hitting your hot body in the shower, it’s wonderfully refreshing.
Power outages have posed to be stretching for us. In the last week we’ve been without electricity far more than with. In the last 72 hours we’ve had power for about 6-8 hours. This is problematic for many reasons; the food spoils in the fridge, classes at school have to be revised because of the photocopier not running, you can’t get any relief from the heat from the use of fans, which also affects your sleep, etc., etc.
But in all this, God truly is helping us cope. Yes, there are times when you wonder why the government doesn’t do things differently and channel money into infrastructure instead of some other things, but I believe that we are being stretched by this for a purpose. Leave it to Colton to often bring humour into a situation; yesterday as we sat down to our simple evening meal, he quipped; “ I thought candlelight dinners were supposed to have fancier food than this.”
School is going well, both for Colton the student and myself the assistant/teacher. Both Secondary and Primary begin with devotions every day - what a huge blessing to corporately start the day like this. Isaac joins the staff devotions with me at Primary. So far Pastor Ray does them, however, we will start a rota shortly. There is so much power in welcoming the Holy Spirit into every aspect of the day, and being challenged to incorporate a godly principle into every lesson that is taught. What a joy to see Muslim/Hindu children enthusiastically singing Christian songs, learning Scripture and praying. Twenty two percent of our students come from these homes; the reason they are at this school? It’s English - the only one in Bujumbura. Being knowledgeable in English is very important to this community of people, and they are willing to have their children fully integrate into a Christian school to accommodate this. What a fantastic opportunity to evangelize and disciple these children. Parents as well have seeds planted in them when they come to school programs and celebrations.
The Lord is answering our prayers as He gives Isaac creative and often unusual ways to fix/do things in his work. For instance, Isaac had tried to fix our constantly running kitchen faucet to no avail. With no plumbing parts and only a screwdriver, your options are limited. After a few attempts, he used a pencil for the solution; the metal part that holds the eraser makes a wonderful faucet part; who would have known!? With God all things are possible.
Isaac does find it frustrating that there are so very few materials available to do his job. He knew this would be the case before we came, but when you live it every day, and the things are so very basic that he needs sometimes, it can be taxing. Please pray for continued and an increase of creativity and improvisation skills for Isaac.
Jehovah Jirah -God our provider. There’s a guy by the name of John who’s from England, who’s lived here for about 20 years that donated some tools yesterday that people have shipped out to him over the years. He works for the President of Burundi, and I don’t know exactly what else he does. All of a sudden he’s at the Primary school, wanting to see Isaac to arrange the donation. It’s so faith building, the Lord putting it on John’s heart to do this now, at the perfect time when there’s someone here that needs the tools.
Speaking of tools, the crate that contains more tools that our church put in there is held up here in Bujumbura because of red tape. It arrived close to two weeks ago; hopefully we’ll get possession of it this coming week. Please also pray in this regard.
You’ve probably heard stories of how living things have crawled through sewer pipes into toilets. I had, and the thought wasn’t pleasant. Neither is the experience!! Here’s what happened: I was at Secondary, the main building was locked, so I had to use the outdoor toilet. It was relatively dark in there compared to the bright sunshine outside, and my eyes took some time to adjust. Obviously, you never sit down in public facilities, so as I hovered over the loo, I happened to look into it. At first I thought that the girl that came out of the loo just before I entered had forgotten to flush, but then I saw “it” move!! I suddenly didn’t need to go anymore, as by this time the creature was in sharp focus and trying to scale the side of the toilet. ( My hair at the nape, even in the re-telling of the event, is doing weird things.) I flushed, hoping to rid the earth of this intruder, but “the thing” was determined not to co-operate. I stood and watched as it flailed and wiggled and struggled to not be sucked under by the powerful current. African toilets have a much more powerful flush, more like a vacuum. So when the waters had calmed, there he was, all 7-8 inches of him, shiny black and much more relaxed. At this point I high-tailed it out of there and informed a guy standing nearby about the goings on. He came to evaluate the situation, sauntered off and came back with a long branch. He was going to rescue the thing!! He stuck the branch into the toilet, and slowly it climbed onto it. He brought the approximately 3 inch circumference, snake-like, ugly thing with 4 short legs out and it scurried off. I wonder who it’s next victim will be!?
We get to sleep in tomorrow! We have to get up at the uncivilized hour of 5:45 A.M. to get to school by 7:00 for staff devotions during the week, so with our earplugs in place to shut out the loud sounds of the night and early morning, the slumber will be most welcome.
I’ll try and post some pictures tomorrow.
Goodnight, we miss you, we love you.
The Froese’s
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Gecko's and surprise
So folks, we’ve had some emails gently asking for another update. I keep thinking I need to sit down again and do this, (yes I know Dave, intentions don’t get things done; bless you!!) but first off, I only turn the computer on 1-2 times per week; and second, we’re seriously busy. But I want to keep all you guys updated so you can pray specifically, and remember, we’re in this together, we really need and appreciate your prayers. I truly believe that your prayers strengthen us, and also allow us to laugh at some situations that otherwise would be quite upsetting. Things are just so very different here, and often there doesn’t seem to be any logic as to why situations are as they are.
Gecko’s, gecko’s, gecko’s!!! Wow, are there ever many gecko’s. Last week one evening we had the group from England over and exactly that night the gecko’s decided to come out in droves. One of the team members is a zoo keeper, so he didn’t mind trying to herd them out the door, but they’re awfully fast, and the ceiling is really high ( they prefer walls and ceilings), so this can be a funny sight - man versus gecko. It doesn’t help that there is about a 1 inch gap between the door and floor; once Isaac has tools, we can hopefully rectify this problem. Ladies, how would you like to share your bedroom with elusive critters like this. It’s a good thing we’re tired from the day’s activities; we sleep soundly apart from the noises that are so much a part of the night here.
We live smack across from a large Catholic church, and the churches here are mostly open on the sides to allow for much, much needed air flow. This means that the singing is heard from far away, never mind across the street, with a bedroom window facing the church, as ours does. They have nightly services, but the Sunday 6:00 A.M. service really is a challenge. They sing beautifully, albeit to/about Mary, but on a morning that we don’t have to be at school at 7:00 A.M?!!? I’ve wondered from the beginning, how can they sing so enthusiastically when many of them worship a dead woman? Yes, I know there are born again Christians in the Catholic faith, but when you hear former Catholics talk about going to the front of the church to kneel before a statue of Mary, and the only word in a song that you know as it filters through your window is “Maria, Maria,” you can’t help but wonder. Can you imagine the wonderful worship that would greet our ears at 6:00 A.M. if they worshipped the living Lord Jesus!!!???
This last Sunday we went to a different church than Jabe. We met a pastor - Andy Kennedy - through Everiste a few weeks ago who was here from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania for 3 months, scoping out what their ministry could do in Burundi. Through Andy we met Chris, a dynamite Christian guy that’s becoming a good friend. Chris invited us to his church as Andy was preaching. It was so nice to not have to strain your ears to hear the translation of the message through not great ear phones. The message was on grace - grace that is un-earned and un-deserved, but so real. Chris has a French website where he posts a new sermon 6 days a week. He has listeners in over 80 countries.
So I had a surprise this week. I started work at school, with this week just preparing the classrooms and resources etc. After staff devotions led by Pastor Ray we were all introduced, where people are from etc. (Andrew and Kristine Astington are from the UK, however they were teaching in Saudi Arabia for the last six years. They’ve both taught for many years, Kristine’s starting her 42nd year. I am going to be an assistant in her year 6 class part of the time. Anni-Mette is from Denmark, she’s here till February, Kristy Jones is from Arizona, there’s 2 guys from Canada coming on Sunday, Debbie, the head teacher for Primary is from the UK; the rest of the teachers are from various African countries.) So…. the surprise… When Pastor Ray said what I’d be doing he said “ Rosel’s our arts teacher and will be assisting in years 2 and 6.” That was news to me, I thought I was only assisting. Here’s what happened. The above mentioned head teacher, Debbie, is currently on mat. leave in the UK. So Irene, the year two teacher is presently the interim head teacher. So a few weeks ago when Irene came over before going home to Kenya for two weeks, she asked me if I would be willing to help her with art. I said sure. Well, I guess she had in mind “helping her” was, as in taking the arts position; only I thought “helping her” was doing year 2 art, at least partially with her together, since I’m already in that class. So I’m teaching years 2 - 6 art, with each lesson being 70 minutes long. Each grade has art once a week. Amanda, I’m so grateful for your files that you left - they are a huge help. For you non- Calvary people, Amanda was here last school year and taught art and sports. You know what the cool part is???!!! God prepared me for this. A few days before we left Manitoba, I went and bought more art supplies than I had already purchased up to that point to take with us, presumably for the New Hope and CRIB kids. I just saw myself doing art with kids, and here’s how our awesome Father orchestrated it all. Isn’t that sweet??!! Later I told Pastor Ray about the surprise, which he found humorous as well.
I think perhaps Irene was a little over zealous today; she asked me if I would be willing to teach sports (gym) as well. I told her I’d pray about it, but I don’t have peace about that, as all sports are done outside (no gymnasium), and I’m already struggling with walking to and from school every day in the sun. ( in case you didn’t read in a previous blog, I have what my Dr. calls a near allergy to the sun.)
Speaking of the sun, it’s generally a few degrees hotter now already than when we came a month ago. Because we’re so close to Lake Tanganyika, we get a pretty strong wind off the lake mid day, exactly when we’re walking home from school. It’s a challenge to control my umbrella against the wind as our tired and sweaty bodies trudge the mile plus home. Rainy season is around the corner when the temperature really rises!! We’ve been told a few times, you can almost set your clock to the rain. It comes at noon, and often again at four in the afternoon. Immediately following the rain, the sun is out, and steam rises from the ground.
Isaac’s gecko hunting again.
Sending our love and blessings to you all - our team.
Isaac, Rosel and Colton
Gecko’s, gecko’s, gecko’s!!! Wow, are there ever many gecko’s. Last week one evening we had the group from England over and exactly that night the gecko’s decided to come out in droves. One of the team members is a zoo keeper, so he didn’t mind trying to herd them out the door, but they’re awfully fast, and the ceiling is really high ( they prefer walls and ceilings), so this can be a funny sight - man versus gecko. It doesn’t help that there is about a 1 inch gap between the door and floor; once Isaac has tools, we can hopefully rectify this problem. Ladies, how would you like to share your bedroom with elusive critters like this. It’s a good thing we’re tired from the day’s activities; we sleep soundly apart from the noises that are so much a part of the night here.
We live smack across from a large Catholic church, and the churches here are mostly open on the sides to allow for much, much needed air flow. This means that the singing is heard from far away, never mind across the street, with a bedroom window facing the church, as ours does. They have nightly services, but the Sunday 6:00 A.M. service really is a challenge. They sing beautifully, albeit to/about Mary, but on a morning that we don’t have to be at school at 7:00 A.M?!!? I’ve wondered from the beginning, how can they sing so enthusiastically when many of them worship a dead woman? Yes, I know there are born again Christians in the Catholic faith, but when you hear former Catholics talk about going to the front of the church to kneel before a statue of Mary, and the only word in a song that you know as it filters through your window is “Maria, Maria,” you can’t help but wonder. Can you imagine the wonderful worship that would greet our ears at 6:00 A.M. if they worshipped the living Lord Jesus!!!???
This last Sunday we went to a different church than Jabe. We met a pastor - Andy Kennedy - through Everiste a few weeks ago who was here from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania for 3 months, scoping out what their ministry could do in Burundi. Through Andy we met Chris, a dynamite Christian guy that’s becoming a good friend. Chris invited us to his church as Andy was preaching. It was so nice to not have to strain your ears to hear the translation of the message through not great ear phones. The message was on grace - grace that is un-earned and un-deserved, but so real. Chris has a French website where he posts a new sermon 6 days a week. He has listeners in over 80 countries.
So I had a surprise this week. I started work at school, with this week just preparing the classrooms and resources etc. After staff devotions led by Pastor Ray we were all introduced, where people are from etc. (Andrew and Kristine Astington are from the UK, however they were teaching in Saudi Arabia for the last six years. They’ve both taught for many years, Kristine’s starting her 42nd year. I am going to be an assistant in her year 6 class part of the time. Anni-Mette is from Denmark, she’s here till February, Kristy Jones is from Arizona, there’s 2 guys from Canada coming on Sunday, Debbie, the head teacher for Primary is from the UK; the rest of the teachers are from various African countries.) So…. the surprise… When Pastor Ray said what I’d be doing he said “ Rosel’s our arts teacher and will be assisting in years 2 and 6.” That was news to me, I thought I was only assisting. Here’s what happened. The above mentioned head teacher, Debbie, is currently on mat. leave in the UK. So Irene, the year two teacher is presently the interim head teacher. So a few weeks ago when Irene came over before going home to Kenya for two weeks, she asked me if I would be willing to help her with art. I said sure. Well, I guess she had in mind “helping her” was, as in taking the arts position; only I thought “helping her” was doing year 2 art, at least partially with her together, since I’m already in that class. So I’m teaching years 2 - 6 art, with each lesson being 70 minutes long. Each grade has art once a week. Amanda, I’m so grateful for your files that you left - they are a huge help. For you non- Calvary people, Amanda was here last school year and taught art and sports. You know what the cool part is???!!! God prepared me for this. A few days before we left Manitoba, I went and bought more art supplies than I had already purchased up to that point to take with us, presumably for the New Hope and CRIB kids. I just saw myself doing art with kids, and here’s how our awesome Father orchestrated it all. Isn’t that sweet??!! Later I told Pastor Ray about the surprise, which he found humorous as well.
I think perhaps Irene was a little over zealous today; she asked me if I would be willing to teach sports (gym) as well. I told her I’d pray about it, but I don’t have peace about that, as all sports are done outside (no gymnasium), and I’m already struggling with walking to and from school every day in the sun. ( in case you didn’t read in a previous blog, I have what my Dr. calls a near allergy to the sun.)
Speaking of the sun, it’s generally a few degrees hotter now already than when we came a month ago. Because we’re so close to Lake Tanganyika, we get a pretty strong wind off the lake mid day, exactly when we’re walking home from school. It’s a challenge to control my umbrella against the wind as our tired and sweaty bodies trudge the mile plus home. Rainy season is around the corner when the temperature really rises!! We’ve been told a few times, you can almost set your clock to the rain. It comes at noon, and often again at four in the afternoon. Immediately following the rain, the sun is out, and steam rises from the ground.
Isaac’s gecko hunting again.
Sending our love and blessings to you all - our team.
Isaac, Rosel and Colton
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