Long over due again.
We had three wonderful friends from Canada visit us for 10 days. Marvin and Rachael, together with Andrea were a breath of fresh air. We love you guys!!
So, part 2 of the Crusade:
The church wasn’t nearly big enough to hold everyone, so the event was held outside which proved to be problematic at times due to short but intense rains. We were under a canopy of tarps and palm branches resting on bamboo sticks. The edge of the mountain was about 20 feet from where we sat. The view was beautiful; there was a deep valley/ravine separating us from other majestic mountains - real mountains, like in B.C., not just ’wannabe’ mountains. (Mind you, all Burundi mountains are the real kind of mountains.)
People had walked/hiked from a distance of up to 15 km. from all directions. First introductions where made - the visiting team as well as all the local pastors representing their churches.
Eddy, who is Honda’s administrator did most of the interpreting for us, and time and again he said how the various choirs were singing songs of condemnation. He said this is very common in rural churches, where worship is often not worship, but judging. The choirs can sing beautifully, and often times are very, almost painfully long winded. They always have synchronized movements throughout the entire song - often times quite funny to watch. Whether it was mixed adult or childrens’ choirs, babies were on the backs of the choir members, bobbing back and forth. The ground was saturated from the rains, and so all the dancing was on slimmy, red mud. Most are bare foot anyway, no need to worry about their expensive Lacoste or Adidas getting ruined.
Many, many responded to the alter calls, and the angels in heaven rejoiced!!
Isaac spoke on the Holy Spirit, and I spoke about who we are in Christ Jesus according to Eph.1:3-14. In the evenings people were able to watch ‘Pilgrim’s Progress” and another Christian movie. The first evening Honda figured there were close to 1500 people, the second night there were more. They stretched out a white sheet on tall branches, thus enabling viewers on both sides.
The second night after preaching, Isaac very suddenly felt very sick. We had just entered the church to have supper, and Isaac knew he needed to get out - now!! We excused ourselves in the nick of time. After vomiting a few times he was completely well again. We fully believe this was a spiritual attack, as Isaac had previously felt a heaviness and darkness in his spirit. But praise be to Jesus - He who is in us is more powerful than he who is in the world!!!
I know I’ve written very little of the spiritual things, but really, when Jesus sets free the captives, that’s the bottom line. We were blessed beyond measure by being able to pray for, encourage and walk along side a beautiful people.
Isaac, Colton and I were all changed on that mountain.
Our dear friend Alli, the one that runs the sewing/mechanic project with ex-prostitutes and child soldiers, has a guy working for her by the name of Deo. Deo is her “right-hand-man” at the project; he’s an extremely soft spoken, gentle spirited father of six. He had malignant cancer from 2002 - 2004, with a huge visible lump on the side of his throat. He was hospitalized, and the doctors gave him just a little while to live. However, God told him that he was healed, and so Deo would tell people this, all the while having this lump on his throat. Well, Jesus completely healed him, and that was 6 years ago!!!
Deo’s wife, Divine, age 30 (Mama Queen - oldest daughter’s name is Queen), was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago; it is now all over her body. She is very sick, and in need of prayer. The way things work out here is if you have someone working for you, you are responsible for the medical bills that the employee and his family accrue. Well, needless to say, the bills are stacking up, and Alli is left almost by herself to pay for them.
Burundi does not have any kind of cancer treatment, so before Christmas Deo and Divine took a bus to Kampala, Uganda 6 times for chemo. Alli said it’s not a pleasant ride at the best of times, never mind when you’re so sick. Hospitalization in a government facility is not expensive by our standards - not even $10.00 per night, but this does not include any medicines, painkillers, tests, nothing. Also, hospitals do not feed the patients, so all food has to be brought in by family/friends. The custom here is that there are many people with the sick almost constantly, so these people also have to be fed. So for the most part, Alli is feeding 5 - 6 people daily on top of all the medical bills. We have come to know and love Deo and Divine, and have been so blessed by them.
If Jesus prompts you to help out with the bills, please email us at: ircfroese@gmail.com
Blessings!!!
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Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Bubanza Crusade - Part 1
The crusade - wow!!!
First and foremost, many people accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour - PTL!!!!!
We left on Friday at 10:00 A.M. Destination - Kenenga, Bubanza province, a short 40 kilometers from where I sit; duration of travel - 4 hours. Some events/things that laboured our travels:
The last 10 km. is what took about three and a half hrs.
You cannot call what we travelled on a road by any means; at best it was a path that is used by motor bikes, which is almost the only type of traffic they see in these parts, and not many of these even. The path was sopping wet due to heavy rains; the soil is red and when it’s wet, it’s almost like a skating rink. We’re inching our way up the side of a mountain, and a number of times, in the blink of an eye, the 4 wheel drive would slide a few feet to the side. The edge - the steep, free fall, 100’s of feet to the bottom - that edge, is only about 2-3 feet from the tires in many places, and praise Jesus that we didn’t slide sideways in those spots……. Many times Honda’s boys had to push the vehicles for long distances. The truck hauling the African drums/ sound equipment etc. blew a tire, but as it has duals in the back we continued on our way (and back home), without changing it; one of the rental vans ran out of gas (thank goodness that Honda packed gerry cans of gas for the generator); you’d think the driver that came with the van rental would fill up, eh!? The other van’s door all of a sudden gave out and the guys would enter and exit through the windows, which was frequent due to having to push again.
After some time the van drivers decided they weren’t going any further, but the one guy was swayed by an offer of more money. After a while though, he’d had enough and did go back after all, which meant that about 25 people now had to walk the remainder of the way.
We drove through a flooded rice field, over a few bridges that were…. African, very, very African! Yikes!!!! We were 7 in the cab, sharing our space with our luggage. As a vehicle hardly ever comes to these parts there were several people, well, actually ten of them that decided to take advantage of motorized power versus muscle power. They just jump on, hang on and enjoy some loud banter amongst themselves, either over the cab of the jeep or through the windows. We had 4 people on the left running board, 3 on the right side and 3 on the back bumper as we made our way up the mountain. The fact that there were 3 mzungus in the vehicle made it even more memorable for our ‘outside’ passengers. In fact, once we reached our destination Honda was told that there had never before been a mzungu in the region.
In my previous blog I stated that it was Honda, Isaac, Colton and myself going. Well, we were a team of about 35 that went; many of them were Honda’s boys that he’s rescued off the streets. They are the ones that set up and operate all the sound equipment, lead worship, and they started drumming two months ago. They’re really good already. Only about a quarter of his boys came - he’s got sixty some guys. There are 6 boys from Sabe that are in the drumming group, and they came as well. Both of the leaders of the two boys homes, Aime and John came as well, as did Honda’s administrator, Eddy, as well as two pastors - assistant and youth from Iglise Vivant. So, after an adventurous trip, we arrived at the church. The guys started setting up straight away as we were late in arriving. We were escorted to the place where we would be staying, about a km. further up the road. We stayed at a couples house - he’s a pastor/head teacher, she’s the leader of the ladies ministry, and they were probably the wealthiest people by far in the area, judging by their house. Even as such, they had almost nothing. Our bedroom was about 6 1/2 feet squared; all three of us shared this narrow little straw mat with our 2 narrow ½ inch thick camp mats on top. Honda shared a bedroom with three others, and three were in the entrance/sitting room on the dirt floor/straw mat.
To brush our teeth (amongst the banana and papaya trees), in the morning we got a cup of brown, dirty rain water that we watched them collect the night before in a wooden trough fashioned out of a hollowed out log. For our shower, we were shown to a tiny, perhaps 3 feet squared ‘room’ with the walls that were about 4 ½ feet high, mud floor that had a few pieces of broken concrete put on it. No drain, just holes at the bottom of the wall for drainage. It was connected to the outside of a neighbours’ house, and they must have been cooking because there was thick smoke pouring into the shower the one morning I was in there from the adjoining wall, as the house wall has a big gap between the wall and tin roof. The second morning I shared the shower with a chicken that came in under the piece of material that served as the door. I stopped and stared, motionless, at the chicken; after some time it stopped pecking and lost interest in the shower. The material was about 1 ½ feet from the bottom, which was risky business, seeing that you had to kneel down to access the few inches of water in a bowl.
Breakfast was a cup of weak tea and a pc. of bread.
Why do I share so much detail? To make you realize the incredible level of luxury you live in. You need to know that these people would almost give the shirt off their backs for us - literally; they sacrificed hugely to accommodate the 10 of us. To say the least, hospitality has never been my strong point; these people, even in their poverty offered everything graciously, selflessly, lovingly.
Next time I’ll write about the crusade part, but in the meantime, may I challenge you to really think about the life you’re enjoying with all the conveniences/blessings etc.? I’m seriously not wanting you to go on a guilt trip about your financial status compared to what these people have, but are you living the life that God purposed you to live when He put you where you are? Are you distracted by materialism, education, career, etc.…. Only God knows why you were born where you were, and not on that mountain. Make your life count for the kingdom of God.
And for the record, I miss the blessings/conveniences of our home in Canada. I often pray: “ Less of me Jesus, more of You.”
First and foremost, many people accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour - PTL!!!!!
We left on Friday at 10:00 A.M. Destination - Kenenga, Bubanza province, a short 40 kilometers from where I sit; duration of travel - 4 hours. Some events/things that laboured our travels:
The last 10 km. is what took about three and a half hrs.
You cannot call what we travelled on a road by any means; at best it was a path that is used by motor bikes, which is almost the only type of traffic they see in these parts, and not many of these even. The path was sopping wet due to heavy rains; the soil is red and when it’s wet, it’s almost like a skating rink. We’re inching our way up the side of a mountain, and a number of times, in the blink of an eye, the 4 wheel drive would slide a few feet to the side. The edge - the steep, free fall, 100’s of feet to the bottom - that edge, is only about 2-3 feet from the tires in many places, and praise Jesus that we didn’t slide sideways in those spots……. Many times Honda’s boys had to push the vehicles for long distances. The truck hauling the African drums/ sound equipment etc. blew a tire, but as it has duals in the back we continued on our way (and back home), without changing it; one of the rental vans ran out of gas (thank goodness that Honda packed gerry cans of gas for the generator); you’d think the driver that came with the van rental would fill up, eh!? The other van’s door all of a sudden gave out and the guys would enter and exit through the windows, which was frequent due to having to push again.
After some time the van drivers decided they weren’t going any further, but the one guy was swayed by an offer of more money. After a while though, he’d had enough and did go back after all, which meant that about 25 people now had to walk the remainder of the way.
We drove through a flooded rice field, over a few bridges that were…. African, very, very African! Yikes!!!! We were 7 in the cab, sharing our space with our luggage. As a vehicle hardly ever comes to these parts there were several people, well, actually ten of them that decided to take advantage of motorized power versus muscle power. They just jump on, hang on and enjoy some loud banter amongst themselves, either over the cab of the jeep or through the windows. We had 4 people on the left running board, 3 on the right side and 3 on the back bumper as we made our way up the mountain. The fact that there were 3 mzungus in the vehicle made it even more memorable for our ‘outside’ passengers. In fact, once we reached our destination Honda was told that there had never before been a mzungu in the region.
In my previous blog I stated that it was Honda, Isaac, Colton and myself going. Well, we were a team of about 35 that went; many of them were Honda’s boys that he’s rescued off the streets. They are the ones that set up and operate all the sound equipment, lead worship, and they started drumming two months ago. They’re really good already. Only about a quarter of his boys came - he’s got sixty some guys. There are 6 boys from Sabe that are in the drumming group, and they came as well. Both of the leaders of the two boys homes, Aime and John came as well, as did Honda’s administrator, Eddy, as well as two pastors - assistant and youth from Iglise Vivant. So, after an adventurous trip, we arrived at the church. The guys started setting up straight away as we were late in arriving. We were escorted to the place where we would be staying, about a km. further up the road. We stayed at a couples house - he’s a pastor/head teacher, she’s the leader of the ladies ministry, and they were probably the wealthiest people by far in the area, judging by their house. Even as such, they had almost nothing. Our bedroom was about 6 1/2 feet squared; all three of us shared this narrow little straw mat with our 2 narrow ½ inch thick camp mats on top. Honda shared a bedroom with three others, and three were in the entrance/sitting room on the dirt floor/straw mat.
To brush our teeth (amongst the banana and papaya trees), in the morning we got a cup of brown, dirty rain water that we watched them collect the night before in a wooden trough fashioned out of a hollowed out log. For our shower, we were shown to a tiny, perhaps 3 feet squared ‘room’ with the walls that were about 4 ½ feet high, mud floor that had a few pieces of broken concrete put on it. No drain, just holes at the bottom of the wall for drainage. It was connected to the outside of a neighbours’ house, and they must have been cooking because there was thick smoke pouring into the shower the one morning I was in there from the adjoining wall, as the house wall has a big gap between the wall and tin roof. The second morning I shared the shower with a chicken that came in under the piece of material that served as the door. I stopped and stared, motionless, at the chicken; after some time it stopped pecking and lost interest in the shower. The material was about 1 ½ feet from the bottom, which was risky business, seeing that you had to kneel down to access the few inches of water in a bowl.
Breakfast was a cup of weak tea and a pc. of bread.
Why do I share so much detail? To make you realize the incredible level of luxury you live in. You need to know that these people would almost give the shirt off their backs for us - literally; they sacrificed hugely to accommodate the 10 of us. To say the least, hospitality has never been my strong point; these people, even in their poverty offered everything graciously, selflessly, lovingly.
Next time I’ll write about the crusade part, but in the meantime, may I challenge you to really think about the life you’re enjoying with all the conveniences/blessings etc.? I’m seriously not wanting you to go on a guilt trip about your financial status compared to what these people have, but are you living the life that God purposed you to live when He put you where you are? Are you distracted by materialism, education, career, etc.…. Only God knows why you were born where you were, and not on that mountain. Make your life count for the kingdom of God.
And for the record, I miss the blessings/conveniences of our home in Canada. I often pray: “ Less of me Jesus, more of You.”
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Up Country Crusade
April 23 2010
Hi again; I know, three blogs in a week, what’s going on!!??
An update on the CRIB kids with Malaria:
The 5 kids that have it are:
1. Kwizera - 80% - at home, seemingly not much improvement yet
2. Francois - 80% - hospital, much, much better today than when we visited him two days ago
3. Clavier - 50% - same as Francois
4. Claude - 70% - at home, improving
5. Jacob - 70% - wasn’t responding well to meds. at home, so he was admitted to hospital last night; looked better already today.
Keep praying for them please.
Honda has invited Isaac and myself to preach at a crusade that he is organizing for up-country for Friday, April 30 - Sunday, May 1. Previous years there’s been about a thousand people in attendance. One evening “The Jesus Film” is being shown. On top of preaching two times (with a translator), we are likely to be involved in personal prayer ministry. We are very pumped about this weekend and can hardly wait to see how the Lord is going to advance His kingdom.
We will be in a very poor area; showers, if any, out of a bowl, behind some palm leaves. Bed - on the ground, with a straw “beach” mat is what will be provided, but praise Jesus, the day before we left Canada I was getting a few last minute necessities at Superstore, and I for some reason (thank you Jesus) bought 3 thin camping mats that are a scant 1/2 of an inch thick, so that will be luxury compared to just the straw mat.
This year Honda wants to try and drive further than previous years so the hike up the mountain to reach our destination isn’t so long and strenuous. It’s in a very remote area, so to carry all the gear up is quite taxing; this includes a heavy generator to power the mics. and movie projector gear. We will also be bringing basic things like soap that will be given away. Thankfully, the sponsoring church sends guys down the mountain to meet us to carry the brunt of the load. Honda said last year a guy carried the generator on his head, whereas normally it takes two people to carry it!!
Please pray for Honda, Isaac, Colton and myself for a rich anointing, empowerment of the Word. Pray that the people will come hungry and expecting to meet with the Lord in a very intimate way. Pray for protection, both in transport and from the transference of evil, especially in personal prayer times, This is Africa, and as you probably know, witchcraft and occultism run many generations deep in many people. Just this past Sunday afternoon at a function in church we witnessed two women get delivered from the clutches of Satan. It took four people, three of which were men, to restrain one women. Please pray that the Lord will give us wisdom, insight, knowledge, understanding, discernment, an increase in faith, perseverance in prayer……
…….energy, good restful sleeps, tolerance of the food - I tend to lose my appetite once I start chewing on rocks or sand left in the beans; Isaac and Colton can generally resume eating after picking the extra roughage out. Some of the African cuisine is pretty awful. Seriously!! Sombe is very common - a cooked, mushy, deep green dish which tastes like what I imagine fermented silage/grass clippings to taste like. Tiny fish with heads intact - bulging eyes and all, the infamous bugali - the maize type is not bad, almost entirely void of taste actually; it’s basically just mass to fill an empty stomach. However, the cassava bugali is awful - texture, taste…. Ugghh!!! And we’re not very picky eaters. Honestly!! And thankfully!!
April 26
So… an accurate update, straight from Debbie the head teacher, on the school riots.
The group that came to Primary was much bigger than I said earlier; there were in fact about 500 secondary kids in that group. And they weren’t overly concerned about Primary, since it only goes to year 6. They’ve been out of school now for two months, and things seem to be at a stand still. The possibility of all the grades having to be repeated next year is looming very real on the horizon. Please continue to pray that this issue will be resolved in a peaceful manner.
Our internet connection, or lack thereof, is very problematic as of late. I go on Facebook for a bit when I go online to see what’s happening in our friends’/families’ lives, and once I try to email the connection usually cuts off. The norm lately is that it automatically disconnects every few minutes, which is so time consuming with the system that we have here, to constantly log back on. This is very frustrating - please pray for better internet connections.
We thank you for your support in prayer.
April 27
As long as I can’t post this blog because of internet issues, I’ll just continue it.
All the CRIB kids are well on their way to recovery from malaria; everyone’s out of hospital, one’s back at school already, the rest are just basically regaining their strength. Malaria takes a lot out of a person. Thank you so much for your prayers for these kids. Love and blessings to you, our family and friends.
Hi again; I know, three blogs in a week, what’s going on!!??
An update on the CRIB kids with Malaria:
The 5 kids that have it are:
1. Kwizera - 80% - at home, seemingly not much improvement yet
2. Francois - 80% - hospital, much, much better today than when we visited him two days ago
3. Clavier - 50% - same as Francois
4. Claude - 70% - at home, improving
5. Jacob - 70% - wasn’t responding well to meds. at home, so he was admitted to hospital last night; looked better already today.
Keep praying for them please.
Honda has invited Isaac and myself to preach at a crusade that he is organizing for up-country for Friday, April 30 - Sunday, May 1. Previous years there’s been about a thousand people in attendance. One evening “The Jesus Film” is being shown. On top of preaching two times (with a translator), we are likely to be involved in personal prayer ministry. We are very pumped about this weekend and can hardly wait to see how the Lord is going to advance His kingdom.
We will be in a very poor area; showers, if any, out of a bowl, behind some palm leaves. Bed - on the ground, with a straw “beach” mat is what will be provided, but praise Jesus, the day before we left Canada I was getting a few last minute necessities at Superstore, and I for some reason (thank you Jesus) bought 3 thin camping mats that are a scant 1/2 of an inch thick, so that will be luxury compared to just the straw mat.
This year Honda wants to try and drive further than previous years so the hike up the mountain to reach our destination isn’t so long and strenuous. It’s in a very remote area, so to carry all the gear up is quite taxing; this includes a heavy generator to power the mics. and movie projector gear. We will also be bringing basic things like soap that will be given away. Thankfully, the sponsoring church sends guys down the mountain to meet us to carry the brunt of the load. Honda said last year a guy carried the generator on his head, whereas normally it takes two people to carry it!!
Please pray for Honda, Isaac, Colton and myself for a rich anointing, empowerment of the Word. Pray that the people will come hungry and expecting to meet with the Lord in a very intimate way. Pray for protection, both in transport and from the transference of evil, especially in personal prayer times, This is Africa, and as you probably know, witchcraft and occultism run many generations deep in many people. Just this past Sunday afternoon at a function in church we witnessed two women get delivered from the clutches of Satan. It took four people, three of which were men, to restrain one women. Please pray that the Lord will give us wisdom, insight, knowledge, understanding, discernment, an increase in faith, perseverance in prayer……
…….energy, good restful sleeps, tolerance of the food - I tend to lose my appetite once I start chewing on rocks or sand left in the beans; Isaac and Colton can generally resume eating after picking the extra roughage out. Some of the African cuisine is pretty awful. Seriously!! Sombe is very common - a cooked, mushy, deep green dish which tastes like what I imagine fermented silage/grass clippings to taste like. Tiny fish with heads intact - bulging eyes and all, the infamous bugali - the maize type is not bad, almost entirely void of taste actually; it’s basically just mass to fill an empty stomach. However, the cassava bugali is awful - texture, taste…. Ugghh!!! And we’re not very picky eaters. Honestly!! And thankfully!!
April 26
So… an accurate update, straight from Debbie the head teacher, on the school riots.
The group that came to Primary was much bigger than I said earlier; there were in fact about 500 secondary kids in that group. And they weren’t overly concerned about Primary, since it only goes to year 6. They’ve been out of school now for two months, and things seem to be at a stand still. The possibility of all the grades having to be repeated next year is looming very real on the horizon. Please continue to pray that this issue will be resolved in a peaceful manner.
Our internet connection, or lack thereof, is very problematic as of late. I go on Facebook for a bit when I go online to see what’s happening in our friends’/families’ lives, and once I try to email the connection usually cuts off. The norm lately is that it automatically disconnects every few minutes, which is so time consuming with the system that we have here, to constantly log back on. This is very frustrating - please pray for better internet connections.
We thank you for your support in prayer.
April 27
As long as I can’t post this blog because of internet issues, I’ll just continue it.
All the CRIB kids are well on their way to recovery from malaria; everyone’s out of hospital, one’s back at school already, the rest are just basically regaining their strength. Malaria takes a lot out of a person. Thank you so much for your prayers for these kids. Love and blessings to you, our family and friends.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
School's Out!! Hooray.... NOT!!
School’s Out. Hooray…… NOT!!! April19
The King’s School Primary, where I spend my days, was almost under attack this morning. Here’s what happened, and I want to straight away add that I do not have all the details, but this is what I know.
The public school teachers have been on strike here for about a month, and it’s looking like this whole current year will be a write-off for students attending public schools - in other words, if a student is presently in year 9, they have to repeat it next year.
To protest, students from public schools decided to throw rocks into the grounds of private schools; the thinking behind this is that if they can’t continue with their education and with the next grade next year, than private school students shouldn’t have access to education. This was instigated by teachers, believe it or not!!
So this morning, with quite a bit of commotion on the way to our school, between 150 - 200 students arrived at the school with the intent of throwing rocks over the fence and gate. The gate and the fence that surround the school are approximately 7ish feet high. The nursery class is right beside the gate, and the teacher of that class informed Aime, who works in the office, of the goings on.
Together they went out (brave souls - leave it to Aime and Olive to do this) and Aime started talking to the group. He told them that there were students from other countries than just Burundi, and that if they would get hurt, it would be worse. Moreover, these were little kids he informed them. They also had intentions of damaging Aime’s car which was parked right there.
Well, praise Jesus, this deterred them from throwing rocks, only with the intent on going to the International school (private) which is close by. I don’t know what happened after this.
This is serious, as there has been death as a result of this kind of activity in Gitega, a city that’s up country. I don’t know how many students were killed.
I imagine there will be more info. forthcoming tomorrow, and I’ll keep you posted.
We need your prayers.
April 20
Soooo, I tried desperately to post the above yesterday, but was unable to…. Internet access issues that are very frustrating.
Today there was a very heavy police presence close to our school, as well as the International school.
Like Isaac said before, prevention is so much better than dealing with a potential aftermath.
I know of no fear amongst the children, in fact I don’t think many even know about yesterday’s incident; there’s no talk about it from students. However, the Secondary kids were concerned/scared that they might become a target. We know of one close friends’ friend that was hit by a rock yesterday at a different school.
The timing for this is awful as well - just 2 months before a very sensitive presidential election. So the political parties are having a real go, trying to manipulate and use the strike to their advantage.
The school board has informed the teacher’s that if they continue with this strike, they will not help/support the teachers for the next 5 years. I wonder what kind of ramifications that would bring with it.
We need your prayers for a peaceful resolution.
CRIB is “under attack” with malaria - 5 kids have it as of this afternoon, with a few additional alerts pending test results. Two children have an 80%, two 70%, another 50%. This is how they measure the severity of the illness, with 100% being very, very sick, and death is not uncommon. Two of the 5 are hospitalized; one of the 80% and the 50%. The way they determine if you need hospitalization is if you can keep the tablets down or not. If you can’t you’re admitted. Malaria is accompanied by high fever, and if you can’t keep anything down, there’s a real risk of dehydration. It’s really hard seeing the kids so sick. The one that is the sickest is also one of two that is by far the most difficult at home and at school, but seeing him today made all 3 of us realize how much we love the guy.
The previous 2 subjects are heavy - I don’t feel like continuing, but I will for the sake of bringing you more up to date in our lives; I’m already behind with this.
During the last week of the two week Easter break Colton was so blessed to be able to participate in a soccer ‘school’. Honda and Libby had organized a group of 8 professional soccer coaches from the UK to come and run this. This was intended for Honda’s 60 boys plus 40 others by invitation, but things turned out very differently, as they often do here.
What’s a bored school boy to do when there is no school and he sees others engaged in an obviously unusual training camp, run by 8 muzungus!!?? Join in, of course!! By the end of the week, they played a bit of soccer and the coaches were managing at times near chaotic activity. On Friday there were almost 400 players on the two pitches!! As Honda remarked, “it’s much easier to let them play than to try and keep them off the field, and that way they don’t steal the equipment on the sidelines.” The team from the UK brought in loads of balls that they gave away, as well as huge inflatable nets that they’ll probably use again next year when they return - yep, they already said that they will probably come back next year. This is a huge blessing.
Well, Dave and Lynn, one of our pastor couples from Calvary Chapel is still stranded in London as a result of Heathrow being shut down because of the debris in the UK airspace from the volcano eruption in Iceland. They spent 5 days in London/Paris on a planned holiday after they left here, but involuntarily that holiday is lengthened substantially. What a rough life eh, - to be stranded in London!!!!!
It was a huge blessing to have Dave and Lynn here; we laughed, we cried, we prayed, drove through many potholes, were very grateful for Maryanne’s spirit that accompanied us up country, (only Dave and Lynn will understand this) we had fun, heard some of Dave’s near death experiences, re-positioned the fans in front of them yet again - I’m not complaining in the least tiny bit, it was just funny how hot they were. Oh, and Lynn got Colton pining for one of those cool IPOD touch gadgets. And they brought us Werther’s Originals. And Cows - the caramel ones. And Lynn gave me her ‘original’ , ‘Apple’ travel coffee mug. Lynn, I’m still pumped about it.
Seriously, we are very blessed to have Calvary Chapel as our church family, and that they see the importance of a pastoral visit when you’re so far removed physically. The Lord really knit us together a lot more, and we are very grateful for the visit, and for a deeper relationship.
Enough for today. Happy Tuesday.
The King’s School Primary, where I spend my days, was almost under attack this morning. Here’s what happened, and I want to straight away add that I do not have all the details, but this is what I know.
The public school teachers have been on strike here for about a month, and it’s looking like this whole current year will be a write-off for students attending public schools - in other words, if a student is presently in year 9, they have to repeat it next year.
To protest, students from public schools decided to throw rocks into the grounds of private schools; the thinking behind this is that if they can’t continue with their education and with the next grade next year, than private school students shouldn’t have access to education. This was instigated by teachers, believe it or not!!
So this morning, with quite a bit of commotion on the way to our school, between 150 - 200 students arrived at the school with the intent of throwing rocks over the fence and gate. The gate and the fence that surround the school are approximately 7ish feet high. The nursery class is right beside the gate, and the teacher of that class informed Aime, who works in the office, of the goings on.
Together they went out (brave souls - leave it to Aime and Olive to do this) and Aime started talking to the group. He told them that there were students from other countries than just Burundi, and that if they would get hurt, it would be worse. Moreover, these were little kids he informed them. They also had intentions of damaging Aime’s car which was parked right there.
Well, praise Jesus, this deterred them from throwing rocks, only with the intent on going to the International school (private) which is close by. I don’t know what happened after this.
This is serious, as there has been death as a result of this kind of activity in Gitega, a city that’s up country. I don’t know how many students were killed.
I imagine there will be more info. forthcoming tomorrow, and I’ll keep you posted.
We need your prayers.
April 20
Soooo, I tried desperately to post the above yesterday, but was unable to…. Internet access issues that are very frustrating.
Today there was a very heavy police presence close to our school, as well as the International school.
Like Isaac said before, prevention is so much better than dealing with a potential aftermath.
I know of no fear amongst the children, in fact I don’t think many even know about yesterday’s incident; there’s no talk about it from students. However, the Secondary kids were concerned/scared that they might become a target. We know of one close friends’ friend that was hit by a rock yesterday at a different school.
The timing for this is awful as well - just 2 months before a very sensitive presidential election. So the political parties are having a real go, trying to manipulate and use the strike to their advantage.
The school board has informed the teacher’s that if they continue with this strike, they will not help/support the teachers for the next 5 years. I wonder what kind of ramifications that would bring with it.
We need your prayers for a peaceful resolution.
CRIB is “under attack” with malaria - 5 kids have it as of this afternoon, with a few additional alerts pending test results. Two children have an 80%, two 70%, another 50%. This is how they measure the severity of the illness, with 100% being very, very sick, and death is not uncommon. Two of the 5 are hospitalized; one of the 80% and the 50%. The way they determine if you need hospitalization is if you can keep the tablets down or not. If you can’t you’re admitted. Malaria is accompanied by high fever, and if you can’t keep anything down, there’s a real risk of dehydration. It’s really hard seeing the kids so sick. The one that is the sickest is also one of two that is by far the most difficult at home and at school, but seeing him today made all 3 of us realize how much we love the guy.
The previous 2 subjects are heavy - I don’t feel like continuing, but I will for the sake of bringing you more up to date in our lives; I’m already behind with this.
During the last week of the two week Easter break Colton was so blessed to be able to participate in a soccer ‘school’. Honda and Libby had organized a group of 8 professional soccer coaches from the UK to come and run this. This was intended for Honda’s 60 boys plus 40 others by invitation, but things turned out very differently, as they often do here.
What’s a bored school boy to do when there is no school and he sees others engaged in an obviously unusual training camp, run by 8 muzungus!!?? Join in, of course!! By the end of the week, they played a bit of soccer and the coaches were managing at times near chaotic activity. On Friday there were almost 400 players on the two pitches!! As Honda remarked, “it’s much easier to let them play than to try and keep them off the field, and that way they don’t steal the equipment on the sidelines.” The team from the UK brought in loads of balls that they gave away, as well as huge inflatable nets that they’ll probably use again next year when they return - yep, they already said that they will probably come back next year. This is a huge blessing.
Well, Dave and Lynn, one of our pastor couples from Calvary Chapel is still stranded in London as a result of Heathrow being shut down because of the debris in the UK airspace from the volcano eruption in Iceland. They spent 5 days in London/Paris on a planned holiday after they left here, but involuntarily that holiday is lengthened substantially. What a rough life eh, - to be stranded in London!!!!!
It was a huge blessing to have Dave and Lynn here; we laughed, we cried, we prayed, drove through many potholes, were very grateful for Maryanne’s spirit that accompanied us up country, (only Dave and Lynn will understand this) we had fun, heard some of Dave’s near death experiences, re-positioned the fans in front of them yet again - I’m not complaining in the least tiny bit, it was just funny how hot they were. Oh, and Lynn got Colton pining for one of those cool IPOD touch gadgets. And they brought us Werther’s Originals. And Cows - the caramel ones. And Lynn gave me her ‘original’ , ‘Apple’ travel coffee mug. Lynn, I’m still pumped about it.
Seriously, we are very blessed to have Calvary Chapel as our church family, and that they see the importance of a pastoral visit when you’re so far removed physically. The Lord really knit us together a lot more, and we are very grateful for the visit, and for a deeper relationship.
Enough for today. Happy Tuesday.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Increase my Faith Jesus
So go back to the Sunday that Isaac, Colton and I watched the movie/documentary on George Muller (a few blogs ago), and once you’re there, you’re in the right time frame.
So on Sunday we watched the movie, and the Lord started talking to me about asking for that kind of faith.
The following day, Monday, our guard found an itty, bitty thing of a kitten next to our yard. He showed Colton, who brought it in.
Now you need to understand, I am so not a pet person - at all! They’re fine to look at, but quite frankly, they gross me out. It’s very important for you to remember that I don’t do pets, so that you’ll see that what transpired was a complete God thing.
When I saw this tiny kitten, which we ‘guesstimated’ to be about 1 ½ weeks old, I immediately felt compassion for it. It was meowing really loudly, clearly needing it’s mother. I went and got a tiny little plastic spoon and started spoon feeding the kitten. The poor thing sputtered, choked, and resisted. I wrapped it in a cloth so that it’s wild paws couldn’t hit the spoon and dump the milk. As it opened it’s mouth to meow, I’d empty the milk into it’s mouth. It was a long, slow process.
Well, it sort of seemed like we had a baby in the house all of a sudden; I had to feed it before school. In fact one day it made us a little late for staff devotions; I had to feed it upon returning from school, before bedtime, before going out, before…
Our domestic help vehemently declined to feed Belle the one time we asked him to. We’ve since found out that to an African a cat is akin to what a mouse is to us. I certainly wouldn’t dream of spoon feeding a mouse…
Isaac was saying that maybe we should (gulp) kill the kitten. Not to be mean or cold hearted or anything, but she was struggling with the feeding, she was far too young to be away from her mom, and that way she wouldn’t have to suffer. Now normally, it would be my nature to have agreed entirely with this suggestion. But not this time. You see, God was doing something in me with, or perhaps through this cat. I couldn’t put my finger on what, or how, but I just liked this little thing, and I had a very strong feeling that God was behind it. I told Isaac this numerous times when I’d be patiently feeding it, or if he would mention getting rid of it again.
I found myself talking to Belle - the name Colton gave her - and I’m thinking to myself, “what’s going on - I’m talking to a cat!!!”
She meowed a lot, and Colton, compassionate Colton, even got tired of it. The second day we had her he announced: “ Yesterday she was my kitten, today she’s our kitten, but I think tomorrow she’ll be your kitten.”
Well, that Wednesday, 2 days after Belle came, I prayed that prayer of wanting that huge, massive faith, and thinking about and wondering about all the ‘implications’ that could come with praying and receiving such a faith.
On Thursday, the next day, I was responding to, and writing emails in the evening. I don’t even turn our computer on nearly every day, so when I do, often there’s lots of stuff to tend to, and it ends up getting late. Isaac had gone to bed before me, and so when I finally finished my stuff at about 11:30, I was going to feed Belle, and hit it as well.
I got her wrapped in the cloth again, and I started to feed her. All of a sudden she died, right there in my hand!! I just stared at her. After some time I started to try and make her move - I held her up, moved her legs, her head, but nothing. She was as limp as a rag doll. After about three or four minutes, her little mouth opened and her tongue came out. Her eyes where still open, so I closed them. This was not good, how would I tell Colton… yes, he didn’t appreciate everything about her, but he wanted to see her grow and thrive.
All of a sudden, this strong feeling came over me and I laid my right hand on the tiny thing that I was still holding in my left hand, and I prayed; “Jesus, in Your name I ask You to raise this cat from the dead.” I removed my hand to look. Nothing. I repeated the same thing and looked again. Nothing.
At this point, two things rushed into my mind. One - Jesus said in Mt 14:12 “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” And two, the Holy Spirit lives in me, and as such, I have the power and authority to raise this cat from the dead in the name of Jesus Christ.
I laid hands on it again and said; “ In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to live.” I looked, nothing. I repeated the above. Nothing. I repeated it a few more times, to no avail. There was a little puddle on the floor, indicating that her bladder had relaxed. Well, I tried. But then the thought of putting the kitten in the big box that had been it’s home since Monday, and placing her outside and having to show Colton in the morning that she died didn’t appeal to me at all. This compelled me to start again.
And nothing happened after numerous times. I thought, “okay, that’s it, I tried and it didn’t work.” But right on the heels of that was this powerful thought; “persevere.”
And so I persevered. I kept repeating, “ In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to live.” And I’d look, expectantly. And repeat; and look; and repeat... By now a fair amount of time had passed - probably close to 10 minutes, but I continued.
All of a sudden, little Belle began to move!!! I could hardly believe it!!! I started praising the Lord as Belle came to life more and more. I was whooping it up, loudly, very conscious of the possibility of Juvinal, our guard coming to look in the window ensuring that all was well, but I didn’t care if he saw me having a party with the cat in my hands, praising and worshipping Jesus.
At one point I figured I’d go and tell Isaac what happened. With Belle in hand, I went to our bedroom and exclaimed, “ honey, wake up, Jesus just rose Belle from the dead!!”
Isaac, squinting, rolled over to face me and half propping himself up, he said; “oh man, why didn’t you just leave her dead?” and lay back down.
I said, “honey, Jesus just performed a miracle in my hands - he raised this cat back to life.” Needless to say, he wasn’t going to join the praise party, so I went back to the living room and continued on my own.
Little Belle was fine. I set her down, and she walked/pulled herself along as she had done before.
I was pumped beyond words! I saw, with my own eyes, the resurrecting power of Jesus Christ!!! My faith was soaring to new heights.
I excitedly related the previous evenings’ happenings to Isaac and Colton in the morning.
Colton told some of his friends at school, and they had started a debate. Some said, yes it was possible for Jesus to raise the dead, but not a cat; a dog maybe, but never a cat!! : )
Well, after supper that day, Colton was playing guitar on the couch, and I’m sitting beside him on the same chair where I always sat to feed Belle - the chair where Jesus performed the miracle the previous night. I’m feeding her, and all of a sudden, just like the night before, she died. I watched as the life drained out of her; Colton noticed something was going on, and he asked me if Belle was dead. He slid closer to me, and we just looked at her.
Of course, after what happened the night before the thought occurred to me, but there was no compulsion in me to pray over her this time. I just continued holding her, thinking of how much this kitten had come to mean to me, how the Lord had used her to increase my faith in Him. I sat there for about 45 minutes, reflecting on the last 5 days. Finally I handed her to Isaac, and I went and cried on our bed.
I’m talking to Jesus about my desire to see Him raise particularly non- Christians from the dead so that they can have an encounter with Him, and be spared living in hell for all eternity.
Two thoughts - 1. never dismiss God’s sovereignty in using anyone/anything, in teaching, molding, shaping His children, no matter how unlikely. 2. Like Colton’s classmates, do we doubt that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever, and that he still does radical miracles?
So on Sunday we watched the movie, and the Lord started talking to me about asking for that kind of faith.
The following day, Monday, our guard found an itty, bitty thing of a kitten next to our yard. He showed Colton, who brought it in.
Now you need to understand, I am so not a pet person - at all! They’re fine to look at, but quite frankly, they gross me out. It’s very important for you to remember that I don’t do pets, so that you’ll see that what transpired was a complete God thing.
When I saw this tiny kitten, which we ‘guesstimated’ to be about 1 ½ weeks old, I immediately felt compassion for it. It was meowing really loudly, clearly needing it’s mother. I went and got a tiny little plastic spoon and started spoon feeding the kitten. The poor thing sputtered, choked, and resisted. I wrapped it in a cloth so that it’s wild paws couldn’t hit the spoon and dump the milk. As it opened it’s mouth to meow, I’d empty the milk into it’s mouth. It was a long, slow process.
Well, it sort of seemed like we had a baby in the house all of a sudden; I had to feed it before school. In fact one day it made us a little late for staff devotions; I had to feed it upon returning from school, before bedtime, before going out, before…
Our domestic help vehemently declined to feed Belle the one time we asked him to. We’ve since found out that to an African a cat is akin to what a mouse is to us. I certainly wouldn’t dream of spoon feeding a mouse…
Isaac was saying that maybe we should (gulp) kill the kitten. Not to be mean or cold hearted or anything, but she was struggling with the feeding, she was far too young to be away from her mom, and that way she wouldn’t have to suffer. Now normally, it would be my nature to have agreed entirely with this suggestion. But not this time. You see, God was doing something in me with, or perhaps through this cat. I couldn’t put my finger on what, or how, but I just liked this little thing, and I had a very strong feeling that God was behind it. I told Isaac this numerous times when I’d be patiently feeding it, or if he would mention getting rid of it again.
I found myself talking to Belle - the name Colton gave her - and I’m thinking to myself, “what’s going on - I’m talking to a cat!!!”
She meowed a lot, and Colton, compassionate Colton, even got tired of it. The second day we had her he announced: “ Yesterday she was my kitten, today she’s our kitten, but I think tomorrow she’ll be your kitten.”
Well, that Wednesday, 2 days after Belle came, I prayed that prayer of wanting that huge, massive faith, and thinking about and wondering about all the ‘implications’ that could come with praying and receiving such a faith.
On Thursday, the next day, I was responding to, and writing emails in the evening. I don’t even turn our computer on nearly every day, so when I do, often there’s lots of stuff to tend to, and it ends up getting late. Isaac had gone to bed before me, and so when I finally finished my stuff at about 11:30, I was going to feed Belle, and hit it as well.
I got her wrapped in the cloth again, and I started to feed her. All of a sudden she died, right there in my hand!! I just stared at her. After some time I started to try and make her move - I held her up, moved her legs, her head, but nothing. She was as limp as a rag doll. After about three or four minutes, her little mouth opened and her tongue came out. Her eyes where still open, so I closed them. This was not good, how would I tell Colton… yes, he didn’t appreciate everything about her, but he wanted to see her grow and thrive.
All of a sudden, this strong feeling came over me and I laid my right hand on the tiny thing that I was still holding in my left hand, and I prayed; “Jesus, in Your name I ask You to raise this cat from the dead.” I removed my hand to look. Nothing. I repeated the same thing and looked again. Nothing.
At this point, two things rushed into my mind. One - Jesus said in Mt 14:12 “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” And two, the Holy Spirit lives in me, and as such, I have the power and authority to raise this cat from the dead in the name of Jesus Christ.
I laid hands on it again and said; “ In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to live.” I looked, nothing. I repeated the above. Nothing. I repeated it a few more times, to no avail. There was a little puddle on the floor, indicating that her bladder had relaxed. Well, I tried. But then the thought of putting the kitten in the big box that had been it’s home since Monday, and placing her outside and having to show Colton in the morning that she died didn’t appeal to me at all. This compelled me to start again.
And nothing happened after numerous times. I thought, “okay, that’s it, I tried and it didn’t work.” But right on the heels of that was this powerful thought; “persevere.”
And so I persevered. I kept repeating, “ In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to live.” And I’d look, expectantly. And repeat; and look; and repeat... By now a fair amount of time had passed - probably close to 10 minutes, but I continued.
All of a sudden, little Belle began to move!!! I could hardly believe it!!! I started praising the Lord as Belle came to life more and more. I was whooping it up, loudly, very conscious of the possibility of Juvinal, our guard coming to look in the window ensuring that all was well, but I didn’t care if he saw me having a party with the cat in my hands, praising and worshipping Jesus.
At one point I figured I’d go and tell Isaac what happened. With Belle in hand, I went to our bedroom and exclaimed, “ honey, wake up, Jesus just rose Belle from the dead!!”
Isaac, squinting, rolled over to face me and half propping himself up, he said; “oh man, why didn’t you just leave her dead?” and lay back down.
I said, “honey, Jesus just performed a miracle in my hands - he raised this cat back to life.” Needless to say, he wasn’t going to join the praise party, so I went back to the living room and continued on my own.
Little Belle was fine. I set her down, and she walked/pulled herself along as she had done before.
I was pumped beyond words! I saw, with my own eyes, the resurrecting power of Jesus Christ!!! My faith was soaring to new heights.
I excitedly related the previous evenings’ happenings to Isaac and Colton in the morning.
Colton told some of his friends at school, and they had started a debate. Some said, yes it was possible for Jesus to raise the dead, but not a cat; a dog maybe, but never a cat!! : )
Well, after supper that day, Colton was playing guitar on the couch, and I’m sitting beside him on the same chair where I always sat to feed Belle - the chair where Jesus performed the miracle the previous night. I’m feeding her, and all of a sudden, just like the night before, she died. I watched as the life drained out of her; Colton noticed something was going on, and he asked me if Belle was dead. He slid closer to me, and we just looked at her.
Of course, after what happened the night before the thought occurred to me, but there was no compulsion in me to pray over her this time. I just continued holding her, thinking of how much this kitten had come to mean to me, how the Lord had used her to increase my faith in Him. I sat there for about 45 minutes, reflecting on the last 5 days. Finally I handed her to Isaac, and I went and cried on our bed.
I’m talking to Jesus about my desire to see Him raise particularly non- Christians from the dead so that they can have an encounter with Him, and be spared living in hell for all eternity.
Two thoughts - 1. never dismiss God’s sovereignty in using anyone/anything, in teaching, molding, shaping His children, no matter how unlikely. 2. Like Colton’s classmates, do we doubt that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever, and that he still does radical miracles?
Monday, April 5, 2010
Another Peek Into Our Lives
Some very long over due updates…
Sabe Village… that awful, wonderful place.
Part of our hearts are here - how can they not be when we’ve seen them so vulnerable, desperate, destitute!?
Life is back to “normal” here; the flood waters have long receded, and it’s back to survival mode. Some hire themselves out for whatever they can find for what ever amount of time, just to fill their tummies; others are back to prostitution, still others are thieving again.
It’s a hard place; the hopelessness, despair… the empty look in some of the eyes…
It’s a wonderful place… the resiliency of children and their delight in the tiniest of things, their sheer delight in a little ‘extra”, their inquisitive looks at these muzungus and the enthrallment of the white skin that they touch very gingerly, as if they might wipe it off if they touch it too hard.
Thank you so much for all you who have and are praying; please don’t stop. And thank you so much to everyone of you who put wings on your prayers and physically made an immediate difference in the lives of these people by responding to previous blogs asking you to consider making donations. May God richly bless you.
On that note, we just want to again say a very sincere thank you to every one of you that support us with your prayers and with finances. Without your help, without your response to God’s prompting to support us, we would not be here. You are in our regular prayers as we partner to advance the kingdom of God.
I was helping at Pastor Ray and MaryAnne’s school for one week. MaryAnne is in Canada for about one month to visit their two grown daughters and their families, so I had the opportunity to get to know the Nyakabaga kids much better. The school is at Pastor Ray’s house, and they have 16 kids ranging in age from 3 - 10, all refugees from the Congo. They are able to understand some English and they have an interpreter. This was a huge blessing to be able to teach these kids; you see the vibrant faith and their deep love for Jesus they have when we go to Nyakabaga, and so to get to know them more was wonderful.
Yesterday when we went (after not having gone for some time), I was told by one of the older teens that I am “mama Florence.” Her name is Florence, and in this culture the mom and dad are called by their firstborn childs’ name. In other words, Isaac is papa Colton, I’m mama Colton.
We love this place dearly; Pastor Rueben asked Isaac and myself to preach here in a few weeks, so please pray for us that the Lord will give us a fresh Word for them.
Pastor Dave and Lynn came out from Canada last week Tuesday, and are staying with us. They leave on Sunday. It’s been great having them; they are a blessing.
Isaac is continuing to work with Gentile. This young man is very likable and pleasant, but really lacks a desire to work.
Colton wrote 10 exams a few weeks ago - there is no such thing as exempting anything here. His report card was phenomenal - his highest mark was 98%. So now we are in the middle of a two week Easter break - no school, hooray!
I was at a women’s conference in Gitega a few weeks ago. What an experience - the only muzungu among hundreds of women; funny thing is, I don’t think I’m nearly as much aware of this than what it seems the African’s are. To me it’s just skin color, to them it seems so often to mean that I’m better, or more important some how. They tried to wait on me almost hand and foot, and I very, very humbly accepted a fair bit, but at one point I just said, “You know, I don’t want to be rude or ungrateful or anything culturally inappropriate, but I can’t accept that.” I think they understood where I was coming from. My desire is to be one of them, and to be elevated like that is not right. Please understand, they want to do nothing but bless me, they have only good intentions. Call me a wannabe African!! : )
We love you, our praying family and friends. Walk, breathe, be, live in the finished work of the Cross, that ultimate sacrifice we just celebrated yesterday. May it govern your life.
Papa Colton, Mama Colton and Colton
Sabe Village… that awful, wonderful place.
Part of our hearts are here - how can they not be when we’ve seen them so vulnerable, desperate, destitute!?
Life is back to “normal” here; the flood waters have long receded, and it’s back to survival mode. Some hire themselves out for whatever they can find for what ever amount of time, just to fill their tummies; others are back to prostitution, still others are thieving again.
It’s a hard place; the hopelessness, despair… the empty look in some of the eyes…
It’s a wonderful place… the resiliency of children and their delight in the tiniest of things, their sheer delight in a little ‘extra”, their inquisitive looks at these muzungus and the enthrallment of the white skin that they touch very gingerly, as if they might wipe it off if they touch it too hard.
Thank you so much for all you who have and are praying; please don’t stop. And thank you so much to everyone of you who put wings on your prayers and physically made an immediate difference in the lives of these people by responding to previous blogs asking you to consider making donations. May God richly bless you.
On that note, we just want to again say a very sincere thank you to every one of you that support us with your prayers and with finances. Without your help, without your response to God’s prompting to support us, we would not be here. You are in our regular prayers as we partner to advance the kingdom of God.
I was helping at Pastor Ray and MaryAnne’s school for one week. MaryAnne is in Canada for about one month to visit their two grown daughters and their families, so I had the opportunity to get to know the Nyakabaga kids much better. The school is at Pastor Ray’s house, and they have 16 kids ranging in age from 3 - 10, all refugees from the Congo. They are able to understand some English and they have an interpreter. This was a huge blessing to be able to teach these kids; you see the vibrant faith and their deep love for Jesus they have when we go to Nyakabaga, and so to get to know them more was wonderful.
Yesterday when we went (after not having gone for some time), I was told by one of the older teens that I am “mama Florence.” Her name is Florence, and in this culture the mom and dad are called by their firstborn childs’ name. In other words, Isaac is papa Colton, I’m mama Colton.
We love this place dearly; Pastor Rueben asked Isaac and myself to preach here in a few weeks, so please pray for us that the Lord will give us a fresh Word for them.
Pastor Dave and Lynn came out from Canada last week Tuesday, and are staying with us. They leave on Sunday. It’s been great having them; they are a blessing.
Isaac is continuing to work with Gentile. This young man is very likable and pleasant, but really lacks a desire to work.
Colton wrote 10 exams a few weeks ago - there is no such thing as exempting anything here. His report card was phenomenal - his highest mark was 98%. So now we are in the middle of a two week Easter break - no school, hooray!
I was at a women’s conference in Gitega a few weeks ago. What an experience - the only muzungu among hundreds of women; funny thing is, I don’t think I’m nearly as much aware of this than what it seems the African’s are. To me it’s just skin color, to them it seems so often to mean that I’m better, or more important some how. They tried to wait on me almost hand and foot, and I very, very humbly accepted a fair bit, but at one point I just said, “You know, I don’t want to be rude or ungrateful or anything culturally inappropriate, but I can’t accept that.” I think they understood where I was coming from. My desire is to be one of them, and to be elevated like that is not right. Please understand, they want to do nothing but bless me, they have only good intentions. Call me a wannabe African!! : )
We love you, our praying family and friends. Walk, breathe, be, live in the finished work of the Cross, that ultimate sacrifice we just celebrated yesterday. May it govern your life.
Papa Colton, Mama Colton and Colton
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Lord, Increase my Faith.
Boy did we have church today!!!! “Our” very own Ron McLean from Winnipeg was preaching, and I’m telling you, African preachers have nothing on them that Ron hasn’t got!!!
For those of you who aren’t Calvary Chapel family, Ron is the pastor of Gateway on Panet in Winnipeg; it’s our ‘sister’ church. We used to attend Gateway almost every Saturday evening, where we where richly blessed.
Ron spoke on the Holy Spirit baptism, … and the Holy Spirit took over!!!! Glorious! Powerful!! Wonderful!! Life changing!! WOW!!!
We knew Ron was coming, but last week when I was in the middle of teaching year 6, I was completely taken by surprise when all of a sudden, there was Ron!! I was so excited to get a Canadian hug.
Yeah, it’s hard when you see some one from the west and you say bye to them, knowing that they are stepping on an airplane and soon they will be in their familiar surroundings, their “cosy” life. Often when I hear the sound of an airplane flying overhead, my mind fast forwards to July 2011, when we’ll be stepping on an airplane to go home. It’s a bitter-sweet thought - and if Jesus says He’s not done with us here, we’re coming back. As hard as it is sometimes, it truly is where we want to be.
In fact, 2 weeks ago was a huge turning point for me. We were going to the boucherie and as we pulled into the parking lot, I saw a non-descript car and I looked at the licence plate, as I often do, and in that moment, weird as it sounds, I had a deep feeling of contentment, of “homeness,” of “yeah, life is good.”
It’s not that I wasn’t feeling that this was home before that, or that I wasn’t content and happy, but somehow it just went much deeper, or to a higher level. That week I had several of those ‘moments,’ and I’m very grateful that God is allowing/making our roots go down deeper.
Let me take you to Sunday, the day before this happened.
We had borrowed the movie/documentary on George Muller from Honda and Libby. George Muller was born in Germany in the earlier part of the 1800’s. He was a thief, a cheat, a drunkard, and was imprisoned for a time. He left Germany and went to England to attend university, where he encountered Jesus.
God put it on his heart to start rescuing the orphans of Bristol off of the streets. In today’s money he raised a staggering one hundred million pounds - that’s two hundred million dollars!!!! to provide homes and welfare for 120,000 orphans in Bristol. He did this without making any pleas, without any fundraising techniques, but simply by prayer. There were times when the children were sitting at the table, ready to eat, but there was no food. They would pray and there would be a knock at the door, and there was a baker, loaded down with fresh bread. The baker would relate how the Lord had woken him up early and put it on his heart to bake bread for the orphanage. This nineteenth century pioneer took God at His Word, and the work of George Muller continues to this day. The faith of this man did a huge number on me.
So that evening, when Isaac asked me what he could pray for me (something we’ve done for years every night - we ask each other what we can pray for the other - I encourage all couples to do this.), I was grappling with a monumental question; dare I ask him to pray that I will have a faith like George Muller!?
I told him what was churning in my spirit, and we started to talk about the ‘implications’ of such a prayer. What would we face where we would need such an incredible faith…. Did we want to be in such circumstances….
In the end I asked Isaac to pray about whether I should pray for a faith like this. I mean, this is huge; I pray for an increase in my faith very often, but the “George Muller faith” - that’s a whole new level.
Next day, Jesus was still talking to me about this issue, and Isaac and I talked about it to Colton. We knew this wasn’t going to be a flippant prayer spoken almost half heartedly, but if this would be prayed, it would have to come from the very marrow of my soul, my spirit.
On Tuesday when I lay down for my siesta, I asked the Lord, “ what will you take us through if I pray for this kind of faith?” I was very deliberate in saying ‘through’, and not ‘into’. Almost immediately, very clearly, I heard: “war, famine and hardship.” Yikes, my first response was, if war and famine aren’t hardships, what is?? But right on the heels of that was the fact that I had prayed “through” and so I knew we would make it. We wouldn’t be defeated, not spiritually nor physically. In my spirit I think I already knew that I was going to pray the prayer, it was just a matter of time.
But you see, since Colton was just a little tyke, I’ve thought that one of the things that would be the absolute worst thing for me to experience would be to see Colton starving and not being able to do anything for him.
On Wednesday at school I’m at my desk praying about this again, and I asked Jesus about the war, famine and hardship, and if there is anything else. And as clearly as the previous three, He said “joy.“ Excitement and a great anticipation for what God was going to do flooded over me. I strongly felt to get on my knees.
And I prayed the prayer.
For those of you who aren’t Calvary Chapel family, Ron is the pastor of Gateway on Panet in Winnipeg; it’s our ‘sister’ church. We used to attend Gateway almost every Saturday evening, where we where richly blessed.
Ron spoke on the Holy Spirit baptism, … and the Holy Spirit took over!!!! Glorious! Powerful!! Wonderful!! Life changing!! WOW!!!
We knew Ron was coming, but last week when I was in the middle of teaching year 6, I was completely taken by surprise when all of a sudden, there was Ron!! I was so excited to get a Canadian hug.
Yeah, it’s hard when you see some one from the west and you say bye to them, knowing that they are stepping on an airplane and soon they will be in their familiar surroundings, their “cosy” life. Often when I hear the sound of an airplane flying overhead, my mind fast forwards to July 2011, when we’ll be stepping on an airplane to go home. It’s a bitter-sweet thought - and if Jesus says He’s not done with us here, we’re coming back. As hard as it is sometimes, it truly is where we want to be.
In fact, 2 weeks ago was a huge turning point for me. We were going to the boucherie and as we pulled into the parking lot, I saw a non-descript car and I looked at the licence plate, as I often do, and in that moment, weird as it sounds, I had a deep feeling of contentment, of “homeness,” of “yeah, life is good.”
It’s not that I wasn’t feeling that this was home before that, or that I wasn’t content and happy, but somehow it just went much deeper, or to a higher level. That week I had several of those ‘moments,’ and I’m very grateful that God is allowing/making our roots go down deeper.
Let me take you to Sunday, the day before this happened.
We had borrowed the movie/documentary on George Muller from Honda and Libby. George Muller was born in Germany in the earlier part of the 1800’s. He was a thief, a cheat, a drunkard, and was imprisoned for a time. He left Germany and went to England to attend university, where he encountered Jesus.
God put it on his heart to start rescuing the orphans of Bristol off of the streets. In today’s money he raised a staggering one hundred million pounds - that’s two hundred million dollars!!!! to provide homes and welfare for 120,000 orphans in Bristol. He did this without making any pleas, without any fundraising techniques, but simply by prayer. There were times when the children were sitting at the table, ready to eat, but there was no food. They would pray and there would be a knock at the door, and there was a baker, loaded down with fresh bread. The baker would relate how the Lord had woken him up early and put it on his heart to bake bread for the orphanage. This nineteenth century pioneer took God at His Word, and the work of George Muller continues to this day. The faith of this man did a huge number on me.
So that evening, when Isaac asked me what he could pray for me (something we’ve done for years every night - we ask each other what we can pray for the other - I encourage all couples to do this.), I was grappling with a monumental question; dare I ask him to pray that I will have a faith like George Muller!?
I told him what was churning in my spirit, and we started to talk about the ‘implications’ of such a prayer. What would we face where we would need such an incredible faith…. Did we want to be in such circumstances….
In the end I asked Isaac to pray about whether I should pray for a faith like this. I mean, this is huge; I pray for an increase in my faith very often, but the “George Muller faith” - that’s a whole new level.
Next day, Jesus was still talking to me about this issue, and Isaac and I talked about it to Colton. We knew this wasn’t going to be a flippant prayer spoken almost half heartedly, but if this would be prayed, it would have to come from the very marrow of my soul, my spirit.
On Tuesday when I lay down for my siesta, I asked the Lord, “ what will you take us through if I pray for this kind of faith?” I was very deliberate in saying ‘through’, and not ‘into’. Almost immediately, very clearly, I heard: “war, famine and hardship.” Yikes, my first response was, if war and famine aren’t hardships, what is?? But right on the heels of that was the fact that I had prayed “through” and so I knew we would make it. We wouldn’t be defeated, not spiritually nor physically. In my spirit I think I already knew that I was going to pray the prayer, it was just a matter of time.
But you see, since Colton was just a little tyke, I’ve thought that one of the things that would be the absolute worst thing for me to experience would be to see Colton starving and not being able to do anything for him.
On Wednesday at school I’m at my desk praying about this again, and I asked Jesus about the war, famine and hardship, and if there is anything else. And as clearly as the previous three, He said “joy.“ Excitement and a great anticipation for what God was going to do flooded over me. I strongly felt to get on my knees.
And I prayed the prayer.
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