Burundi 2007 Field Reports

This Baby is Fine 05-Jul-2007 Team: Medical - Buja At the medical outreach in Bujumbura, a mother brought in her three-week old baby to be seen by the doctors. The baby was diagnosed with an abscess and was breathing with so much difficulty that the doctors recommended that he be rushed to the hospital at once. An IV was placed on him and some team members stopped to pray before the baby and the mother were ushered into a waiting vehicle and they prayed as they drove him to the hospital. When they arrived at the hospital the baby was examined by doctors who declared “This baby is fine. He is breathing well, eating and crying at the top of his lungs without trouble. There is nothing wrong with this baby.” The joy experienced by the team members at the medical outreach led one of them to exclaim at dinner, “If we’re here for just that one baby, it would be worth it!” I Need to Confess 05-Jul-2007 As one team was ministering in a community today, a large group of children gathered and a man stood on the outskirts. He had his head down. The team was about to leave and he approached them and told them he must speak to them. "I need to confess. I killed three people." The team ministered to him. He gave his heart to Christ and began to weep as he found forgiveness in Christ. Two other hard and angry men gave their lives to Christ today. A woman came out of her home and said: "I can't believe these men gave their lives to God. They were very bad men." She was shocked. Glory be to God forwhom all things are posible! Iyo Mana Dusenga Irakomeye 05-Jul-2007 Team: Buja B One of the two outreach teams ministering in Bujumbura, visited a neighborhood called Kamenge, in the northern section of the city. They made a stop at the Eglise Fraternite Evangelique du Christ en Afrique au Burundi (FECABU), to pick-up church members who were to accompany them on the outreach as interpreters. Friendships quickly developed and as the team began to sing “Iyo Mana Dusenga Irakomeye” a worship song in Kirundi as they drove to Kamenge, one of the interpreters began to weep. She could barely finish the song and only managed to whisper” God bless you.” She was overwhelmed that we were actually singing in her language. Kamenge 05-Jul-2007 Team: Buja B Kamenge is a very poor area where people go hungry and unemployment is the norm. 90% of the people speak Swahili rather than Kirundi. Kamenge saw some of the worst of the war that resulted in hundreds of thousands being massacred in 1993. According to one of the interpreters from a local church accompanying the team to Kamenge, bodies were strewn everywhere in plain daylight. Most were women and children because the men were off to the war. Whole families were killed and houses were burnt down to the ground. Since then, many houses have been rebuilt, mostly with handmade mud bricks, but the ghost of a few homes destroyed by the violence remain. The team spent time with a group of women and children playing games, praying for them and singing worship songs in Kirundi. The locals welcomed the team warmly, especially the children who are fascinated by the umuzungus (caucasians) and so ready to love the visitors. We’re here for the Battle 05-Jul-2007 Team: Buja B A young woman the team met in Kamenge named Chantal, 22 years old, invited a few of some team members to visit her home, a humble two room mud brick house with a mattress on the floor made of what seemed like straw. Our interpreter asked her to pull back the sheet revealing the rags that functioned as a bed for her family of four. Chantal has AIDS. When our interpreter asked her if she went to the hospital for treatment, she affirmed that she did but not everybody was like her. Many still go to a local witch doctor, even some of the Christians. A team leader asked if we wanted to visit the witch doctor. The photographer traveling with us quickly said, “Let’s go. We’re here for the battle.” Part of the team headed for the home of the witch doctor to share the Gospel with him. When they did not find him at home, they began praying right in front of his house and then walked around it singing worship songs. As they stood in front of the house, they heard a familiar song: “I am free, free, free for ever more,” behind the closed door of the house across the road. After listening intently for several minutes, the team members realized that they were hearing a radio advertisement for the evangelistic rallies to be held in Bujumbura. Praise God! It almost seemed as if He were confirming that we were indeed in the right place at the right time. Two young women walked over and said they wanted to confess. One of the pastors with us prayed with them and they accepted the Lord right then and there! One of the team members asked one of the young women why she had decided to give her heart to Jesus, and after pondering the question unable to express herself, she finally explained that she had been thinking about doing so but could not make up her mind to do it until that very moment. I Have Alcohol, You Have Water 05-Jul-2007 Team: Ensemble The choir ensemble traveling with us in Burundi had the opportunity to join the team doing a street outreach in Kamenge. They broke up in teams of two with an interpreter and were told to just go, as they were led by the Spirit, and share the Gospel with the people. He and his partner were led outside a pub where some men were getting drunk. They went inside and began to share the Gospel with the men one of whom said, “I have alcohol, but you have water in your backpack.” That seemed like a Holy Ghost set up to the ensemble leader who jumped right in and told them that there was well of living water that they could drink for and never go thirsty again. After he finished sharing, he asked them if they wanted to accept Jesus into their heart and several hands went up. Pray for Us Too 05-Jul-2007 Team: Ngozi A This morning, before the medical clinic was opened in Ngozi, the northern town where one medical and two outreach teams are serving, 600 people were already waiting to be seen. The clinic was not ready so the outreach team was sent out to minister to the people. The team sang praise and worship songs and shared the Gospel and prayed with the people waiting. Several gave their lives to Christ and others who had complained of migraines, headaches and joint pains were miraculously healed! They told the team members that as they prayed for them they felt a burning through their body! Even a group of Muslims came up to the team and asked them “Pray for us too!” Only Raindrops Before the Coming Storm 05-Jul-2007 After hearing today’s praise reports and testimonies, Pastor Carter encouraged the teams to believe God for the miraculous. “These are only raindrops before the coming storm.” He added that this is “a momentous time to be a Christian, and urged us to start the day with rejoicing and thank God for what he has done. He prayed that the Lord would touch the people to heal them where we could not, and thanked the teams for coming to Burundi. Teach me how to pray to Jesus 05-Jul-2007 Team: Ngozi A Today we had the opportunity to witness and distribute flyers in the market. Each time we stopped to speak to someone, crowds gathered and this allowed us many opportunities to share the gospel of Christ with countless people. So many people had heard the name of Jesus but did not know anything about him. We met this one young man who asked for money. He said that he was hungry and that he was also unemployed. We were not in a position to meet his physical needs at that point but we were able to share the hope that is in Christ. We shared some testimonies with him and told him that Christ can meet this needs. At the end he asked us to teach him how to pray to Jesus. He also asked us to pray for him and he left filled with hope for tomorrow and with the peace and joy of the Lord.

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