Burundi 2007 Field Reports

Worshiping Together with One Heart 08-Jul-2007 Today the medical clinic opened later than usual as it was Sunday. Generally the people wait outside the gates of the compound and are let in one by one and escorted to an intake area where they wait some more until a doctor is available to see them. Today, however, the entire medical team joined the people outside the gates to have a worship service together. As one team member began to sing a familiar worship song in Kirundi, one of the local helpers joined in and led the people in worship. It was a very special moment. There were no barriers and we were all one. In the distance the worship from a nearby church could be heard reminding us of what we believe God wants to do here – to take the Word beyond the walls of the church to the people. A team member opened in prayer and another gave a brief and simple message about knowing how to talk to God. He told the people about Christ giving them rivers of living water. The water that Christ will cause to flow out of them, he explained, is not water you drink through your mouth. Rather it flows from inside out, from the Spirit of God within. He shared about salvation and gave an altar call. Many raised their hands to give their lives to Christ. The team member who preached asked the rest of the medical team to go and find someone who had raised their hand and pray with them, as one of the Nigerian doctors led the people in the sinners’ prayer. Afterwards, they all worshiped and as they sang the medical team returned to their posts and the medical clinic began. I Now Know What Christ Meant 08-Jul-2007 Team: Medical - Buja One of the members of the Nigerian medical team that is working with us in the medical clinic shared a very personal testimony today. The doctor is one of the surgeons carrying out the VVF (Vaginal Vascular Fistula) surgeries. He remarked that these surgeries are difficult for many reasons. Many doctors do not want to perform them because generally the women are very poor and cannot pay, and they have a marginal success rate. But his testimony was about what the Lord was showing him about his heart. As he has witnessed the interaction among the Times Square Church team members, who represent multiple races and cultures, and how they love one another, he realized that he has never known that type of love. That he has never truly understood the love of God the way he has seen it in action among the team members. He now knows what Christ meant when he said to love your neighbor as He has loved us. God sent forth his Word and healed them 08-Jul-2007 Team: Buja B The outreach teams were broken up into smaller groups and sent out to preach in churches across the city. For many, the call to preach came the night before or that very morning but no one was anxious, as we were all trusting the Lord to fill our mouths and give us a Word for the people of Burundi whom He so loves. One team went to a church in a neighborhood called Mutakura. The church was a large open church with just a roof and a dirt floor. The service began at 8:30AM and went until 12:00PM.The worship was beautiful as several choir groups sang praises to the Lord. As is typical of African churches, there was a moment of joyful dancing before the Lord. The Times Square Church team was introduced and each gave their name and a greeting to the congregation. Afterwards, we sang worship songs in Kirundi and watched the smiles light up their faces as they heard us sing in their own language. The team leader gave a brief message from Psalm 107 where the people cried out in their distress and God sent His Word and healed them. He spoke of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37 and exhorted the congregation that God is able to call those bones from death and into life through His Word. After the service, the team met the pastor who is in the organizing committee and is in charge of transportation. We learned that he has founded an orphanage which currently houses and cares for 42 former street children. He explained that he was once a street child himself and God helped him, so he wanted to do the same for other street children. He began to take them in before he was even saved and became a pastor. We visited the small orphanage housed in a new-looking, neat brick building. There were children ranging from two to fifteen years of age. They were being fed rice, beans and some kind of stew and looked happy. Our hearts broke when we saw that the orphanage lacks even the most minimum amenities. There was no furniture, no beds, only thin straw mats strewn on the floor, but it was a home. We prayed with the pastor and asked God to send His provision for these children. In parting we also learned that the pastor has seven children of his own. The youngest was in hospital with malaria and we told him of the malaria medication that was freely available at the medical clinic. He added immediately, “Please, also for the orphans!” Lord, our eyes are upon you for you are Jehovah Jireh, our provider! Gitega—Evangelistic Rally 08-Jul-2007 Event: Gitega - Evangelistic Rally Pastor Claude Hoode of Nouvelle Vie church in Montreal, Canada, a frequent preacher and beloved friend of Times Square Church, joined the team to speak at the evangelistic rally in Gitega. His luggage, unfortunately, did not. Team members shared what they had, and managed to get Pastor Claude suited up! The crowd formed early at the Gitega soccer stadium. Several choirs sang before the event started. Many on the outreach teams were sick but God gave them grace and the strength to attend the rally and minister to the people. It was a struggle at first for the team to break through and minister, but the power of God fell and the atmosphere in the stadium began to change. A few of the kids from the blind school were given the opportunity to sing, and they really blessed the crowd. A couple of them sang a song they had written about reconciliation. Hearts were touched and the crowd was visibly moved. The Times Square Church praise team worshiped again after the children. Later that night they said that the sound of children singing was the sweetest sound heard all day, especially in the sight of God. Pastor Claude, speaking in French and English, gave an anointed personal message about the violence he suffered as a child. He shared about his family’s history of violence passed down from his grandfather. When he surrendered his heart to Christ the violence stopped with him. God set him free from a history of violence. He told the people that Burundi could be set free from the history of violence that it has suffered through Jesus Christ. As Pastor Claude spoke you could sense a stirring, but there still appeared to be division. The local pastors sat in the stands away from the people, who were behind ropes. For the altar call, Pastor Claude asked the leaders to come down and go to the people and pray with the people.

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