Burundi 2007 Field Reports

God Heard Their Cry 09-Jul-2007 A group consisting of Times Square Church staff and leaders along with representatives from Convoy of Hope, a ministry that is partnering with us in these outreaches by providing food, traveled to two Twa villages to deliver two months worth of food. They drove along narrow, winding roads to get to the villages. When they got to a rickety bridge they thought the truck carrying the food would never b e able to cross it and were prepared to unload the food. The truck miraculously made it and the caravan was able to proceed to the first village where they found the people dancing and praising God. To one staff member they sounded like angels, and overwhelmed by the presence of God in their midst she began to weep. As she spotted a little boy looking at her she realized she had to smile. Her tears were not of sadness. She wept in awe of the incredible faithfulness of God who heard the cry of these people from such a remote location, and here they were dancing and praising God even before they got His blessing! The Twa villagers, considered the poorest of the poor, said they would share what they had received with others. Convoy of Hope 09-Jul-2007 One of the representatives from Convoy of Hope who is joining us in these outreaches in Burundi, shared today how their organization partnered with Times Square Church. They were in Kenya during Pastor David’s pastors conferences in Nairobi and got connected to our Special Projects Director who was organizing the outreaches and evangelistic rallies in Burundi. Convoy of Hope had funds to do a feeding program in Burundi but the logistics of getting a container of food into Burundi was proving to be a nightmare. They decided to join with Times Square Church, buy the food in Burundi and distribute it in the areas we were ministering. With the help of the mother of a Burundian staff member who fiercely negotiated the price of every food they bought, Convoy of Hope was able to distribute 43,000 pounds of food. When Pastor Carter proclaimed a new day was dawning for Burundi during the mini rally at Ngozi, he looked over at the staff member’s mother, who had lost 120 members of her family during the violence, weeping and shaking at his prophetic word. They are grateful to be a part of what this ministry has come to do in Burundi. Deaf and Blind School Children 09-Jul-2007 Team: Deaf Ministry One of the outreach teams ministers at a school for deaf children and a school for blind children. The first day they visited the deaf school they played with the children. The second day they taught the staff and the deaf children sign language. The workers at the orphanage told the team that many people visited them and took pictures but none had ever given back anything and exclaimed, “These people are truly Christian.” The team most of whom belong to the deaf ministry at Times Square Church were not quite sure how to minister to the blind children, so they started with praise and worship and then began to take them by the hand and dance with them. The team leader wondered how the nuns who cared for the children would react, but soon after the nuns took away a bench and made more room for them to dance with the children. As they all danced they needed even more room so they went outside where even the nuns started dancing along. One of the nuns remarked, “This is good, this is good!” One of the children fell on his face and began to worship God. The Spirit of the Lord came down upon them in a powerful way. Let Him Share the Gospel 09-Jul-2007 Team: Buja A Another outreach team, conscious of the need for prayer at all times, has been praying about confusion and asking the Lord for divine order. Today that team went on a street outreach and into homes. Many responded to the Gospel. Two young men in particular told them they wanted to hear the Gospel so the team promised to come back after lunch. When they returned, they started to look for them when one of young men ran to them, heard what they had to say and got saved. He then brought others who got saved, and then went back to bring even more people who wanted to hear the Gospel. The third time, the team members said, “This guy just got saved, let him share the Gospel,” and he shared what God had done for him and they got saved! Men Ministering To Women 09-Jul-2007 Team: Buja B The outreach team that went to the medical clinic today had prayed in their team devotions for order among the people waiting to be seen by the doctors, especially among the mothers and young children who were so desperate to be let in. They prayed that the women and the children would sit peacefully waiting for their turn The Lord answered all of their prayers. There was divine order and peace, and as a result many of the men brought in as translators and those managing the room where the malaria medicine was being given out had free time to minister to the mothers and the children. The team members were blessed to see the men ministering to the women, since men are often absent in the lives of these women. Lord, Which Ones? 09-Jul-2007 Team: Buja B One team member had specifically prayed that the Lord would give her discernment to know which children among the hundreds that come every day, are most in need of being seen by a doctor. Today as she walked through the crowd a man brought forth a little boy that looked sick but when she touched him she did not think he had a fever so she decided he was not an urgent case. Her team leader who has always given her freedom to decide which children should be seen, insisted that she take the boy to one of the doctors. The baby was diagnosed with meningitis and malaria and had to be rushed to the hospital. The Lord had answered her prayer through the insistence of her team leader! If We Pray They Will Come! 09-Jul-2007 Everywhere we reach out to the people with the Gospel, they beg us for Bibles. Empower Ministries, a ministry partner of Times Square Church, had donated 50,000 Bibles in Kirundi for us to give out throughout the outreaches here, but they had been held up in Tanzania and could not get to Burundi. An intern traveling with the team, who won his first convert to Christ during one street outreach, urged us to pray and believe God for those Bibles because the people were hungry for His Word. We prayed. The Bibles have been released and are now on their way to Burundi. To God be the glory! The city of Gitega 09-Jul-2007 Gitega is a large city about two and half hours away from Bujumbura. The city had the largest number of victims during the genocide, which may account for the heavy spirit of oppression. The outreach teams felt it but they also felt your prayers. One team spent most of its time there working with a deaf school and a blind school. There were about 60 students at the blind school, and over two hundred at the deaf school. As is often the case in other places, in Burundi children with disabilities end up cast aside by society. The team spent time ministering to the children and to the leaders. God made provision to minister in a practical way as well. We teamed up with Convoy of Hope to bring food for the children and for their families. They were overjoyed as they received the good news that God had blessed them. Twa Village—Food Distribution 09-Jul-2007 God opened the door for us to minister in a couple of Twa Villages in Gitega. The Twa are the poorest of the poor, but in many ways God is showing us they are actually the richest. Their villages are set far apart up in the hills, where most never go. We partnered with Convey of Hope to buy food for both villages. Rejoicing exploded in both camps as the food arrived. As the food was being presented they were reminded that God is the one who has made this possible. God had heard their prayers. The leader of the second village gave thanks to God on behalf of the village, and then prayed a blessing on our teams. She prayed that we would continue to reach out to help those in need.

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