Burundi 2007 Field Reports

Believing God for the Miraculous 10-Jul-2007 At dinner tonight, Pastor Carter, who has been in prayer most of the day in preparation for the evangelistic rallies to be held in Bujumbura, exhorted the team to keep pressing in and not let up the fight. He shared that God has been encouraging him to believe Him for the miraculous, particularly for supernatural healings. He ended by asking for prayer. “I am coming to your clinic as a patient at the gate. The battle has been fierce and I ask you to pray for me.” Pastor Claude Houde led the entire team in prayer for our pastor and the upcoming pastors conferences and rallies. I Don’t Have Words 10-Jul-2007 Throughout out all the outreaches and planning for the events here, the staff and outreach teams have been blessed with godly interpreters from the various local churches that are working with us. They go with us everywhere we go. They translate, they worship, they share, they encourage and they teach us about their people and their country. Today after dinner, one of the interpreters, holding back the tears as she spoke, thanked the Times Square Church leaders and teams for obeying the voice of God and coming here to do what we are doing. “You don’t know what it means to live in a country like my country where there are people that are so desperately poor and no one does anything about it. She asked to be allowed to be a Times Square Church member in Burundi. “Thank you. I don’t have words to say.” What Can We Do? 10-Jul-2007 Team: Medical - Buja An eighteen year old boy with a growth on the side of his face the size of a grapefruit came to be seen by the doctors in the medical clinic yesterday. He was examined by the doctors and was told that the growth would have to be removed because eventually as it grew bigger it would close his wind pipe and he could suffocate. The procedure, however, could not be performed at the clinic and he would have to be taken to a hospital. At first the boy had been taken to one of the dentists because they thought it was an abscess, but it was not. The dentist noticed that he had a blank look in his eyes and never smiled. She was moved with compassion for the boy as she imagined how hard it must be for him. She did not know how she could help him so she called over the leader of the outreach teams exclaiming, “What can we do?” They prayed with the boy and the outreach teams leader led him to the Lord. The dentist remembered the parable of the persistent widow and continued to intercede for the boy who was taken to the hospital to be treated. For the first time the dentist heard the boy laughing! Praise God! New Life 10-Jul-2007 Team: Medical - Buja A young woman came to the medical clinic today to see an obstetrician. She was pregnant. When they examined her they saw that she had ruptured the membrane and soon after the baby was crowning. A medical team nurse practitioner came in and delivered a healthy baby. One of the pediatricians in the medical team, who happened to be in the adult compound on an errand, came by to examine the baby and found no health issues. The mother was so thankful and the medical team was incredibly blessed. God is bringing forth new life! HIV Cases 10-Jul-2007 Team: Medical - Buja As part of the intake processing for the clinic, the medical team has been conducting malaria and HIV tests. Thankfully there have not been many cases with HIV but the Lord has provided a government nurse who is helping with coordinating follow-up treatment for the patients diagnosed with HIV. The God of the Mundane 10-Jul-2007 Team: Medical - Buja One of the pediatricians in the medical team was reluctant to share because she had always believed that a testimony was when you prayed and the blind would see, or when you preached and hundreds got saved. But since she has arrived in Burundi and worked at the medical clinics, God has been showing her that He is not only the God of the miraculous, he is also the God of the mundane. He can touch people in everyday life. So rather than focus on trying to see as many patients per day as she could, she realized she needed to have God’s heart for the people to see them not just as patients in need but as His children that He loves. A mother with twins and a third child was brought in to be seen by her. She noticed immediately that they were far dirtier than anyone she had seen before. When she thought this she was instantly convicted and prayed: “Father, I am so sorry! These are people whom you love.” One of the children had something wrong with an arm that she could not do anything about so she told the mother that she would pray and believe God for healing. The mother turned to her and said, “Pray for me also! I want to be saved!” The pediatrician was taken aback. This was the last thing she expected the mother to say. She prayed with her and led her in the sinner’s prayer. As she hugged the woman rejoicing with her, she remembered her earlier assessment and praised God for His faithfulness! The next day a severely malnourished child was brought in to see her. The child was very, very sick so she told the mother that the baby would have to be taken to a hospital immediately. The mother, who had walked in with an angry countenance, said no. The pediatrician explained that we would provide a vehicle and a person to take her and the child to the hospital but the mother kept saying no. Finally, frustrated with the mother, she told her: “If anything happens to this child, it will be on you.” As soon as she said it, she was convicted by the Holy Spirit because she did not say it in love. She asked the mother what was really wrong. The mother explained that she was 17 and had lost both her parents and now had to take care of her child and siblings and other extended family and if she went to the hospital they would have no one to care for them. The pediatrician was blessed once again by the faithfulness of God in showing her His heart for this woman. The pediatrician prayed with the woman and her friend and they both accepted the Lord. For Such a Time as This 10-Jul-2007 Ron Pierce, Director of Empower Ministries, a ministry partner of Times Square Church that donated the 50,000 Bibles in Kirundi, exhorted the team at dinner today after visiting the Twa village to do a food distribution. He has traveled allover the world and reached out to all kinds of people, but he marveled today at the joy he saw in the Twa villagers when they were given the food, and he marveled even more at their joy in praising the God who provided for their need. “What you’re doing here,” he exclaimed, “is changing people. It is changing you. God has brought you here for such a time as this.” You are Privileged to be Here 10-Jul-2007 Pastor Claude Houde of the Nouvelle Vie church in Montreal who preaches often and is very loved at Times Square Church, accompanied the team to Burundi and gave the Word at the mini-evangelistic rally in Gitega. Tonight at dinner, he also exhorted the team saying, “We are proud of you and what God is doing through you, but you should also know how privileged you are to be here. I come from a place where thousands of churches and thousands of Christians have never been on a missions trip. It is a privilege to be here and experience what God is doing. No matter how tired you are or how sick you may feel, you must know that and be challenged to push onward. Continue going out and know that God is using you and that you will be changed forever.”

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