Burundi 2007 Team Blogs

Team Name: Buja A Team Members: Carl M. Cindy R. Glenny C. Ilya W. Karen K. Linda L. Njambi O. Ricardo M. Salena B. Gervais and Bruce 10-Jul-2007 Team: Buja A Praises to His name! Today was our 3rd time at the clinic. Since the report of miraculous healings in Ngozi, God has been changing my heart to believe and pray for miracles here in Bujumbura. I prayed for opportunities to share the Gospel and pray for healing. When we entered the grounds, one could feel His love and mercy and His tears for the people. This time God showed me how to keep order and peace using laughter and the Gospel. For He commands us to love our neighbor as opposed to pushing them away. There were many many people waiting. Salena and I lead worship and shared the Gospel in the holding room where we were just dropping off dental patients. 18 people were saved. Hallelujah. We are truly privileged to just pick the harvest. Gervais, a 50 year old man, was one who so desired to have a bible. Although just saved, he already had many testimonies of God working out his salvation. At 22, he was pronounced dead from 4am-10am. During this time he experienced the following: He saw a screen which showed all the bad and good things he had done – and the good outweighed the bad, so he could pass to heaven. But at the gate, an angel said he could not enter, he had to return to earth. That is when he was revived to see everyone mourning his death. God obviously has a mighty plan for his life. My interpreter today was Bruce. He has all the paperwork minus the visa to go to bible school in Oklahoma. He desires to be a pastor and is a gentle, passionate, servant of God. When I asked if he would present his ‘Bible’ to Gervais and I would replace it, he didn’t hesitate. Here is a picture of Gervais and Bruce. Please keep them in prayer. A call to purity 09-Jul-2007 Team: Buja A Today I got a small taste of what God has begun to do in the leaders fo the Burundian churches. I wasn't with my team, but I went with Val to a youth worker conference near the hotel. The Holy Spirit took over the meeting and spoke through her a call to purity - to be set apart for God and to flee the lusts of the flesh. The pastor confirmed it when he also received a word from the Holy Spirit, and also pleaded with the men and women to live in purity and holiness before God. The presence of God was thick in the meeting, and I know that God did something in the hearts of the youth workers today. He's preparing to receive a massive flow of youth into the churches, and to be righteous leaders that lead young people in living for Christ. I was blown away by how clearly God had spoken, and by His vision for the youth and the youth workers in Burundi, and I felt so blessed to be a part of what He is doing. Supernatural Strength 07-Jul-2007 Team: Buja A God is so faithful! The last two days, I struggled with physical and mental fatigue. Both days, I was completely worn out by lunch time. I felt like I had nothing left to give physically, and wished we could just return to the hotel. Today, things got even worse. I had an upset stomach and couldn't return water very well. I was afraid to be in the hot sun all day in that condition. Before we got to the clinic, several people on my team prayed for me to be healed. As soon as we reached the medical clinic, I completely forgot about how sick I was. I had a chance to speak to a group of people about who we were and why we were here, and they were so blessed. We also worshipped together in Kirundi. Four hours passed and I was fine! When lunch time came, I began to feel sick again, but as I left to go back to the clinic, I prayed and asked God to give me supernatural strength. As soon as I left the building I felt better, and was able to work for another several hours without feeling sick at al, and to really bond with the kids in the pediatric unit, even though they had much more energy than I thought I had. So today, although I was sick, I felt better than I had the first two day when I wasn't sick! God answered my prayers right on time. Magnificant Grace 06-Jul-2007 Team: Buja A This is the day that the Lord has made. As He has called us to be His beautiful feet that proclaim the Gospel to the nations, we walked confidently today knowing that God would work miracles in this land. Inspired by the previous day’s testimonies, our hearts were stirred to believe for miracles and healings. Our team joined with members of a local church called E.A.C. to witness on the streets. During the morning, as part of the continuous prayer of team members, I stayed behind to pray with another team member. I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t go out into the streets. But what an amazing blessing when 2 little girls, Magnificent and Grace ages 3 and 5, decided to stay with us. There was such a light and beauty in these faces that only increased as they prayed and worshipped with us. One by one, God brought 5 more Burundians into our midst…3 Burundians in their 20’s and 30’s and 2 older women to become a circle of prayer and worship in English and Kirundi of 3 distinct generations. What a vision of God’s desire to unify this nation and break all dividing walls. It was an amazing presence of the Lord…as He inclined His ear to hear our cries. Praise the Lord… As team members and Burundians shared the love and mercy of God, many were saved today. My team of 4 lead 13 people to the Lord… Halleluia. As He worked in their hearts, He was working in ours to such a depth. Filling our weakness and emptiness with His strength and grace. We are in awe of Him. And our faith is growing to believe in signs and wonders. The picture is of one of the women who accepted the Lord as her savior today. Completely Healed 05-Jul-2007 Team: Buja A It’s been an awesome first day! Coming into Burundi, I felt inadequate—like I had nothing to offer. Even as we rode to the outreach, I struggled against fear. I was afraid that I would be useless. Toward the end of the day however, I received encouragement straight from God. A baby girl was admitted to the clinic and was so sick that the doctors were afraid she would die before the day was out. Seeing her made me feel even more incapable of helping, because there was nothing I could physically do for her. Just then, a team member grabbed my arm and said, “Let’s pray.” As we prayed, one of the things I asked God was to heal her before she even saw her. Later in the day, I found out that God had answered my prayer! The same baby who was on the brink of death was completely healed, even before the doctors tried to help her. I have no doubt that God could have healed her even without my prayer, but I know that He allowed me to pray for her and see my prayer answered. I was so encouraged to know that God had, in the midst of all that was going on, taken the time not only to heal a little girl, but also to minister to me by letting me be apart of what He had done. I can’t wait to see what else He has in store! God Answers Prayer 05-Jul-2007 Team: Buja A There were many women with their children waiting to see doctors. Whenever we started worshipping in Kirundi: voices chimed in and smiles exploded while the presence of God created such peace and order amidst the fear and impatience. Karen A boy was crying hysterically. His mom tried everything to quiet him down but he just kept on crying at the top of his lungs. I went over to him and laid hands on him while I prayed. He was quiet afterwards. Linda There was a woman who came for prayer after the outreach in the morning. She described the two ailments; a cloudiness in her eyes specifically when she tried to read the Bible, and abdominal pain. Linda, through the help of the interpreter, began praying for healing in the woman’s eyes. Then in the middle of prayer the spirit prompted her to ask several questions to the woman. The woman kept on reiterating that her major problem was the darkness she saw when she tried to read the Bible. Linda continued praying for her. Finally after three sessions of prayer the woman said “I’m well, I feel so good, It’s not bothering me anymore.” She smiled and rejoiced. There was no more mention from her about the cloudiness in her eyes. Linda and Glenny

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