July 2009 Burundi News - Call me Dusty

Amahoro (peace), to all our friends and family in South Africa, America, India, Norway, UK, Tanzania and other countries not mentioned! God has been so gracious to provide, protect and keep us in Burundi for 6 months now.....thank you Lord! We have realised that God has so much more for His children if we only allow ourselves to trust Him and follow Him, to allow him to be the author of our every day. His agenda His appointments to come to pass.

A very good friend of ours also living in Burundi, Timothy van Aarde said “The only worthwhile reason to live is to live for something bigger than yourself.
You can live for people, to please them, you can live for a cause, many people die for noble causes, you can live for your wife, even your family, but the only thing which fills the purpose for which you were created is to live for the glory of God.” Amen and Amen.......

The glory of God, who, but a few, can really testify to seeing God’s glory and allowing Him to be glorified by their own lives....
We have spend the most part of July continuing our studies with SATS. We have both passed our Hermeneutic courses and I also just received my pass mark on the Doctrine of Revelation. We are pushing ahead and have started with the next two subjects, Book of Ephesians and the Historical books of the Bible.

This is the wedding season in Burundi from July to September there is a wedding every Saturday in the church so being the resident missionaries we invited to most of them. So when Natalie visited she bought Diane a traditional Burundi outfit to wear to the next wedding. Diane decided to visit the local salon (hair dresser) to have her hair done for the occasion and it had to be a Burundi hair style. After the wedding Diane struggled for a week to washout the glue that was poured out on her hair to “style” it the Burundi way, curls and all we enjoyed the wedding and the people were so happy with Diane’s effort to fit in with the local look.

Some more visitors from South Africa and other Countries came with Theo, our good friend to visit his ministry here in the Great Lakes. We were blessed with the team of 8 people who came to enjoy a meal and good fellowship in our home. Amazing how God always send the right people at the right time to encourage us.

Our Kirundi lessons have continued and being a “numbers guy”, languages were always secondary to me, therefore I have particularly been struggling with getting a handle on the language but all good things take time. For the future of the mission in Burundi it is more key than ever that we learn Kirundi well.

On the ministry side God is starting to use us more and more to encourage the churches with Ps Charles, every Sunday we make a point of visiting a different church which gives me opportunity to build relationships with the pastors. Last week the whole week the Holy Spirit impressed on my heart to go to Bujumbura for the Sunday....why I had no idea, so I did the human thing and just procrastinated on obeying His voice. By Saturday morning the impression became so heavy on me that I immediately contacted Ps Charles who was in Bujumbura making arrangements to visit one of the churches in Bujumbura for the next day. Wow attack galore, Diane wakes me at 3:00 vomiting and not feeling well, while we are travelling to Bujumbura, I get a sharp paint between my eyes, stop and pray. Arrived at the church and I merely just shared on reconciliation and testified how God had to break racism in my heart before he could start using me. How I hated people and how God had to change my heart of stone to a heart of love for people...We have left the results to God.

On Friday the 17th I had an excellent meeting with about 25 pastors and leaders in the area of Gitega. We invited all the leaders to share with them really what God has placed on my heart about how we need to go deeper into His Word and to really equip ourselves so we can correctly handle the Word of God. So I open the topic of Interpretation of Scripture.....Eish JULLE...I was absolutely astonished at some of the questions which revealed the shallow understanding of the Word. Please I am not attempting to undermine anyone or any church, but understand this is the sole reason we are here. Through my veins are pumping blood the source of life but Gods word is the eternal source of life.....this source is our future and the reason of my passion to push ahead with zero compromise to see God’s will revealed and performed in our lives. So we have work to do, much work.

In the last news letter I shared on a ministry connection with an organisation called VERITAS.....their vision is to teach pastors and leaders in Burundi how to interpret the word of God. They run a 4 module course at 3 months per module on the basis of the training 12 people who will be qualified to train others who will in turn train, train, train.....You see churches are being planted at such a rapid rate here in Burundi that not even the seminaries can keep up with the demand of training pastors! We are more passionate about the call than ever before. To realise this vision we would need to work very closely with VERITAS and are busy praying for God to give us direction in terms of our relationship towards this organisation.

The road ahead will have to involve a more formalised relationship with VERITAS and if we decide to go ahead we would need to receive training on the ministry material, which can be done here in Burundi. The couple who are heading the mission is also from South Africa and we will make more formal introductions once we have a more concrete answer form the Lord. We do not want to run ahead and then having to comeback and undo agreements if this is not from the Lord. However if we do formalise us joining the VERITAS organisation then Diane and I will have to make sure that we have mastered the Kirundi language by December in order to start the formal VERITAS training in January 2010. The 1st module is already translated into Kirundi, now the printing and shipping must be done and we would need to raise finance for the material etc etc....

But we walk by Faith, a word which has come to life for us in the mission, knowing God works in the miraculous and that by faith we only walk to take a hold of that which are unseen but we have a strange confidence, not in ourselves because God is leading us!!

Some questions: How will a move like this affect our relationship with Ps Charles? Good question....however I foresee almost no change in our involvement with the Full Gospel Church here in Burundi. Ps Charles build a big network of churches here in Burundi, in fact our relationship is going to be key to advance the VERITAS program and our call into the whole country. So we would continue to work together. I would need to indeed place a bigger focus on the training though.

We have entered the dusty season in Burundi where the earth are so dry that the sand have turned into powder. The houses and country side is covered in a blanket of dust, so we are reminded that to have rain is a blessing. July has almost come to an end and we are starting to make preparations to go visit South Africa in September, to catch-up with family, Friends, Supporters and prayer partners. Our time in SA will have to be structured well because we would like to make the most of the time there. So we will be on the plane that comes in for a fast landing,.....Also most of the cold weather would have subsided by then and the folks from Scottburgh would have started to migrate back to Joburg.

Prayer Points:
1. Vision – for Gods vision 2 Tim 2:2 – Pray about VERITAS and our formal commitment to this organisation
2. Exit visas – pray for favour and that we will receive these in good time
3. Vehicle – pray for the settlement of the balance of the loan.
4. Bibles – pray for Bible distribution at school.
5. Health – continue to pray for good health.
6. Protection – in our new house and in Burundi
7. Kirundi lessons – pray for a good understanding of the language
8. Studies – pray for perseverance and discipline. Praise God I (Anton) passed The doctrine of revelation.


May you receive from the Lord peace and fulfilment in every sphere of your life, living it in a way which pleases Him and causes others to follow!
Much love
Anton and Diane

June 2009 News - Burundi update

The last month was filled with particularity very highs and some lows but never empty....some of the activities were:
· Gospel Outreach in RUHORORO (Burundi)
· Move into house in Gitega (Burundi)
· Visitors from SA, Bernice and Natalie
· Distributing Bibles
· Ministry connections


Gospel Outreach in RUHORORO (Burundi)
June started with a major Gospel Outreach to an area called RUHORORO, Truly we can say that God has send us to this place. Burundi has so many other opportunities for Gospel Outreach.

Geographically RUHORORO, is a zone consisting of three refugee camps, which was the first in Burundi with more than 15 000 persons, with more than 2500 widows and many orphans. In man’s eye this place seem hopeless!

The people were bound by ethnic discrimination and in their own eyes did not have hearts of compassion towards one another but hatred. This is evident in the behaviour of the men, woman and the children. We have received reports that drunkenness is rife, woman abuse on the increase, polygamy the order of the day, youths were smoking drugs and on the radio we heard girls even raping boys because they were not interested in them. Also reports of people consulting witchcrafters.

RUHORORO became famous for being a slaughter house during the war. In fact where the stage were build for the crusade and the grounds the crusade was held was the very spot where many people were slaughtered to death during the ethnic war in 1993, people were left for dead without burial. Really the situation was very sad, bodies lying scattered for wild animals to feed on. Since that time the first refugee camp was settled which have remained until today. The very people who experienced the war and all its fierce attributes were the very people who attended the crusade, then Jesus Came to town, He came to visit the people of RUHORORO to set the captives free!

But God gave us the message of RECONCILIATION (2 Cor 5:18) – this was the main theme of the Gospel Outreach. Praise the Lord because of what happened in Ruhororo during the crusade held by an anointed servant of God, Bjoernar Heimsted. The 1st Lady opened the Gospel Outreach and welcomed the message of reconciliation. During the crusade we estimate about 80 000 people attending and many souls won for Jesus about 40 0000, praise the Lord! Even more people have received healings and miracles. From the testimonies we invited onto the stage, we counted at least 6 people who received their hearing and at least 3 confirmed people who received their sight back!!! Many other miracles happened. We are so so encouraged by what God has done through His Holy Spirit, glory to God!!

Move into house in Gitega (Burundi)
After seeing our visitors off at Bujumbura airport Diane and I rushed back to Gitega to move into our new home. By faith we moved with no furniture, but God provided and we are content with His provision we lack nothing and we are so happy in our new home. We are privileged to have stayed with Ps Charles and Esperance for 4 months having every meal with them, which have really afforded the opportunity to have moulded a very deep relationship and understanding of our cumulative vision (which is really God’s vision). Diane and I have been accepted into the hearts of this family, church and community.

We do our own shopping in the local market which we enjoy so much because we get to practise our Kirundi which seem to always amaze the folk which gives us favour on bargaining the prices down.

Visitors from SA, Bernice and Natalie
Bernice and Nats, what a blessing it was to receive them, the tears started rolling even when we received them at the airport (I still did not receive an answer about the emotional control panel). Exhausted from the trip we arrived in Gitega by which time Bernice and Nats were sleep walking. They were loaded with goodies for us, some from friends and family which we were so thankful for!! We were really overwhelmed to say the least with what came with and every gift was needed, God knew what to send us, we praise God for You! Then it was back to Bujumbura to spend the last 2 days with them and see them off after a week’s visit. We were strong but leaving the airport even brought tears to this boertjie.....writing this blog helps me take stock of the month and by all standards this event was the most toughest of the last 6 months...Please pray for us to be strong. Words cannot explain how a father and mother feels leaving their only child, but we pay the tears forward into the Kingdom because we know God has a plan and the joy that is going to follow will overshadow what we feeling now.

Please consider to come and visit the need here is big, we have enough room for at least 6 people. Pray, hear and go!

Distributing Bibles
We have been serving at the local school and started building a strong relationship with the students, we identified a big need to provide Bibles to the students 350 students. June was the end of the Burundi school calendar year, which means that June was really a month for exams. Well we were able to hand out 71 Bibles last week Monday after our 3rd attempt to call a meeting with the Senior class which was cancelled twice due to bad communication. Well praise God, Bernice and Nats joined us to go and hand out Bibles which was a privilege. We asked the students to write a 50 word essay to answer the question: Why do you want a Bible? This left most scratching their heads for 30 minutes but well worth the effort.

This was great to be able to have sowed the Bibles and we are asking God for provision to buy Bibles for the remaining 279 students. We have many Roman Catholic students and I heard through the grape vine that they were warned by their Priest that they should not come to this school where the missionaries are working because they will lose their salvation.....? But most is now more determined to come back !! Praise God.

Ministry connections
The last 3 months Diane and I were chipping away at our theological studies with SATS, really what a blessing it is to be able to study online (via the internet). Yes the internet is a challenge because we have a dialup equivalent connection, but still running at 230kbps which is fair for the price around R8 per hour. We studied Hermeneutics and I was brave enough to tackle a 2nd subject at the same time, Doctrine of Revelation. We do not have a TV so at night we have time to study. Hermeneutics really is the core of Theological studies, in fact I’ll be as bold to say that it is the primary subject to gain understanding of. Hermeneutics is really the study of interpretation of scripture and help you to understand Exegeses tools to evaluate scripture to formulate and test Doctrine. We learned many big words but most of all, we sense and even closer call to God’s plan and purpose for us in Burundi.

2 Tim 2:2 “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others”

Really here are so many Pastors and church leaders who are all echoing the same thing I’ve heard the Holy Spirit say, training, deeper training in the Word of God. Now we (Ps Charles and I) have an opportunity to Partner with the VERITAS program which is brand new course, here in Burundi, initiated in many countries and have trained many Pastors. The program consists of 4 lengthy modules. The primarily focuses is on teaching Pastors how to exegeses scripture i.e. interpreting scripture within its context for application today. This means we will not teach Pastors doctrine but rather how to test and formulate their own, from scripture which means we will not impose a “western” or “secular” worldview, but rather allow the ethnic to discover how to praise God from within their own culture and provide a platform for self correction of culture and traditions where required. I’m very excited about this venture and looking to God for direction.

On a personal note, for the first time in my LIFE do I sense that I “fit” into what I’m doing i.e. that I am self-actualising into God’s primary call for our lives, and I can almost see the eternal effects our little bit of effort will have on the nation of Burundi. However this is not a “self” effort, oh no! This is only God, leading by His Holy Spirit, leading every prayer partner, every financial partner into a Kingdom purpose which can only be accomplished by men and women who are focussed on the charge which Jesus had left His disciples......and it is only because of you that we, together, can push the envelope and make our time count NOW...I call this the NOW moment, the time in space which we have been created for!!!

We love you guys so much, so many people praying and supporting us for which we can only say thank you Father God, Bless these special people and we pray God’s most precious love and peace over you and your families.

Prayer Points:
1. Vision – for Gods vision to materialise through his obedient servants here in Burundi. The vision is to train leaders 2 Tim 2:2 – thank you for your prayers God has made some divine appointments for us and divine connections.
2. Vehicle – pray for the settlement of the balance of the loan.
3. Bibles – pray for Bible distribution at school.
4. Furniture – pray for God to supply all the furniture we need – Thank you Lord you have provided once again!
5. Health – continue to pray for good health.
6. Protection – in our new house and in Burundi
7. Studies – pray for perseverance and discipline – Praise God, both passed Hermeneutics! Pray for the next round of subjects starting on Friday 10 July.

Love
Anton and Diane