Imana Ibahezagira! (May God Bless you!)
Diane and I have spent our first Christmas, New Year and 1st Birthday in Burundi! It has been both awesome and challenging. Christmas in Burundi is not a long drawn out festive season albeit that the church has a huge program for the day, as most of the ordinances are done on Christmas day.
The day started at 6:30am by baptizing 248 people while Diane was having a Christmas party with the children school, Sunday school on Christmas day is fun.
Diane and I have spent our first Christmas, New Year and 1st Birthday in Burundi! It has been both awesome and challenging. Christmas in Burundi is not a long drawn out festive season albeit that the church has a huge program for the day, as most of the ordinances are done on Christmas day.
The day started at 6:30am by baptizing 248 people while Diane was having a Christmas party with the children school, Sunday school on Christmas day is fun. After the main service all the new 
babies born during the year are dedicated, about 80. New members can only join on Christmas day after they have been baptized, hence we welcomed 248 new members to the family finalizing the proceedings with Holy Communion. Tim and Jeanette a missionary couple from SA staying in Bujumbura, joined us for Christmas lunch when I made a good old traditional South African dish called Potjie, the best I tell you.
New year is also very different starting with a the whole church gathering at 20:00 on the 31st and spend the whole night worshipping God and having all kinds of theater kind of skids, which lasted until 5:00 the morning. Just to have a quick cup of coffee before the main service at 9:00 on the 1st which lasted until 13:30, of cause all returning home for a days’ rest. All in all I really appreciated being in church over midnight and going into the new year with a “New Hallelujah”…..
We celebrated Diane’s birthday on the 1st but we remained with the church program over this week….on the 4th we went away for 3 days to a town next to the Tanganyika Lake, called Yanza Lac.
The natural beauty of this area is stunning, see some pics on the blog. Albeit that I struggle to “switch off” but had to use some of my time to catch up some of my studies. The 2nd morning while Diane was getting ready and I was admiring the sunrise over a cup of coffee, peering over the laptop onto the lake, I hear a loud shriek from the bedroom. Diane calling: Anton come quickly here is scorpion in our suitcase….Eish. Now how do you find a scorpion in a suitcase full of clothes….CAREFULLY…..or you call someone….lol. Well there was one scorpion which managed to somehow crawl into the suitcase during the night and made himself very comfortable. The model of the story is keep your suitcases closed, lest you will receive uninvited guests.
Dr Howard Foreman from the US in CA returned on Ps Charles’ invitation to come teach some of the rural pastors.
You might remember me writing about him in a previous news letter. During the last visit he fainted behind the pulpit and sustained a severe concussion and a nasty cut on the back of his head. Well with his next visit it was less eventful but Burundi continued to baptize him, shame his main luggage bag was delayed, $600 stolen, no hot water…traveling in Africa is tough. The week training went off very well where most pastors have never received any kind of training. The need has once again been highlighted to me to continue to train pastors and leaders. Howard basically covered the Doctrine of Revelation and opened the topic of Hermeneutics to the pastors which has been a rewarding experience to see pastors having a greater reverence for God’s word. Afterwards Howard wanted to see the material on Veritas which I duly shared with him the book which Dr Bennie Wolvaart wrote on how to Interpret the Bible, the Veritas course is based on this book. Howard’s comments were, very encouraging that this is excellent material and will take his teachings much deeper. One thing we understand is God never gets confused or makes a mistake, in this situation we could both clearly see how we are not in competition but that God is ordaining His work in harmony.
We can finaly say AMEN, to receiving the long awaited Brick Machine….thank you for all the prayers God has answered and we have learned yet more lessons. Please pray for wisdom that we will employ the machine with wisdom. The purpose for the machine will be to make bricks for schools and churches. See pic on the blog.
babies born during the year are dedicated, about 80. New members can only join on Christmas day after they have been baptized, hence we welcomed 248 new members to the family finalizing the proceedings with Holy Communion. Tim and Jeanette a missionary couple from SA staying in Bujumbura, joined us for Christmas lunch when I made a good old traditional South African dish called Potjie, the best I tell you.New year is also very different starting with a the whole church gathering at 20:00 on the 31st and spend the whole night worshipping God and having all kinds of theater kind of skids, which lasted until 5:00 the morning. Just to have a quick cup of coffee before the main service at 9:00 on the 1st which lasted until 13:30, of cause all returning home for a days’ rest. All in all I really appreciated being in church over midnight and going into the new year with a “New Hallelujah”…..
We celebrated Diane’s birthday on the 1st but we remained with the church program over this week….on the 4th we went away for 3 days to a town next to the Tanganyika Lake, called Yanza Lac.
The natural beauty of this area is stunning, see some pics on the blog. Albeit that I struggle to “switch off” but had to use some of my time to catch up some of my studies. The 2nd morning while Diane was getting ready and I was admiring the sunrise over a cup of coffee, peering over the laptop onto the lake, I hear a loud shriek from the bedroom. Diane calling: Anton come quickly here is scorpion in our suitcase….Eish. Now how do you find a scorpion in a suitcase full of clothes….CAREFULLY…..or you call someone….lol. Well there was one scorpion which managed to somehow crawl into the suitcase during the night and made himself very comfortable. The model of the story is keep your suitcases closed, lest you will receive uninvited guests.Dr Howard Foreman from the US in CA returned on Ps Charles’ invitation to come teach some of the rural pastors.
You might remember me writing about him in a previous news letter. During the last visit he fainted behind the pulpit and sustained a severe concussion and a nasty cut on the back of his head. Well with his next visit it was less eventful but Burundi continued to baptize him, shame his main luggage bag was delayed, $600 stolen, no hot water…traveling in Africa is tough. The week training went off very well where most pastors have never received any kind of training. The need has once again been highlighted to me to continue to train pastors and leaders. Howard basically covered the Doctrine of Revelation and opened the topic of Hermeneutics to the pastors which has been a rewarding experience to see pastors having a greater reverence for God’s word. Afterwards Howard wanted to see the material on Veritas which I duly shared with him the book which Dr Bennie Wolvaart wrote on how to Interpret the Bible, the Veritas course is based on this book. Howard’s comments were, very encouraging that this is excellent material and will take his teachings much deeper. One thing we understand is God never gets confused or makes a mistake, in this situation we could both clearly see how we are not in competition but that God is ordaining His work in harmony.
We can finaly say AMEN, to receiving the long awaited Brick Machine….thank you for all the prayers God has answered and we have learned yet more lessons. Please pray for wisdom that we will employ the machine with wisdom. The purpose for the machine will be to make bricks for schools and churches. See pic on the blog.Funerals are never great, but one thing is for sure and that is life ends on earth. 
The phone rang at 23:00 Friday night the 18th of December Peter and Fidelity, Burundian church planters who work for OMS, is in a state their 14 month baby is busy dying. The hospital is not equipped to help them and they asking for a lift to anther hospital about 2 hours drive. Unfortunately little Tony did not make it. I saw him die in his mother’s arms in our car. This was a low point for the year. Peter and Fidelity has been encouraged by all the family and friends who encouraged them through this time.
We are excited for 2010 for the work that God has called us for.
The first 3 months we will be busy with training on the Veritas module 1 material, while I continue my studies for my Bth. In fact I completed 2 subjects today and starting with the next two on Monday. Online learning has made life so much simpler. In June we will start training pastors in Gitega on Veritas. We also expecting a South African couple who work for Rouche in Kenya but in ministry with Farming Gods’ way. They coming for a very short visit in February to train farmers how to farm more efficiently. We will also continue to teach at the local school. We are about to start an 8 week discipleship program after which we will hand out 100 Bibles.
Spiritual thought: What is the mark of a true Christian? Maybe he is attending church, Bible study, small group, understands his salvation….possibly. Jesus said “go and make disciples of all nations…”(Matt28:19). How are we to live our lives which will please Jesus? Again Jesus said “anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (Luk 14:27). It starts with one disciple, two disciple….who are you intentionally and actively discipling? Yes it will cost you something, your ambitions, possibly your reputation but Jesus is calling us to die to our own desires and follow him through the cross of your own death. Who are you meeting at coffee breaks and lunch times to share what God is doing in your life? Show me someone who is discipling for Jesus and you will find that he is following the direction of the Holy Spirit’s leading and witnessing in His power. Dear friend I want to encourage you follow Jesus through the cross, your cross.
Here are some prayer points:
1. Veritas – Training to Start in February in Bujumbura, safe journeys to and from Gitega.
2. Bibles – pray for Bible distribution at school
3. Farming God’s way – for the visit in February
4. Vehicle – pray for the settlement of the balance of the loan.
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.
The phone rang at 23:00 Friday night the 18th of December Peter and Fidelity, Burundian church planters who work for OMS, is in a state their 14 month baby is busy dying. The hospital is not equipped to help them and they asking for a lift to anther hospital about 2 hours drive. Unfortunately little Tony did not make it. I saw him die in his mother’s arms in our car. This was a low point for the year. Peter and Fidelity has been encouraged by all the family and friends who encouraged them through this time.We are excited for 2010 for the work that God has called us for.
The first 3 months we will be busy with training on the Veritas module 1 material, while I continue my studies for my Bth. In fact I completed 2 subjects today and starting with the next two on Monday. Online learning has made life so much simpler. In June we will start training pastors in Gitega on Veritas. We also expecting a South African couple who work for Rouche in Kenya but in ministry with Farming Gods’ way. They coming for a very short visit in February to train farmers how to farm more efficiently. We will also continue to teach at the local school. We are about to start an 8 week discipleship program after which we will hand out 100 Bibles.Spiritual thought: What is the mark of a true Christian? Maybe he is attending church, Bible study, small group, understands his salvation….possibly. Jesus said “go and make disciples of all nations…”(Matt28:19). How are we to live our lives which will please Jesus? Again Jesus said “anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (Luk 14:27). It starts with one disciple, two disciple….who are you intentionally and actively discipling? Yes it will cost you something, your ambitions, possibly your reputation but Jesus is calling us to die to our own desires and follow him through the cross of your own death. Who are you meeting at coffee breaks and lunch times to share what God is doing in your life? Show me someone who is discipling for Jesus and you will find that he is following the direction of the Holy Spirit’s leading and witnessing in His power. Dear friend I want to encourage you follow Jesus through the cross, your cross.
Here are some prayer points:
1. Veritas – Training to Start in February in Bujumbura, safe journeys to and from Gitega.
2. Bibles – pray for Bible distribution at school
3. Farming God’s way – for the visit in February
4. Vehicle – pray for the settlement of the balance of the loan.
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.
Much love
Anton and Diane
