Aug to Sept 2010 Burundi news --- Changing gears

Imana Ashimwe (Praise God)

News from Burundi

We are now fast approaching the last quarter of 2010 much plans must be realized before our visit to SA in January. Burundi is going into the rain season, so with great excitement wave good bye to the dust roads which always reminds us not to smile at passing vehicles for fear of having that grinding taste between our teeth due to the dust cloud following the vehicles J

Every week we attempt to visit a different church in Gitega and the surrounding areas, all of which are churches from Ps Charles. When we preach at these village churches we are normally the guests of honour, I guess it is hard not to be noticed due to our complexion. Where possible Diane will start telling a Bible narrative using her visual felt board which I follow-up with a sermon. We visited one such church about 2 hours away from Gitega and it was a very special occasion indeed, that Sunday morning they were Baptising 30 people from their church. It was very special. The Baptism pool was dug out the week before and lined with sail, and filled with water which was carried from a stream and up the mountain to where the church is located. A financial gift from Bibles for Believers provided 24 people with their own new Bible. Also we were able to bless the pastor with a loud speaker.

We were also invited to an opening of a new church about 20 kms from Gitega. This was so special and the church is situated right next to the brand new tarred road going north to Muyinga. The main choir from the church in Gitega was also invited for the occasion and we had an awesome time being part of this very joyful opening.

A team from Norway came to visit the ministry of Ps Charles. Preaching in his church and encouraging the folk in Gitega and Bujumbura. We love them so much and have met Arne and Tomas on a previous visits. They are known as the Chocolate Rescue team, because of Diane’s sweet tooth (or teeth) she requested some chocolates, and the team made sure that she had a good share of their stash they came with. I enjoyed helping her eat these chocolates J mmmmmmmmm!

Ministry Update

We can hardly believe that our first Group module 1 pastors and leaders, are finishing their last lesson on 29 September. It was a great experience for me as I am still learning the Veritas material. Normally you only master a subject once you have trained someone else. I had to make much effort to prepare and present the material week after week, but the fruit are visible. As the pastors one by one started to understand how to interpret passages in context of the history, culture, literature, the book and the structure. We have much breakthrough during the training sessions where we can address issues which leads to legalism. We have also handed out Kirundi commentaries sponsored by Bibles for Believers to these pastors. The training included how to use these commentaries correctly and will be a huge benefit to the pastors in preparing messages with a resource which will help them understand the historical and cultural background.

Group 2 have started on Friday 10 September in Gitega. We run this class twice weekly. 15 pastors and leaders from 8 different denominations of which 4 pastors are the denominational leaders. God has really sent the leaders to us and we find the increased pace better, but will have to see if the leaders will be able to sustain this pace.

Group 3 will be started in a new province, Rutana about 1 ½ drive from Gitega. Ps Ruben and Augustine is helping us to collate the delegates in this province. These two pastors work with Scripture Union and have much connection amongst pastors interdenominationally. This is our heart to train leaders interdenominational which will help spawn more unity and love amongst the different churches. Please pray for this launch we want to train this group, 2 days consecutively every alternate week in order to complete module 1 before our visit in January.

Diane is really working hard in the kitchen helping to prepare meals and tea for the pastors during the 3 training days. Our helper Jeremiah helps cook the beans and assists in the kitchen. The Sunday school is well attended, the highlight is when they take their crafts home and parents have to find walls at home to display the work of arts. Diane also attended a day seminar in Gitega for Sunday school teachers which involves kids games, which will be used to mobilize different churches’ Sunday school ministries. Aim is that the children are happy and then parents will be happy and eventually the parents will come to church which will influence the whole community. Sunday School team will work together to initiate the games in Ps Charles’ church during October which will run-up to an outdoor event with other local churches also taking part.

We have received a donation from Bibles for Believers and want to place about 200 Bibles amongst the most rural churches in Burundi over the next month during our weekends. We thank God for this opportunity to bless Burundi with His Word. I must add earlier we received a R5000 donation from an anonymous sponsor for Bibles, which made it possible for us to distribute 116 Bibles to pastor Andrew’s churches in the province of Ngosi during August. At the time there were 13 churches gathered for a meeting and we were able to hand out 116 Bibles. I’ve posted some pics on the blog. Today I received a visit from Pastor Andrew, who gave a report that the believers are so encouraged after we left that many are now reading their Bibles and growing spiritually. God is adding to their number and they have now planted 20 churches in this province. I’ve made an appointment with him to return and visit the 7 new churches during October.

On the right is Francis. Some time ago he gave away his own Bible to his unsaved nephew. Today his nephew and his whole household have come to Jesus. But they did not want to return his Bible. On this day Francis received a new Bible from God.

Update on Ministry needs

Last month we listed some ministry needs, thank you for responding between one anonymous sponsor and Bibles for Believers we were able to meet all our financial needs. God knows you and your generous gift will not go unaccounted for before God, thank you!

Spiritual Thought

The Lord has really been great to us over the last 22 months since we arrived in Burundi. He has protected us through the elections and from serious health issues. God has provided faithfully every month for our every need through His special generous children. God has grown us through perseverance by holding onto His words through prayer, supported by all the prayer partners and we are starting to see God’s increase in the ministry. Thank you God for your overwhelming response, we praise your name which we will continue to proclaim until we hear the echo’s of your name amongst all nations. (Rev 7:9-10)

Prayer points

Please continue to pray as follow:

1. Peace for Burundi – renewed outbreak of rebels are creating unrest, pray for peace to be restored.

2. Pray for Gods Truth – the Gospel - to become known to all people in Burundi, from grass roots into the highest rank of government.

3. Kirundi Commentaries – pray for finance for these commentaries

4. Bernice – pray for her wellbeing and God’s hand of protection and for her studies.

5. Veritas training – pray for Group 2 in Gitega training Mondays and Fridays from 9:00 to 14:00 and for the launch in Rutana on 30 September.

6. Our Kirundi lessons are ongoing – please pray for perseverance and understanding, we see huge favor with the local where we use the Kirundi.

7. Pray for us – protection for our health, relationships, that no weapon from the enemy against us will prevail.

8. Divine appoints – ask the Holy Spirit to guide us into all divine appointments He has created for us and to discern His words of wisdom.

9. Vehicle – pray for the settlement of the balance of the loan.

10. Studies – New subject is World Religions

11. Kids Games – Many new children will come to know the Lord – this will allow their parents to come to know the Lord

Please stay connected with us on Face Book………

Much love

Anton and Diane

June to July 2010 news --- Keep on Keeping on

Urakomeye (Are you well?)

News from Burundi

Burundi is dry at the moment but not cold! The dust roads around us reminds me some days of the Namibian dust roads, leaves everyone behind you in a baptism of dust even if you slow down to a crawl. But I rather take the dust than the cold I saw the SWC spectators endure on telly. We were fortunate to watch a few games at some restaurants in Gitega and Bujumbura in my T- shirt and sandals J. All while the Burundi presidential elections were happening. Many people had fear that major unrest will erupt specially after the first round of commune elections results. The results were almost 90% in favour of CNDD FDD (ruling party). Some rumors of cheating were reported but election observers gave if their thumbs up. So we had a couple of hand grenade explosions mainly in Bujumbura and a couple of threats from different political parties, but all in all we have peace. The political situation can be described that PEACE has prevailed and God is the instigator! We praise God for answering prayers and we have seen some opposition party join the president’s party and the main opposition (FNL) the ex rebels do not want to follow their leader into civil war again they love the peace more!! And since then their leader has disappeared, possibly left the country. We rejoice and give God 100% credit for answered prayer.

Bernice arrived for a visit in June on the same day as the SWC opening for 3 weeks. We had a great time with her in between ministry and other commitments. We are so encouraged to see our daughter mature into a young lady, and so thankful towards all the people back home who take care of her and concerns them over her. She says that she has so many moms and dads in SA that she had to come to Burundi for a break, lol. The most important parent is God who continues to protect and provide for her through committed people who are prepared to serve Him. During the last week of her visit I became ill, man down for a week and still not 100% sure what the cause was. God really provided for a German doctor who is revamping a local hospital here in Burundi and have some of the latest medical equipment. After many blood tests we could safely eliminate a number of causes and his diagnoses was that I possibly had a stomach infection. I think this is just one of those cases where we can conclude that the sickness was a spiritual attack on the ministry and work of God. Thank you to all those who have responded to our prayer requests on Face book and SMS’s. God has answered our prayers and have restored me!

After saying our “dreadful” goodbyes Bernice returned to SA safely. Please keep her in your prayers for the second semester of her studies this year so that she may finish the year well. She has made such good progress over the last 18 months and have passed all 15 subjects to date. We are beaming with pride of our daughter.

Ministry Update

The pastors’ training in Gitega is going extremely well but also not without some resistance. Some people were ill and even one church planter broke his leg. But I am committed to the training and for all 15 pastors to finish well. I have attached some photos of the pastors we are training. We are nearing the end of the 1st module and are planning a second group for the balance of the year before we return to SA for a visit in January.

The last 6 months I have also attended the Bujumbura Veritas training with Tim van Aarde (South African missionary) and Ruben Safari (Burundian). The main purpose was to observe how they train the material in the Burundian context and what the pastor’s main needs are. A very dynamic aspect of the training is that Tim and Ruben trains together. This strategy help create two synergies a) developing a support structure for future which will remove future training dependencies on Tim and b) with Ruben the teachings are reinforced into the culture.

For some time I have had the same conviction that I need to formulate a similar relationship for the training we are doing in Gitega and other areas. In fact going forward I would think there will be a number of such partnerships I will have to foster. This will empower Burundian trainers to continue the training in the future. In the group I am training at the moment I have a very strong candidate who will be an excellent partner. He heads up the Scripture union branch in Gitega, English literate and have completed his theological studies in Uganda. I have not made any commitments yet, but ask you to be prayerful about this request.

This is Aron our

Kirundi teacher and interpreter.

Diane is enjoying the growing Sunday school. Last month she made every child a beaded gospel bracelet and teached the children how to use it for evangelism. The children see it as a treat to color in pictures every alternative week which reinforces the previous week’s lesson. I also include Diane in the preaching when we visit the village churches. She normally teaches the whole church with the felt board images. The people so enjoy this teachings and look forward to our visits.

We thank God for a gift we received for a 100 Bibles and we started distributing them last week to a village church who was so happy to receive the Word of God.

We also helped Tim service his vehicle and had some fun doing so!

This is one of a Kind!!

Ministry needs:

Please also pray for some specific financial ministry needs we have.

15 x Kirundi Bible commentaries ($16 x 15)= $240 or R1920

2 x off road tyres for the car ($280 x 2)= $560 or R4480

20 x Veritas manuals ($8 x 20) = $160 or R1280

You can obtain my bank details for South Africa or Burundi, directly from me via Email: vansatburundi@gmail.com or via Face book account.

Spiritual Thought

During the last two months we really had a few incidents which have tested our faith. Just living in Burundi is a lifestyle of faith day by day, but seriously there is many elements to this word, faith. A word which really become loaded in its meaning. But faith is best expressed through our daily lives. Matt 22:37 says we should “love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind” With our mind being the faculty of our understanding and knowledge of God and Heart being the choice or decisions we make. Aspects of faith is trust, obedience, belief, doctrine, knowledge, risk or conviction.

The question is how do you sleep at night? I had to ask myself that question last night when I heard a few gunshots etc. I had to remind myself we must believe and trust that God is bigger and greater than our biggest problem, challenge or fear and that unbelief is actually a sin.

In Lev 14 we read of Israel on the brink of stepping into God’s promise of Canaan. According to the narrative, Israel did not enter the promised land for another 40 years because of unbelief. God was ready to lead them into the promised land but the Israelites was not willing to believe that God was bigger than their fear. Their unbelief led them to disobey God.

We need to make a choice in our hearts believing God is greater than the evil in this earth. We have to know that God can and will remove all evil from this earth one day Rev 20:11-15. Until then God will go before us and be our rear guard. We must trust God in all circumstances. Even in our darkest moment continue to believe God is good, God is faithful, God loves you personally, God will never let you go beyond His grace. This is the hope we have which secures our future. Our circumstances now is but a short time and no comparison to be with God for eternity. Our faith must cause us to climb a higher mountain, take greater risk, face bigger giants just because we have a Friend who is bigger and greater than our circumstances!

Prayer points

Please continue to pray as follow:

1. Peace for Burundi – thank God for peaceful elections an awesome answer to prayer!

2. Pray for Gods Truth – the Gospel - to become known to all people in Burundi, from grass roots into the highest rank of government.

3. Kirundi Commentaries – pray for finance for these commentaries

4. Bernice – pray for her wellbeing and God’s hand of protection and for her studies.

5. Veritas training – pray for safe travels to and from Bujumbura and for the pastors who are attending the training with us, for understanding how to interpret the Word of God. Also for the continued training in Gitega every Wednesday from 9:00 to 14:00 for the next 5 months. We plan to finish in August with the 1^st group.

6. Our Kirundi lessons are ongoing – please pray for perseverance and understanding, we see huge favor with the local where we use the Kirundi.

7. Pray for us – protection for our health, relationships, that no weapon from the enemy against us will prevail.

8. Divine appoints – ask the Holy Spirit to guide us into all divine appointments He has created for us and to discern His words of wisdom.

9. Vehicle – pray for the settlement of the balance of the loan and for 2 new tyres.

10. Studies –Thank God for the completion of Apologetics and Pentateuch – we await the results at the moment.

Please stay connected with us on Face Book………

Also on our Blog you will find Twitter updates and real time news flashes for Burundi…..http://van-burundi.blogspot.com/

Much love

Anton and Diane

May 2010 Bohoro Bohoro

Bohoro Bohoro , (slowly slowly)

Burundi is in a buzz at the moment with the elections looming. In Burundi we have a saying “slowly slowly”, this saying runs through the very fiber of this nation, I’m not saying this in a derogative manner but rather a teaching for us western cultures. My Burundi brothers are much more relationship orientated than task orientated. Which means that you should place a much greater value on relationships than attempting to challenge the status quo. I often think that God really had a sense of humor to send us here. Well the voting has been split over 3 months with 3 specific days for voting. (the 3 days is for different roles in government). Well the first day of voting was supposed to happen last week but have been postponed due to insufficient ballet papers delivered to the different locations but as we said “slowly slowly” everyone will be able to vote. Of cause I found it rather amusing when one of the 45 opposition parties blamed the government for being unorganized which caused the first delay. Now I am as confused as a chicken who laid a ball bearing? Please pray that the election process will continue peacefully.

Amongst the country’s propaganda campaigns we have started the 1^st group of pastor’s training in Gitega during May!! We have started with a slightly bigger group than anticipated due to the huge demand for this kind of training. Our first group is 15 pastors (includes 3 ladies) from 6 different churches. This alone is a work of God to have different churches sitting around the same table, learning from God’s Word. We decided to run the training from our home as we have enough space and drasticly reduces the cost to train but we had some startup costs to buy 3 tables and 14 chairs + cups, flasks and plates. As we decided to also give the pastors a light meal (rice, beans & tea). There is a Burundi proverb that says that the ears of Burundian is in his stomach, when he receives food he learns much better. Anyway we just wanted to be a blessing, why not? But here is the testimony, God knew when we needed to buy this equipment and the day we needed to order the furniture and buy the catering utensils, the money was available in our account….coincidence or God? Someone once said coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous. Thank you Lord!

Last week one of the pastors amongst the group, thanked us for coming to Burundi and our interpreter said “today I know that God was in this home”J When all odds are against you we can safely say that if God has a plan it will be fulfilled. We are humbled for what God is doing in and through us during this time, let’s thank Him! We also want to thank you for your prayers and financial support, we are doing this work together with you for God’s glory.

Diane enjoyed helping a team of youth who came to visit Ps Charles form Norway. What a blessing these young people were with such passion to serve Burundi. They asked Diane to help them arrange the logistics of the event in the local soccer stadium to reach the children of Gitega. The team worked hard on the day as there was just such an overwhelming response to their visit. This was a great opportunity for preaching the Gospel. Diane arrived home around 14:30 in the afternoon she did not even greet her waiting quests from Bujumbura properly, as she was covered with dust and dirt from all the activities, but nothing a bath could not cure.

My studies with SATS continues and completed two subjects – Book of Acts and Homiletics with distinctions for both (was really chaffed with myself) and now busy with the next two – Apologetics and Pentateuch. Please pray for me these two subjects needs much time due to the large quantity of study material and the preparation for the Veritas lectures must also be done with diligence. But I am loving it!

One Sunday early morning we woke up with rain of a different kind….it was the grasshopper “run”, like you see the sardine run in Scottsburg, SA so it was literary raining grasshoppers. It felt like I was in Egypt with the 10 plagues. They were everywhere, coming in under the doors attempting to escape from their hunters. Diane was almost hysterical as they wanted to join her morning bath. She just kept saying, wonder what Nats will say. Normally this kind of plague can be absolute disaster for the surrounding subsistence farmers but it was actually a blessing for both Burundian and crows. Burundians love these grasshoppers fried in a bit of oil, people were collecting bags and bags of these grasshoppers, while the crows had a feast in the air.

We are excited for Bernice’s visit to Burundi during June. Thank God for answered prayer as a lovely family have offered to pay for her ticket and someone else has given Bernice spending money. We are all counting the days in sleeps. Please pray for her safe travels to and from Burundi.

Today we had Holy Communion. Normally the ceremony is held after the main church. Everybody leaves the building except for the pastors. The table is prepared with the juice and the bread and covered with white table cloth. The church is invited back into the building before the ceremony begins. The pastors line up behind the table while someone prays an opening prayer. All the pastors wash hands in a basin with soap and water. The table cloth is removed and the bread loafs are broken in small pieces while the quire praises God. A short reading of the Word with a special reverence for God is observed followed by the serving of the emblems. Holy Communion is repeated once a month.

Spiritual Thought

Col 1:15-20

When Paul wrote to the brothers in Colosse there was a number of problems he wanted to address. One of the problems was the lack of Supremacy of Christ in the lives of the believers. Paul raised the superiority of Christ in the face of religion, tradition and philosophies. It does not matter how people may question the existence of God or what challenge you face when defending the Gospel, Christ has, is and will always be the first and the last. V17 In Christ all things hold together. Let’s take encouragement from God’s mighty hand of reconciling us to Himself through His Son Jesus Christ. Our peace with God has been settled at the cross. Allow God’s peace through the Holy Spirit to rule our minds, tongues and actions. We serve the living, ruling and almighty God!

Prayer points

Please continue to pray as follow:

1. Peace for Burundi – for the upcoming elections while many political rallies are the order of the day, may God’s hand of peace prevail.

2. Pray for Gods Truth – the Gospel - to become known to all people in Burundi, from grass roots into the highest rank of government.

3. Bibles for Burundi – pray for resources to provide Bibles to believers. Thank God for 100 Bibles sponsored.

4. Bernice – pray for her wellbeing and God’s hand of protection.

5. Veritas training – pray for safe travels to and from Bujumbura and for the pastors who are attending the training with us, for understanding how to interpret the Word of God. Also for the continued training in Gitega every Wednesday from 9:00 to 14:00 for the next 5 months.

6. Kirundi Bible commentaries – please pray for finances and donors in order to bless pastors with this invaluable tool.

7. Our Kirundi lessons are ongoing – please pray for perseverance and understanding, we see huge favor with the local where we use the Kirundi.

8. Pray for us – protection for our health, relationships, that no weapon from the enemy against us will prevail.

9. Divine appoints – ask the Holy Spirit to guide us into all divine appointments He has created for us and to discern His words of wisdom.

10. Vehicle – pray for the settlement of the balance of the loan.

11. Studies – Pray for perseverance during the next two subjects – Apologetics and Pentateuch

Please stay connected with us on Face Book………

Also on our Blog you will find Twitter updates and real time news flashes for Burundi…..http://van-burundi.blogspot.com/

Much love

Anton and Diane

March to April 2010 News from Burundi

Amahoro, Pasika Nziza (Peace to you and a wonderful Passover)

Where did the 2 months go to? Studies, Training, Exploratory trip, Passover, Veritas training and Bible distribution. We had a real busy time and continue to see God’s hand of provision, salvation and divine appointments. Don’t you find that sometimes our daily routine becomes just that, a routine we sometimes do not see God’s agenda for the day and do not meet the people who have been set over our path for a purpose. The saying “Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous” is a fact. By pure “coincidence” we have met a few of these divine appointments this month, of which 3 people made commitments to Christ, Hallelujah!

Briefly the one week we had no water supply for 5 days from the local municipality, the longest stint was 9 days. Anyway God gives us grace in these times. After visiting the local municipality offices I just had another major lesson in dealing with delicate issues in the local culture. Simply remain humble and patient, as the Holy Spirit indicated to me. Not long and I had two technicians in the car, off we go to solve the problem which was just one switch which have remained off for 5 days. On our way back to the office, I asked the question, do you guys pray to God? Immediately they answered we drink primuis, (local beer), with an immediate retaliation to, oh we are also Catholic. I started laughing and asked the guys why are they telling me there religion, my question was do you pray to God? The Holy Spirit spoke so clearly to these guys and at one point I thought well we will not have enough time to complete our conversation when they received a call from the office to respond to an emergency elsewhere. They asked please if I can take them there as they have no transport. I said you are welcome now we can complete our discussion. Praise God an hour later they committing their lives to Christ. Thank you Lord!

Tim and Jeanette van Aarde, our good friends in Christ, missionaries who live in Bujumbura and heads up the Burundi Mission with the purpose to train Pastors and leaders with the Veritas modules, had to visit SA for 2 weeks to attend Tim’s grandmother’s funeral. Tim is training with Ruben Safari (Burundian, Pastor, Scripture Union and Director of 8 countries, Veritas trainer etc). They started to train another a group of pastors in Muyinga (2 hours drive from Gitega and 4 hours drive from Bujumbura one way). Because of the unforeseen event Tim asked us to help train Veritas with Ruben in Muyinga. I tell you some of the most rural pastors attend this training in Muyinga. The training pace had to be slower than for the pastors in Bujumbura. At one stage Ruben and I were concerned that the Pastors were not able to follow us. But then on day 3 both Ruben and I saw a breakthrough. As we recapped the work we covered in the previous lessons the faces started to light up and answers flowing back, praise God! I realized that truly the need is great to train these rural pastors. We were thrilled to be able to be part of the team to train pastors in this region. Also Ruben is really the man of peace for this mission, he’s the quarter back and we must protect him as the team, ironically I find that he is normally the one that looks out for our wellbeing, lol. While we were in Muyinga over the last two weeks Diane met a young man who was on crutches and were selling handmade cards to earn an income. With Ruben and I away from the guest house, and no interpreter Diane continued to speak in her limited Kirundi and helped the young man read scripture from her Kirundi Bible. As he was reading the scriptures, he’s eyes started to light up and the understanding of the Gospel flooded his mind. By the time Ruben and I returned he was ready to make a commitment to Christ. Thank you Lord!

We remain on track to start training Veritas in Gitega, of which the 1^st group of pastors will be in Gitega. The official launch will be on Wednesday 28 April at 14:00. Really we sense that we are going through a self actualizing moment where all the years of preparation and trails and tests and focus to relocate to Burundi are culminating into this time of history…..We have been following God’s call which we have been walking by faith, and has now become a realization in our lives, Thank you Lord! I have seen anyone can fly into Burundi for 2 weeks with a purse full of money, but after all has been said and done you will leave empty handed, relieved of your cash giving great reports and photos of the visit and the “Work of God” but in reality the hearts of the people remained exactly the same, because you have just stepped into the biggest cultural trap in Burundi. The only way to train pastors effectively is to become one of the locals and to do the time, live understand, smell experience Burundi through the eyes and hearts of Burundians. Before we came in 2009 God gave us a very clear entry strategy, Luke 10:4-11 Do not take a purse, stay with the man of peace, do not move around but do ministry. This we have done, we did not bring bag loads of money, but rather allowing God to work His provision. Now when we are introduced to new people here, Ps Charles normally say we are from SA, missionaries to work with him and they have no money…lol. Money can buy you friends but love can earn you friends. The cultural lessons we have learned and are still learning has been and is going to be a huge key with the Veritas training in understanding how people here interpret the Bible. Now do not hear what I am not saying, we can use money as a disciple tool and some of our Norwegian friends are doing so very effectively, raising the standards of accountability and stewardship, always taking hands with us and understanding the cultural aspects.

On a lighter note, we were in Bujumbura 3 weeks ago for the Veritas training which is normally on Thursday and Fridays. We stayed over with Tim and Jeannette. Two NGO foreigners asked Tim to take them on a day outing to go visit the National Park Du Kahbira. Simple we thought, left early the Saturday morning in search of the “Game” park which should not have taken longer than 1 hour to reach. Shortly after our departure from Bujumbura it started raining, mist set in over the mountain passes and as a result we missed the sign boards, and happily continued the drive almost reaching the Rwanda border. The park according to the dated map is a massive park stretching about 4 hours drive in radius, well massive in context of Burundi. Eventually we found a game ranger, still dressed in his suited uniform at the very north of the park. He indicated that he does work for the park, but now a days there are no more animals, and he does not receive any remuneration from the government. He said we were the first visitors since 1997 to come to the park. He drove with us and showed us some of the park. The park used to consist of very dense forest which was an oasis to the chimps. Much of the forest today have been removed to clear land for subsistence farming. Apparently a concerted effort are being made to conserve the centre of the park, which remains untouched after the war, but we left the central park exploration for another day.

The local High School, is in a buzz, with the children unable to contain their excitement. As we visited the 7 classes on Monday and Tuesday, the delight in the hearts of the children were uncontainable. For months now they have been asking for Bibles, and we merely exhorted the children to pray and ask Jesus. Continually I challenge them, to test God and see if He will not provide to satisfy the desire of their heart to receive a Bible. We continued the religion classes with a small stock of Bibles which we took from class to class so the students could at least share reading a Bible and following the teaching. In November we received a large donation to buy Bibles for about 100 students, but sensed the timing was not right to give and also in my heart I wanted all 200+ students to receive a Bible, we did not merely want to give hand outs we wanted the students to receive the Bibles on merit. As we were nearing the time we should distribute the 100 Bibles, I asked God if it His will to provide Bibles to the balance of the students, in order that all the students may receive a Bible. A few days later I get a Face book message from a person who was attempting to contact me. The words, came God has told me to give you a donation. In my heart I knew this was God’s answer! The amazing testimony is that God answered the prayer and all 200+ students now have a Bible because two families were generous in their giving to God. We give praise to God for His provision.

Spiritual thought

What was the reason for the sudden death of Ananias and Sapphira? We find the narrative in Acts 5:1-11. This raised my curiosity as I have just completed a study on the narrative of the Book of Acts. An immediate reaction to reading the passage might elicit a response of, is this true, or get out of here surely God is pro-life did the Holy Spirit kill this couple? Attempting to justify this event to believers can be a hot potato in the church. Many raise their opinions about the reason why the couple was killed, but these only remain the opinions of men. We must not preach what the Word of God do not emphatically say. Also our approach to interpreting scripture will really challenge our thinking. Here in Burundi I notice that the general approach to interpreting scripture is a legalistic approach to scripture, and there all the liberals shout, grace! No no wait. Having said that, most western cultures err big time on being very liberal to interpreting scripture. What we must find is the middle road.

In the narrative of Acts we find that the major theme is about The Holy Spirit, building the church. Disciples and apostles submitting to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The church is the work of God, not man. It is God’s control which becomes so clear throughout the book. Holy Spirit heals who He wants to heal, not left to the direction of man. He even transports Philip to where He needed him for ministry. Then we read the passage about Ananias and Sapphira. Did they knowingly lie against the Holy Spirit? Did they knowingly attempt to deceive the all mighty God? Is it not God’s own control to exercise His judgment i.e. is God omniscient? In all accounts yes…..More importantly in v11 we read the consequence of God’s immediate judgment, “Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events”.

I want to highlight two aspects in this verse.

a) Fear of God – means having a great reverence for your husband, or being afraid.

b) who heard – both believers and non believers heard about this event which clearly illustrates that this event affected many people.

Have we maybe lost a bit of reverence for God? Does God take the rightful place in your thinking and your life? We cannot afford to be lulled to sleep in a bed of grace. Prov 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…” Rev 20 gives us a very vivid description of the day of Judgment, of cause God loves us and is long postponing in performing what he said He will do at judgment, this cannot be an excuse for us to explain away how severe the judgment is going to be for those who do not conform to His standard. I praise God as he chooses to reveal Himself through His love, His ultimate sacrifice, His ultimate revelation of who and what He is, through the messiah, Jesus Christ. We do not have to be afraid of God if you are living according to His law of love – Matt 22:37. However the reality is each one of us will face God's judgement one day, the question is will you live or die? We have this life to make a choice, this is the grace of God.

Other examples where God took immediate judgment are:

Achan in the book of Joshua (Jos 7)

Uzzah struck down by the Lord (2 Sam 6:6-7)

Prayer points

Please continue to pray as follow:

1. Peace for Burundi – for the upcoming elections while many political rallies are the order of the day, may God’s hand of peace prevail.

2. Pray for Gods Truth – the Gospel - to become known to all people in Burundi, from grass roots into the highest rank of government.

3. Bibles for Burundi – pray for resources to provide Bibles to believers

4. Students at local school – THANK God for answered prayer to provide Bibles to the students

5. Bernice – pray for her wellbeing and God’s hand of protection.

6. Veritas training – pray for safe travels to and from Bujumbura and for the pastors who are attending the training with us, for understanding how to interpret the Word of God. Also for the launch of the Veritas group in Gitega on Wednesday 28 April at 14:00.

7. Kirundi Bible commentaries – please pray for finances and donors in order to bless pastors with this invaluable tool.

8. Our Kirundi lessons are ongoing – please pray for perseverance and understanding, we see huge favor with the local where we use the Kirundi.

9. Pray for us – protection for our health, relationships, that no weapon from the enemy against us will prevail.

10. Divine appoints – ask the Holy Spirit to guide us into all divine appointments He has created for us and to discern His words of wisdom.

11. Vehicle – pray for the settlement of the balance of the loan.

12. Studies – THANK God for answered prayer – I have completed the next two subjects – Book of Acts and Homiletics.

Please stay connected with us on Face Book………

Much love

Anton and Diane