Burundi Mission Report (9th – 16th April 2017)

The dates were changed at a very short notice.

Apparently, the church had overlooked (probably assumed) the opening dates for schools and colleges when they planned the mission and communicated the dates. And it was by God’s design that I normally post on my blog on Wednesdays. That day I decided to do it very early in the morning. That was when I saw the change of dates, meaning that we were to leave by Friday as I was expected to preach on Sunday.

I notified the young men I was to travel with, Chris and Moses (my adopted son), about the changes.

Moses was unable to adjust his schedule to join us. Chris then told me of a girl in Super Kids who had been pleading to be included in the team. I therefore decided to see whether she would be available in the short time after Moses confirmed he would be unavailable. And she was. She just left her legal studies and looked for whatever was could be got, a clear indication of missions’ preparedness.

I also needed books as discipleship was a key topic I would be teaching. God was also ahead of me as I found the printer not busy. I bought the materials with the money I had and they printed the books for me to pay them after the mission. And they had enough books for me to travel with. I had also printed the Bible reading plans not long before so had enough to carry.

The rush was extreme. From getting everything required to all the documents.

But we finally were able to depart from Nairobi on Friday at 1 pm. The bus was slow and so we got to Kigali later than we had anticipated. We were unable to get a direct vehicle to the border we were to be picked from as the last vehicle had left. But they did not tell us so. We only got to know when we got to the terminus and they gave us change yet we had paid the actual fare.

It was then approaching six and there were no vehicles going to the border. We had to get a taxi. Then we got to learn that the border closes at 6. And the taxi driver flew. But we were beaten in that race. We arrived a few minutes after six and as you know Rwanda is very strict on everything. No pleading could convince them to allow us through.

We had to get lodging next to the border to spend the night and our host had to drive all the way back to Bujumbura.

Next morning (Sunday), we went to the border and discovered that one of us (Lydia) could not cross as her document was valid only till Rwanda. Again we pleaded unsuccessfully. The Burundi side was willing to assist but the Rwanda side was adamant. Had she wings she could have over flown that border post.

I used all the money to ensure that she gets to Kigali and back if the Kenya embassy is able to get the documents to allow her cross over to Burundi. Incidentally, even MPesa refused to work so I was unable to buy airtime to communicate as the one I had (which was much) got depleted by just one call to Burundi.

But I was able to contact some friends in Kigali to receive her and help where they could as this was her first time out of Kenya. They (the Bongos) later looked for ministry opportunities for her when the embassy said they couldn’t help.

We crossed over and Desire took us to Bujumbura. Worth noting is that Burundi drivers are very fast in those winding roads of theirs.

We arrived in church and found that they were waiting for us. I just sat for a few minutes before I was called to preach.

The seminars were well attended and the youth were very eager to learn. Our interactions with them were positive. It was enjoyable teaching people with a lot of questions even with the language barrier. But we are also grateful that God gave us very able translators. Incidentally I am not very fond of translators as with my interactions with them in the course of ministry I have encountered some who strangled the flow of the spirit in the teaching. But this time I really enjoyed seeing that not only the message, but also the spirit was translated well.

God told me to build my messages and training on the Lordship of Christ, from discipleship to evangelism to music.

Chris was able to even start a Super Kids prayer group in Burundi. He was able to teach Sunday School teachers and even run two children’s programs in church. He also met the children in the neighborhood we were staying in. A few times they would be waiting for Chris on the road as we got home in the evening.

Some highlights of our time in Burundi.

We taught evangelism and later used the EvangeCube as the tool. When we released the young people, it was initially like pushing wheelbarrows as they were very reluctant. But we went with them to get them off into sharing the Gospel.

Then they came back. They were so fired up about it from their experiences that they insisted that they must be given another day to share the Gospel. That first time they were able to reach 60 people and 25 gave their lives to Christ. We therefore had to reorganize the next day to include evangelism. But we were not able to get reports because many enjoyed the evangelism that they came very late.

There was an overnight prayer meeting on Friday that was better attended than the training, or even the services. We were able to share there also.

We went to the beach for a meeting with the departmental leaders of the church on Saturday afternoon and we had a good fellowship.

Their worship is also quite different. Whereas in Kenya people start fast then slow down to pray, the opposite happens there. They start normal then increase the pace until they just end up praying. And they really dance.

Another very positive thing I noticed is that their worship team is very big there is always ‘spare’ of everything, from singers to instrumentalists. As they sing, there is a team behind the ones on the microphones who will take up the mike once one gets tired. And it was the same with the instruments.

This is so important for me as it eliminates the star dynamic that leads many to pride and even sin as they are irreplaceable.

The church itself is young and very progressive. There are very many young people and I enjoyed seeing the passion for ministry that goes with youth.

(I am sorry it has taken me long to send this report, and it is not well put. My computer crashed twice since I came and had to be formatted, losing the report I had been preparing. I am also not one to take notes and so I lose more than the flow when I have to start afresh as I normally release everything as I am typing. It is therefore very difficult to recollect what I had written as I had finished with it. Please bear with me. But thank God with me that you can get a few thanksgiving and prayer points)