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Hi everyone! This is not a prayer letter, I’m just sharing some exciting GLO developments which will with God’s blessing rock in the years to come. It may not be relevant for some of you, but for others it could get you really passionate! Read on…
Welcome to PTI!
Emmanuel Ndikumana and his wife Asele were the only Burundians at our wedding, and they prayed for us on that day. He is probably the sharpest and most respected church leader in the country. His pedigree is beyond dispute. He was talent-spotted by John Stott no less and funded through All Nations (we overlapped) for his theological degree, and then Masters. He is a deep thinker, has been overseeing international student work in the whole of French-speaking
Africa , has been outspoken at times at the risk of imprisonment or worse. And now it seems in God’s timing he has embarked on something very impacting in . The name of the organization is Partners Trust International (PTI).
A number of years ago a lady intercessor tracked him down and shared what the Lord had laid on her heart. To cut a long story short, recently that same lady came to his house. She sat down. Emmanuel presumed she had come to see his wife, and was in any case spending time praying in his bedroom about the big vision God had given him for . But several hours later, when it was already dark, he found her still sat on the sofa. He offered her a lift home, and she just looked at him and asked: “Do you remember what I said those years ago?” He said that he did, and she declared: “The time has come!” In another instance, Emmanuel shared the whole vision with Theo, who was the one other Burundian we studied together with back in the at All Nations, who was visiting from his Bible-teaching post in . As Emmanuel talked, Theo started crying, and said: “Is this you talking, or is this the very voice of God?” He had been seeking to do the same thing, and his Principal in had been encouraging him in that direction, so he is the natural man to head up the Bible-college. There are many other crazy details, but we truly believe that indeed, the time has come.
Amazingly, Emmanuel’s employers at IFES have recognized the hand of God in all this, and have released one of their star men, which very few organizations would do. It’s hard to put his vision down succinctly, but essentially it involves three things: a church, a Bible-school, and a development organization, in that order, one flowing into the other.
To be honest, there is not a single church in Burundi I really feel I can ‘fit’ in - either because of language, or because of the preacher shouting and ranting, or because it’s dull, or because the service is over four hours long, or because the teaching’s shallow or heretical, or because it is plain weird and I couldn’t bring along non-believers to. Well, I think that is about to change. And there are thousands of people who feel the same way. This church will be (not exclusively but predominantly) for the intellectuals, who are sat totally dissatisfied and unstimulated in most churches today. , and more particularly
Bujumbura , needs a church with a thought-through strategy, missiology, and theology, with dynamic, bright, intellectually rigorous leadership and systematic Bible-teaching. We expect people in due course to flock to this new church in droves, although purposefully the site chosen is slightly out of town in an area devoid of churches, so that no accusation can be raised of poaching people as a result of church-planting in the immediate vicinity.
It’s hard to understand the dichotomy of the
Burundian
Church , there are so many contradictions. It is growing so fast, but no utterly divided. It’s a mile wide but an inch deep. There are so many incredible men of God and so many awful wolves in sheep’s clothing. There is hardly (but with some notable exceptions) a single church leader of any note who is esteemed by all as being a man of true integrity. Leadership is a total disaster. People start well but quickly get sucked into financial, power, or sexual scandals.
The groups we as GLO work with are great, but notice they are all interdenominational organizations. Yet the Church is ultimately God’s chosen instrument, and so we need some good models. I believe this new venture, with the accompanying Bible school, will provide that. The Bible school is needed because most training is done in French, which precludes most pastors upcountry who only speak Kirundi, and therefore are marginalized from the educational process, despite being the key people on the ground.
Well, that’ll do on the context. Basically, the perfect plot of land has been found, with a sympathetic not-yet-believing landlord. It is a massive plot, big enough to accommodate hundreds of cars as well as a big church building (which is just a tin roof out here and very easy to erect), and there is already a big house which would be the Bible school. Until recently it was rented by the UN troops for $5k/month. Amazingly – surely the Lord’s doing – the businessman landlord is favorable to Emmanuel’s vision and has come down to $1,750/month, and a year needed to be paid up front. So GLO has covered that. Each step of this journey so far has been remarkable. The aim is to buy the property, and Emmanuel has been given a year to find that money. It will obviously have to be a God-thing, because it is a lot of money. I feel very passionate about the strategic import of this whole venture, and we as GLO will be in for the long haul. Seeing SU ten years ago compared to what it is now is mind-blowing. I believe we will say the same thing a decade from now about PTI. That’s enough said for now though.
Will you live out this dream with me?
God is allowing GLO to play a major role in
through our phenomenal local partners, and here is the next step. There is no better missiology than harnessing and empowering the best indigenous believers to transform their nation, which is the very heartbeat of GLO.
How can you help?
* Firstly, secondly and thirdly, please pray!
* Then, how about becoming, beyond GLO, a specific PTI partner, which would mean I would hook you up directly, and you could be a rep for them, maybe coming out and catching the vision in the flesh and then going back and getting others involved. If so, reply to this email and I’ll sign you up!
* Or can you send this email on to others in your network or sphere of influence?
* Or could you contribute something right now? The movement is in its infancy and needs plenty of start-up funds for instruments, furnishings, a couple of salaries (Emmanuel is giving up his ‘international’-sized salary for this venture of faith, and he has a wife and three children to provide for). If so, please click here UK or here USA
* Or could you offer yourself as potentially a visiting lecturer/speaker for the future?
* Anything else? We’ve all got something to offer, go for it!
Thanks for your time. Thanks for your prayers. Here’s to changing ,
Africa , the world – we’re not into small dreams! Come Lord Jesus!
Simon.
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