PRAYER LETTER NO.25.

Burundi_Boy@Hotmail.com

Dear Tigers, URGENT PRAYER FOR BURUNDI PLEASE! 9th July 2003

Well, guys, this is another SOS plea for urgent prayer as another attack is unleashed on the capital. The rebels infiltrated from the South at the beginning of the week, and that is where our offices are. My source at the UN two days ago said 27 are dead, but various people are updating me through each day, and both the death toll and numbers of people fleeing are rising. I have had no news from my precious colleagues, and I long to know they are alive and OK.

So you will appreciate how heavily this is weighing on me; and the feeling is exacerbated by the fact that I am currently in the USA (South Carolina) doing a lot of preaching and sharing about Burundi. SC is one of the safest, nicest, friendliest and wealthiest places on the planet, in sharp contrast to Burundi, and I am trying, amongst other things, to sensitise people here to make them aware of how horrific things are elsewhere in this sick world beyond their own back yard. I have experienced nothing but fantastic hospitality and generosity, but I can’t help feeling internally shredded and confused by the gross disparities between these nations in terms of justice and wealth distribution, and by the thoughts of my imperilled loved ones in Burundi sheltering from the shelling and grim stuff going on RIGHT NOW as I write/you read this. In my last meeting as I shared with the guys, I just burst into tears, which took everyone by surprise, including me, although the wonderful group handled this blubbering Brit with amazing aplomb!

I am not there to report first hand, but the flatmates I left a couple of months ago still are. One writes:

“7th July: I am sat under my mosquito net listening to the noise outside. Woken up at 4am to the familiar sound of machine gun fire. Shots and mortar rounds ring out in the night sky. They are dropping some heavy rounds and I don't think sleep is an option. Apparently it’s in Kanyosha, which is 2km from here. Most of the team are now awake. Not a nice welcome for the two new arrivals. Its strange how things kick off here. Just yesterday we were playing volleyball on the beach and it could have been on any beach in the Med. Then 12 hours later: “Boom!”... Why can't they stop this crazy fighting? Probably find out tomorrow that no-one’s been hurt apart from a few cows!! In fact the birds are starting their dawn chorus totally oblivious to the human vagaries of fighting.

I finally put my earplugs in and was woken up by Anne shaking my arm at 9am!! Somehow slept through the bombs and my alarm clock. It is still continuing and no-one is going anywhere at the moment. I’ve heard fighting before but it’s been quiet since the elections. We have just had a prayer meeting amidst the backdrop of shells. Our house is in a safe part of town and unlike most of the population we could get out if things got really bad.

1200 We've been called to work. The UN announced it was safe to go to work, but I can still hear the thud of mortar fire. I am staying put.
15.00 Quick sortie to collect emergency rations. Circulation in town is reduced but people are still going about their daily business. Manage to get fresh fruit and veg, rice and beans (standard going to ground fare)
16.40 Helicopters are flying overhead. Up until now it was thought the military only had one helicopter but now there are three circling round the city. I have never seen bombs being dropped from a plane but now I can see a large object falling from the helicopter. Count to ten... an almighty bang, then smoke rising. The helicopters return for another attack - this time grey tracers and red shots from out of the front. Sounds like crackling fireworks, then they land with multiple booms.
17.00 report on the radio, death toll civilians to military 10:4 The plan was to round up the rebels in one area of town and then drop the bombs. Neither accurate nor effective.
17.35 Helicopters have reloaded and back for another bomb drop.
18.00 UN forbids all movements. Everyone back in base awaiting the events of the evening.

Just got another email from a Burundian friend:

“Simon, things are terrible. As I write, bombs are falling across the city. I hear that your offices have been taken over and used by the rebels as their base. I don’t think you know any of the dead, more later. Send us anything you can find for us to help in relieving those worst struck. We want to help, but we have nothing. Having said that, NOTHING WILL STOP US SERVING OUR GOD AND CLAIMING HIS PROMISES FOR THIS LAND – ALL WORKS FOR GOOD TO THOSE THAT LOVE HIM!”

Aaargh! So please, please, pray – for protection for loved ones (and our property – I guess we will have lost everything, although that’s OK if the crew are all alive), cessation of this latest outbreak of violence, for lasting peace, and for God’s people to be light in such a dark place.

Here’s praying that this finds you full of the joy of the Lord – a joy that defies circumstances – and seeking to share the love of Christ in all you do. Bombs may not be falling where we are, nevertheless God’s call on our lives is to live urgently and passionately and radically for Him.

Go for it! Surrender all! He’s surely worth everything!

Simon Guillebaud