PRAYER LETTER NO.27.

www.greatlakesoutreach.org
Burundi_Boy@Hotmail.com

Dear Tigers, 24 th November 2003

1140pm. I am sat next to my precious 25-year-old cousin, Deborah, in the Intensive Care Unit in Cambridge. Two nights ago it took paramedics half an hour to cut her out of the wreckage of her car after a crash in the rain. Following several hours of surgery (slicing out some of her liver, dealing with the punctured lung, trying to stem the loss of blood, and assessing the multiple fractures), things looked bleak when I arrived; but twenty four hours later she is still hanging in there, and has a bit more colour in her lacerated, bruised, swollen, and stitched up face. She brought tears to my eyes just now as she squeezed my hand and tried doing the ‘thumbs up’, the wonderful feisty battler that she is. So I am writing this letter as a plea for prayer in what the doctors are saying is the key time – the next twenty four hours – when they will open up her tummy again and perform some more major and complicated surgery. The longer she lasts, the more positive we can become. She is a strong believer, and was returning from a Christian conference when the crash happened. Back in 1996 we drove a truck together through twelve countries from the UK to Kenya, and ended up touring Rwanda and Burundi before I was ever called to work out there. So I love her dearly, and am desperate for her to survive and make a full recovery. Her parents are flying back from Singapore right now, and her four sisters are scattered around the globe. Many are praying, and I’d love you to join them.

A prayer letter was overdue in any case on Burundi news: there have been big developments in the last week, with the main rebel group being integrated into parliament, and receiving a number of ministerial positions. Praise God for this, as even last week there was talk and fear of another potentially imminent coup d’ é tat. The rebels are also being integrated into the army, and if that works, there is a real chance for lasting peace, although the FNL still refuse to take part in the peace talks, and continue to ambush and plunder both civilians and the army.

A new policy has been to round up the street kids and dump them back upcountry where they came from. There are nasty stories of what that has involved, and it doesn’t seem the most well planned strategy. Do pray for New Generation and Youth for Christ for their involvement there. Joyeuse at the Children’s Future Hope orphanage is snowed under, and I fear without more support will collapse. We need others to share the burden with her, or she will break down. But her volunteers want a salary, and she cannot afford it, so most have left. Do pray into that.

SU is moving on well. Except last week a colleague of mine died - yet another victim in this humanitarian disaster; yet another to add to the daily rising impersonal statistic of death. His family are gutted, but most people will soon forget. Life just goes on. Life is so cheap. But no, life is so very precious.

And so back to Deborah. Her critical condition has made me get things back into perspective. We so easily lose sight of what really matters. It makes me want to ring up everyone I care about and tell them that I love them, whilst I still can. It makes me look at people bustling on the wards and along the streets and see afresh the image and imprint of their Creator upon them, whether they acknowledge Him or not. The extraordinary care she is receiving makes me want to hug all the doctors and nurses, and shout at the many ungrateful grumblers who moan their lives away at the state of the National Health Service. There are so many ‘gifts’ that we take for granted and presume as ‘rights’. I want to shake the millions of people who are sacrificing everything to attain a standard of living, at the expense of having a life. I want to reach out to the millions who cram their lives and schedules until they are so full, whilst they remain so empty. I want to give blood, which can bring life to someone else. Debs has had literally dozens of units of blood pumped into her – three times what is in her body, but she has kept on losing so much of it. But that makes me think of the ultimate sacrifice of the One who gave His blood for me – what incredible love! And in turn I want to lay down my life in His service, be it Burundi or here.

Sorry this is disjointed and rushed. I value your prayers so much, for Debs and Burundi – and I pray for each one of us. May God help us to bring the lifeblood of Jesus to those dying all around us. They are on the critical list without realising it, so this is urgent stuff.

Let’s get to it!

Simon Guillebaud