PRAYER LETTER NO.29.

www.greatlakesoutreach.org

Burundi_Boy@Hotmail.com

Dear Tigers, 6 th April 2004 Ten years ago today, the presidential plane was shot down as it came in to land at Kigali airport, killing both the Rwandan and Burundian presidents and precipitating the most clinical and ‘effective’ genocide of recent times, with around one million faceless ‘unpeople’ being hacked to death with machetes in the ensuing three months. Among the dead were many family friends. I was a carefree university student at the time, blissfully unaware of what was taking place, happily drinking, clubbing and doing lots of sport whilst in Central Africa neighbours turned on each other and in the extreme even killed members of their own family who belonged to the other ethnic group. Ignorance was indeed bliss. But now, ten years on, this part of the world has become part of my very essence. My inner being grieves, groans and yearns for lasting peace, knowing just a little of how much people have suffered and are still suffering in these parts. Thankfully, things are looking much more positive in terms of potential lasting peace – more of that below… It’s been great to be back in Burundi for a couple of weeks and link up with so many close friends with whom I have shared both highs and lows, laughter and tears. Last year, for example, I said goodbye to Deo, falsely imprisoned and dying of AIDS. He wouldn’t tell people it was AIDS though, because of the stigma attached to it. He weighed 40kg and knew he was dying. He rejoiced at the prospect of imminent death and graduation to glory, and his infectious joy and assurance of heaven drew many others to Christ. However, over the last year two people came to him and told him that God had revealed to them that he indeed had AIDS but that he would be healed from it for a purpose. He claimed his healing, and when I went to visit people in Mpimba prison, I was met by a chubby-cheeked, cheery-faced 70kg Deo, busy preaching away and teaching at the prisoners’ improvised Bible-school! My faith is constantly challenged on so many levels by the believers out here: my mate Gertrude was praying and fasting with a few others for 40 days. On the 31 st day, they were praying through the night and police came and had them arrested on suspicion of being rebels and planning insurgency. They were locked up indefinitely. Gertrude was upbeat, though, and insisted that it was all part of God’s plan. So the group carried on praising God and preaching in the jail, and twenty six fellow prisoners became Christians, as well as three of the hardened guards.

I have just returned from a wonderfully eventful weekend upcountry with the Scripture Union team. We drove up into the hills to Ngozi, past many former-CNDD rebels who are now being integrated into the army. It was ironic to see these young rebels who used to hate and kill the government soldiers, now standing side by side with them (but in a different uniform), and hopefully now protecting us as opposed to ambushing us as was their want in the bad old days. We held a number of meetings in churches and at the university, talking to several thousand people and seeing many respond. Returning on Sunday afternoon, I was driving the minibus in the rain and mud, and hit a tree trunk lying in the road. We bounced in the air, everyone screamed: “Jeeesuus!” and we landed on the bank dangling over the edge of the hill. After a few seconds of stunned silence, we gingerly got out, as it could still roll off the edge and down the ravine. The damage to the vehicle was minimal, however, and it really was a race against time now because the roads are closed down at 4pm until the following morning on safety grounds. We took it in turns to dig in the mud, and eventually once a crowd had gathered, twenty men volunteered to try to lift and drag the minibus back onto the road. They took a while, but eventually managed it, to rapturous applause. We sped onwards the two hours home, getting stuck twice more in the mud, but beating the road closure by ten minutes, and singing praises to God all the way back in gratitude for His protection and with joy for the privilege of serving Him.

It has been thrilling to see our SU team on fire in all its activities around the country. From my coming out here five years ago and finding a bankrupt but keen organization, it has exploded into the fastest-growing and most active Christian group in the country. There is a new boss called Etienne who is superb, and everyone is highly motivated and passionate. I cannot over-endorse them. The next challenge is consolidation and sustainability. They are almost entirely dependent on my contacts to finance the work, which I find a crushing responsibility at times. So in conjunction with SU, Lizzie and I have agreed to five more years of involvement, after which they must have found their own ways of financing the work. This simply was not possible with the war waging around us over the last few years, but peace is so very close. With this in mind, we are planning to buy some land in the capital and build a conference and youth centre, so that profits can be recycled into SU’s work to provide long-term sustainability. It will cost around $300,000. Can you help? I believe 100% in what we are doing. Working with the youth of the country nationwide is so strategic, especially when you further consider our AIDS project, and the involvement with streetchildren and orphans. Please stay with us on the journey, we so value your support, both in prayer and finance. Do write to me with any feedback, questions, or if you want to contribute. God bless you.

The end of the transitional government is in six months’ time, and so as new elections approach these are critical times for Burundi. The war has been going on for over a decade, and peace has never been closer. But there are plenty of factions vying for power, so please keep praying on that level. Unity in the Church remains elusive as well, and is so crucial for the nation to move forward.

So, here’s wishing you a meaningful Holy Week and Happy Easter. I praised God as I saw Deo the other day – the gift of a life back from the dead. And Easter is so much more - death has been swallowed up in victory! Jesus gave His all for me, so as C.T.Studd said: “If Christ is God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him.” I leave you with Oswald Chambers’ challenge: “If you have to calculate what you are willing to give up for Jesus Christ, never say that you love Him. Jesus Christ asks us to give up the best we have got to Him, our right to ourselves.” Amen to that!

Simon Guillebaud