If you ever get the chance to visit GLO Partner, YWAM Burundi (Youth with a Mission) in Kabezi, to see all that they do – you will be amazed! On a single expanse of land, they have built a primary school with a feeding programme, and they are also constructing new classrooms. They have homes for adoptive parents to take care of orphans and have built adequate housing for the local Batwa Pygmy community. There are animal pens, a community garden, plus they run YWAM’s Discipleship Training School, with plans to purchase more land to build even further – the list goes on!

These varied initiatives require a lot of administrative work, which requires space to get that work done. You may be surprised to hear they have been operating all these amazing ministries without any office space for a decade! YWAM Leader Jagen shares the issues they have experienced:

“You can’t imagine how challenging it was. It has been a struggle for our leadership and administration team to work without enough space, signing contracts in a cafe, in the car etc… while meetings were taking place in the dining hall or a school classroom. Staff in charge of accounting, communication, human resource management, and volunteers were working together in the same room and would have to relocate at any time … this taught us that patience leads to abundant understanding, but impatience leads to stupid mistakes. (Proverbs 14:29)”

So, they decided it was time for a new office building. With extremely limited funds, Jagen felt convicted that he was supposed to get the ball rolling on the building project, trusting that the money would come through:

“We started this building in January 2021 without any promised funds. Different people contributed some with small gifts, others with larger amounts. The funds would be used up so we had to stop the work, start praying and then start the work again….two months ago we were able to start after receiving a donation from one of organization’s partners who came to visit our campus – we praise God for this new building.”

And what a beautiful building it is! Because of their journey to build this office, they have named it ‘Gitangaza’, which means ‘miracle’. This professional and spacious office will serve the YWAM staff for many years to come as they continue to focus on transforming lives, feeding the hungry, caring for the widow and orphan, and educating the next generation of local children. Their work is strategic, visionary and impactful!