Every summer, Harvest Initiatives trains and sends thousands of people into their communities all across Burundi to share the news of the Gospel and offer prayer to those in need. In 2023, we asked our supporters to pray for the outreach, and so we are delighted to report back some of the amazing stories.

Harvest Initiatives sent out 1,439 young evangelists from 88 churches for two weeks all around Burundi. The top-line summary is that over 23,000 people came to faith! It’s the modern-day Acts of the Apostles! 

If you’d like to pray for our work, find more details here.

Here are a few amazing stories:

In the small village of Bwambarangwe in Kirundo province, 41-year-old Diomede had lain paralysed from the waist down and in increasing despair for the last three years. Our team visited him and shared the gospel, which he accepted as he was desperately in need of hope!

Interestingly, they didn’t pray for his healing initially. But as they parted ways and stepped out of the compound, he felt the urge to call them back to pray for him to be completely healed. Once they’d said ‘Amen!’, he took his crutches and stood up. He then let them go and carried on walking! He burst into tears and shouted for joy. 

Hearing his cries, people rushed to see what was happening. Just like in Mark 2:12, they were ‘all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” Thirteen people responded to the miracle by surrendering their lives to Christ.

At only 34 years old, Samuel was well-known as the neighbourhood drunk. No matter the time of day, Samuel was always in an inebriated state. His alcohol addiction had a firm grip on him for years, initially caused by his father’s abuse.

After years of drinking, Samuel became confined to bed, unable to move. One day, he heard a knock on the door…

Meshach and his outreach team were going door-to-door in a small village and speaking about Christ. Samuel’s family received the team warmly and listened intently. As Meshach went on, Samuel began to cry and confess. Meshach and his team prayed for him, and Samuel accepted Jesus and vowed to quit drinking.

On Sunday, Samuel had intended to attend Meshach’s church; however, the following day, Meshach received the unfortunate news that Samuel had passed away. Everyone was heartbroken, but knowing that he had received forgiveness before his death was comforting. As all were aware of the cause of his death, no one anticipated hearing any positive remarks at his funeral. However, the news of his salvation had not yet spread to everyone.

Meshach and his team were pleased to attend and requested to speak. Everyone was taken aback to learn of his conversion and astonished. “It was a privilege to have the opportunity to address Samuel’s family and friends about his conversion on his deathbed.”

Despite the years of addiction, it is never too late for Samuel to change his life. If Samuel could find the strength to break free of his addiction, anyone can!

In a town called Kivoga, Nadine was a contemporary ‘Gadarene demoniac’, just like in Mark chapter 5.

As her condition deteriorated, her father sought treatment at a mental hospital, as well as spending all he could on traditional medicine and witch doctors. Eventually, the family gave up, and she wandered around Kivoga deranged and half-dressed, feared and mocked by the whole community. She lived on the rubbish dump and roamed the streets at night.

When our team of evangelists showed up, they overcame their initial fear and started praying for her. Demons manifested, but the team called on reinforcements, took her to the local church, and over the next three hours of intensive prayer, battled through for her total deliverance.

Suddenly, after the last demon was cast out, Nadine’s screams ceased. She looked at herself and began weeping. She had no recollection of what had happened, but asked for some clothes.

When her father arrived and saw her ‘in her right mind’ (like Mark 5:15), he was so overwhelmed he fell to the ground. Our guys shared with him how Jesus had set her free, and her Dad and seven other people present gave their lives to the Lord!

Baltazar was a notorious witch doctor from Bugenyuzi. He was feared by all around him, and loved the reputation he had. Nobody challenged him as they didn’t want him to cast a spell on them (you may struggle to believe this stuff, but suffice to say, in Burundi, you don’t need to convince them the power is real).

One day, a neighbour approached and asked him to stop his witchcraft. A few days later, that previously healthy man was found dead at home.

So that was the context when our team showed up. They heard the stories and decided to camp out on Baltazar’s hill and pray every night. When he heard what they were doing, he went out to confront them.

But as he approached them, he was overwhelmed by a greater power and fell to his knees. He asked for prayers and surrendered to Christ. He invited the team back to his home, where his wife likewise repented when she heard what had happened to him. A crowd came to watch as the team burned all his charms, and he and his wife repented of all they had done to their neighbours and in the community.

Everyone was amazed at this total transformation.