The Team
In spite of the war in the eastern portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and all the wackiness going on there and in neighboring Burundi, things are going well with regard to us doing ministry in Burundi.
Back in October, Lisa and I arrived in Burundi with the Ostranders. Lisa and I immediately got to work connecting with the individuals and the church we have been working with. During our first ten weeks in Burundi, our family was also joined by Jordan; Jordan’s grandparents are on our ministry board and waaaay back in the day Lisa and I were Jordan’s father’s youth group leaders. While in Burundi, Jordan served alongside many of the young adults from the church. By December, the Ostranders and Jordan had returned to the USA, but in January, our friends Patrick and Thelma joined us for seven weeks. Patrick and Thelma have served alongside of us multiple times in Burundi, the DRC, Israel, and Jordan.
Sammy & Joyeuse - A great aspect to currently living and serving in Burundi is that we get to spend a lot of time with Sammy and Joyeuse, two of the oldest “kids” from the group of orphans that we care for in the DRC.
Both Joyeuse (left of Lisa) and Sammy are working on their Master’s in Business Management and it’s been a pleasure to love on them and mentor them through this time in their lives. Sammy also assists us in caring for many Congolese refugees, especially widows and children. This photo is from Sammy’s bachelor’s degree graduation.
The Team - Lisa and I found that we had a growing group of eight adults, aged 26-41 (all English speakers), who wanted to spiritually kick things up a notch, as well as put their faith to work.
With a thought toward team building, we bought everyone a Bible in English, and Lisa launched into a five-week Bible study to help them understand Spiritual Gifts—their own and that of others—, an essential thing when working as the body of Christ and in a team setting. Everyone was exposed to digging deep into the Bible, and a team was being built.
One of the team members finished his Master’s in Clinical Psychology in November, and another member will finish with the same degree this year; both studied with an emphasis in vulnerable and traumatized children. Three other team members (including Sammy and Joyeuse) are working on their Master’s in Business Management, another has an English Degree, another one has a Teaching Degree, and one is working as a server at a restaurant to help her family exist. Each of these young people are solid gold; we’re super blessed to get to serve with them.
Once Lisa finished her Spiritual Gifts study with the team, I taught the team a five-week parenting course. Parenting? With two fathers on the team, a single mom, one soon-to-be father, plus having two budding psychologists and four singles who are potential parents, we thought everyone would benefit. All were greatly challenged and we had a great time of further team-building. Not only did our group have an extra set of “parents” in Lisa and I, but Patrick and Thelma jumped into everything we were doing so the team members also had an extra set of grandparents in Patrick and Thelma.
Patrick, Thelma, and some of our team visiting a home for abandoned children
The Young for Christ Team - We were also put in contact with a young man who had been attending the same Bible/ministry training school in Uganda as a friend of ours. This young man was now back home in Burundi, so we got together with him and some of a team of 15 that he had assembled since returning to Burundi. That team calls themselves Young for Christ and they started ministering alongside our team, and then vice versa, and now the two teams weekly join one another in ministry.
The Young for Christ team
The Boys - We’ve begun to work closely with our friends Douglas and Angelique who have a home caring for 37 former street boys. Once you enter the property, you go through a handshaking/fist bumping routine with each boy as they come streaming out from every corner of the house and property; you are nearly overwhelmed by smiles and hugs. What fun! What a blessing!!!
This is only some of the boys!
Can you imagine feeding 35 boys? I couldn’t believe how much these guys ate.
Sammy, orphaned and on the street as a young child, shared his testimony during an event put on by our team and the Young for Christ team. Sammy’s message was for the boys to trust in God and hang onto their dreams.
Our team and the Young for Christ team visit and work with these kids (and other kids you'll read about below) AND the two clinical psychologists from our team are assessing the kids at all these homes and counseling them, as well as training their caregivers.
We’re also now working with Stella who runs four homes for abandoned children. One of the homes is for babies and toddlers ages 0 to 4 years old, and the other homes are for kids aged 5 and above.
Putting on a special event for some of the older kids
Nobody wanted to stop dancing
Lisa and I are back in the States right now; in August we’ll head back to Burundi and pick up where we left off. There is no way for us to get back up to our village in the DRC right now due to the fighting, but we continue to pray for the situation, the orphan children, and our friends, and that we can return there in the very near future.
Somehow! - Michael