Everything Is Now Different... But Not
Change can be exasperating for a strong Type A person like me, but after 26 years in the Middle East and Africa, change is now something I have come to expect rather than dread, and dare I say, even embrace. Of course, the Ostranders moving back to the US on Dec 10 was a pretty big change. Also different was that on the same day the Ostranders flew back to the US, the city of Uvira, DRC, which borders the area where we are at here in Bujumbura, Burundi, was finally taken by the M23 militia group after months of expecting this move.
What’s not different is that the DRC and Burundi are still quite "fluid", and that’s not going to change anytime soon; oh, so many stories to tell… but we can’t. Also “not different” is that Lisa and I will continue to try to get back up to Minembwe in the DRC when there is a pathway to do so. Until the pathway opens, Lisa and I will continue to base and work here in Bujumbura, Burundi.
This is the view from our apartment window. On the far side of Lake Tanganyika you can see hills and mountains of the DRC. Just below the hills, 16 miles from us as the crow flies, sits the recently contested city of Uvira. To the left of Uvira, but up and over the mountains, a mere 60 miles away from our window, lies our house in the DRC... so close, yet so far away.
Here in Bujumbura, Lisa and I continue to work alongside a local church that does some amazing outreach within their local community and beyond. Working alongside some other locals, we’ve also had opportunities to get needed food and supplies directly into the hands of some of the refugees that are streaming across the DRC border and into Burundi. This is an overwhelming need.
Our partner, let’s call him Larry, has enlisted us to help him and others get a prison ministry up and rolling here in Burundi. A couple of years ago, while still being held as a political prisoner in the DRC, Larry started a prison ministry that attended to the physical and spiritual needs of his fellow prisoners. This ministry still operates today and LaOlam is still a big part of it; we are so grateful to those of you with a heart to support this endeavor. Now, here in Burundi, Larry, with the permission of the Burundian government, has begun a similar prison ministry. Once again, LaOlam gets to play an important role in this, but this time we’ll also get to physically participate while we’re here in Burundi. We recently had our initial organizational meeting, and due to Larry’s “let’s get to it” nature, things are moving along quickly. We are putting together an outreach program for Christmas for prisoners and their families. God is good!
If the news of the Ostrander’s move back to the US somehow ended up in your email trash versus your inbox, or ended up somewhere else in cyberspace, please let us know and we’ll resend it to you.
Somehow! – Michael