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Today I can hardly believe that I'm writing this from my own desk at home. My head knows that I'm home, but my heart can't seem to get out of Burundi. On Saturday Barry, Duana and I left the rest of the team and headed back to Bujumbura with Philip (Program Director for FH Burundi, and our driver Kitenge). Duana's flight was Sunday morning but Barry and I left that afternoon, so after a quick visit at Philip's house and a stop for lunch, we boarded our first of 3 flights and started our 38+hr journey home. I won't speak for my traveling partner (though let me just say I think I may have seen a few tears trying to escape his eyes as well), but I had an incredibly difficult time leaving Burundi. It would be an understatement to say that the country and people I met there have changed me in a profound way. I cannot wait to go back.

I actually found sitting down to write this difficult because it meant talking about the trip in past tense, admitting that it's over, and that was something I wasn't really wanting to accept. However, my prayer upon returning home has been and will continue to be that my experiences in Burundi would not only have a lasting change on my heart, but that they would permeate into the lives of others as well. I have always been passionate about community development, but after meeting the staff of FH Burundi and being witness to their faith in God, their dedication to His calling on their lives, and their commitment to the people in the communities they work with, I am convinced that part of the reason God called me to be a part of this team was to solidify this calling in my own life. It's difficult to effectively summarize the events of the last 10 days, and there will be more stories to share when the remainder of the team returns later this week, but in a nutshell, here is my (very) brief summary of our time in Burundi...

The main activity and jumping-off point for our visit to Burundi was the church leadership conference that Pastor Greg and Lyle were leading. The rest of us participated in a variety of things, but the purpose of the trip in general, was essentially to build relationships with the people in Mufumya and learn how we can best support the FH Burundi staff as they continue to work in the community long after we've gone home. The leadership conference (along with every other aspect of the trip) was a huge success. The group attending the conference was comprised of a variety of leaders from 4-5 local community churches, and included pastors, choir leaders and members, sunday school teachers and more, around 56 in total.

The men and women were all business that first day, so proud to be at a real conference with these Mzungu (white person) pastors who were here to teach them. They were all from Mufumya, and they walked to the neighbouring community where the conference was held (about 6km away) everyday without fail or complaint, eager to learn and receive what God had in store for them. When the bibles were handed out during the first session on day one, some of their faces reflected such a range of emotions it was hard to tell if they were going to laugh or cry. For many of them, this was the first time they'd ever held a bible. They were so proud of those books, they carried them close to their chests each day, it was an amazing thing to see.

Each day Lyle and Greg shared with the group, they touched on a variety of topics and I've been told (since I was with the ladies in Mufumya almost everyday while they preached), that there were many tears shed within the group and that the messages shared were culturally insightful and especially meaningful to those who attended the sessions.
*I plan on having Greg and/or Lyle share a little bit more about these times upon their return.

Every morning at the conference we started off with worship, which each day got progressively more boisterous and energetic. It was so contagious that despite our Mzungu moves, we were all grooving along with them even though our best contributions were the awkward shuffling of our feet and clapping of our hands. After 10am tea, the group broke off into sessions which included Greg & Lyle's teachings and Andrew's guitar/music group, which he even managed to do one day without a translator - apparently music transcends all language barriers because the sounds coming from his classroom attracted a whole host of onlookers and listeners. 

The women got to spend the very first day in a breakout group with Duana, whose session went really well, and was a great way to break the ice between the ladies. There was a devotional and then a time of sharing, a Q & A between Duana and the group. They learned a lot from each other as they talked about everything from their spiritual walks to issues of abuse and infidelity in marriages. It was a valuable time of bonding and cultural interaction.

Myrna and I went into Mufumya that first morning during Duana's session with Anne Marie and Janviere, both FH Burundi Staff, who introduced us to the women in the CAV (Community Action Volunteer) & LM (Leader Mother) programs, part of FH's Integrated Community Development Program. We shook hands with each of the almost 30 ladies who had been anxiously awaiting our arrival, and they excitedly led us behind one of the houses to a show us how to prepare a Kitchen Garden. They were so eager to show us what they've been learning through the mentorship of the FH program, and it was obvious that they were extremely proud of their knowledge and accomplishments.

It became more and more evident over the course of the week that these women are gaining a considerable amount of valuable information through their participation in the CAV and LM programs, and it was also evident that both Anne Marie and Janviere  were very loved and respected among the women in the community.

Myrna had a chance to exercise some of her professional skills once families discovered that she was a nurse...

Before and after of a little girl who'd been burned by boiling water while she was sleeping.

We visited a new project (ie: kitchen gardens, composting, preparing electrolyte solutions for treatment of dehydration) everyday we were there, and each day we became more familiar with the ladies, learning their names, recognizing their children, and getting to know more about each of them. They learned our names as well and the last day we were there, we had the opportunity to celebrate our time with them by cooking a meal together. It was an incredible time as we practiced our Kirundi and English on one another, shared stories about our families and photos of our children, laughed together and bonded. They even gave us a lesson in baby-carrying! 

Duana, Myrna and I will cherish that day, the ladies became like long-lost friends to us, and after sharing a meal that we had prepared together, they sent us off, singing us a song of thanks as we climbed into our waiting vehicle. It is a day we will not soon forget.
 

During the time that the rest of us were busy in Mufumya or at the conference, Barry and Jim were whisked away each morning with Omer and Francois to visit agricultural programs that FH has in or near the community. They learned about everything from Cassava to Coffee and everything in between, witnessing the incredible ingenuity and resourcefulness that has been put to work here in order to attain sustainable agricultural practices, meeting the amazing people that make it happen along the way. I wouldn't have guessed farming to be all that exciting (no offense to all you farming folks out there!), but I've never met anyone more passionate about sustainable agricultural development than Francois, and each day during our debriefs, Barry and Jim had story after story of their adventures in agriculture. It was a joy to see not only their excitement over the projects, but the friendships they were developing with Francois and Omer. Again, I'll have them give a first-hand account of their adventures in a later post.

 The team also had the chance to visit each of our sponsor children during our time in Mufumya which was yet another testament to the dedication of the FH staff, Patrick in particular. Patrick runs the CDP (Child Development Program - Child Sponsorships) in Mufumya and visits each of these kids every 3 months - and he has 300 of them to visit! He accompanied me on one of my visits, and I was humbled and wowed by how personally he knew each of these CDP children and their families. Patrick is truly dedicated and has a genuine love and commitment to the kids and the CDP program.

This little boy is Astere - one of the children the kids in the SonBurst program sponsor. His mother told me that they pray for the SonBurst kids regularly.

 

 Barry visiting his sponsor child, Aimable.

It was incredible to see how dedicated the FH Burundi staff are to this community, and how much they sacrifice to be able to pour so much of their lives into these programs. We as a team were amazed at the passion and dedication of the entire group of them, including the 2 drivers that shuttled us safely to and from the Commune everyday, no matter what the weather or road conditions. They truly feel like family now, and I cannot say enough about how much we came to love and respect them all.

On the flight to Burundi, I opened my passport to inspect my entry visa and found the embassy had stated, "Reason for entry: visit family", instead of "tourist" or "humanitarian" like everyone else's. I thought they had made a mistake, but it turns out they were right all along.

To Philip, Laban, Silas, Anne Marie, Janviere, Kanze, Francois, Omer, Patrick, Kitenge, Pasteure and Prospere - thank you for showing us what it means to show love for the whole person, "not with words or tongue but with actions and in truth". (1 John 3:16-18)

Just a quick update from Kayanza. We've been having an amazing experience in Mufumya the past few days. We're now sitting down to our last meal as a whole team as 3 of us leave tomorrow. The pastor/leader conference wrapped up today and I can confidently say it was an amazing experience for all involved. The 3 ladies spent the day preparing a celebratory meal with the Community Action Volunteers and the Leader Mothers in Mufumya which was incredible to be a part of. There are so many stories to tell but they will have to be shared when we have more than a weak wifi signal and I have more of a keyboard than my iPhone. :)

We are thankful for your continued prayers and look forward to sharing our stories with you in detail soon.

Burundi Team Update

Greetings from Ethiopia!
We are roughly twenty-some hours into our trip now and have just
landed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Everyone is doing well and in good
spirits now that we've had some sleep. :)

We have a quick lay-over here in Addis before boarding our connection
to Bujumbura, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that we are
very anxious to finally get there! We feel as though we've been gone
for days already (which, I suppose, technically we have!), and we can
certainly tell that we're a world away from home. We're all thrilled
to finally be on African soil now, and for many on the team, this is
the first time on this incredible continent, I'm sure it will not
disappoint!

We are looking forward to arriving in Bujumbura in a few hours and
meeting up with our 8th team member, Duana (who has been in Africa for
4 weeks already), as well as the FH staff we will be working with
during our stay.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers, for our continued health
and safety and for our hearts to be prepared for the tasks God has in
store for us once we reach Kayanza. It's been easy to simply focus on
eating, sleeping and catching our next train or plane thus far, so
these next few hours will be a good time for us to shift our focus and
begin to get mentally and spiritually prepared for days ahead of us.

Blessings!

Burundi November 2010 Team - Introduction

(from left to right: Myrna Poettcker, Lyle Johnson, Leanne Deboski, Greg Hochhalter, Andrew Hochhalter, Barry Kehler, Jim Odishaw - Missing: Duana Ogden)

I've done my fair share of traveling, I've been to Toronto, ON and Victoria, BC, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and San Jose, Costa Rica, London, England and Taipei, Taiwan, Cape Town, South Africa, Venice, Italy and many places in between. I've traveled with my family, my husband, my kids, my friends and even in groups of a dozen and more. 

I've never traveled with a group as diverse and unique as the one I'm about to travel to Burundi with though - and I couldn't be more excited about it. We are young, and 'less young', parents, students, musicians, lawyers, pastors, mothers, professionals and wanna-bees. It's safe to say that most of us only met a few weeks ago and yet we are about to embark on what will likely prove to be a life-changing journey with each other, one that will undoubtedly have us leaning on each other as though we've been friends for years.

If you stopped any one of us to ask how it was that we came to be a part of this team, I believe you'd hear the same answer from us all, and that would be that the Lord had each of us in mind 'for such a time as this', and when we heard His call, we responded.

For many, if not all of us, that "call" pushed us out of our comfort zones, some of us more than others. Whether it was the length of time we would be away from our children or families, how we would come up with the finances, how we could fit it into our hectic work schedules, or how we would cope with the, shall we say, 'wildlife' we will most certainly encounter, we were all forced to "let go and let God". I think we're all glad we did, and we haven't even left yet!

Our "call" is taking us to Kayanza, Burundi on November 5, and I suppose you could say that the purpose of the trip could be categorized as "Spiritual Development". Greg and Lyle will be heading up a time of training for over 50 church leaders from the area, while the rest of us will be used in a variety of capacities as the FH (Food for the Hungry) national staff see fit, including working to further develop the crucial relationships within the community that the March SPAC team began. 

We truly believe that these relationships are key to the success of this C2C partnership. In the book, "When Helping Hurts" by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert, the authors discuss a major premise of the book as this,

"until we embrace our mutual brokenness, our work with low-income people is likely to do far more harm than good."

It has been our prayer since we began meeting together that we would be open to being used in whatever way God intends for us. We are sincere in our desire to be used as He sees fit, and to serve our brothers and sisters in Burundi with a spirit of humility.


"...make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interest, but take an interest in others too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human from, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross." 

Philippians 2:2-8

We are truly grateful for the opportunity to go to Burundi on behalf of the SPAC/FH C2C Partnership, and it is our hope that you will in turn partner with us by remembering us in prayer. Please pray for safe travels, our health and safety in Burundi, the leadership training, and for us all to be open and ready to be used in the ways God already has planned for us.


Please check back often while we are away, we won't have much accessibility to the internet, but hope to send a few updates when we do.