This film is under 5mins and is beautiful. Even my kids out here, who get to see poverty, have NO IDEA how fortunate they are. Do share this with as many kids as possible. May it make us all much more grateful for where we were born and our lot in life…
Simon Guillebaud
Hope!
A recent talk I gave at Lee Abbey on Hope
Running for Glory After His Parents’ Murder…
He was about to run in the 1993 World Championships 800m final in Toronto, when he received a phone call informing him that his parents had been murdered and their bodies dumped down a latrine… Here is Nkaza sharing some of his truly remarkable story. He’s a national hero because of his sporting achievements, and he’s using his fame now to rally the youth across the nation to march to the beat of a different drum.
The Burundi Adventure Coming to an End…
All good things come to an end. It’s been an emotional few weeks as we’ve dealt with a child who is deeply unhappy at school, and realizing that our time as a family needs to come to a close in Burundi for educational reasons. We’d planned to leave in 2019, twenty years after I initially came out, but have brought it forward by a year. The plan is, with my GLO Board’s full endorsement, to take the family on a crazy year traveling around the world. What an amazing opportunity! Why do it? Well why not?! We’ve had a stressful, […]
Faith!
Click HERE for a talk I gave in the summer on faith. And below are some cool quotes, good material for reflexion or your own talks. Enjoy! “Faith is not logical. But it isn’t illogical either. Faith is theological. It does not ignore reality; it just adds God into the equation. Think of it this way. Logic questions God. Faith questions assumptions. And at the end of the day, faith is trusting God more than you trust your own assumptions.” (Mark Batterson) Limited by our senses – ‘We walk by Faith, not by sight’ Think of the African impala; it’s […]
Being a Duck for Christ to the Nations…
The Dead Sea is dead because water runs into it, but doesn’t run out of it. That’s not to say, in any way, that the Burundian Church is dead – far far from it – but in terms of cross-cultural mission to the nations, it has received for a long time within Burundi without taking the gospel out beyond its borders, and that has been unhealthy and wrong. Our historic national congress was nearly a year in the planning, and it went superbly well. We wanted 250 attendees, hand-picked for their influence or their active engagement already, but in the […]
Beaten but Unbowed in Burundi…
Emedi is one of our team who engages pro-actively with Muslims in Burundi. I was in the bush yesterday, and observed new mosques springing up all over the place. The Muslim missionaries offer food and medicine to desperately poor people, many of whom are happy to convert if their immediate physical needs are met. Emedi has been beaten and has counted the cost. Another on our team was murdered in front of his wife and kids. Do have a quick look at this short clip in our ‘More Than Conquerors’ series, it’s under 4mins. Please pray for him and the […]
A Day in the Life… Being a Disciplined Discipling Disciple
I often get asked: “What does a day in Burundi look like for you?” And it’s difficult to answer because my days include a huge range of activities; but at this stage of life, this is the framework I’m trying to implement. What my work actually entails is beyond the scope of this blog. I’m sharing this with you in the hope that something might strike you, encourage you, challenge you, or help you. Our lives are all different – we have different balls we’re juggling in the air – and we might be at different life stages in different […]
Bleeding but Unbowed in Burundi…
This is the story of my buddy Ephraim’s near-fatal return to Burundi from the Congo. God had told him to come back to his nation to preach forgiveness and reconciliation. Even when taken by rebels and tortured, his faith remained unshakeable that he would survive to do what God had called him to. Despite being battered and broken, he told them: “You will not be able to kill me, because God is sending me back to Burundi to preach the Gospel.” His last words to them before they left him for dead were: “Father, forgive them, for they know not […]
Thank you, and Bosco’s amazing story…
I wrote a cheque a few days ago for school fees/uniforms for a group who were praying/fasting for just that, and in walked their boss with the money! There was much joy and celebration for God’s faithfulness. I love it that we get to be a part of this! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! The response to my raw missive has been huge, and we have been able to help over a thousand children with what they needed to get back to school. What a privilege! God bless you all, thanks for standing with us. Above is the second […]
A Widow’s Debt…
Celeste’s husband was murdered – shot in the head – for being tall. This was back in 1999. At the time, there were lots of ambushes on the roads. In fact, that was the way I expected to die in those crazy early years of my time out here. During the ambush, he and six others from his tribe (crassly identified as the ‘talls’), were taken by the rebels to the side of the road and killed. He’d been part of our team of volunteers. It was a tragedy. But he knew, loved and was ready to meet his Maker. […]
Dropping out of school in Burundi…
Aaarrgh! I write this incensed and sad and seething. And I want to write now whilst I feel deeply raw. I’ve said before how I love and hate Burundi in equal measure. I love the people – their faith, generosity, perseverance; but I hate the poverty, injustice and suffering. I’ve just had a horrible conversation with a wonderful woman. September is the hardest month of the year for folks here, because it’s back to school for the kids – or not, as the case may be. Through tears she pleaded with me on behalf of her staff: “Simon, we can’t […]
She Started Her Life Down A Toilet…
The above short film is a beautiful update on an extraordinary life journey, well worth 5mins of your time. It’s part of a series we’re doing telling stunning stories of triumphant faith under fire from Burundi. You hear so much bad news, but there’s great news in the mix as well! We want to pump out all the good news we can amidst all the heaviness which is also our current reality. Do subscribe on Youtube if you want to see the others as and when we release them over the coming weeks… * For context, on […]
From Blood-Sucking Jiggers to Jesus in Burundi!
I hope you’ve had a good summer. We’re back in Burundi now, and we didn’t give the kids the time to get despondent about returning to school – we left the UK at 345am yesterday, arrived at our home in Bujumbura at 9pm, and nearly overslept but made it to the school start at 730am today. I wanted to give some quick feedback on my favorite activity of the year, our annual summer outreach for two weeks in August. In the end, we sent out 525 young people. A few were arrested for short periods because of the local authorities’ […]
Potentially the Most Fruitful Outreach on the Planet These Two Weeks!
Greetings! From tomorrow, Sunday 6th August until the 20th August, we will be conducting our annual massive apostolic outreach campaign for the 12th year in a row. 565 people are being sent out in 21 different areas, partnering with 192 churches. Trusting as with all those previous campaigns, many thousands of people will come to know Jesus at this time. There have been so many stunning stories of God’s miraculous power over those years, including demons being cast out, cripples walking, blind seeing, deaf hearing, mute speaking, witchdoctors burning their charms and submitting to the Highest Power, and last year’s resurrection: […]
Prayerful and Alert…
Until you know that life is war, you cannot know what prayer is for… Here’s a sermon you can listen to here from a few Sundays ago in St Mary’s Maidenhead’s series on Spiritual Warfare. My text was Ephesians 6:18-20. Some meaty quotes from the talk include: “Probably the number one reason why prayer malfunctions in the hands of believers is that we try to turn a wartime walkie-talkie into a domestic intercom. Until you know that life is war, you cannot know what prayer is for… But what have millions of Christians done? We have stopped believing that we are in a […]
Action Stations Please!
5mins of your time could help this take-off and be a HUGE blessing to Burundi. Most of you know about our amazing cow project with BBAC (Burundi Bio-Agricultural Communities), lifting c400 families out of poverty with lots of other benefits in the mix. Well, it could be about to go up a gear or two… Friends of mine, Brad and Emily, have launched their product TODAY. They explain the plan as follows: Does Your Cup Count? Partnering with folks at Great Lakes Outreach in Burundi, who fund an amazing cow-purchasing partnership, paired with the power of 58 million coffee cups […]
A New Hospital, an MBE, Leadership Handover, and More…!
The last three days have been truly memorable: on Friday we had the official ceremony for the launching of the building of a hospital. On Saturday it was a huge televised first graduation of GIA students, and Lizzie and I were awarded MBEs. On Sunday, we celebrated the extraordinary 17 years of YFC’s growth, a book launch, and handover of leadership. More below… Wow! Giving a succinct summary is a challenge. I have such a sense of joy, satisfaction, elation and anticipation for the future, amidst the ongoing extraordinary challenges we face in this beautiful but broken nation. Friday’s ceremony […]
Forcing God into a Good Bargain…
Yesterday two men tried to force their way into our home, pretending to be from the water company. In an unconnected incident an hour later, a man was shot dead 50m away. That is my context… “God, you can do anything to me, just take care of my kids, then you’ve got yourself a deal.” That’s how I try to bargain with God. Others try to bargain with God over money, sex, free time, possessions. But does God bargain with us?
Identity and Immediacy
This blog is by a mate of mine, Samuel Johns. On our tough cycle ride recently around Rwanda, we talked about the effect of Facebook and such like, and I asked him to share some thoughts, which I found challenging/disturbing/fascinating and more. I’m interested in what you make of them too. Over to Sam: A soft alarm wakes me – perfectly in sync with my circadian rhythms – and I trundle downstairs, set to face a new week. Alex notifies me of the weather, so the blinds remain closed. Ambient lighting matches my mood. Morose, yet determined. Another Monday morning. […]