Simon Guillebaud

Georgette Butera, who is an old Burundian friend of mine now living in England, wrote the following to me. I have to say, as I wrote back to her, it left me really discouraged. Why? Because there are so many needs out there crying to be met and I feel swamped, able to help completely transform some lives but not all of them. Since Georgette sent it to me last week, poor Carine’s right leg actually burst. I cannot imagine her pain, and if it was my sister I would do anything to get her help. But as I said, […]

Yesterday I walked down the corridor at home and came face to face with a snake*. My protective instincts kicked in immediately as I sensed danger for my loved ones. It was an incredible adrenaline rush. The sheer ferocity of its defense was awe-inspiring. Eventually after much ducking and diving it took six health thwacks to the head to beat it into submission. Another average day in Africa… *The snake in question may or may not be the one in the photo. Some people say I am prone to exaggeration. The fact is, last night’s snake is dead, that’s the […]

In March 2008, I wrote a call to action that has now been beautifully fulfilled. I’ll paste it again below to remind you of it, if you want to be inspired afresh by what God has done. And nearly five years on, we stand on the brink of the next phase… What were we trying to do? Build the best dedicated conference centre in Burundi – we’ve done that! It’s called the King’s Conference Centre, because it belongs to the King! Model excellence in Jesus’ name – we’re doing that! We’re currently the no.1 hotel in Burundi on www.TripAdvisor, and […]

In March 2008, I wrote the following, which relates to the next post coming shortly:  Dear Team, It was nine years ago that I heard God’s call to go to Burundi, leaving family, friends, job, security, and landing in a crazy war zone which was rated the most dangerous country in the world for some of those ensuing years. I honestly thought I wouldn’t make it to my thirties, or have the chance to get married. Plenty of others died around me, but my time obviously wasn’t up, and the Lord still had work for me to do.  Those early […]

I’ve heard it referred to as Burundi’s equivalent of the USA’s 9/11, which I don’t think is an appropriate comparison for a number of reasons, but it gives the outsider at least a measure of understanding of quite how big a deal last Sunday’s fire was and still is to this impoverished nation. One week on, here are some more photos that reveal the devastation, and some new pieces of information for those of you who pray and care for what goes on in Burundi. Please do lift up these precious people. I hope I’ve got my facts right below […]

I quote from a dear friend of mine, Jean, whom we’ve sponsored: “Today, 27th January, as the whole central market of Bujumbura has gone up in smoke, it is a national disaster. We are mourning with thousands of others. Many have lost hope. Some have committed suicide by jumping into the flames as their livelihoods burnt before them. Others died trying to rescue what they could. Many are hospitalized. Tens of thousands of mouths will not be able to eat as they have lost everything. I am one of them, with my wife and five children. The money you loaned […]

I’ve just returned from upcountry where fourteen great folk from Charleston are busy running a medical clinic. On the first morning, people were lining up from 4am. At 7am we gave out 200 tickets for the first day and had to turn away 500 others who were also waiting. That shows the need and demand. Do pray for them all, both patients and team. May many be healed, both physically and spiritually. Before that I’d been around Burundi preaching at concerts in different cities on the back of a Canadian worship band. It went well and we pray for lasting […]

Doug Hiebert’s an old friend from Canada who spent five years out here a while back, and he emailed me last week saying that he was bringing a bunch of musicians out to do concerts all over Burundi, and wondering if I’d like to tag-team with him as the preacher. I jumped at the opportunity, and found myself on the Aigle du Nord bus joining them at Buhiga after their first two gigs. Public transport is a rarity for me these days, but I always enjoy it, so long as I have timed my bladder-emptying right, because they won’t stop […]

Greetings from Burundi! I wanted to say another MASSIVE THANK YOU to all of you for your support over the last year, and wish you a happy new year – may 2013 be a great one for you! This time a decade ago, I wrote the following: “The start of this year has brought some fairly seismic developments for me. I have had a miserable time with my health recently with amoebic dysentery, flu and malaria over the festive period. As I write this, I am still weak and feeble with malaria. But my best friend came out to see […]

…that’s the ask. (EMAILED THIS A FEW DAYS AGO, SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE RESULT!) As I write this from our King’s Conference Centre, we’re hosting the President and he’s just arrived, surrounded by literally dozens of bodyguards. Soldiers with AK47s line the street outside, and one of his cavalcade has taken my parking space – I’ll let them off this time! MERRY CHRISTMAS! I’m so proud of our guys. Some of them have been offered salaries four times what they currently get; but because of the call of God on their lives, they’ve stayed with us, at great cost […]

Last week a group from the Segal Family Foundation came to visit and check out a number of Burundi projects, with a view to developing potential partnerships. So we spent a few days together, and I’m hopeful it’ll yield some great fruit, as they seemed to love what our guys are doing. At one stage we were driving on some muddy roads after a recent downpour, three cars in convoy, twisting and turning through the hills. We were on our way to check out the beautiful cow project we’re involved in. Evariste’s (second from the left) car was in front […]

When I read the Open Doors report below, it made me think of what we’ve signed up to as followers of the Way. I mean, contexts change, but the gospel doesn’t. And yet quite naturally (but wrongly) we allow our context to distort the gospel – unless we live with great intentionality according to a radically different view of reality, and insist on keeping ourselves well-informed on what is going on elsewhere. So what do North Korean’s experiences of the gospel have to say to the easy-believist, pick-and-choose, narcissistic faith of much of the Western world? I’m not into guilt […]

I’ve just re-read a beautiful testimony by David Servant of www.heavensfamily.org Procaire’s story is a stunning one, which I trust encourages you. David writes: “Procaire Bucumi lives in Kayanza Province of Burundi in the agricultural village of Musave. She was married to a witch doctor, and legally, she still is, although they are now separated. Procaire came to Christ a little over a year ago through a woman of God who continues to disciple her. I spent time with her today to listen to her story. Procaire’s husband was not pleased with her new life in Christ, and especially when […]

It’s my fast day.  I’m not saying that to impress you, and I know we’re not meant to tell anyone, but it’s part of a confession, so maybe that makes it OK! Actually I’m a bit rusty at fasting because of my ironman training, but my back’s bad and I feel a bit sorry for myself(!), and in this state of enforced humility, it’s been great to get back to what is for me a core life discipline – one that I believe is a biblical imperative that I’ve slacked off a lot recently. And I can definitely see the […]

Just a quick update and a few photos for those who like to see and hear more about the family: We had half term recently so we went up to Gitega to the YFC orphanage, which is in the background behind us in the picture. We were with our new friends the Millers (both doctors) with their four smashing kids, and we’ll probably go to Rwanda over New Year with them as well. It was only for a few days, as it meant precious little sleep. The kids were in tents (indoors!) for a treat, and we had lots of […]

Today was a great day. I got up at 5am and jogged to the pool up the hill, expecting to do a swim and then get to the office, but somewhere towards the end of it, I must have taken a wrong turn, because eight hours later, I finished a half-ironman (of sorts). I realized that I didn’t have any meetings, that the weather was perfect in its cloudiness, and so I could defer all emails and other work until later in the day. So I did an hour in the pool, slowly, as I’m recovering from a shoulder injury, […]

I had a very fruitful but frustrating meeting yesterday. It was fruitful because I secured a great house for two new team-members who are arriving in a couple of weeks, but it was frustrating because of part of my conversation with the delightful landlady. As we signed contracts, I said: “I think you can be confident with the ladies taking on your house. They’re both solid believers.” (In Burundi, probably 85% of the population would say they were Christians at a cultural level, but if you’re a real believer – born again, if you like – then you’d use the […]

Zeal – The Thoughts of J.C. Ryle The following are excellent excerpts from “Zeal” by J.C. Ryle [1816-1900] from his book Practical Religion: Being Plain Papers on the Daily Duties, Experience, Dangers, and Privileges of Professing Christians. (London: William Hunt and Company, 1883) “It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing.” — Galatians 4:18 …. (p. 184) Zeal in religion is a burning desire to please God, to do His will, and to advance His glory in the world in every possible way.  It is a desire which is not natural to man.  It is a […]

“Utabesha ntasumira umwana.” This Kirundi proverb – and as you know, proverbs shape and reflect a given culture – could be translated as: “If you don’t lie, you won’t feed your kids.” (literally ‘He who doesn’t lie won’t take his child to market.’) There are some beautiful aspects and some darker aspects of any and every culture. In Burundi, this is one of the darker ones. Lying, deception, and stealing are all very normal, accepted as a given, and sometimes even respected attributes. Today I bumped into our conference centre’s ex head-chef. We’d sent him to South Africa for 5-star […]

I wish you could have been there. I’ve just returned from a great trip upcountry with the Scripture Union team, where we met with the leadership of twenty schools, showed two films, did an open-air campaign, and then on Sunday went to another school. There’s loads I could share. We ministered to about 5,000 people in total, with amazing results. My stomach isn’t quite right as we stayed in a nasty ‘hotel’ eating nasty food – it’s all part of the deal! Anyways, here’s sharing just a few minutes of the trip with you. Picture it: forks of lightning blazing […]