“Simon, we can’t send our children back to school this Monday because we have no money to buy the uniform and school book and pencil. We go without food, sanitary towels, everything, but still can’t make it. It’s often the children of parents in ministry who are the first to drop out. Please, please help my team, I beg you!” Charlotte cried as she pleaded with me – she wasn’t just desperate for herself but for her staff at the life-changing ministry she runs and which GLO supports. And as my three children prepare to start at a beautiful school […]
Simon Guillebaud
Trophy of Grace!
Another story of the impossible in Burundi – from street kid to being a national sporting hero and using his gifts to promote reconciliation and forgiveness, this is a beautiful testimony of hope…
Nuts to be Normal
Should this become a book? That is the question I’m wrestling with. Maybe your honest feedback will help me make my decision. During our year of travel, I started with writing a book as my intention, and below is what I’d begun with. But then a few months in, a few key folks said I should drop it and live in the present, rather than sharing our lives too publicly. So I dropped it. But the kids thought it was a good idea. And then a number of folks have written asking me to. So, what to do? I don’t […]
Confidence, Comfort, Challenge…
‘We believe…’ series, ‘in the resurrection of the dead’ – Revelation 21:1-8 Do click on the above link to listen to a recent talk I gave at Holycross on Sullivan’s Island in South Carolina. Belief in the resurrection brings confidence, comfort and challenge. Below are a few of the juicy quotes I shared: Dallas Willard: “We should not think of ourselves as destined to be celestial bureaucrats, involved eternally in celestial ‘administrivia’. That would be only slightly better than being caught in an everlasting church service. No, we should think of our destiny as being absorbed in a tremendously creative […]
The World Tour in Numbers…
I’ve purposefully hardly shared about our travels this year – choosing to live in the present and not putting it all ‘out there’. So the focus of this blog has been largely on Burundi; but many of you have asked about our travels, so here’s one way of reporting back – and others have been asking about our summer plans, so I’ll paste details of them below as well: 43,000 miles in travel 1,700 new GLO supporters for our database 304 days away, of which… 284 days staying with people (so only 20 days in hotels or AirBnB) $220 for […]
The Cost of Obedience…
This is some of my friend Yve’s story. He’s moved on to a new place of work now, but his faith still challenges me… I love sharing
Bleeding Beautiful…
I never thought I would be writing a blog about sanitary towels and now it has happened twice (the first is here). Thousands of girls in Burundi give up school every year because they don’t have any sanitary towels. They are simply too ashamed and embarrassed to go to school anymore, so they give up. But without education they are stuck in abject poverty. Then along comes Eva, a local Burundian girl. If Eva were on Dragon’s Den she could be one of the most successful entrepreneurs ever. Her brilliant solution is to manufacture re-usable sanitary towels from cloth and […]
Beautiful New Life, the Seemingly Impossible Happening…
Nobody would have ever believed it possible, but it has indeed happened. There is always hope, even in the most apparently hopeless situations. So I just wanted to share the joy of Freddy (formerly-melted-faced-beggar-now-graduated-with-distinction-from-university-and-married) and Floride having their first baby yesterday. Oli weighed in at 3.5kg and came into this world by C-section. For your prayers, he’s trying to get set up with a new pharmacy business, but it’s hard to do it honestly, which is causing significant delays. May there be a breakthrough somehow. Wishing them all joy and success in their new adventure together! Read the background to […]
Grenade Thrown in His Dorm…
At the height of the crisis in the 1990s, when he was a student at university, someone threw a grenade into Leonidas’ dormitory. Nobody was killed on that occasion, but amongst his many shrapnel wounds, the piece that lodged in his eye has caused ongoing issues ever since. Yet he is not one to seek revenge or harbour feelings of resentment or bitterness. Leonidas is one of our turbo-charged evangelists, preaching forgiveness and reconciliation around the country through Scripture Union. He’s been greatly used, and continues serving faithfully through many constant challenges. I love highlighting stories of hope when so […]
Easter Bunnies in Burundi!
HAPPY EASTER! Sorry if you’ve already seen this, we’ve had some horrible technical glitches over the last few days. I’d like to invite you to join with us today in answering the prayer request of a little boy in Burundi called Theogene. Theogene is an orphan who lives with his brother in a makeshift shack in Ciya province, cobbled together with banana leaves from the bush. His parents were killed when he was tiny and he and his brother have struggled to survive ever since. Hunger is a constant reality. School fees are prohibitively expensive and Theogene simply cannot afford […]
Kicked out of home…
…but still joyfully willing to pay the price. In the West, in nations not obviously faced with severe constraints on freedom of religion, people can easily trot out the glib pronouncements that all religions are the same, that your truth is whatever works for you, that Islam is a religion of peace, etc. But our experience on the ground would suggest otherwise. Moza’s story is a common one in Burundi. And it is as offensive to Muslims as it is to Christians to say their religions are the same, that whatever works for you is fine. They are fundamentally different. We are called to […]
Cumulative Little Steps…
On the back of last week’s Phone-Call/Email from God, I got this brilliant response from a friend, which I wanted to share with you: I know friends who read your emails and they are hungry for more of God. However, there is a passiveness in the ‘waiting for the phone call’. They are paralysed by the big end to the stories and they don’t know how to get there. You have a powerful voice and many people read your emails what would be amazing would be to hear you encourage those first baby steps. There are few people who will […]
A Phone Call/Blog from God!
A phone call changed the trajectory of my life. Many of you know the story already.* And this weekend, we hung out with a man (pictured above, Lizzie and I, with Ted and Lorraine) for whom likewise a phone call rocked his world and gave it a remarkable trajectory. I want to share his story because you don’t need a phone call to experience what he and I have, but the potential of being open and ready to say ‘yes!’ is simply extraordinary. Ted Bosveld was visiting Rwanda in 2006 when his phone rang. It was my best Burundian buddy […]
Calling All Cyclists for Your Best Ride Ever!
Do you want to take part in the ride of a lifetime? Join the 7th GLO African Cycling Fundraiser Tour in Rwanda. Fly in on the 23rd May, ride 25th to 31st May, and fly home 1st June. We aim to give you the best ten days of your last five years, and many agree at the end of it – it really is an amazing experience. Are you in? Or do you know anyone who might be? Do pass this on to any cycling friends. For more information, contact us at info@greatlakesoutreach.org “The time was a period of true […]
Christmas Cheer (or not) in Burundi…
Scripture Union Treasurer Tharcisse writes to me: ‘Dear brother Simon, I’m writing to you, as I do every year, however embarrassing it is for me. Because without your help this Christmas will be a day like any other. I’m a father and husband, and I long to be able to buy my wife something – maybe a new dress to show my appreciation – and get my children some chocolates and meat for Christmas, the one day of the year that they have that expectation. But I and so many others, find making ends meet tough because of the socio-economic […]
The New Kirundi Bible!
At last! Rosemary Guillebaud will be dancing in heaven! I blogged on this back in April, and it’s taken until this week because of various frustrating delays, but now I’m so happy to be able to say that the new updated version of the Kirundi Bible has been launched in Burundi!!! I’ll paste the previous blog below for context. Many thanks for all those who sowed money into this, so that we were able to help the Burundian Bible Society to get the project over the finishing line. Now may the new version be quickly accepted (there are always some […]
Living Stones…
My blog has crashed for a while so this should have been out ten days ago. Apologies if you’ve already seen it. It’s alive! Please watch this beautiful film, which tells some of the King’s Conference Centre story – it’s under two minutes. And then, I’d love you to read on… Indeed, King’s Conference Centre is alive! Jobs are being created, profits are being made and sown back into the work in Burundi, training is being given to empower people. So much more than a building project, these are living stones with an impact throughout the nation. Our teams around […]
Meet Antioch Africa…
This is everything I love about what we are trying to do as GLO. It is utterly strategic in the nation; it models beautiful partnership across nationalities; it involves empowering and equipping leaders. Meet one of our key partners, Antioch Africa, in this stunning short film, just 3mins+. In years to come, I don’t doubt this will have a critically positive role in shaping a healthy Church in Burundi, and even beyond. Bring it on!
Sucker Punches Galore but Still in the Fight…
From being in a coma after a militia attack, to being falsely imprisoned, then healed, widowed, and more, Deo’s story is filled with God’s faithfulness amidst many trials…
Recommendation for Parents…
Of all the things we’ve read together as a family, none has been more interesting or effective at engaging with our kids as this book. It includes geography, history, stories, and faith. So I’d give it a massive recommendation. We did it over breakfast daily for several months, and they looked forward to it each time. Parents/grandparents, I can’t think of a better present for your kids/grandkids. For UK folk, click here to order. For US folk, click here. Also, as we prepare for Christmas, and getting resources for Advent, Jotham’s Journey is superb story-telling. There are three of them […]