I’ve asked one of my Burundian soul-mates who is having an amazing impact in the nation to share with you from his perspective some of what we are up to these days. Over to him: “Since the current crisis began in Burundi about a year ago, Simon asked me to head up and coordinate what…

Below is a fantastic story of perseverance under relentless trial. I’ve lived it alongside Jeremy, with whom I meet weekly for breakfast to talk and encourage each other. I love what he has done, is doing, and will do, alongside his precious family and devoted team at The King’s School. My favorite image of this…

I turned 43-years-old today, which provides a natural chance to look backwards as well as forwards. Birthday lunch en famille at Cafe GourmandAs I review this last year, it feels somewhat schizophrenic.I have a wonderful life in Burundi. It is incredibly challenging, exciting, and fulfilling. Our marriage is strong, the children are thriving, we are…

Burundi has nearly doubled in size since I arrived here in 1999. Clearly, that’s incorrect, but I make that absurd statement to highlight the horrific implications of the undeniable fact that whilst Burundi’s landmass has not changed in the last 17 years, it’s population has indeed nearly doubled. It was 6 million back then, and…

Some images don’t require a thousand words. Burundi has the highest malnutrition rate in the world. We were officially the hungriest country even before this crisis kicked in. I was at a bush hospital two weeks ago and heard from the doctor there that the already atrocious situation had spiked even more in recent months. Below,…

Maybe you’ll think less of me by the end of this stream of consciousness, but I wanted to get down on paper how I feel right now, not when I have calmed down. I love Burundi. In the past I thought I’d die here, taking crazy risks in the last war as a single man.…

Genesis 4:10  And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.” Yesterday saw five grenades go off in town. Lizzie and a friend were due to buy fabric at the market where a child was blown up. I gave a talk a few hundred yards away…

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!  I have been deluged, accosted, and inundated with folks in the last few weeks expressing gratitude for giving them a Christmas gift so that they could have a fun day of celebration in the midst of what is a very dark time in Burundi.  I hope you can catch…

That’s a cryptic title! What do I mean? I’ve just had an inspiring ‘Christian Initiatives for Peace’ meeting where we’ve analysed the impact of our media campaign over the last seven months. We can see that it has made a huge – but hard to quantify – impact on many people’s lives. Some people are…

On Monday, we fly back to Burundi. All of us. Simon, Lizzie, Zac (10), Grace (8) and Josiah (6). Burundi is in a terrible state. It’s hard to see, humanly-speaking, how things are going to improve. But we believe in the God of the impossible, and Burundi is our home. We want to be with…

Our traumatised children don’t understand what is going on. The shootings continue. Christmas has always been the one time of year they hope for a piece of chocolate and some meat, maybe even a new pair of shoes. Times are harder than ever right now. As a father, I long to give them some joy,…

  We’ve started packing today, as we prepare to head back to Burundi. We took our decision last Friday, having set aside the previous week to pray and seek guidance. I asked for a sign that last day, and had an amazing random (coincidence/God-incidence) meeting on Southampton common as I walked, which provided the confirmation…

A few weeks ago I came across this great quote by C.S.Lewis: “For the Christian there are strictly speaking no chances. A secret master-of-ceremonies has always already been at work. The same Lord who said to the disciples, “You did not choose me, but I chose you” – that same Lord says to every group…

I address this as a naturalized Burundian (ego, nararonse karangamuntu na passeport haheze imyaka ibiri ndabifise) to my fellow Burundians. The situation in Burundi is alarming. There’s no doubt about that. When the President of the Senate made his infamous pronouncement a few weeks ago, alarm bells began ringing at fever pitch, and social media…

“The only thing I know for sure is that I have no idea what is going to happen.” So said a friend of mine over lunch. It sums up the situation in Burundi right now. Nobody has any idea how things are going to turn out. Every event is seen through radically different lenses depending…