I’m sat in a café having a snatched lunch alone, and I’m crying. The sound of gunfire in the capital is normal now. Most people are petrified. Suffice to say, there’s plenty to make one weep right now after last week’s failed coup and the deteriorating political and security situation. Maybe I should be embarrassed…

Brothers in arms – some of my favorite people, my Scripture Union colleagues, involved in planning today’s strategic outreach I’m so privileged to be here for ‘such a time as this’. I’m working with some of the most passionate and committed people on the planet. I’ve told you before, some of God’s best troops are…

This downtown street would normlly be bustling with activity I continue to refrain from expressing a political opinion in this blog, simply relating undisputed facts as they have developed. I love Burundi so much, have dedicated my life to this country, and I’m aching inside at what is happening here. I’ve been at my desk…

I received a message via the US consul to say they’d flown down a few planes and if I wanted to evacuate, I should be at the airport by 930am with $600 for a single ticket to Kigali, Rwanda’s capital. Of course I didn’t, not just because the price was a little steep for a…

I came out to live in Burundi 16 years ago. I’m a Burundian national now. I love this country and don’t want to be expelled if I can help it, although now I’m a national I don’t think I’d be expelled, rather I’d be put in prison. So I write these current blogs whilst purposefully…

After sending last night’s blog, news came through that the President had indeed returned to the country. I had another call from the BBC so did one last interview for them on the latest situation here (maintaining neutrality as I’m seeking to do with these blogs), which gave me the opportunity to say more than…

I’d put earplugs in during the night, figuring that getting to sleep was hard enough with all the adrenaline coursing through my body from the previous day, but even with them in I was woken up at 420am by the sound of grenades and gunfire. After yesterday’s events, and the uncertainty with which the evening…

In the current crisis, I’ve written my blogs and posted things to FB or Twitter whilst trying to retain a neutral voice, whatever my personal opinion, and I’ll continue to do so, all the more as things remain far from clear and change very quickly in this part of the world. Here’s how the last…

As Burundi struggles not to implode – which is not to say it will, because we truly believe in God-with-us, who can intervene and save our precious nation from calamity – many things have gone through my mind. Near the top of the list, as a father and husband, has been the well-being of Lizzie…

A few months after Burundi’s war kicked off in 1993, a tract was circulated entitled ‘Abantu b’Imana bagiye he?’ Where did God’s people go? That was the question many were asking in a country so apparently Christianised – how could so many so-called Christians not stop the horrific violence taking place? Where had they disappeared…

This is an attempt at a succinct, apolitical, neutral-as-can-be blog of what is going on right now for those who are following and want a clear(ish) understanding of the current situation:  Pierre Nkurunziza announced on Saturday on the back of his ruling CNDD-FDD party’s endorsement that he would stand for President of Burundi for a…

Yesterday I visited my friend Pascal in prison. I’ve talked about him before here. He’s still stuck in prison, falsely accused of rape. But to use the word ‘stuck’ is somewhat misleading. I was struck when I saw him by how much weight he’d put on (a good thing in the hungriest country in the world!).…

It’s nice to hear good news, isn’t it? Well here’s an update on Freddy, about whom I’ve written in the past. It was before this blog existed, so I’ll include his story as written up on 20th February 2011, and then you’ll hear the very encouraging latest. Scroll down if you just want his latest,…

Last weekend I hired out some prostitutes for the first time in my life – two young ladies for the whole night. Because I’m a preacher and didn’t want people to know what I was doing, I asked a trusted friend, Cossette, to hire these women and bring them to a hotel where I would…

Below is Kyle Idleman’s recounting of my favorite Jesus encounter, in Luke chapter 7, from Kyle’s book ‘Not a Fan’. It’s quite long but worth the read, and I include it now because my next post tomorrow will be about what happened when I paid for sex last weekend.  Luke 7: 36 When one of…