What I love so much about Burundi life is that I get to meet and potentially work with superb people of faith and vision to positively impact this nation, both for this life and into eternity.

Yesterday I sat and listened to my friend John tell me how he’d started importing Friesian crossbred cows from Tanzania which produce 10-15 litres of milk per day. Burundian cows are useless! They require constant supervision, eat whole fields, are skinny as can be, and produce 1-2 litres for all that effort. So John brings in dozens of cows, keep them together so they don’t eat up all the scarce land (which can be used to plant food for people), gives one per person but they’re kept all together so don’t require loads of people watching over them, and the owners pay back the cow through the daily milk coming out. Eventually they own their cow and are empowered out of poverty. Invariably they come to faith in the process, and that’s when the church plant becomes necessary.

Isn’t that stunning?! That’s beautiful holistic mission at its best!

And it’s not just an idea, he’s been at it since 2006. having started from scratch, he’s now up to 65 cows, employing 13 people, and with a vision to impact the spiritual and agricultural environment of the whole nation and even beyond. That’s a very brief synopsis, but I tell you, I love it! And I’m quietly confident that we can help leverage this beautiful model to help hundreds out of poverty and give them meaning and purpose for this life and beyond.

Bring it on!