We waited four years and went through umpteen challenges to become totally above-board legitimate owners of this land, and now the work has begun with a vengeance! It’s hard for you to understand the joy in this 30second clip. PTI (Partners Trust International) took the inspired decision not to use big time-efficient diggers to excavate the hillside in a day or two, and instead hire about 250 desperately poor and hungry unemployed folk from the local community to earn just under $2/day to prepare the land for construction in due course. $2/day may seem ridiculously little to a Western mind, […]

This short blog is simply a call to prayer for Burundi as we approach the referendum on the 17th May. The referendum is to amend (or not) the constitution to change presidential terms from 5 to 7 years, renewable once. The clock on terms would be reset, so that potentially the current President could continue in power until 2034. There is little doubt which way the referendum will go. Burundi seems currently stable. We personally don’t feel in any danger at all, and our lives go on as normally as ever – which is the line that the government is […]

“Please, please we need Bibles! And not just any Bible, but a new version. The old one I can hardly understand!” I could have been offended, but I’m not. You see, my great-aunt, Rosemary Guillebaud, was the person who brought God’s Word to Burundians in their own language, after twenty years of hard graft working on it. But that was a long time ago – 1967 to be precise – and language evolves steadily. You’d understand the King James Version in English better than Burundians understand Rosemary’s 1967 Kirundi translation! For example, ‘imbata ya Yesu’ meant ‘slave/servant of Christ’ back […]

There’s no social security out here. When your husband dies, beyond the normal grieving it’s a total and utter disaster for the widow, further compounded if she has children. So here’s a hope-filled story for widowed mother-of-three Virginie, who has just got her house through the ministry of J-Life. Justin, Tanya and my Lizzie helped in the process at the beginning of January, and it is now complete. Total cost: $1,000 (so a little more than I advertised last week, because prices have gone up and the standard of house we are building is also better). Enjoy the pics and […]

Sometimes fairy tales actually come true. Alain was the ugliest, most disfigured boy in the whole of Burundi. His face, tummy and hand had melted in a fire after he passed out with an epileptic fit, so from them on he had to hide his horrific features underneath a hood. With his father, before the first round of surgeries Suffice to say, two decades later, after fifteen plastic surgery operations totalling several dozen hours, he’s recently completed his degree, got a distinction no less, is employed at a health centre, and wait for it… is engaged to be married to […]

I thought I’d just give you a quick update on Eva’s work following on from our encounter last month. The response to that blog was beautiful, meaning that we could provide Eva with seed-funding and help her give out lots of sanitary towels and soap to vulnerable women over the Christmas and New Year period. These ladies, as you can imagine, were very happy indeed. Also, a number of folks have come alongside Eva in terms of helping with business plans, encouragements, advice, and connections. It’s a beautiful example of what GLO loves doing, and we hope and pray that […]

It happens each year at about this time. Tharcisse, faithful long-term Scripture Union accountant, writes me an emotive plea to intervene on his and the rest of the staff’s behalf: “Hello Brother Simon! Christmas is coming. Many of us in Burundi only eat meat, chocolate, and biscuits on this one special day. It’s also the only day of the year my kids and wife hope to get a new clothing. Because of the economic situation, I as a father and husband simply can’t afford anything again this year. I don’t want to disappoint my wife and kids, so I’m asking […]

I never thought I’d be writing about sanitary towels or tampons. Today I met Eva. She’s a 32-year-old entrepreneur. She blew me away, for two reasons: Firstly, because she got a Masters degree in France; and then, against everyone’s wishes and common sense, she returned to Burundi because of God’s call on her life to make a difference in her nation. Very, very few people do that. Leaving the safety, opportunities and affluence of France for the instability, mass unemployment and rampant poverty of Burundi. Wow! That has to be God… …And secondly, because she pursued me. She wrote me […]