As I look around, I think it’s fair to say we lack gospel confidence in this country. For what it’s worth, I want you to know that yesterday, more people came to faith in Jesus than any other day in the history of humanity. The kingdom of God is advancing! So, last month I’m preaching in the bush in Burundi to about 3000 people, and we’re very clear in the appeal, only come forward if it’s your first time to choose to follow Jesus… and that night, 224 people responded. That’s one outreach in the middle of nowhere. I pray […]
All Good Things Come to An End…
Or Do they? Nothing has brought me more joy and pain in 25 years of ministry in Burundi. Maybe that’s a little overstated, but building what is considered the best dedicated conference centre in the country certainly caused many sleepless nights, stressful days, frustrating weeks and more. Phase 1 launched in 2009, Phase 2 in 2021. It’s been a looooong journey, through the upheaval of renewed violence in 2015 when the country imploded, through Covid shutdown… but King’s Conference Centre as a social enterprise has more than survived… it has thrived! And the key person coordinating and leading several dozen […]
“I used my sweater to cover the stain…”
“One day, while sitting in class, my makeshift pad leaked. When I stood up, I realized that I had stained my school uniform. I asked a classmate if she could spare a pad, but she too was in need. I wrapped my jumper around my waist and requested permission to leave.” For Exaveline, what should be a typical day turns into a recurring nightmare when her monthly period arrives. At just 16 years old, she cannot afford sanitary pads, and she has exhausted all possible methods to prevent staining her school uniform. Unfortunately, her attempts often fail, leaving her feeling […]
Battle Stations!
Last Sunday, I preached at Emmanuel Croydon to finish off their Ephesians series with chapter 6 and the Armour of God. I entitled it ‘Battle Stations!’ Do take a listen here: And below are a few juicy quotes: John Piper: “Probably the number one reason why prayer malfunctions in the hands of believers is that we try to turn a wartime walkie-talkie into a domestic intercom. Until you know that life is war, you cannot know what prayer is for… But what have millions of Christians done? We have stopped believing that we are in a war. No urgency, no […]
Happy Halloween?
What do you make of Halloween? I’m conflicted. On one level, it’s just an excuse for a good time, and I love the chance to engage with the community and be out and about. But on another level, I’m uncomfortable with the sinister underbelly and know that as a follower of Jesus, I need to be awake to those darker realities. So I thought I’d share with you two of my friends’ stories, who were witches themselves. I think their opinions and experiences are more important and authoritative than mine, and what happened in their lives is frankly mind-blowing. Well […]
Pursuing His Power
WARNING: This blog contains two prayers which could radically alter your life. If you’d rather things stay as they are, then please stop here. This is the fourth talk in the ‘Hot Pursuit’ series, delivered at Lee Abbey in August. Pursuing His Presence Pursuing His Peace Pursuing His Purpose Pursuing His Power You can listen here: Some notes/quotes/illustrations from the talk: Some years ago a young man looking for work approached a foreman of a logging crew and asked him for a job. “It depends,” replied the foreman “lets see you take this one down”. The young man stepped forward, and skillfully felled a […]
Pursuing His Purpose
This is the third talk in the ‘Hot Pursuit’ series, delivered at Lee Abbey in August. Pursuing His Presence Pursuing His Peace Pursuing His Purpose Pursuing His Power This is the story of one of my heroes: Robert Jermaine Thomas (1839-1866) from Kingsley Armstrong’s book: After Robert Thomas found the Lord, he began preaching at age 15. He went to train at New College, London; met Caroline Godfrey, got engaged, married, ordained and sailed to China the same year. In 1863 Robert said goodbye to his homeland. He was twenty-four when he travelled with his new wife on a ship from Gravesend […]
Pursuing His Peace
This is the second talk in the ‘Hot Pursuit’ series, delivered at Lee Abbey in August. Pursuing His PresencePursuing His Peace Pursuing His PurposePursuing His Power You can listen here: Some notes/quotes/illustrations from the talk: Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” What is Shalom? Completeness, soundness, welfare, peace. At ease, favour, health, peaceful, prosperity, safety, secure, security, rest, trust in relationships, wellness, well-being. Acknowledge your fear Become aware of his presence Claim his promises “The beginning of fear is the end of faith; the beginning of true faith is the […]
Stunning Modern-Day Miracles!
You might struggle to believe some of the following stories from last month’s outreach. I hope not though. ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever’ (Hebrew 13:8). So here are some feedback highlights, having asked folks to pray last month as we sent out 1,439 young evangelists from 88 churches for two weeks all around Burundi. The top-line summary is that they saw over 23,000 people come to faith! It’s the modern-day Acts of the Apostles! Here goes: An Urge for Healing In the small village of Bwambarangwe in Kirundo province, 41-year-old Diomede had lain paralysed from the waist down and […]
Pursuing His Presence
This series of sermons was delivered at Lee Abbey in August under the title ‘Hot Pursuit’. I’ll release them over the next few weeks in turn. Pursuing His PresencePursuing His PeacePursuing His PurposePursuing His Power What are you pursuing? In greyhound racing, the dogs are trained to chase after a mechanical rabbit, which is controlled by a man in the press box. He keeps the rabbit just in front of the dogs so that they keep chasing it as fast as they can. During one race at a Florida track, as the dogs hurtled after the rabbit, there was an […]
Resurrection Life!
This sermon was from my recent trip to Charleston, South Carolina, delivered at the Cathedral Church downtown. Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”(John 11:25-26)I tell the story of my friend Providence, who died in 2012, but is still alive today! Try to get your head around that one – you can read her amazing story here. Here are a couple of quotes from the talk: Shortly before Moody graduated to glory, he said: “Someday you will read […]
Righting a Wrong for Pastors on the Scrap-Heap!
Sometimes it’s just plain wrong…and we have to do something about it. It is wrong that a pastor serves God faithfully his whole life and then ends up with no pension, in total poverty, abandoned by his children, dying penniless and uncared for, sometimes regretting he’s given his life to the Lord’s service in the first place. And yet such a scenario is relatively common in a country where very few people get a pension. Daniel was a pastor for 36 years before retiring. He reminisces: “I taught the Word of God in schools, planted many churches and mentored many people… […]
Tears Falling in Your Stomach…
This morning was holy ground. I’m back out in Burundi with a team of supporters for a week of introducing them to our various wonderful partners. As I knew would happen, the team members are blown away at the calibre, integrity and commitment of these Kingdom warriors. As Justin noted, the repeated story is that almost all of them had the chance to take the easier option and leave for whichever affluent peaceful country, but they chose to stay and make a costly difference here, in beautiful but broken Burundi. Ephraim shared how he’d fled to the Congo during the […]
Choose Life in 2023!
I have exciting news! My publishers have kindly agreed for me to share the award-winning devotional Choose Life 365 for free in 2023! So I invite you to sign up for either a daily or a weekly email from me in 2023, helping you to choose faith over fear, love over legalism and gratitude over grumbling! There’s no denying that times are really tough for many of us. Personally, we’ve experienced some real sucker punches over the past couple of months in our family, so more than ever, we need to press into God and pursue Him each and every […]
A Thrill of Hope…
Look at Gloria’s glorious smile! Her life has been totally transformed. She was trafficked to the Middle East and spent ten years in prostitution. Hers was a truly hopeless and miserable life. But when she managed to escape back to Burundi, our Ephraim tracked her down and found her living in total poverty. He rescued her, trained her to be a tailor, got her a sewing machine, and now she’s able to make a living and provide for her daughter. Listen to her in this short film… Just beautiful! What I love is that with just £25/$30, we can help a […]
How is your heart?
This talk was given at my local church, St Andrew’s Community Church, as part of their sermon series on 1 Samuel. Below are a few quotes and notes from it for your perusal: Samuel Chadwick: ‘It is a wonder what God can do with a broken heart, if He gets all the pieces.’ “Until we give God our heart, we give him nothing at all.” J.C.Ryle Dmitri was a Russian factory worker imprisoned after the house church he pastored grew to 150 people. He was sent 1,000 miles away to a hardened criminal facility full of 1,500 prisoners. As far […]
Patience for the Long Haul
Lessons from James This is the final of five talks given at Lee Abbey in the summer, do take a listen or download it below. The previous four in the series were: Persevering Through Trials Walking the Talk Taming the Tongue Humility in Submission Below are some profoundly challenging stories and quotes to stir your faith and mull over: There’s a certain type of bamboo in Asia which grows to prodigious heights and at prodigious speeds – sometimes as much as 60 feet in six weeks. However, before that growth spurt, the seed lies in the dark beneath the ground […]
A Divine Encounter!
I love these stories! We get bombarded with so much bad news in general, that all the more I see it as part of our job at GLO to tell inspiring tales of overcoming. Meet Divine: She was an orphan living in Nyanza lac in the South of Burundi. She was married young to a boy who mistreated her, indeed whose family rejected her and maligned her such that she preferred to flee to the streets. She was left with no apparent options other than to sell her body to survive. That was five years ago. Just a few months […]
Humility in Submission
Lessons from James This is the fourth of five talks given at Lee Abbey in the summer, do take a listen or download it below. The previous three in the series were: Persevering Through Trials Walking the Talk Taming the Tongue Below are some funny/moving stories and anecdotes, and some juicy quotes to mull over: On a flight from Johannesburg, a middle-aged, well-off white South African lady had found herself sitting next to an African man. She called the cabin crew attendant over to complain about her seating. “What seems to be the problem Madam?” asked the attendant. “Can’t you see?” […]
Taming the Tongue
Lessons from James This is the third of five talks given at Lee Abbey in the summer, do take a listen or download it below. The previous two in the series were: Persevering Through Trials Walking the Talk An old legend tells how a man was once lost for days in a dark forest and stumbled across an imposing barn. He sought shelter inside it because of the howling winds. His eyes grew quickly accustomed to the dark, and he was amazed to discover that this barn was where the devil kept his storehouse of seeds. These were the seeds […]