Resurrecting Hope in Burundi…

In the back of beyond, in what many might consider a ‘no-go’ area in Northern Burundi, nestles a special remote community. Here the Kingdom of God is quietly growing against the tragic backdrop of the trauma and bereavement of years of conflict.

Very, very few visitors venture here, but one young man’s prayers and tears of compassion for forgotten widows and orphans have led him to reach out with beautiful results.

God is very much with Bosco. He is one of the amazing network of dedicated and sacrificial leaders we work with in Burundi. Despite seeing his mother brutally murdered in the war when he was a young boy, he has grown up as a superbly well-adjusted young man, using his great skills to serve the most vulnerable in society. He started his organisation, J-Life Burundi (one of GLO’s partners), because he just couldn’t help crying when he heard about or met widows and orphans. And there are a lot of them in Burundi…

Thanks to the appointment of our own amazing Grace in Burundi to help with GLO communications, we are trying to get better at sharing the inspiring stories of transformation like this. We hope you enjoy them, and are encouraged and feel better informed for your prayers.

You may recall our resurrection rabbit appeal. Resurrection is a very apt word to describe the work of Bosco’s organisation. Thanks to his courage in venturing to help those whom no-one else was reaching out to, there is now hope as many lives are being reborn.

And that hope is tangible.

Thanks to your generosity, Theogene now has his rabbits. And goats. And chickens. So he can get by financially. And he even has his own house with his brother, Ernest. He can afford to attend school. In fact, he is a really smart lad, top of his class with 85% scores. His brother Ernest, a little older, has also been able to return to school, though he is in a class with much younger children. Ernest says:

“My dream is to own 10 chickens, so we can start to sell eggs and save up for a brighter future.” 

It’s a joy to spend time with Ernest and Theogene who now live in their own home next to another orphan, Fabrice. Challenges abound in the beautiful and fertile landscape, yet they seem to exude joy despite their lack of material comforts which Westerners would consider essential.

“The animals teach them responsibility and self-reliance,” says Bosco.“We are committed to supporting them until university, teaching the Word of God and helping them grow spiritually through the J-Life community centre in Ciya.”

Sixty widows in the community have joined together to create a soap manufacturing cooperative in their new training centre. They sell soap to nearby cafes and businesses. The soap is handmade from plentiful local palm oil. There is no packaging and very little waste, so as well as generating income for the ladies, this business ticks the increasingly important sustainability boxes.

Please pray for the community of Ciya:

• Praise God for the new soap business and pray for it to grow to provide an abundant income for the widows
• For the widows and orphans who still need their own homes
• For the skills training initiatives – computing, sewing, literacy and numeracy
• For emotional and spiritual healing from the war
• For Ernest, Theogene and Fabrice
• Give thanks for the new training centre and all those serving in the work

God bless you loads!