As Chris and Anna make their way from Rutana to Buj'a, Clare & I with Frederic and Francois are taken to church where I had been with last year's team for a week.   The church lies in a very poor community on the outskirts of Buj'a.   I preached on the lost coin, the lost sheep and the man who had two sons, (the lost son/prodigal son).   It seems there has been a split in the church from last time and I was told afterward that this was a very pertinent word for the church.

After the church service the pastor's wife had prepared a beautiful meal in their home for us and so we were well fed.   He asked if we would pray a blessing on his house before we left, which we did and then we were taken to Frederic's house to meet his wife and family and from there home to our accommodation.

The Church building from the outside!

The church congregation from the inside!

Frederic Harerimana and his wife and children.

I have now arrived back in Bujumbura (Buj'a) and Clare has travelled with us today with some luggage to leave room for Chris & Anna who are finishing up appointments at the Nyembuye clinic before going to Japheth's church on Sunday morning and returning to Buj'a in the afternoon.
Our journey down from Rutana took about 3 hours on fairly decent roads, however we are really tired after the journey.   It is so hot here in comparison to the cool temperatures of the mountain regions.   I started to sweat profusely after having a shower, so much so that I felt dehydrated and shaky.  I took a rehydration sachet in some water and feel a lot better now.

as we approach Buj'a from the mountain road, 

a wonderful panorama of the city and Lake Tangayika appears.

I have just this minute arrived in Rutana and will be meeting the Mission Medics team on their return from Nyembuye in an hour or so.   I have a nice room and a quiet yet mind blowing view over the mountains from the hotel.

Our last half day session in Cankuzo was amazing.   Once I had finished sharing the last session on discipleship, all of the pastors en mass came to me to ask if I would pray with them.  They wanted to repent because they had not been obedient to God's Word by discipling new Christians.   They all stood around be in a circle as I prayed and as they asked God to forgive them for their disobedience to His Word.   It was all I could do not to break down! 

The pastors stand in a circle and repent before God together.

(For those of you awaiting the translation of a letter posted a few days ago, the translation is now posted on the appropriate message ... see below).

Another hard day is over, our final full day of leadership training here in Cankuzo.   I have been sent home to my room armed with a number of questions to be dealt with tomorrow and so I expect that I will be burning a bit of the midnight oil to deal with this.

I spoke to the Mission Medics team last night and they are doing well.   Clare and Anna had been taken on a tour of the Rutana district hospital in the morning and then had a bit of R&R in the afternoon followed by a visit to the local market.   I think they enjoyed the celebrity status as the whole place came to a standstill as the two Mzungu ladies passed by.

It has been a wonderful few days here in Cankuzo, please pray that these wonderful people benefit from the many teachings that they have had and that the Church is strengthened as a result.

Tomorrow is our last full day in Cankuzo, we will probably spend a half day here on Friday before meeting the Nembuye team in Rutana.  It has been a good week.   The leaders are so ready to learn and hungry for more teaching.  They sit from 8am - 5 PM with a short break in the morning and a break for lunch.   There were a few nodding heads this afternoon however as we ploughed through some of the material I have been asked by them to cover.   I am not surprised after seeing the huge helpings of food the put away during lunch though.

The Nyembuye Mission Medics team are by all accounts doing well.   Clare and Anna we delighted to tell me that they had been involved in a birth yesterday and Anna wanted to pack the new baby away in her suitcase to bring it home.   Governments see that newborn as an added statistic on the way to 10 Billion inhabitants in the earth, parents see it perhaps as another mouth to feed however God see that wee one as one of His and packed full of potential to produce a wonderfully effective life.   I wonder how it will fair as it approached the troubles of Burundi and the abject poverty of its family.

All in a mornings work.... before we leave that is!

Some of the Rema team are travelling with me as interpreters and a driver.  I managed to capture them this morning before leaving for the church to get involved with the day's tasks.

 Here (above) Frederic irons a shirt for François who takes forever to get ready in the mornings, and any other time for that matter.

 François (above) fumbles with a coffee flask which likes to dribble copious amounts of his 'liquid gold' on to the floor on its way to the cup.   We went out and bought a new flask because the loss of his beloved coffee just will not do!  He is an avid Burundi coffee fan.

Peter the driver (above) stuffs a omelette roll in his mouth at breakfast.   He has an upset stomach and so tries to cure it by eating more and more.   The thought of fasting for a day or two is sacrilegious to him.  This man manages to pack two heaped dinner plates full of food away and lunch time, then at dinner time two more and can still slide a Scooby snack away whenever required.

Our day was spent, in the morning, doing a survey of the previous work done by Rema Ministries here, then we had lunch.   The folks debated whether too have one or two hours for lunch, this took about 20 mins; then we stopped for lunch about 13.30 to find that lunch was not yet ready, so we hung around for an hour waiting and retuned to the seminar at 15.10??   

The afternoon session on the Call of God was interesting and enjoyable to teach.   Once I had finished at the allotted time of 17.00 they started to fire questions at me, mainly on issues of family planning.   The church teachings are so varied and the leaders are confused.   A very long debate ensued which no doubt will be picked up tomorrow.   They also asked a list of further questions for me to deal with tomorrow.   Seems like its going to be another busy night.

Thanks to everyone who has been following the blog; if you know of others who may be interested, feel free to send them the link.   The Haiti team also has a blog which makes really good reading, here is the link for it for those who have a moment.  http://missioninternationalhaiti.blogspot.co.uk/

Today in Burundi (Cankuzo) I will be starting a new series of leadership training with a new group of leaders.   They are expecting to be fed and so please pray that God opens up his word during this week and that they are spiritually satisfied as the Bible promises when we ask for food from God.

I will report back later if there is any further news to share.

By the way, there is a comment facility on this blog, if you want to send a message please feel free, we'd be delighted to hear from you!

Hugh