2010 Burundi Mission Trip - 2010burundimissiontrip

Water in the Valley of Clay

By Tula Holmes

 

Not in a wide rush like the Columbia,

rather in dribbles from a palm-sized pipe,

protruding out of the hillside,

the rusty liquid spills.

 

Pulsing with invisible flatworms,

the precious fluid pools and lazily crosses

sparse fields of rice, which shelter

mosquitoes and malaria.

 

Silent children stoop to fill discarded bottles-

drop by drop. This is what they do each day.

I use their water to flush waste down my toilet,

or rinse off the dinner I was too full to eat.

 

My clothing is named for that great

Northwest River, which flows down from the Rockies,

but hid in my pocket are snapshots of children

who bear heavy burdens in the Valley of Clay.

 

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Hi, Nena has the first section of her pictures yet to come... technical glitch with the administrator!! stay tuned!

Tula's photos are posted on page two... working on posting other photos and journal entries to post next. Have fun seeing where God sent us and what he did with us while we were in Burundi!

Kay's photos are posted on page two of this site... enjoy your first glimpse of our journey!

Everyone is probably fast asleep now.. but here is my update before I collapse! We went to the only craft market in Bujumbura at 2 AM Charleston time (Monday). After thrilling the locals with all of our purchases and boosting the local economy, we had a quick lunch and headed to the the airport. By 2 AM Monday,Charleston time, we were on our way. I never thought I would say, "Wake me when we land in Rwanda!" We flew from Burundi, to Rwanda, to Ethiopia, to Italy and finally to Washington, DC ; right on schedule. Then we sat at the Dulles Airport for 8 1/2 hours waiting for a plane ,which was delayed because of weather and mechanical problems. We arrived in Charleston on Tuesday night at 7 PM. It was an amazing miracle-filled trip. We kept a journal; each member of the team writing each day. I will post the first few entries in the morning. This way you can follow our trip trhough the eyes of each of us. There are hundreds of photos, and I will begin posting those as well. Thank God for high speed internet again. Its good to be home. We will hold our new friends from Burundi in our hearts forever and hopefully see them again before too long. Pray for Burundi and her people, and we will tell you more starting tomorrow. God bless!

it has been an incredible trip.. beyond words.. it is late, but we wanted you to know that we are back in Bujumbura and flying out in the afternoon. We arrive home on the 28th... We miss you and look forward to telling you all about the trip as well as sharing our photos and videos. You will be moved. Blessings!

Hi We are in Gitega at the Orphanage and it is an incredible experience. The children are adorable. they are so appreciative of hugs and smiles. They are happy and loved. We have had so much fun playing with them. We began by working on the foundation of a new orphans home. This home will house 8 to 10 children with a house mother. We all gathered around the foundation and threw in the first stones at the same time after a group prayer. We hauled stones one at a time beside the Burundian workers. the women carried the stones on their heads. it was a privilege to work with them. We have nearly finished the mural on the all of the school.. It brightens the entire road and everyone has enjoyed watching us paint. The playground has been difficult due to the lack of materials available, but the supports are up today. it will be the finest and maybe the only playground in the country. Our facilities are excellent, although water is scarce. the rainy season is coming but not here yet.  We have showers and toilets in our houses, great beds, and wonderful food. the spirit of the Lord is here and we have had an amazing trip. We will post more and lots of photos when we have more than a few moments on the internet. Blessings to you all!

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There is not much time to post before we leave by bus for the two hour dirve to Gitega. Gitega used to be the capital city of Burundi. There is talk of moving the capital from Bujumbura to Gitega. It is a larger town of 300,000 people. The Youth for Chirst Orphanage is 15 minutes from the city. We may have access to internet every other day if we can get in to an internet cafe. We hope so to keep you posted on our mission. We just wanted you to know how moving this Sunday morning was. We divided into four groups to attend church. I went to an Anglican church with Brad and Linda. There were 1200 people attending all filled with the Holy Spirit. The three of us gave our testimonies. We had translators to help us through the sermons and the hymns. There were many choirs, a couple presented before they were to be married, and a visiting minister. I purchased the DVD of a visiting choir and filmed two videos of the hymns. I can't wait to post them for you to see. Other teams went to a pentescostal church, a four square church, and an independant church. Some were small, just 40 members, all the way up to our large service. Everyone of our Mission Team was moved by the Spirit of the Lord. Keep praying for our team and the people of Burundi. We will return to this lovely conference center and our hot water and yummy meals in a week. Amahoro... peace!

We were blessed with an easy and safe flight. We flew from Dulles in DC yesterday morning to Ethiopia on a 16 hour flight.Alice had to pay quite a bit to get her luggage on, and it was only one pound overweight. Rick, Tula, Kay and Nena spend at least three hours discussing and planning when they would take their sleeping pills to coordinate with a touch down in Rome for refueling. They did not want to miss any of the delicious meals. Most people slept the entire way. (tula and Rick didn't... hey, Ann, Brad slept like a baby!!) The Ethiopia Airport had beuatiful African handicrafts, and Christmas lists may be filled on the way home. The next flight took us to Rwanda which is a beautiful country of rolling hills. Everyone met intersting traveling companions on the plane. We were "scolded" at the Airport in Bujum bura for taking a photograph. Apparently the terminal counts as a governement building. Perhaps a photo or two slipped by the guards... don't tell!  We are staying at the Kings Conference Center tonight which is lovely and very westernized. This will be our last hot shower and drinks with ice. Early in the afternoon we had a tour through Bujumbura to exchange money, and with the exchange rate, we are all Burundian millionaires! We went to the Youth For Christ headquarters where a preist prestented Nina and Scott  with a beautiful certificate, thanking them for helping to find a doctor to fix  his carteracts and thus restor his sight. We were all moved. We enjoyed our delicious meal of mangos, avocados, chicken and rice to name a few of our treats, and listened to the hypnotic sound of the Burundi drums. There was a wedding at the conference center this evening and the drums were part of the ceremony. The women wore sari like costumes in pinks and blues which were just beuatiful.Its all on video for you to enjoy when we return and I can upload the images.   Olivia Perry-Smith runs GLO (Great lakes Outreach ) . We had an inspring meeting with her, learning about their work, our mission here, the culture, Burundi, and the work of the Lord in this country. We are inspired. We attend church in Bujumbura tomorrow before heading upland to Gitega and the Youth for Christ Orphange. We will carry our 26 suitcases of supplies and playground equipment. We will post pictures, testimonies and stories of our journey as soon as we are able. Olvivia told us that Burundi is shaped like a human heart. It is located in the heaert of Africa. Africa is in the heart of the world. We hold you with us in our hearts. On a personal note, I wish you could meet the kind and generous people who we have met in Burundi. Everyone is so happy to welocme us to their country. We shake hands in a special way to show our respect to each other. We greet each other wtih words of peace. Burundi is living for peace, rebirth, and harmony. Pray for this country that the world forgot for so long, and pray for her wonderful people. The spirit of the Lord is working here. Blessing this night. In Christ's name! 

My heart is full!!  Blessings to each of you as you are the hands and feet of God.  So exciting to be able to follow your adventure.  Love, Mom/Barb

In 2004 we were living in Dublin, Ohio, and a member of our church was involved in assisting a family from settling in the area. A year into the family being in the the father of the wife was able to come from to visit. Mr. Ntibazonkiza is a minister in so we set time for him to come and participate in one of our church services. While Mr. Ntibazonkiza speaks only French and Kirundi he spoke eloquently with his son Parfait translating. After the service we held a reception lunch and we all got to meet. Mr. Ntibazonkiza. As I was leaving the lunch I told the church member who was assisting the family that if there was anything I could do to help to let me know. Unknown to me was the fact that Mr. Ntibazonkiza was nearly blind due to severe cataracts in both eyes. Unfortunately in cataract surgery is almost unheard of and altogether too expensive for a person living on a minister’s wage. Half jokingly the comment I received was that if I could do something about Mr. Ntibazonkiza’s cataract issue that would be wonderful. I smiled and said my good byes.

 

The next day the thought of how I could help this man was weighing on my heart. I certainly could not pay for the surgery and did not know any eye surgeons and was not sure what I could do. The only thing I could think of to do was to reach out to eye surgeons in the area, explain the situation, which was I am looking for a surgeon to perform cataract surgery on two eyes, we have no money to pay for anything and we only have 3 weeks before Mr. Ntibazonkiza had to return to Burundi. That’s all!! So I sent an email to 3 area surgeons and the very next day I received an email stating that a doctor had agreed to do the surgery and cover all the medical expenses! I immediately called the doctors office and we got the ball rolling. I involved the church member who had helped settle the family from and from that point I never did see Mr. Ntibazonkiza again except on the TV news story that covered the event. I got reports that the surgery was a success and that Mr. Ntibazonkiza was once again able to read his bible and was back in filling his minister role. Praise God!

 

God brought Mr. Ntibazonkiza to the knowing that here he could get the surgery he needed. He placed Mr. Ntibazonkiza in front of me and put the need to help on my heart. Out of the 100’s of eye surgeons I could have sent a note to God insured I picked the one that would help. It was all in God’s plan and all in God’s hands!

 

Now some 5 years later God has placed me in a situation where I am getting to go to . Knowing Mr. Ntibazonkiza was from Burundi but not knowing where he lived I was able to be placed in contact with his son Parfait who informed me that his sight continues to be good and that he lives in Bujumbura which happens to be where we land on Saturday. After some email exchanges it has been arranged that we will get to meet with Mr. Ntibazonkiza Saturday afternoon! Praise God!! In addition due to Mr. Ntibazonkiza being diabetic his son sends him blood sugar test strip kits every few months and recently got a note that his father was running low. This is something that is hard for him to get in and is very expensive. His son Parfait has sent us a box and we have purchased an extra box which we will be able to deliver to him when we meet on Saturday. Praise God.

 

This is such an added blessing to the trip and will be a very special moment for me as I have only met Mr. Ntibazonkiza once and have not seen him since his surgery. I can’t wait to see him and for him to be able to see us!

 

In speaking with his son Parfait last night the last little blessing I learned was that Parfait graduated from college, is a surgical assistant at the OSU hospital, has gotten married and has a son named…. ! He did not recall my last name when his son was born but I think God placed that name on his and his wife’s heart for a reason! Parfait said during our conversation that he would like to come to to thank our church for going to and doing God’s work. He is humbled that we care for his country and his people who need so much.

 

From a chance encounter, to an off handed comment, to the blessing of a God loving Christian surgeon, to a move from Ohio to Charleston, to a mission trip opportunity to a meeting once again. It is so evident that God has his hand in our lives each and every day. Praise God! Bless !   

The Mission Calendar has been updated. You can find it on page three of this site. We hope you follow our journey during our stay in Burundi. Unfortunately, we will more than likely only have internet access when we are in Bujumbura. We will update the journal entries and photographs as we can. There will be lots of information, pictures, and videos when we return. Thank you for your prayers.

     The Burundi Mission Team will be packing on Monday night. We will be filling suitcases with the donated clothing, supplies, and even parts for a playground. It is easy to feel the spirit of the Lord through your generosity. Blessings and thanks to you. 

I just spoke to the sweet Marine named Phil who is manning the American Embassy in Burundi tonight (Its night in Burundi). He stated (off the record) that things seem normal. He took my email address to invite us to the embassy during our stay for a party to meet the other Americans in Bujumbura and the embassy staff. I will be talking to The Burundi Embassy on Monday when they are back after the holiday weekend. I will keep you posted. I am also waiting for a call back from the Burundi specialist at the US State Department in Washington DC... I am just doing my homework and will pass all information along that I find. I am looking forward to our safe trip to Burundi and back home again to Charleston. God will be with us the entire way. (And Phil will be watching out for us as well!)

Our team is busily finishing preparations for our journey to Burundi. On Wednesday, September 15, we will be be packing our suitcases with equipment and donations for the Youth For Christ Orphanage at Gitega. We are excited at the opportunity to spread the gospel, help this wonderful orphanage and open ourselves to a life changing experience. We would like to share this journey of travel and growth with you. As we are able, we will post photos and blogs of the trip. You will meet out team and the beautiful children and adults that we meet on our way. Pray for us and for the people of Burundi. 

This documentary tells you what is happening in Burundi now, when grenades are accessible and inexpensive as a beer. Please watch this and pass it on.

9/25/2010 4:18:23 PM - fb:100001077283797
We all miss you, Mom and Dad! So glad that you had the courage to Go! where the Lord would call. KiKi said today, "Mommy, let's go over Nana and Poppi's, I miss them..." Love you so much! Kris

9/24/2010 1:27:04 PM - 003055775684
I know all of you are being fully blessed on your trip. There is so much to do to help and it is so gratifing to be able to be a small part of the helping that is so badly needed.

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If you want to have a hardbound record of our journal entries, you can order them here through Shutterfly. I hope you enjoy reading our Mission Team Journals.  peace, Tula