Change of Plans

We came here with the intention of setting up an internet cafe (or “cyber” as they call it here, short for cyber cafe). It looked great on paper. I had been communicating with Felicien via email and chat for the past few months before we arrived in order to get enough information to make an informed decision about the feasibility of starting a cyber cafe. I was also pulling from last year's trip and our experience with the sole internet cafe we used that was down the street from our guest house (which was in a little shack with really slow speed and computers with CRTs). Through those conversations and experiences from last year, I thought I had a handle on the situation and how it would go.

Leading up to the trip, it was amazing how at the last minute, we discovered that we did indeed have over 10 computers, the minimum that we figured we'd need to set up a cafe. God had provided these computers rather miraculously.

I arrived a few days early to do a bit of last-minute research regarding location and any other details we missed. And I found out we missed a ton. Within a few days it became very apparent that we could not acquire a location with enough foot-traffic at a reasonable cost. We discovered that we needed a higher skill-level for labor than we could expect to find and train in a month. We were planning on using people from the church to run the cyber, but that idea proved to be not in the slightest feasible since the church laity is by and large uneducated and cannot explain to people the basics of how to use a computer since they don't know themselves. We also found out that furnishings (tables, chairs) would be far more expensive than anticipated. We only had financing acquired for about 50% of the total costs.

But for some reason, God had given us 11 computers. Matt came on this trip with the sole intention of setting up the cafe. Everything looked great only 2 weeks before. What happened? Was God in this? So we threw out a fleece regarding our involvement with the cyber – if God provided $10,000 and 3 skilled people willing to work for us by Monday (two weeks ago today), we would continue to pursue the internet cafe. Otherwise, it seemed as though we would have to scrap it.

And as of Monday night of last week, we had neither.

So we figured that God was moving us in another direction. During the first week, Felicien told us about a piece of land that he found out about/was offered for only 5 million FBU (roughly $4200 USD). As mentioned in my last post, it is very close to the lake with a beautiful view, and it is a very good sized piece of land. At the same time that the internet cafe was falling through, the land was looking like a great option. So we started moving in the direction of purchasing the land, a process that we're still working on. It looks like it has a great chance of going through. The lady who is selling it has a lot of land, and we're buying only one part. It will be advantageous for her to tell future potential buyers that part of the land is owned by Westerners – that is a selling point.

I also wanted to make a quick note about the laptops. I know many of you donated with the intent of us using them for the cyber cafe. I am truly sorry that the cyber cafe didn't work out. However, we decided to use the laptops by selling them in Burundi. Used laptops are worth much more in Burundi than in the West because of lack of supply. So we estimate that we can get between $3500 and $5000 for all of them (roughly $150-800/laptop). We will then put that money toward the purchase of land.

While we didn't do what we had planned, we gained a lot of knowledge. For one thing, Pastor Felicien is just that – a pastor. He is not a trained business man, nor are most of the people in the church. They look at businesses are think, “It isn't that hard!” but they just look at the big picture and totally miss the details (we ran across the issue of locals missing details time and again). Also, Jeremie and I probably know more about the legalities regarding the purchase of land in Burundi than 99% of the population!

So there's the explanation about that. Matt left Burundi early Saturday morning (early as in 1am), and the rest of us (minus Jeremie) left early Sunday morning. We made it to London alright.

Our New Burundian Names!

Sunday morning in Nyanza Lak, Matt, Liz and I were given Burundian names. Matt has already mentioned his name. Liz's name is Kaneza which means one who is kind and loves much. My name is Mwtonzi which means one who is humble and peaceful. We had a great trip and are all in transit on our way back to our respective homes. Christopher, Liz and I are in London for a few days. Kieran made it to London with us yesterday and traveled to Berne. Jeremie is on his way to London and Matt should be back in Colorado Springs. Grace and Peace to you all and thank you so much for all of your prayers!

almost done... sad day!!!

It's hard to believe that we leave in only 2 days. This year, the trip has been a whirlwind. It has been a huge learning experience if nothing else.

We just finished VBS a couple hours ago, and now Jeremie and I are at a cyber so he can print out the English class certificates for graduation tonight. VBS went incredibly well thanks to Susan's planning. We had 100 kids the first day, and roughly 175 kids the second day, down from 300 last year, but we were signficantly more organized this year, and we couldn't have handled more let alone fit them in the church. Everything went incredibly smoothly - by African standards at least.

It is true that we scrapped the internet cafe idea. I plan to post in the next couple days our reasoning and why that happened. However, we have been offered some land to buy, which we can get for $5000 USD. It's a lot that's 54 x 55 meters and about 600 meters from the lake with a beautiful view. It's a great price, and every business-minded person we've mentioned it to says we should jump on it and that we'd be foolish not to. The price is expected to triple by next year. It is also big enough to build a very good sized guest house/convention center complex on, which is what we're leaning toward. We'll be planning that in more detail over the next couple years. Please pray for that transaction - we got the process started, but it will have to continue after we leave.

I'm sure I speak for everyone in saying that we're exhausted. It has been a busy 3 weeks. I hate to leave, but I do need some rest. I am looking forward to coming back next year already. We have built up relationships with our friends here and seen those relationships go to deeper levels. It is sad to leave them.

I pray that all is well with you, wherever this finds you.

Peace and love - amahoro inurukundo

With 5 days left.

Greetings from Tropicana[1]!

We got back last night from our trip to Nyanza-Lac. The entire weekend was quite eventful. Our drive from Bujumbura to Nyanza-Lac (a total of 120km) took 5 hours. About an hour into the drive the back right tire went flat. We pulled off the side of the road into this little village [2] to change it. Fortunately the van we had rented had a real spare underneath so we were able to change the tire without too much trouble - even though we had parked over the remains of an old fire & the van fell off the jack once. All in all it was quite exciting for the village we broke down in. We seem to attract large crowds wherever we go.

And we were off again. About 2 hours later we stopped at a little gas station/repair shop to get the flat tire patched, the spare tire filled with air, and the engine coolant levels refilled. While we were at that station we backed into a truck so I was given the opportunity to drive.

I have driven in Burundi! And not just on the main road, I've driven in & around Nyanza-Lac.

About 30 minutes later we drove past Pastor Felicien's mother's house. We pulled over & walked to visit her. Once back on the road we drove through & arrived at our motel in Nyanza-Lac at 11AM.

We were, by that point, exhausted. We slept for an hour or two and woke up around 2 to eat lunch. Pastor Felicien had gone to the church meeting to see how things were going there.

We were expected at the church at 3 and arrived there 30-40 minutes later.

Their singing & dancing choirs were quite beautiful. It seems as though their songs take one of 2 forms - simple, repeating "God alone is to be worshiped" songs or stories (like full stories). Liz preached & did a fantastic job. She's a real natural. I was distracted during most of the services by the street kids sitting on the side of the church. We were playing smiling & waving & thumbs up games with each other all during church. They really are desperately in need of love that no one gives them.

That night we were planning on having church service & then showing either Jesus of Nazareth or The Passion of the Christ on a projector we had brought, but their generator didn't produce enough power to run the projector so we weren't able to. Chris preached, Felicien elaborated, & then we all went back to the motel & to bed.

Sunday morning Pastor Felicien gave the 3 of us who haven't been to Burundi before names. Mine is Vyizigiro - which means, I think, "one who is trustworthy, one who can be trusted". He wanted people to think of us not as "Mzungu!" but as people with names. I'll have to let Liz & Susan tell you what theirs are. I don't remember.

Kieran preached Sunday morning & the main point of his message was not to simply beg from God but to cry out asking him to help you up.

We think it was well received.

We went back to the motel for lunch & left at 2 to come back home to Bujumbura. It's quite interesting how home-like our place here in Bujumbura has become.

On the way back we got another flat tire. It was slightly comical. We changed it in about 5 minutes & were all quite impressed with our newly developed tire changing ability. NASCAR here we come! We actually broke down right by the monument rock where Livingston & Stanley met in Africa. I had no idea it was here in Burundi. That was pretty cool to see.

We got back to the house & found that 1 of our laptops had been stolen & that there had been an attempted break-in in one of our rooms. We think we had left the laptop in our common room rather than locked in one of our bedrooms. Anyways, the owner of the house & the police got involved & one of the night watchmen spent the night in jail.

Today we're having lunch with one of the members of the church board at his house. I'm definitely excited to get to visit one of their houses. We haven't been in anyone's yet. We're also setting up a bank account with Diamond Trust Bank to facilitate our further involvement in Burundi. And we're meeting with a notary & the land owner to work toward purchasing that plot of land by the lake (it's absolutely
gorgeous). We're also having the second half of our knitting class this afternoon.

This week looks to be an arduous one so please pray for strength & protection for us.

Again, thank you and may God bless,
Matt


[1] The internet cafe we've been semi-frequenting in Bujumbura.
[2] The road between Nyanza-Lac & Bujumbura runs alongside Lake Tanganyika most of the way, and there are houses & little villages for most of its length.

Nietwa Susan

Bite and Hello, from Burundi!
It's hard to believe that we are more than halfway through our trip now and this is my first blog. We have been busy teaching English courses, preparing for the VBS next week, and doing research on internet cafes and other long term projects that we could be involved in here long term. Our seemingly brilliant idea of setting up an internet cafe that would fund the church here is falling through and it is looking like it's not the Lord's will right now. As we teach English classes and talk to the people here, we are learning that education must be an integral part of any lasting change and enrichment of people's lives here. As Burundi becomes a part of the East African Community, learning English and Swahili is becoming more and more important for Burundians in order to find good jobs. Many of the people we work with in the church, are on the verge of illiteracy even in their native tongue of Kurundi. It appears that to make lasting and far reaching improvement of the lives of the people here, learning languages and basic problem solving skills is crucial. We have been discussing the possiblitity of founding a school here or possibly just raising funds for scholarships to send Burundians to Nairobi or other places that would have better schools to attend. The other day a man from the neighbor hood walked into the church where we were and confessed to us that he had a drug and alcohol problem. I was interesting because he did not ask us for money and I believe he genuinely wanted help from his addictions. There are no 5 step programs here and drug abuse and alcoholism is rampant. It would be really cool if the church could provide a program like AA here.
Another feasible option, is to buy land here while land is inexpensive because a good number of wealthy Expats have yet to return to the country after the war officially ended last year. They will probably return following the election next year and when they do, property prices will likely triple. If we buy land for approximately 5,000, we could rent it to farmers and eventually build a house that we could rent out to European and American tourists. The profits will go to support Pastor Felicien and Glory Outreach Church here in Bujumbura. The more that we pray and talk to people about this option the more it seems like God is opening the door. Please pray for us to hear the voice of God clearly regarding this matter and other projects and if you would like to donate to this project please let us know.
I am working tirelessly preparing for the VBS next week as I am in charge of that opperation. We will have lots of games, crafts, music, and bible stories and the second day we will feed them lunch. Please pray for strength for me and that preparations will come together and the VBS will go smoothly. Pray that we have many church volunteers and that the neighborhood children are touched by the love of God.
Thank you for all your prayers!