Sorry for the lapse in communication-- as many of you know, ever since that last posting we have all been sick with a variety of intestinal parasites and infections. The bugs are not done with us yet-- Jesse and I still having symptoms and will probably start new courses of meds next week; Zach's tests show that the bugs are gone, but he is still having diahrrea-- perhaps the new culprit is teeth. It's hard to know since none have appeared yet. Please pray we'll have wisdom, that he will stay hydrated, and that we will all be 100% better soon. For a while we were at the point of not being able to do much more than get up and go through the motions of the day, but we are a bit past that now and are trying to get busy even though we aren't completely well and are still a bit discouraged.
One highlight of the past few weeks was a weeklong visit from Jesse's parents. They were able to help us set up a bank account here in Burundi. Mom also accompanied me to the market to buy cloth and helped sew some new curtains for the living room and dining room. It was also nice to have someone else around to spoil Zach and give their opinion on his health. Jesse and his dad attended several meetings with the elders at the chapel here in Bujumbura and discussed lots of decisions regarding the churches here as well as the Bible School. The elders are so excited about the youth group that they are already planning ways to bring people from churches far away to observe our group and start youth work in their churches-- and we haven't even had our first meeting yet!! This coming week we will meet with them to discuss which segment of youth to begin with- the older university students, the younger ones just outgrowing Sunday School, or an evangelistic outreach group. Lord willing, we will eventually have groups for all three. While we wait for an opportunity to work with the elders to plan how this will fit into a schedule with the church's other meetings (ex. Thurs. and Sat. Bible Study), Jesse has started a Saturday morning Bible Study with three unsaved young men. Pray for them!
Jesse's parents were here for one Sunday, and they had promised to visit a town about two and a half hours into the hills. They all thought it would be a big encouragement to the people there if we all went, so we drove up Sunday morning and spent the night, returning Monday morning. Jesse gave the short sermon and his dad the long one-- it was the first time they have spoken together like that and was very special, especially since they didn't discuss their topics with each other ahead of time and God led them to two passages that really complimented each other.
The picture of Zach in the tree is taken just outside our duplex here in Bujumbura. The rest of the photos were taken on our trip. It is rainy season and the hills were beautiful and SO green. It was so much cooler than in the city!! Zach and I loved it. The round hut in the picture is a traditional Barundi home. We stayed in a more modern rectangular, three room mud hut with a tile roof. they even procured beds for us to sleep on! Jesse's dad told us it was traditionally hard to get away from Musinda since everyone wanted you to stop and visit just a little more, and sure enough, it took us at least two hours to pull out of town on Monday morning. The picture of the ladies eating was taken at our "second breakfast."
Love you all, Joy
