Dear Friends and Family, October 6, 2007
We have spent the last two weeks kind of like I imagine the president spends the few weeks right before the State of the Union Address—meeting with lots of people, asking how things have been going, observing things around town, checking on how different ministries are progressing… We have found some things encouraging and some things discouraging, but (kind of like the Pres.) we're not ready to pull out yet J.
It turned out that even though the film ministry has continued, the people on the team were pretty discouraged and a little burnt out. A lot of the equipment was struggling and they had had to cut back on how frequently they were going because they were all so tired and there were no substitutes to fill in when people couldn't make it one weekend. Jesse spent several days repairing the generator, helping to buy speakers, and just listening to how things had gone. We also bought thank you gifts for the guys on the team—the number of hours they have put in without any thanks or pay is incredible. In the short term, the plan is for Jesse to go on a film trip the weekend after next. They will also continue to repair and upgrade the current equipment. A little farther ahead we hope to double the number of people on the team so that we can go every weekend without burning people out. Basically it will be like having two teams going at the same time, though there will be overlap so that there are always some older members to help mentor the young ones.
One amazing thing is that the high school youth group leaders have really put into practice the things I taught in a seminar just before I left. We had a three hour meeting last night, and they are excited about their progress and want more training for everybody. These next two Sundays I will observe the group in session, then I will begin teaching some sample lessons to help them continue until we can have a week-long intensive training course for fifteen people the second week of December. As far as any of the church leaders know and as far as we can determine as well, this is a pioneer work—this church is the only one in all of Burundi that has a group specifically targeting teenagers, and no one has ever done any training on how to specifically target adolescents before. I am so excited to be part of God starting a new work in Burundi, and especially pleased that it will be something that can replicate itself. Once I teach these people, they will teach others… We have always wanted to be part of starting things that can continue in our absence once they are begun… God is so amazing!
Another encouraging thing is that our new house was much closer to being done than we ever could have imagined, and we were able to move in last Wednesday after a week of absolute craziness staying somewhere else and coming to the church property every day to move things out of the old house. The water system still has a few kinks, but the filter is in, the fence is done, and we were able to borrow a refrigerator for the time being, so all our basic requirements were met. It is so nice to be in our own place and start establishing good systems for visitors, food prep, etc...
It's been fun to see and hear Zach's experience of a new culture: "Oh! Bumpy roads! Oh no! A shoo fly's on my head! Look! Baby on her back!" It has definitely been a bigger transition for him this time than last time, but he has done well. He is sticking very close to Mom and Dad, but that's good because that way we can make sure he washes his hands ALL the time and remind him to keep them out of his mouth. Unfortunately, despite the fact that I thought we had been doing the best job of all time, he started having diarrhea last night and so we have a sample on its way down to the health center this morning. It's only been two and a half weeks and I'm pretty sure he has something… We'll keep you posted. At least so far there's no sign of malaria and he is maintaining his weight. He hasn't gained any but he hasn't lost either. We'll weigh him again tomorrow. He loves the new house and his new room, so that is a blessing. He is also sleeping through the night again now—it took about a week for him to get over the jet lag completely.
I have also been struggling health wise. The heat has really intensified my morning sickness, I have had a doozy of a cold, and my heart has started racing and I feel as faint as if I'd run a marathon at the littlest bit of activity. I looked it up on line and apparently this isn't too unusual during pregnancy, but it has made it hard to get things done. We did get an ultrasound and the baby made it through the trip just fine.
Another big whammy was that the mechanic who worked on our car decided to go ahead and repair lots of other things that weren't included in the estimate without asking us, and we arrived to discover that the money we sent that was supposed to completely pay for the repairs wasn't enough. Apparently we owe another $3,750 dollars!!! It would have been nice to be able to decide if we thought those repairs were that important or if they could wait or at least to be able to save up… Oh well. There's nothing we can do about it now, and the car does seem to drive well. He is going to let us pay $500-1000 a month, which is good since there's no way we could do it all at once. He is also letting us use the car.
We have found computers much more fun than cars. Two nights ago Jesse spent the evening teaching Phinneas (the nurse practitioner at the health center) how to use the new computer someone donated for him. Phinneas was absolutely thrilled. It's special for Jesse and I to get to be a link that enables you over there to be a direct blessing like that.
I hope someday (maybe even this summer) some of you can come and see Burundi first-hand. The Brooks, the couple with Allow the Children, have arrived and moved into our old house last weekend. There first team comes next week! Jesse and I will be very involved in arranging church seminars and things for that team to do, so we will get good practice. Start praying about the possibility of coming!
Thanks for taking the time to read this long letter and for caring about us and praying for us. Big thanks especially to those of you who have written to see how we are doing! It took us a week and a half to get hooked up to the internet again, but now we are set up and should be able to write back! If you'd like to call, you have to dial 011 to get out of the states, then our number is country code 257 cell number 77774009. You can buy a Burundi calling card at nobelcom.com that makes it pretty affordable-- five cents a minute, I think.
God Bless You All! Love and prayers, Jesse, Joy, and Zachariah Johnson
