Dear Family and Friends,
"Some people's minds are like nesting boxes or outlines, while other people's minds," the speaker laughed and continued, "are like pinball machines." I don't remember many things from our teacher inservice meetings during my years as a teacher in South Carolina, but that quote has stuck with me, mainly because Jesse and I both have pinball machine brains that bounce creatively from one idea to the next. This is wonderful when I need to write lesson plans or Jesse needs solve a problem (like the time our windshield wipers stopped working during a heavy downpour in the middle of nowhere in the Tanzanian plains and Jesse had the idea to use a band-aid and piece of cord cut from our DVD player's charger to bypass the wiper motor and connect them directly to the battery so they started working again). But when the ministries God has given you demand administration, accounting, and other very detailed tasks that require Organization with a capital O, a pinball-machine-mind can make things VERY difficult! We are praying earnestly for God to bring some people (whether missionaries or nationals) to join our team that are more capable in these areas than we are, but meanwhile we are praising the Lord for the opportunities these detailed tasks represent, and trying to do our best!
NUMBERS
We are praising the Lord for a business man from Florida who came to Burundi on business of his own, happened to visit the Discovery School, and decided to give the school a benevolent loan of 25,000 USD to build the two classrooms we need for next year. The "benevolent" part is that interest is very low and does not start accruing until after the next school year starts, and that if a war or any other major catastrophe causes the closing of the school, the entire loan will automatically be forgiven. In order for the loan to go through, Jesse had to work up ten year financial projections of the school's monetary needs and income as well as turn in three months of detailed financial records from the current school year. While he was compiling the needed information, he discovered that the school secretary hadn't been keeping good records of who was actually enrolled in the school on day to day basis, and as a result had failed to collect school fees from a large number of students. The loan was approved and we received the funds last month, but now Jesse in the midst of a full-scale audit of the Discovery School finances, as well as trying to finalize plans for the building project. He has learned a lot about Excel and also gotten a few gray hairs! Please pray that he will have wisdom to know whether the places where things to do not add up are the result of theft or just of incompetence, and that someone in the leadership of the churches here would be willing to get involved in sorting things out.
NEGOTIATIONS
There are some personnel issues at the Discovery School. There are several interpersonal issues between teachers that aren't getting along, and some arguments over how much new teachers should be paid. Jesse is involved in peacemaking efforts in all of these situations, but he is feeling very much alone. . The Discovery School is run by the assemblies in Burundi, it is not independent, and as such is officially governed not by Jesse and me, but by the Community of Emmanuel Churches. We need the leaders' input on the salary decisions and their cultural insights into the interpersonal conflicts. Please pray that the church leaders we work with would find the time to listen, understand, and help resolve these conflicts. They are very busy and pulled in many different directions with their church responsibilities as well as their own families and businesses. Pray also for the teachers involved, all of whom are Christians. Pray that they would be peace-makers, that they would be willing to forgive each other, and that they would see this job as a ministry and not just as something that pays the bills. It is interesting that this conflict has arisen at the very same time as God has provided some opportunities for the Discovery School to be influential in the educational future of all of Burundi (more about that in the next section). Please pray that enemy will not triumph in this situation.
NETWORKING
People are always asking Jesse and I if we have met this or that person who came through Burundi last month and might be interested in our work, but though we know these connections are important we feel primarily called to focus on our ministries and relationships with Burundians, so we pray often that if God want us to make outside connections, he will bring them to us. During these past few months, He has sent a LOT of people our way.
Drew is a friend that went to high school with Jesse and me in Kenya. He attends Forest Hill Church in Charlotte, NC, and visited Burundi last year with a team not connected to our work. Since he knew Jesse and me, he dropped by to visit. To make a long story short, he saw the school, members of his church saw the school, and now they are all excited to be involved. They just approved a gift to help us buy and renovate a building that will house four classrooms. (We need to add 2 classrooms every year—so that gets us through 2 more school years). They will also be sending a team of ten people to work with the Discovery School kids in October 2010. Praise the Lord!
Susan is a retired preschool teacher who now works for Liberty University. She came over as part of a team with Jim and Vicki Brooks and spent about half her time working at the Discovery School giving me curriculum advice and doing teacher-training. Now her old preschool would like to become a sister school with the Discovery School, and we are in the process of finding out what that means.
Jodi is a missionary with the Mennonite Central Committee here in Burundi. She is a teacher and advisor at a school for the marginalized Batwa children up in the hills. I met her when we were having lunch at the home of mutual friends about six months ago. Since our ministries are similar, she came to visit Discovery School. Excited about the possibilities of her teachers observing Burundian teachers using hands-on methods and teaching critical thinking, she asked if her teachers could come and observe at Discovery School. It has taken a while to arrange, but her teachers will be coming to Discover School in stages over the next three weeks, beginning this coming Wednesday. We are responsible for housing them, and I will be giving them tours and attending the meetings they have in the afternoons to discuss what they have seen. This is a great opportunity to impact education for Burundi's smallest (1% of the population) and most neglected tribe.
Tim is a professor from Biola University. He has been asked to advise the Burundian Ministry of Education on ways the government schools can improve, and will be in Burundi in August to teach a seminar for over 500 government school teachers. My old fourth grade teacher from Liberia introduced Tim to my parents while they were attending a conference in California. God works in mysterious ways! My Dad asked me to drop Tim a note, which I did. He happened to be in Burundi on a planning visit when he received my email. He was flying out the next afternoon, but spent his last morning here visiting the Discovery School. He asked if we would video the Discovery School teachers teaching sample lessons that modeled techniques he would like to see the government schools use. He will show the video at the conference in August. He would also like Jesse and I and one of our teachers to attend the conference if possible. This week we are practicing the techniques he wants demonstrated, and in May we will begin taping a professional-quality video to be shown at the conference. God has arranged a chance for the Discovery School to impact education in all of Burundi!!! Please pray that my teachers will do a good job, that the video will turn out well, and that God will get the glory.
"Someone special," is the person we are praying will come in the fall. Our current Discovery School volunteer, Danielle, leaves in May, and we are desperately praying that the Lord will bring another volunteer to help us starting in August, since taking care of a newborn and working at the school every day are mutually exclusive…
NICETIES
Burundi is having elections this summer. Local government elections are planned for the end of May; presidential elections for the end of June. Please pray that everything will go peacefully!
Even though I didn't mention the films in this email, Jesse is still very involved in that ministry—the team has visited eight churches so far this year. The team is struggling with burnout, but they are pressing on—pray for some committed new members for the team so that everyone doesn't have to go on every trip.
The Bible School will be in session next month and Jesse will be teaching two courses as well as continuing to head up the planning committee. As the Discovery School expands, the Bible School will need to vacate its building and move into a new facility. Pray for wisdom about where this facility should be and provision for the building that will need to be done. Also, pray for provision for the ongoing cost of about 1300 USD per Bible School session.
Jesse has been doing better healthwise, though he's not quite 100%—it seems his trouble is/was a mix of kidney issues, an infection, and some extra leg pain/shin splints caused by wearing sandals all the time. I'm still hoping we can find a good doctor in Kenya that can give him a complete physical.
I am now 14 weeks pregnant and we saw the baby on ultrasound last week. Everything looks good so far, though I am still battling daily nausea. When I was pregnant with Micah I started having contractions at 19 weeks and went on bedrest at 20 weeks. Please pray with us that the Lord spares us that this time around. The baby is due October 21st, but might come a week or two early if it follows the pattern. Air travel when pregnant isn't advisable after 34 weeks, so if all goes well and we don't need to go before then, we are planning to head to Kenya near the beginning of September and are praying for the Lord's provision for the flight and for our stay in Nairobi.
My Dad and sister are planning to come to Burundi for two weeks in June! Hooray!!!
Thank you again so much for partnering with us in God's work in Burundi. We couldn't do it without your prayers and support. God Bless You!
Jesse, Joy, Zach, and Micah Johnson
