Dear Friends and Family,
Help! I'm trapped in a party game and I can't get out!! The last few months have felt like one giant game of musical chairs as we rush around moving everything from one place to another and hurriedly search for new places to set it all down before the music stops… or the deadline arrives … Let me explain.
DISPLACING CHICKENS
God has been blessing the Discovery School, and it is growing. Last month, after a careful selection process (praise the Lord for the wisdom he provided!!), we hired six new teachers and an administrator, growing our staff to twenty-five. Only one of the 185 students we had last year is leaving, and that is because his family is moving to Belgium. This means, praise the Lord again, that parents are pleased with the quality of education their children are receiving, and that we can continue to share the love of Christ with those students and their families. It also means we have 184 returning students. To these we hope to add another 100-150 new students for the coming year, expanding by adding a second group of four year olds and a first grade. This growth means we need more space. There is an adjoining classroom building, and it would be ideal… only it is presently occupied by the Bible School. And so begins the musical chairs.
Next year the Timothy Bible School will move to a new location so the Discovery School can take over its building. Jesse found a workable location for the Bible School here on the same piece of property where our house, the clinic, and the Discovery School are located. He had the idea of repurposing some buildings that have been used for chicken projects, but obviously it will take a lot of remodeling and even some construction to change chicken houses into a Bible School classroom, bathroom/showers, dorm, and office!!! Everything must be usable in time for the October session of the school. Work has already begun, and it is keeping Jesse quite busy. Please pray that things go smoothly, for safety for the workmen, that God will provide the money needed for it to be finished well, and that the leaders of the churches here-- both those who teach at Timothy Bible School and those who attend-- will be pleased with the results. Pray also for Jesse as he handles the accounting for this project and also the audits the accounts for the entire Discovery School. He is a teacher and a visionary, not a detail person, and the accounting is quite frustrating for him, though he does a good job. Pray that in His time the Lord will provide someone else who can take over these responsibilities.
I also have some heavy Discovery School related responsibilities – I'll be developing work books for the kindergarten and first grades that mix the Burundian, Kenyan, and American school systems and working on writing the curriculum for the entire first grade year-- you can pray for insight and wisdom in decision making during this process. I have also been invited to do training seminars for the teachers of two other Burundian schools—one of them up in Gitega province about four hours away. Our whole family will head up there on August 15th and stay in the home of another missionary for a week while I teach about 6 hours a day. Please pray for safety in travel for all of us, and especially for strength and safety for me and the baby as I'll be 33 weeks pregnant. We'll return on the 21st, and then 2 days later I'll begin a week of teacher in-service classes and team-building for the Discovery School teachers-- pray that the new teachers will mix well with the old teachers and grow into close-knit team that reflects the love God desires us to show as the body of Christ. They'll also be finishing up moving things into the new classrooms and organizing everything for the start of the school—new children will come on the 30th and 31st to familiarize themselves with the environment, and classes begin for all students on September 1.
Between now and then you can envision us running madly around a circle of chairs with chickens and buildings and curriculum and conferences under our arms.
HOUSE CLEANING
We have also been playing musical chairs around our own home as we try to get things in order for the baby's arrival and try to use this "slightly" slower month to put things in order and do a summer cleaning. Micah is moving to a "big boy bed," and we are emptying an outside storeroom that is mostly full of papers and books that were left here in Burundi by Jesse's parents and grandparents as well as a few boxes of stuff left from other missionary families. Some things have been eaten by termites, and it is time to take action before more is ruined. Jesse's brothers Ben and Luke, Luke's wife Gina, and their daughter Esther have been here visiting this week, and they have all spent lots of time sorting. They've been a big help, and it's been fun to be together.
HEALTH
Yes, even health can turn into a game of musical chairs!! When Jesse went to Kenya in May, the doctor there diagnosed him with fibromyalgia and prescribed medication, but he started Jesse on an extremely low dose that didn't help much, if at all. Those meds are not available here in Burundi, and so we were unable to find a doctor here than new anything about prescribing them. After struggling to contact the original doctor, we finally found yet another doctor in Kenya who scanned us a new prescription over email, which my parents got filled in the states and are sending to us with someone who arrives here on Monday!! We are still trying to figure out how we can fit more regular exercise and evenings at physical therapy into our schedule. Jesse is still in a lot of pain. We are thankful that the higher dose of medicine is coming, that the physical therapy helps some and is affordable here, and we are praising the Lord that Jesse is still able to work full time. One of his biggest struggles is sleeping-- the pain makes it very hard for him to fall asleep and makes it difficult for him to sleep well. Since Zach also wakes up often at night, sleep is a huge prayer request for us right now!!!
We are also continuing to arrange the trip to Kenya, where I hope to deliver the new baby. Praise the Lord that so far all seems to be going well with the pregnancy. Lord willing we will head to Kenya the first week of September and stay until the baby is 2 weeks old. Please pray for God's protection for Joy and the baby during this third trimester, and for provision for the travel, the stay in Kenya, and the delivery expenses.
We are so thankful to the Lord that boys are staying healthy—pray that this keeps up!
WE'RE NOT GETTING DIZZY ALONE:
At least we're not running around the circle of chairs by ourselves- we're surrounded by a wonderful group of strong Burundian believers. Jesse's film team, for example, still goes out to villages in the hills every other weekend. They show films on Friday and Saturday nights and then participate in the Sunday meeting before coming home. Crowds still average close to two thousand a night at each film showing, and the Lord continues to use the team to work in mighty ways. Two years ago the team visited a new, struggling assembly in the town of Nzove near Burundi's borders with Rwanda and Tanzania. Their elders were discouraged because attendance was so low and they seemed to have no drawl at all in the community. At that time their building was made out of sticks and leaves. While they were there, Jesse and the film team brought some money to help them build a sturdier building and then helped to haul water from the river, make mud bricks for walls, and put up some wooden poles to support the roof. They hired builders from the local community to help out. One of the men hired was known around town as a total drunk and good for nothing. On the first night of film showings, he gave his heart to the Lord. The community was extremely skeptical, however—over the next two days team members heard comments like, "He's just doing this to try to get a job." "There's no way this is real. As soon as you leave he'll go back to his old ways."
This past weekend, however, the team returned to that church to show films again and to encourage them. Guess what they found? This same drunken builder who was saved two years ago is now a changed man. Many others in the community have come to know the Lord as a result of hearing his testimony and watching him bear fruit through the test of time, and the entire community has a whole new level of respect for the gospel and its power to change lives. This man is now seen as a leader in the assembly and his elders will be sending him to attend the Timothy Bible School to learn more about God's word with the goal of recognizing him as an elder as the Lord directs.
PRAISE THE LORD for the way he continues to use this ministry and the group of volunteers he has raised up for his glory. Pray also for continued encouragement and strength for them as they continue to participate in this crazy game of musical chairs for the kingdom. It is easy for them to get tired as they burn the candle on both ends during these long trips, staying up late (they usually don't even eat supper until the films are finished at around 1am), spending time away from their families—there aren't enough guys for the team to rotate often, so it is usually the same group of guys.... You can pray that God will burden some other believers to join the group. Pray also that God will continue to provide the money for these trips-- the cost of one trip is about $150 USD—which is spent mostly on fuel for the car and fuel for the generator—and that he will continue to preserve the equipment.
(top--crowds gathering for the film showing, above--carrying some of the equipment)
God bless you all as you run around your own circle of chairs, your own hands full of the things God has entrusted to you. May He give us all wisdom to know what is really ours to carry and when it is time to turn off the music and rest for a while. Thank you again for your love, notes, prayers, and financial support, not to mention taking the time to read this long letter!! In Him, Jesse, Joy, Zach, and Micah Johnson
