2nd try

 

Kirundi Word of the Week:  Gukora—to build, to make, to work

 

For the boys, gukora is something you do with legos.  Zach and Micah and their friends have spent the summer creating all kinds of amazing structures from the statue of liberty to police stations to Star Wars ships.  For Elliot, gukora is to get into whatever anyone else is doing.  Here he is trying his hand at making pasta.

    

For Jesse and I, gukora in Burundi is to extend the reach of others, both Burundians and visitors from the US, who are doing their best gukora for the kingdom. 

This summer, our Burundian brothers and sisters have been focusing on evangelism and Bible training, and we have been blessed to come alongside and help. Twenty-two different individuals from the US and Canada have come through on visits ranging from five days to two months, and again we have been privileged to be involved in coordinating their activities and seeing them bless and be blessed.  Hopefully these tidbits from the "Johnson Journal" will help gukora a picture of it all in your mind…

JUNE 6-10  Volunteer short-termers Whitney, David, and Makenzie moved into our house. Over the next several weeks I coordinated their activities—Whitney and Makenzie taught reading groups at the Discovery School; David taught three different English classes.

   

David teaching English                 Whiteny and Makenzie with DS teachers

JUNE 11-15 Timothy Bible School teachers travelled to several assemblies in the country side to lead seminars on basic doctrines of the Christian faith.  Thanks to the Lord's provision through His people, their transportation and lodging needs were taken care of.

JUNE 26 Zach's kindergarten graduation... very cute!

   

JUNE 25-29 Discovery School hosted a team of 12 American volunteers.  They taught science lessons and Bible stories to the students in each grade level, and also made use of their individual gifts-- one young man who is in dental school taught dental hygiene to the students and gave out toothbrushes and floss; a young speech therapist evaluated students and showed us how to help them; and an accountant helped us set up Quick Books for the school. Whew!  Managing it all was like being the ring master at a seven ring circus!

      

Dentist                                    Speech Therapy                              Photo op                           Teaching a lesson

JULY 1 Burundian Independence Day—50 years!! 

JULY 3-5 R&R!  We went to a little hotel three hours south of here for two nights.  Swam and fished.  Hooray!

JULY 16  This was the start of the first summer session of Timothy Bible School that Jesse was instrumental in organizing so that elders who are also school teachers or government employees would be able to study the Bible during their vacation from work.  David taught the book of Romans.  This was also the first day of the Discovery School's summer clubs.

      

Variety club makes pizza                     Computer club-- thanks to all who donated computers 

JULY 20-22 There was an evangelistic film trip to the assembly at Cankuzo that went wonderfully.  Over 2400 people attended the showing of various Bible films including the life of Joseph, The Master (an end times film), and the life of Moses.  75 people received Christ on Friday night and 102 on Saturday night.  Praise the Lord!!!

JULY 25 Again thanks to the Lord's provision through His people, there was a VBS program at our local assembly.  The local Burundian Sunday School teachers planned and ran the program, and over 400 children from the nearby community attended.  On July 25 there were 480! This was such a large number that while one teacher shared the Bible story from the front of the chapel, three helpers carried copies of the visual aids and walked them around.  (See the lady standing near the pink pillar in the picture below).

   

JULY 26  Weighed the boys. None of them have gained much weight since we got back. Zach actually didn't gain much weight during our time in the States either, so he needs to gain four pounds before November to continue paralleling the growth chart.  Pray they will eat well and gain lots. 

JULY 29, AUGUST 1 We said good-bye to Whitney, then David

AUGUST 5 We welcomed Sonja and Jeremy from Wisconsin, who are here on a vision trip considering working here more long term.  They will be here until Sept. 14, helping with anything and everything.      

           

Sonja works on organizing DS files     Sonja and Jeremy                               Jeremy is working on renovating the old duplexes

AUGUST 10-12 The assembly in Kayanza hosted a conference with several thousand attendees from assemblies around the country.  Jesse and Jeremy were able to attend and encourage the believers running the conference.

AUGUST 14 Twenty-five people applied for the 7 positions at Discovery School, even though we didn't announce the opportunity.  I spent from eight to three giving oral exams to help us decide if the applicants would be able to teach in English.

AUGUST 18 Jesse continues to lead weekly Bible studies on the book of Leviticus at Kamenge chapel.  Today he will teach chapters eight and nine.  He has also been busy supervising and trouble-shooting as builders hurry to build a new duplex (almost done!!) to create new housing and a new classroom for the Discovery School.

  

New Duplex                                        Start of new DS classroom

UPCOMING EVENTS—

AUGUST 20 Final interviews to decide who the new teachers at Discovery School will be. My Mom gets her second in a series of antibiotic injections-- she has been sick with a staph infection in her lungs and borderline pneumonia ever since we returned to Burundi. Please pray that these work!!

AUGUST 22  Jesse's brother Danny and family arrive to start a two-year "short" term here

SEPTEMBER 3  Start of school for Discovery and for our boys

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS ANDFOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ ALL THIS. KNOW THAT GOD IS USING YOU GUKORA A DIFFERENCE IN OUR LIVES AND IN BURUNDI.

 

In Him,

Jesse, Joy, Zach, Micah, and Elliot Johnson