Dear Friends and Family,
It's true— we are snowed in-- in Burundi.
Kept close to home by "Sudden News Of Worrisome Election-related Demonstrations" that is. 
One side-effect of the demonstrations was the closure of our children's school (The Belgian School) last week Monday, and protests have continued off and on since then. Demonstrators are protesting current President Pierre Nkurunziza's announcement that he will run for a third term. Burundi's Constitutional Court has ruled that this bid for re-election is legal, and a special emissary from the UN is here mediating with the various players, but it is still unclear how long this time of unrest will last. Personally, we feel safe and secure, but our routine has been completely disrupted as the boys' school continues to be closed (we have been given packets to work on at home) and we also have to be careful about the timing and location of visits to town. Things are worse for those around us who live hand to mouth already and have nothing in reserve for times when business cannot continue as usual. We long for peace, stability, and improved standards of living (Burundi is rated as the hungriest country in the world) for this people and country that we love. Please pray for a swift and peaceful resolution.
Micah and Elliot at Belgian School
As our neighborhood remains completely peaceful, Discovery School has been able to continue its regularly scheduled classes, though only about 60% of our students are coming each day. The class with the highest attendance rate has been the 6th grade, with over 75% of students in class each day these past two weeks. This is because the hugely important national exam for sixth graders is scheduled to take place tomorrow. Please pray for our sixth graders as they take this exam—that they will be able to concentrate despite what has been going on around them; that they will remember what they have learned; and that they will quickly grasp the French language questions. Despite being a primarily English-focused school, we will not be allowed to have the exam translated into English for our students until we are able to form a coalition of at least 10 English-speaking schools and make the official request together, so this last item could be a challenge! They have been taking French as a class every afternoon for two years and have spent the last two weeks preparing intensively, so hopefully it will be "SNOW" problem for them.
Two of the girls who will take the exam tomorrow.
Timothy Bible School has also been unaffected and the group of Level 1 students has arrived as scheduled, so Jesse will have a "flurry" of activity starting next week, when he begins teaching a course on spiritual disciplines. He continues to teach two different Bible study series at different assemblies as well—one a study through Leviticus and one on how the Bible fits together.
The one nice thing for our family about our regular life being kind of "frozen" is that Zach has been able to avoid spending much time struggling through school with a broken right arm. His cast comes off next Wednesday.
We are also praising the Lord that people have volunteered enough donations for the three students from the Mslm family I mentioned in my last letter to move in with their mother and finish out this school year and the first half of next year. Please continue to pray with us for continuing provision for them.
After much prayerful consideration, we have decided to let the date of our school-year at home in the US "drift" back until the fall of 2016, but we will come home for a six week visit in July/August so that we can have the needed medical follow-up appointments for Jesse and Zach, purchase curriculum for DS, and attend a family wedding.
Thank you SO much for your prayers! They are especially necessary right now.
Jesse, Joy, Zach, Micah, and Elliot Johnson
