Dear Friends and Family,
As Christians, we live in the "already, not yet"- Christ has already won the victory and rules in our hearts, but his kingdom has not yet fully come. We have been reminded of this constantly over the days and weeks since we last wrote as we see the brokenness of the world around us, but cling to the hope of the "restoration of all things." This prompts our hearts to cry again, "Come, Lord Jesus, Come!"
The already/not yets also appear in the everyday aspects of our lives.
In our last letter we shared about serious challenges to the leadership of the Emmanuel Churches. These have ALREADY been settled internally in accordance with edicts from the Ministry of the Interior. We were thankful that the leaders selected to hold positions of legal authority were godly men. However, the Ministry of the Interior has NOT YET accepted the results of the election. They may require that it be done all over again… so everything is in limbo… Praise the Lord with us for the good internal decisions, and pray that the Ministry will ratify them and not require yet another repeat election.
At the end of May the Film Team visited Busenge Emmanuel Church, where they celebrated a baptism in addition to the regular films and seminars (see pictures below of them carrying the film equipment across the river to the church and of the baptism). These past few months we have helped to coordinate several extra seminars beyond those happening in conjunction with film trips. In April, Discovery School hosted a seminar for Sunday School Teachers working with teens. The seminar was conducted in the school's ALREADY built but NOT YET finished auditorium. Praise with us for the success of the seminar, and pray for the teachers as they implement what they learned. Pray for the Lord's provision for the completion of the auditorium as well. In early June we helped to send three Bible school teachers to southern Burundi to conduct a week of Bible teaching for area churches in Makamba province. Prayer is always needed for these film trips and seminars— please pray for the trips that have NOT YET happened, that nothing will stand in the way of the gospel going forth.
The buildings for the new Discovery School branch in Kibuye (near Gitega, Burundi's second largest city), are coming along nicely. The classroom block ALREADY has a roof! However, we do NOT YET have enough students enrolled. We had a meeting with workers at the mission hospital who are prospective parents, and they were all very excited and told us the school was real answer to their prayers… but excitement doesn't necessarily translate into enough paying students for the new school to be sustainable. So far 15 students are registered. Please pray that word will spread in the cities of Gitega and Rutana to the families of those God wants to attend preschool and kindergarten at DS Kibuye next year, and that the new school will soon be able to be operationally sustainable. We plan to put up advertisements and have announcements made at many local churches over the next few Sundays.
At the main Discovery School campus, the big news is that we have become an SAT testing center! It was wonderful to click the "Select my High School" option as I registered all the juniors (families here don't have access to credit cards, so I pay on their behalf and they pay the school in 3 installments—which is helpful as most could not afford the fee if they had to pay it all at once. We are praising the Lord that our first test event on June 7th ALREADY happened successfully—it was a big deal to have enough fuel to run the generator for the whole test and for it not to have any mechanical hiccups during the digital testing time. Not only that, but 64 of 65 students (pictured below) met the score the Burundian government requires to attend universities here, and the top student scored 1460, a wonderful score by any standard. Now on to graduation, which hasn't happened YET… but is planned for TOMORROW, June 28th! Please pray it goes well and is a good testimony to the community.
Jesse has a close childhood friend named Shabani (on the left in the photo below) who helps us in many ways--most recently spending hours sitting in lines to get fuel. His brother died recently. Jesse sat with the family at the wake, deeply feeling the sorrow. We cry out for Christ to come! This is probably why the theme of ALREADY/NOT YET has been on our hearts. We aren't sure if his brother, Shinani (on the right in the photo below), was saved. He claimed to have received Christ but continued to live addicted to alcohol and didn't show any other changes in his lifestyle, either. Please pray for Shabani, who as the older, surviving brother is now responsible for the welfare of Shinani's widow and their four children, ages ranging from 7-17.
Thank you for the prayers and support you ALREADY generously lavish on our family. The work is NOT YET done, and we are so thankful you stand with us in this work the Lord has called us to.
For Christ and His Kingdom,
Jesse and Joy
