Go away Tropical Storm Fay!

When Tuesday passed with no ill effects from Tropical Storm Fay yet, we thought we may have dodged a bullet. However, Fay decided to slow down dramatically, crossing the state and camping out just offshore. Meanwhile, East Central Florida was inundated with non-stop rain for two days, followed by a day of intermittent rain. When the wind really started picking up, it was hitting the front of our house almost horizontally. That's when the trouble started.

I had made an attempt to patch a "small" leak the prior week, thinking it was coming from our window, however, with the driving rain, the water starting streaming in. You can see the result below.



All told, we received 12 inches of rain in Oviedo. It could have been much worse as closer to the coast they received record rainfall of over 25 inches. At some point, the rain has no where to go, so the sewers and drainage ponds begin to fill and the roads flood. Here in Seminole County we were fortunate that the rain did not get severe enough to flood the roads. Ultimately we had to tear up our living room carpet and take down some of the drywall under the window. Yesterday we purchased a dehumidifier and already we are noticing that the wetness is gone. I found the main source of the leak in the flashing of our roof and we have someone coming next week to seal the leaking area. I will still have to repair the drywall, put the molding back on, and eventually replace the flooring, but by God's grace it was not as bad as it could have been.

We also lost two of our 12 foot Papaya trees and pulled over 20 large Papayas off. That was probably the saddest result of this storm.



This is a great reminder that God is in control. When the storms come, there is very little we can do to protect ourselves from the storms and we need to place our trust in Him.

We are grateful to be drying out once again.

Peace and blessings,
John

Cibitoke

One of the high points of my trip to Burundi was visiting the orphanage in the Cibitoke province. This is a work in progress with some buildings without roofs and some still just at the foundation. There is a school, dorms for both boys and girls and eventually there will be a clinic there as well.

Funds for the orphanage and school have been trickling in and work progresses as the funds arrive. My hope is that some day in the near future, we will have the opportunity to raise support for this project. I can't think of a greater legacy to leave than to provide a future for these children.



Peace and blessings,
John

Burundi Peacemaker Conference

This is the first in a series of blog entries where I will be discussing details of my recent trip to Burundi. One of my primary objectives on the trip was to teach a 2 day Peacemaking Seminar on July 28-29th based on materials we translated into Kirundi, the local language. The materials were provided by Peacemaker Ministries.

We had more than 70 pastors and church leaders attend the conference. The response from the attendees was very positive, so I'm already looking at scheduling a longer conference and inviting more teachers to join me next year.

About a week before I left for the conference, by God's providence I met up with Ken Sande, who founded Peacemaker Ministries. Ken gave me some tips for teaching the conference and suggested that I contact Karl Dortzbach, who has taught in Bujumburu in the past. Karl helped me significantly in two ways. First, he provided the Peacemaker brochure in Kirundi, which we copied and used during the seminar. Second, he provided me with a syllabus with small group breakout sessions that were very effective in conveying many of the concepts. I'm not sure how I would have effectively taught the material without Karl and Ken's invaluable suggestions.

I could not have done the seminar without Jean-Marie Nibizi's excellent translation skills. Jean-Marie also understood the material well and helped me out of a few difficult situations where I was having trouble conveying information to the small groups. This talented man speaks English, Kirundi, Swahili and French and I had no trouble understanding him.



Here is one of the 11 small groups that participated in the conference.


Following each small group, I gave the group leaders an opportunity to share insights from the groups. Some of the most important points were made during these group wrap-up sessions.



Near the close of the 2 day conference, I asked 3 volunteers to help me with a role play that Karl Dortzbach has used at his conferences. The gist of the role play is that 3 church members engage in gossip over a pastor's salary and in the process literally become entangled in their sin. Only when they discover their sin and specifically confess it do the ropes begin to fall off. These 3 Burundians took the role play to a level I had not anticipated and were able to use humor and dialogue to powerfully demonstrate the effect of conflict in the church. At the end, 11 people came forward for prayer regarding conflicts they had been involved with.



I would also like to thank Prosper Ndabishuriye who helped me organize the conference, invited the attendees and made sure everything ran smoothly. The conference really never would have happened without his leadership.

From left, Rick Robles, who helped me during the conference, Prosper, me, and Jean-Marie.



I felt the prayers of many during the conference and I am privileged to have been part of this opportunity to bring these critical truths to these pastors. I'm looking forward to future opportunities to equip these and more leaders to teach other Burundians these important Biblical truths.

Peace and blessings,
John

Back from Africa

It will take me a while to get completely back in the swing of things, but I thought a quick update on my trip would be appropriate.

This past Wednesday at 3pm, our team of 11 returned to Orlando airport after leaving Bujumbura, Burundi at 3:15 pm on Monday (9:15 am EST). We made a short stop in Rwanda, then flew to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where Ethiopian Airlines put us up in a hotel for 24 hours. On Tuesday we spent the day with some people from the Lutheran church and visited a seminary. We left Addis at 10:45 pm (3:45 pm EST), stopped over in Rome and landed in Washington, DC at 8 am EST. After our final layover, we landed in Orlando, a full 2 days after leaving Burundi.

There are way too many highlights to include in a single post, so I'll give just a few. The 2 day Peacemaking seminar I taught had 60 pastors and leaders on day 1 and over 70 on day 2. I had several pastors request that I return to teach another seminar in their churches and over 30 requested additional materials. I have already begun to strategize on how I can return with more teachers next year.

One of our team members took over 1000 photos. I filmed 100 video segments with my Flip camera. Another member filmed several hours of video. So be looking for more photos and highlights over the next few months.

I'll close with a photo that we took at an orphanage and school. Click the photo to enlarge it. I am holding up a Z88.3 sticker which I sent to ZRadio.org to post on their site. In the distance is the Congo.