Monday Unity

Monday:  Unity

Today Peace and Marie Claire wanted to take us to some of their national memorials that overlook the entire city.  We drove into a distinctly different neighborhood where ambassadors and government leaders live, high above town, overlooking the beautiful lake and mountains.  We drove up to the first memorial, a tall spire depicting the struggle for independence.  The view was absolutely spectacular!    As we began to walk up to the memorial, guards stopped us and informed us that we were not allowed to be there without the mayor’s permission, though it is a public place.  We had a few moments to gaze over the city and pray before leaving.  We learned that we were turned away because of ethnicticity of our hosts, vivid evidence that unity is yet to be achieved.  What a stark irony from the words depicted on the memorial:  unity, work, development.  It reminded us of Jesus’ prayer that we would be one, of one heart and mind and spirit.

We then went to another memorial nearby honoring the last king and his family, sad reminders of assassination and poisoning of family members.  The same words are displayed urging unity and moving forward.  This is still the prayer of the people here.  When we were visiting with the former vice-president, he described the spirit of this country.  He said that Burundi is the heart of Africa geographically, and the hope is that Burundi will truly have the heart of God that will influence the entire continent.  We are praying for just that.

We’ve been hearing about crocodiles ever since we got here, especially about Gustov, a giant croc that supposedly lives deep in Lake Tanganyika.  We haven’t spotted Gustov, but we did get to see some good sized ones in a park.  The attendant wanted to show us how they fed the crocs (animal rights people, don’t get too alarmed here!).  They feed them live guinea pigs.  We witnessed nature in action as the crocodile stalked and captured its prey.  As soon as he did so, we heard what we assumed was a large flock of birds overhead, only to find that the trees were full of very large bats! 

For dinner we were treated to barbecue Burundi style, which was grilled goat.  The restaurant had beautiful atmosphere and played the praise music of the worship leader we heard on Sunday.  It’s not quite Texas BBQ, but it was good. We’ve had very good food here and have certainly not starved.

It’s hard to believe that our time is coming to a close.  The more we see, the more we understand the huge need for prayer.  The more people we meet and share hearts with, the more specifically we can pray.  Our hope is that you will pray along with us!  We have yet to see the powerful effects on this country and other parts of the world if we would join together to unleash the power of prayer!