yep... chillin' in burundi

It's been a week now, and I can really say that I enjoy it here. Everything is going well.

One lesson we are really learning is with reference to what we're calling "Africa time". In America, everything is fairly punctual, and we get upset when people are too late. We plan our time and our events days or weeks ahead of time. Here... not so much. We had a tentative itinerary when we got here. I don't think we've done much of anything to schedule. In other words, not only does Africa time apply to minutes (and hours), but it also applies to days. I called someone from Turame (the microfinance org here) to see if I could meet with them in about two weeks, and the guy replied, "uh... that too far... call me next week." It really made us laugh.

And speaking of Turame, I met with them initially the day after we got here, and the meeting went very well. I'm looking forward to meeting with them again sometime soon to see how they operate in the field.

I'm also very excited for our opportunities that are developing with our church here. I can see so many opportunities for small investments that would provide a good return for the church and the people. I'll develop that more after returning to the States.

Our days usually consist of something like this:
Get up (7-10 am)
Go to the market or somewhere else (10-12 pm - this is only occassionally)
Lunch (12-1 pm)
Sermon preparation and relaxing (1- 4:30 pm)
Church/Bible Study (4:30 - 6:30 pm)
Dinner (7 - 9pm)
Sleep (10-12 pm)

Some women of the church (the pastors wife and a couple widows) cook for us and their food is delicious!!! That has really been a blessing. Also, the coffee here is really good.

We haven't been affected by misquitoes too much, which has been nice. The one exception is Emily who seems to get bit by everything (we keep joking that she has pure evil running through her veins and that such vile creatures are attracted to her for that reason). But I think we're doing better and not getting bit much any more.

Be sure to check out the link with group photos to the right. We uploaded a couple. The internet is very slow here (like 28.8 dialup) so we could only get up a couple yesterday.

Blessings upon you all.

I am still alive!

Yes it is true I am still alive! Yesterday was such a miserable day. I have never been in that much pain before. After five hours we finally went to the doctor who just pushed my stomach and gave me medicine for the pain and nothing to cure it. I called my mom who called my doctor and he was so nice to actually give me a call all the way from San Diego. He figured out that I have a parasite living in my large intestine and that it was causing all the pain. I took some anibiotics and tha pain is now gone! Imana shimwe! (Praise be to God). This trip so far has been such a good time learning about the different culture and language. Skyler and I have really made it a goal to try and learn Kirundi. Everyone is so gracious and kind in our attempts to learn it. The children have found their way into my heart. Off to church again...man I have never been to so many church services in one week. Oh one last thing...Skyler and I got out hair done...we will post pictures in a couple of days.
Turusubira (See you later)

Mwiriwe! (greetings)

Hello to all! i can tell that this trip is absolutely drenched in prayer. things continue to go smoothly. i just did my first sermon on tuesday night and i felt more encouraged by them than anything i felt i could have given. I simply read verses of encouragement to them from Paul in 1st thessolonians an colossians. I wish you could have been there mimi. If they think i am wise, they would be blown away by you! After my sermon the pastor gave me a new name, in kirundi the language of Burundi. My new name is "inarukundo" which means "one who presents love" The way these people worship God continues to amaze me. They are always jumping clapping singing whistling and smiling for the God almighty. I have never seen such joy in all my life. It is pretty easy to find me here bc our group is the only white people we have seen thus far. We are called by a different name in the market place "buzungu" which means white person. So if one heres shouts of buzungu it is safe to say that it is our group walking. Another way to find me is by scanning the church for one person surrounded by a flock of children. I hae even been invited by the pastor to help lead sunday school by the childrens request. I do love them. Please continue to pray. i dont even want to think about what this trip would look like without your prayers. I miss family and friends but love the new ones i am making here. I wish you all could meet them. They LOVE to hear all about you! And girls the bachelors are always practicing their english to impress us here so if you ever want to feel special just come on over. They will show you their english skills by counting for you or saying hello and goodbye several times. :)
you are all dearly loved and missed! thanks for all your prayers again! please continue to pray for safty, health, the new church that is currently being built, and the economy that is struggling with a 70% unemplyment rate. and dont worry, I have many stories for you!

ndagukundo chane! (i love you very much in Kirundi)

Skyler

Update from Chris

What up friends,

Comin at ya from a wonderfully slow internet cafe in bujumbura, burundi typing on a french keyboard thatmakes no sense to me so please forgive the typos and lack of punctuation because i have no clue where it is. Ha.

Its been a long couple of days as emily and i have been sick, but I got better yesterday and she is looking much much better this morning. We had a great service at church on sunday and I had a great time working on vocal techniques with the church choir last night. We toured the construction site for the new church building yesterday as well, and it is getting close to being ready for the roof to be put on. We have been able to donate a significant chunk of cash towards the completion of this new community center thanks to all of our amazing supporters.

David is trying to post new pictures at the computer next to me right now, so be sure to check the pictures link on this page for some updates.

Plans for the next week include helping the church remove the roof of their old building so the iron sheeting can be recycled for use on the new building, visiting a tribe of pigmies on the outskirts of the city with some aid packages (clothing and food), and Chris Sayler is meeting with the local branch of World Relief that deals with micro financing and small business loans. Busy week ahead.

On a great side note, as i was writing this one of our new Burundian friends came in the internet cafe and stopped to talk to David and I. Its great to feel like we know some people around town after only being here for a week.

Peace and love from Burundi,
Chris Hoffman

Hello

Hey there... let me just say how fun it is trying to type on french keyboards... my what a busy couple of days... sorry we havent updated... things though are going well. its thursday morning right now. we had a really good sunday service. jeremie spoke to a packed service about reconciliation... then we went to lake tanganyka sunday afternoon and went swimming with Felicien, Dina, and Rose. that was a lot of fun. the water was nice and warm but the lake is stinking HUGE. we also went to the market on monday and got a bunch of food. we bought over 100 kilos of rice and beans, 50 kilos of sugar, and a lot of soap and tomatoe sauce for the orphans, widows and hiv victims in the church.... we distributed that along with a bunch of donated clothing yesterday evening and that went really well... well thats about it. hoffman is gonna post another blog for everyone in just a minute. i guess people have told us that yall dont get email updates when anyone posts on the blog except me... sorry about that i guess we didnt have it set up correctly like we thought we did... just keep checking back. here comes hoff and thanks for your love!!!

amahoro n'urukundo!!!

that means 'peace and love'

Finally Arrived!

Hello all!

We arrived at Bujumbura Int'l Airport yesterday afternoon. It was a ridiculously long 36 hours of travel. London was a nice break between long flights, but after posting there, we flew another 12 hours to get to Burundi.

It's nice here. I like it. The food is really good, the fruit is incredible, and our guest house is great.

Anyway, I spent most of my time on the internet checking on other things and now I just have a minute until our time is us. Please continue to pray for us.

Blessings.

What do you mean it smells funny? Texas smells of cows and crude oil - doesn't it? Wait till you smell parts of Africa. We stand closer to each other because we are usually not afraid someone will pull a gun on us at any minute and also because we don't want isolation if we can help it. It's lonely. Anyway - maybe I should write more my view of what it feels like to be in the U.S. or have you all heard me loud and clear already? Well - I have one week left in beautiful California and I will be really sad to leave and yet I know God has other plans for me. Thank you all for your prayers. I keep getting wonderful confirmations regarding going on to Thailand after Burundi and all. I am really proud of you all and I still need to hear what psalms you would like for me to read at your closing events. Friends of this blog - thank you for reading my ravings.

London!!

Well...like Skyler said we're halfway there. Everything's gone really smooth so far. We've killed a super long layover just walking around London and it has been a very welcome break from flying. London was gorgeous and sunny today. Enjoyed a fish and chips lunch along the river next to the Globe Theatre. What more can you ask for?? We're about to hop back on the tube and head back to Heathrow to catch our Ethiopian flight down to Africa. Love you all!!

Chris

We're Halfway There!

Hello dear loved ones! I am currently sitting in a London internet cafe with my traveling companions Sayler and Hoffman. The flight here wasn't bad. It was quite possibly the bigger airplane i have ever seen, much less flown on. London is chilly and reminds me of home...wait, no i was just kidding. I have used the underground for the first time, which was exhilerating. Britains are much more comfortable standing close together in a tube. This was also a new experience. And to confirm rumors, it does indeed smell kind of funny in London. I am too excited to describe myself, but i cannot wait to arrive at our final destination. More to come soon! I LOVE ya'll!

3 days in

We have been here 3 days and although right now it seems we haven't been doing much, at least the church was very encouraged to see and meet us. The fact that we will be here a month is especially heart-warming to them. We were also encouraged by the fact that even though there is a languge barrier, we have already started bonding with several people from the church. Most of the Burundians we have met are truly kind and affectionate, and of course, they all tell us they would love to go to America. Emily especially seems to be appreciated. Between sharing her story of grief, talking with some of the women, and making real efforts to learn the local language (Kirundi), people here have truly taken a liking to her. And of course some of the young men here think she's cute. Word has gotten out that she's not married.
Other than that, we were able to get a local phone and register with the local US embassy which gives us a little more peace of mind. We are excited for the work that is ahead of us and for the rest of our team to join us on Thursday. But I should go. Tonight we lead a Bible study, and we have to get ready! We however have images for you to look at. Check them out via our link to flicker.

Bujumbura!

Hey there!!! Greetings frum Bujumbura. Jeremie and I met Emily this morning in Addis Ababa around 830a local time, and we arrived in Bujumbura around 1p this afternoon. We didn't have any problems finding her, and her stay in Ethiopia went really well. It's about 6p here now. Felicien and Dina and a few other members of the church came over to our house. it's a nice 3 bedroom/2 bath house. gated. safe. etc. so, tomorrow morning we are going to head to church and meet the whole body! we are all very tired, but they brought over a very good meal when we arrived and we all sat around and talked over dinner. so yes!!! WE ARE HERE!!! all of our bags. We can't wait for the rest of the team to get here, and we'll try to take some pictures here, soon!

I wish I were leaving too

Hey Everyone, the team is leaving without their very heavy practically unscalable mountain. It's sad but I won't get to Burundi until June 3rd. Even so, from there God is taking me to the Nuba Mountains of Kenya and to South Sudan for more mission work. If martyrdom does not happen in those places - I will be home in Europe for a few weeks before I leave for Thailand where I will be for 8 months doing mission work and finishing my dissertation. Your prayers and support would be much appreciated. I have been signed on by the mission organisation TEAM. I will be doing networking with students and ministries as well as training locals in a variety of types of outreach and education. I can tell you more if you are interested. Thanks for praying for us. I still need a couple more vaccinations but more or less am ready to go. I need to pack away my life in the U.S., give things away, move out, finish teaching summer term and all that in the next weeks. It's very hectic. God is teaching me to rest in Him.

Here we go!

Alright, i must admit with a little less than 2 weeks before departure i am getting a little nervous. But i find myself mostly filled with anticipation because i am so ready to be there already. I am currently back home in Texas and loving time with my family. It is so incredible to see how many people from back home love and support me in this trip. Right now my prayers are including cultural awareness and sensitivity, courage, kindness, and a loving heart. Please continue to pray for our group! im so excited and cannot wait to see what he has planned for us and the burundian people!