pics pt. 2

yo yo yiggity yo! hey there. we are all trickling back in the states. skyler is on her way back and she should be getting home very soon. kieran and is on his way to thailand. and everyone else is home safe. we are starting to get some pictures up on flickr finally. theres the link on the right and we will try to get some more up soon. once you get there you can also click the link on the upper left to view it in the normal view (as opposed to the slideshow).

LOVE

pics

Hey all,
We've been pretty busy the last few days, but I wanted to get at least a few pics up. I created a Facebook album with just a few pics... enough to get you to come back for more in the coming weeks. There is no rhyme or reason to them. I just flipped through my thousands of pics and grabbed a few. Very few. Sorry they're on Facebook... I don't have access to the Flickr account (you don't have to be a member to view the album).
Click here to view the album or follow the link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2057911&l=c3cba&id=56902383

Europe

Friends and family,

We arrived safely in London a few days ago. We are currently in Grenoble, France. We are currently figuring out what we will be doing for the next week. We are paying for this entirely out of our pockets, and some of us have a very constrained budget, so I have a feeling I will be spending the majority of my time very close to Grenoble. Not that I am complaining... this is the most beautiful city I have every seen, fully surrounded by the French Alps. I love the Rockies of Colorado, but they have nothing on the Alps - the sheer rock faces of the Alps are... beyond words.

I find it rather ironic that I have come down with a cold in the last couple days. I went an entire month in a very under-developed country in Africa with nothing more than some minor diarrhea (I've been told this is too explicit, but anyone who has traveled to such a place knows the reality of it), but I step into Europe for a couple days and get a cold... bah. I'll live.

Ok, enough typing on this European keyboard. Blessings.

_Mahoro (I don't think I explained before, but Mahoro is the name the Burundi church gave me)

GIC- Global Impact Celebration!

Yes indee we did have a GIC. Felicien planned a very big celebration with the local churchs to dedicate the new church building. They only had about 1/6 of the roof completed but that did not stop them from celebrating. There were hundreds of people there singing and praising God. It was a wonderful way to spend out last Sunday (Eventhough Sklyer, Kieran, Felician and myself got food poisoning). We leave tomorrow which make everyone very sad. Pary for our flights.

Amahoro

And the time came and went

Alright. Here we are. Our last night in Burundi. I'm getting teary eyed just writing this, oh dear! Today was a fun day, we rested, did a little shopping for those back home, and chilled around the house getting things ready for tomorrow. Emily and I wanted to do something special for the sweet ladies of the church that have been cooking for us and helping us all around town. We have become so close with them that i truly feel as if i have another family here in Bujumbura. We put together a little package for them consisting of a little makeup kit, some nail polish, mascara, and earrings. They broke into tears upon receiving it from us with shouts of thanks to God. They are so sweet and deserve all of it an more. It turns out women everywhere like to feel special with a bit of makeup and some accessories! They are so sweet and give so much of their time to the church. Rose and Rosine are both widows, the church is trying to save enough money to send both of them to the local university so they can increase their education and learn english. This will both help with their ministry and communication. Emily and i are currently looking for ways to support them through school because as we have gotten to know them, we have found that they are such godly women and we want them at the forefront of sending the good news throughout all of Africa.
We did a bit of debriefing today. Talked about the pros and cons of this trip, what could have been done better or worse. And at the end we each went around and told each other what that person did which was noticed and praised. It was so great to hear everyones heart and opinions on the trip. I think God has some big ministry plans that will continlue through the years and i feel honored to have served such a small role. We look forward to seeing all of you soon! YOu are dearly loved and missed!

leaving tomorrow...

It is so crazy to think that we've been here for a month. It doesn't feel like it. I will definitely miss it here.



Overall, our team has been very sheltered from the abject poverty that is found in this city. But every once in a while we get a glimpse, and it is apalling. We live in a very nice rented house with some housekeepers to clean and do whatever other minor jobs we might need. The pastors and our friends take us to decent places and protect us from dangerus places. But once in a while, there's something that is just sad.



Like the AIDS kids begging in the market.

The drunkards wandering around spending their families' last pennies on Amstel beer.

The toilets that many of our friends use - little more than a hole in some concrete... and most people miss and it stinks.

The fact that most people cannot afford even the most basic of services and sometimes even food.

That the ladies of the church spent so much money on clothes for us when they themselves have nearly nothing - it brought us all to tears.



This place has definitely left a mark on me. And then I remember that I'm heading back home to my posh (granted not the greatest paying) job in the States serving high end coffee. The price of a triple venti white mocha at Sbux is more than the average person makes here in a couple days. The conversion rate is about 1200 Burundi Franks to $1 USD, and 60,000 BRF is decent pay for a month's work.



But that aside, there is much to be hopeful about. We have made good friends in Pastor Felicien, his wife Dina, the widows Rose and Rosina, and others like Djudonai (I spelled his name way wrong), Bosco, the choir members, and some of the youth among others. They have blessed us beyond what we could have every anticipated. There truly is a debt of gratitude that we owe to all of them.



Please continue to keep us in your prayers. And even more so, keep this church, Glory Outreach Assembly, and their pastor Felicien in your prayers. They have given so much and are still in need of so much just to get by from month to month. Felicien's story of coming back to Burundi and sacrificing as he has is itself quite amazing, and I hope to tell that sometime.



Amahoro (peace)

300 maybe more

well statistics proved right. our numbers didnt just return but doubled!!!! i got to witness the miracle that Jesus performed on the mount. we were able to feed over 300 children with one big pot of rice, one of beans, and a few meat scaps. i couldnt believe it. i was exhausted after that day and respect camp counselors even more. i dont know how to manage 300 children with only 10 adults but we managed. we taught them songs. and sang them while standing in a GIANT circle holding hands. they colored and were fed. we told them the story of david and goliath through a skit where emily was on davids shoulders with a blanket wrapped around them so they looked like one person. she wore a pot on her head as a helmet and sunglasses because...it looked cool. david would rawwrr and talk while emily mouthed the words. it was pretty hilarious and the kids loved it. jer killed goliath with a sword (piece of bamboo) and the children cheered. i felt like i was at sooner stadium the cheers were so loud. the kids were so grabby and even the adults were pulling our shirts for just one colored pencil. can you believe it? none of these children or parents have ever colored! God created us to be in a world of color and love it as muhc as he does so this disheartened me.

sunday morning emily and i got up early to get to sunday school a little before 8. little did we know we wouldnt be leaving the church for a while. we ended up staying until 7 that night due to the Global Impact Celebration. our church hosted about 5 other churches inour new building that is not quite done yet. and by that i mean there is no roof. we took a break for lunch after church at one of the members house. they are so sweet to host us. then went back for the celebration. we heard every church do a singing number and even our guys did a couple. they had a guest evangelist come in and give some very ecstatic preaching that involved jumping up and down and also some dancing. we wore our new outfits the ladies of the chruch made for us and everyone kept telling us how smart we looked! sadly we didnt drink enough water and due to the hot sun and overexposure emily and i felt quite sick. we had to leave before saying goodbuye. we were both just very dehydrated and feel much better now after lots of water and some sleep. we were told later that the pastors and many women were needed to help the crying children who were distraught at the thought of not getting to say goodbye to emily or i and not getting so see them again. emily and iheard this and we brought to tears ourselves. i think it is better though because i dont know if i could have left without bringing all of them home with me. we went to ethiopian airlines today to check on our tickets and will be out of here the day after tomorrow. thank you for all your prayers this trip has been blessed by God and those that showered it with prayer! we love you!

Almost done

Well...we can see the finish line. We have one day left tomorrow to pack up, say our last goodbyes, and then we're on a plane to London on Wednesday. We've had a great but jam packed last week. Our second day of vacation bible school was insanity with around 300 kids showing up. I guess word got out! By nothing short of a miracle we were able to feed all of them and keep some sort of order throughout the day with only 10 adult leaders. We sang a few songs, including the craziest round of "Father Abraham" you've ever seen, played some games, colored some pictures, and did a skit of David and Goliath that involved Emily, David, a blanket, and a metal pot posing as Goliath.

Sunday we had our final service at the church and wrapped up our time at Glory Outreach Assembly with a "Global Impact Celebration." We were amazed and encouraged out the huge turnout of pastors and representatives from surrounding churches who showed up to sing together and support Pastor Felicien. We got to meet a lot of the pastors from neighboring churches, and they also pledged funds to help Felicien finish the roof of the new building (currently about 1/4 complete). We were so encouraged to see the African churches taking responsibility to complete their own buildings and run their own ministries without expecting outside donations and support.

It is amazing to see the progess on the church building. It was just a foundation when we arrived, and now the walls are up and work has begun to complete the roof. A lot has happened in the month we have been here. We have some great relationships here that we are all excited to continue once we're back in the States.

Thanks so much for your prayers, it has been a very high impact and successful trip.

Chris

Too Sexy for these shirts? and VBS day 1

Hey yall! So today abunch our lady friends from the church showed up at our house this morning. It turns out they managed to cook up a little surprise for us...the ladies(widows) of the church had gotton together what little money they had and made shirts for each of us! They are made of beautiful, colorful, and giant patterns of African goodness! Each of the boys got a shirt, which oddly matched each of their personalities and Emily and I recieved matching shirts and shorts (cute? i think so). We sat in a circle as they expressed how unlike our group was compared to other groups they had seem come through Burundi. They said they were touched by our hearts and how we created relationships with the people here. Apparently that is rare and that broke my heart. Later that afternoon we went to the church for our first day of VBS. Since there are usually about 30-40 children at Sunday school (which is double than the usual due to the fact there are white people at the church) we were expecting a good 50-75 children because we figured they would tell their friends. Oh they told their friends all right....we lost count but came to the conclusion we had at least 120 children there!!! this was interesting considering there were only 7 leaders... :) We taught them the story of Jonah and the big fish. We taught them a few American songs such as "Ive got the joy, joy, joy" and "this little light of mine." They even sang a song for us at the end in Kirundi! We also gave our paper and colored pencils so that they could draw their own fish.I spend about the next 30 minutes awing at every fish picture that was thrust in front of me from a child desperately seeking a nod of approval. Which they all received. There was chaos. There was mahem. It was crazy. But we all agreed it couldnt have gone better! Tomorrow will beinteresting because it will be even longer and were supposed to be feeding them a meal. The numbers very well may double so please pray for the miracle of the sermon on the mount because we were not counting on this many sweet children. They are so easy to love. When i get back i will show you all pictures and names of the sweet ones that constantly touch my heart! Thankyou for your constant prayers!!!! I LOVE AND MISS YOU IMMENSELY!!!

rush of the last days

It is hard to believe that we only have less than 5 days left. We've been here a month, but it hardly feels like it.

We did VBS for the kids today - we just got back. We had upwards of 150 kids there! It went well until we had them draw pictures and return the colored pencils for candy. It was chaotic, but at least it was fairly organized.

Anyway, I need to get off so Emily can get on. The internet cafe is a bit full today.

Blessings.

-Mahoro

I carry, You carry, We all carried many loads.

Today was an incredibly long day. We took apart the old church and carried the pieces to the new church which is almost finished and lies about 3/4 or a mile down the opposite side of the road. We had hoped for a better turn out from the people of the church, but those that came worked hard. Actually the biggest turn out were Emily and my little friends! They desperately wanted to help us! We carried and we carried and we carried load after load to the new church. People on the streets stopped and stared to see Buzungu ( white people) carry and work. People from the church were even correctly them telling them that whit people would not do this, they explained we were Burundians. Therefore i had to learn a new phrase "Jawe urundikazi" which means "i am a burundian!" We worked long and hard in the hot hot sun and it showed on all our faces after such a long day. We were ther from 8-5! wow lots of carrying! we carried bundles of wood for the roof together, giant pieces of tim on our heads (African style), and many many more things. We are so tired but i had to tell you all about it! Thank you for your continual prayers, Emily an i are still getting for VBS and we are so excited! it will be these childrens first one! Please continue to pray w love you all and think of you constantly!

Another day in African life!

So we took a day off yesterday! and it felt great! we went down to Lake tangynyka and enjoyed a day on the sand. after 3 weeks our group definately needed some bonding time with each other to get strength for the busy week ahead. We even ordered a pizza and it wasnt half bad. Here we are with only a little over a week left! and im already starting to feel emotional! oh dear! Please pray for Emily and I, we are preparing lessons for VBS this week with the children. We usually have about50 chidlren in sunday school but we are doing al we can to get as many of the neighborhood children as possible and they are coming. We are thinking we are going to have around 100 kids with the way they keep turning up each time we show up for church. So were going to need some prayer! We just had an incrdibly blessful weekend. We went to a party that the youth threw for us! so fun! it was just like a youth party in the states we ate, talked, joked, and laughed alot. And what do you know...boys here are looking for girlfriends in their youth groups as well. Emily and i were never lacking for a conversation and somebody even tried to hook jeremy up with a date. He told him he couldnt do long distance, what a heartbreaker! :) Please pray for our dear friend Bosco here. He is head of evangelsim at the church and is the one who builds relationships with people like the pygmies whom we visited last week. He just lost his job and his wife is 8 months pregnant. He is such a wonderful man of God and needs all the prayer you can give. Thanks alot for all you prayers and thoughts! we love you all so much!

Lake Football

Well we had our day off today and spent it really suffering laying on the white sandy beaches of Lake Tanganyika, doing a little swimming, and inventing the game of lake football. Sometimes our work is just reeeally difficult.

Yesterday we had a great church service followed by more great relationship building with a lunch at one of the church associate pastors house. We also did dinner with the youth of the church and had a great time with them.

Plans for our last week include 3 more church services, a vacation bible school for the neighborhood kids around the church on Friday and Saturday, and trying to solidify plans for long term involvement and how we can keep these relationships that we have built strong. Thank you for your prayers, please continue to pray for a strong finish to the trip for the next week.

Much love from Bujumbura,

Hoffman

Tacos in Africa?

So just a little update here, emily and i went to market and decided to cook for the ladies for once. We wanted to give them a little taste of home and being from Southern california and texas what could be more american that a lunch of fajitas!!! it was delish! we had guacamole, pico de gayo, fish tacos, beeef and grilled oinions and peppers. tortillas proved to be a bit of a hastle but emily and sayler did a great job. we made ur own tortilla\pita\whatever kind of breadd thing they were. the ladies loved it! it ws great! not quite as good as home but we tried! we love all of you and thanks for your prayers!

Pygmies

Yesterday we went to visit the Pygmies. It was quite the experience. They were essentially refugies in their own country, driven in from the forest to these small communities that consisted of mud homes with tarp-and-straw roofs and reduced to below a subsistence level, dependent upon outside aid. We brought a decent bit of food... over 100 kg of rice and the same amount of beans, but it seemed to do so little. Some people were grateful, but many others were not. They complaned and were very picky. It was a bit of a shock for all of us to see such a reaction to people who were bringing them food. We expected them to be grateful, and some were. Many others were not. We handed out a bag of food to every hut in the village and still had some left over, so we gave a bit to the next village over. We didn't have enough to go around to everyone in that village. Some old ladies there were fuming that we didn't bring enough food for them too. A couple people on our team were afraid they would attack us. And we just came to give them food! But it's the handout mentality.

I'm reading this great book by Dr. Yanus of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh (winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize). He is discussing his experiences in lifting the poor out of poverty through microfinance and other businesses. One thing he mentions is how people in situations like the Pygmies we visited are always chasing what's free. Because there is always something free coming in (even if it's just enough to survive on), they never take responsibility for themselves. They continue to live in extreme poverty. It's really sad.

It was also very sad to see the potential in so many places here. When we were at the Pygmies, I saw that even though they didn't have a ton of land, they had enough that they could have been growing vegetables and fruit trees. Someone could have taught them how to do that. There are so many opportunities, but so few financial resources and so few workers. I hope that one day this will change.

On the bright side, the FNL (last rebel group) and the government agreed to peace a few days ago. This is very, very good news. The UN is now planning on moving in to work on development (I didn't realize initially that we beat the UN here and that it was too unstable for even them). Kieran says that they'll work on evaluating the infrastructure first and then work with the refugees. But that's such a touchy topic too because many, many people here are like the Pygmies, refugies in their own country. And that technically isn't a refugee according to some.

Blessings on you all. May the peace of Christ reign over our team, over our local friends here, over this nation, and over you, our faithful supporters and readers to the glory of God.

Sawa sawa (Swahili... indicates the end of a conversation, agree, or OK)

A Hot and Sticky Place...

that's exactly what Bujumbura is. Luckily we are all adpating to it...somewhat. This week has been somewhat slow compared to the previous weeks. The church services have been limited to two a week rather than four. I am speaking on Saturday...I am already a little nervous about it. Tomorrow we are going to visit the pygmies. We bought them rice, beans, soap, and tomato paste...hopefully it will be a blessing to their community. Skyler and I took our braids out last night- or rather the boys took our hair out for us. It took four hours to undo all of our braids...oh we slept so well last night! Bosco gave me a name at church - Munezero which means Joy. I love that man...he is such a blessing.

Amahoro (Peace)

New Friends Everyday!

So Kieran finally got here to join the group and we are so happy to have him! Also today we took him to see the new church being built! and it is amazing what these people can accomplish with so little! they are so resourceful. I hope that next year we can bring back a possible builder of some sort to train people here to make things a little easier on themselves. My heart just gets fuller and fuller of love for these little children here. Emily and I have developed a pretty good sized fan club. Whenever we pul up to the church there is a group of children waiting who begin to scream and jump and run with thecar shouting with excitement when we arrive. Everywhere i go chidlren want to shake my hand. Some say hi some say bonjour some say mwirdiwe but they all just love attention from us no matter how small. As i sit in church i find myself wishing i had 10 hands to i could hold more hands. They just want to be loved. And as of now that is all we can offer. I almost dreading coming back home where i know i will not be quite so popular ;)

titles are overrated

Hey all,

Everything is still going well here. Like D said, Kieran arrived yesterday, and it's been great to have him here. Yesterday was my first time meeting him, and he's a great guy, so I'm sure we'll get along great. He went with Felicien today to get his baggage from Kenya Airways, so he's now fully here.

I think I mentioned something before about the way that time is viewed here, but it's really central to our lives right now. Punctuality is nonexistent. It's kind of funny because at times, Felicien says things to his church about wanting them to be on time to service, but I'm not even sure they really understand what that means.

There's a lot that I've been working on regarding starting businesses to help the church, but it would be very difficult to get into that in detail here, so you'll have to wait until we get back to the States for that. In brief, I'm working on a model which would start a business in an entity separate from the church, but the profits from which would flow into the church. I need to check on a lot of legal and practical things, but it looks like this might become reality soon.

I guess that's about all for now. Tomorrow we're going to visit the Pygmies and take them a massive amount of food. I accidentally bought twice as much rice and beans as I should have, so they'll have plenty. How was I supposed to know that the bags we wanted were 50 kg instead of 100 kg? Oh, well, more food for them.

ciao

Kieran

Yay... Our ceptagon of love is finally complete. Is it a ceptagon? I dont even know. Kieran arrived yesterday morning. Kenya Airways lost his bag though. He Jer and Felicien are gonna go soon back to the airport to go pick them up. Things are still going well. Weve had a couple emails about pictures and whatnot. We have a whole plethera of pictures we want to share but the internet connections we get are REALLY slow. Were talking like AOL 2.0 slow... So we will get pictures up as soon as we can but it is very hard. We have like 8 or so up now. Check the link on the right. Were sorry. Pics and video though are being taken. So dont worry/ You will see the church emily and skylers hair and spitting cobras. promise. Much love from Bujumbura.

Mwiriwe! (Greetings) Things continue to thrive here in Burundi. On Sunday, Emily and i did a sunday school lesson for the children. We chose to teach them about Joshua and Jericho and dicided that there is a universal truth when it comes to children...they all like to yell at the top of their lungs. So we had them march around Jericho (a group of chairs) and on the last time yell as loud as they could. It was so sweet to hear the children read the story to each other in thier own language. The farther i travel, the more i learn people are still people and children are still children no matter where you go. They love alot of the same things. It was a big hit to say the least. they even asked if there were any other Bible stories we knew about that included yelling...any suggestions? Yesterday we took a long walk so our Burundian friends could show us some of the city. It was a cool evening and quit refreshing. But after such a long walk the ladies were extremely tired. They do so much for us. They cook, translate, clean, and are always willing to help us with a smile. So after a long day of walking in their best sunday heels, when we returned to the house Emily and i decided to wash their feet. They were so grateful, i just wish there was more i could do for them. Hope you are all well! Please continue to pray! We love and miss all of you! :D

Skyler

Lions and tigers and spitting cobras...oh my.

So we went to the Bujumbura zoo yesterday. We were the only ones there so we got a private tour from the "zookeeper." One example of this little jaunt...we came to the spitting cobra cage and the snake was hiding in his log. The little zoo man then proceeded to open the cage, shake the snake out of the log, and provoke it to get into attack position and spit at us. I think its safe to say that zoos in Bujumbura are NOT like the U.S. Haha animal rights activists would have a fit, but it made for a pretty entertaining trip to the zoo.

Chris Sayler and Skyler are out at the market (which is one of the most overwhelming experiences you could ever imagine) buying food to take to the pigmies we are visiting on Wednesday.

The grand opening of the new church building is next Sunday, so pray for the funds to come in to finish the roof before then. Alright, gotta go!

Imohoro N'Urukundo (peace and love!)

Hoffman