A CALLING TO BURUNDI

My wife, Jeanette, and I (Tim), are missionaries in a country in the very heart of Africa: Burundi. Burundi is a country of many hills, the land of a thousand hills. The hills are straggled with banana trees. The first thing that you will notice when you are in Burundi is that people greet each other warmly. Burundians have a special word to greet each other, “Amahoro”. It means more than “hello” or “goodbye”, the meaning is to have full, complete and perfect unity and peace. A blessing is proclaimed by people over each other when they say “hello” and “goodbye”. It is accompanied by a warm hug and kiss on the cheek as a sign of peace. Another typical greeting is to wish each other large herds of cattle. Cattle are very important as signs of wealth and status rather than for their value as food. The desire for respect and necessity for respect is the cultural value which best describes the people and having many cows is a sign of status. Cows are considered almost sacred; when a cow dies the family eats its meat and then plants its horns in the soil near the house to bring good luck. In the traditional marriage ceremony the groom would grab hold of the tail of a cow as a sign of good fortune before the wedding ceremony. Traditional beliefs place a strong emphasis on fate as opposed to free will. The majority of people live close to the land and are dependent upon the few vegetables that they grow. In Hutu culture, agricultural work ethic is being taught to both boys and girls very early. They are given chores at the age of five. They are schooled in proper behaviour and in communal and family values. The values include respect and responding promptly and willingly to the commands of the parents. Another sign of respect in Burundian culture is to refrain from displaying physical affection between the opposite sexes in public. Kissing, carousing and even holding hands are taboo. On one occasion I, without thinking, gave Jeanette an innocent kiss to greet her - much to the shock and disgust of the locals around us! It has taught us to be careful in the way we relate to each other. Music, singing and playing drums are at the heart of the expression of the Burundian culture. The drum is a symbol of power and royalty. One of the highest honours in the traditional culture is to be selected to play the drum for the king. It is considered one of the highest achievements a young man can attain. The drum is accompanied by dancing which consists of jumping up and down and performing acrobatic feats, such as somer-saults. In some of the churches we attended, the minister was respected for his ability to play the drum, dance and perform somersaults. The church meeting ended in a frenzy of drum playing and dancing but this is not the norm for every church. Song is a very important part of the worship service because in the rural areas very few people can read. Bible stories are transmitted through song but unfortunately many times the meaning of the story is changed and the emphasis placed in the wrong place. The people have a natural harmonious rhythm that is captivating and very catchy. The largest part of the church service consists of songs, lasting up to two or three hours before the preaching begins. Every person in the building gets in on the act, dancing before God. It is a pity that the preaching consists mostly of the pastor screaming and shouting and making as much noise as he can to frighten his listeners into submission and compliance. These leaders are willing but desperately need theological training and spiritual guidance. These are some of the reasons that God has called me to this small country in the heart of Africa to help ministers to effectively communicate the Word of God. Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd Who lays down His life for the sheep. The Lord has said, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10:16). Burundi with its people have been forgotten by the world, but God has heard the cries of the people. This is the reason why God has called us to Burundi: to provide one of the first Bible training programs. Our aim is to guide people to Jesus Christ, to help them discern the Voice of Jesus Christ, and to let the call of Jesus Christ ring out through us. In 1925 God sent Harold and Margaret Guillebaud to Africa to serve as missionaries in Uganda. They took their three daughters with them. One of their daughters, Rosemary Guillebaud, completed her own translation of the Bible that her father had begun in the 1920’s. The translation was completed in 1961. And in only 40 years Burundi has become a country which claims to have a majority Christian population as a result of the Word of God. This is remarkable if you consider how few Bibles are available in the country, probably not more than 30 000 for 8.5 million people. It is one of the miracles God has performed in Africa and He has used a willing servant. Today the Christian leaders in Burundi are desperate for further theological training. If this is what so few Bibles could do, imagine what the effect could be if every spiritual leader, minister, elder and deacon had a Bible. Imagine what could happen if every Christian family had a Bible? I would like to invite you to become part of God’s ongoing work in the heart of Africa by donating money to buy Bibles for ministers, elders, deacons and fathers and to begin the first of many translations of the footnotes of a good Study Bible in Kirundi. You can share in this work by contributing financially for the training and Bible translation work. (Contact Miederpark Mission Office: 018 294 6900 a.m.) Tim and Jeanette van Aarde (Missionaries supported by Miederpark)