There are 17 provinces in Burundi. One of our goals with e3 Partners Ministry over the last 4 years has been to work with churches in every province in Burundi, equipping them to evangelize and establish new churches. As of November 2011 we had completed work in 15 provinces. On our most recent trip to Burundi, we were invited by the pastors in Kirundo Province to help plant churches and strengthen churches in Province Number 16!!
Kirundo is in the northern part of Burundi; it actually borders Rwanda. We were excited to be working in Province #16 and we brought an awesome team from Phoenix to work with us!!
We are always amazed at the way God assembles a team to accomplish His purposes in Burundi. We met Herman and Larissa about a year ago at First Chinese Baptist Church in Phoenix. Herman is the Student Ministries Pastor. Larissa is a talented singer and worship leader. Over the course of several months, we established a friendly relationship with them. They attended our We Go To Africa event. Herman invited us to share pictures and stories of our trips to Burundi with the High School Ministry at FCBC. Then, the mission trip that their church was planning this summer was cancelled. Herman came to us and asked if we would be willing to take them to Burundi. We OF COURSE said YES! They invited all seniors in the high school ministry to consider going with us. Only one student signed up to join the trip - Natalie. About 6 weeks before the trip date, they started raising funds. God graciously provided above and beyond their needs very quickly! In fact, it seemed that everything happed very quickly. Yellow fever shots. Passports. Visa applications. Training after-hours at Chickfila. And then we found ourselves at Sky Harbor Airport, standing in line at United check-in at 4:45am. We knew God had great things in store for us and for His kingdom.
