RockTheDesert

Michael and the rest of our team enjoyed hiking thru the Nyungwe Forest in Rwanda.

Burundi Recap #1 Mighty To Save

We've been back from our 3 month trip to Burundi for about a month -- one of our team members, Tricia, created this video recap from the point that she joined our trip, which was about 3 weeks from the end. It was so good to watch it today and remember that God is mighty to save! 

 

Diamonds and Dresses

Sundays in Burundi are l-o-o-o-o-n-n-n-g-g-g- days. We usually are up early, rushing to get a shower before the water runs out. Then we rush through breakfast, reviewing last minute teaching notes, spraying on sunblock, bug spray, stashing extra bottles of water in our backpacks. Then, the phone will ring, "hello, how are you?" "are you ready?" "I am Domitien." "I am here." Yesterday, Pastor Domitien borrowed a car from a friend so we rode in STYLE in a Rav4 instead of a marignally maintained taxi. After an extended time of worship, prayers, choirs, introductions, it was time for the guest speakers. Dan, Larissa and Marina, in that order.

Dan decided to tackle the weighty topic of The Trinity since it was Holy Trinity Day on the liturgical calendar. I decided to sweat profusely. Head. Neck. Back. 

Larissa shared her testimony which was punctuated by cheering throughout. The church loved/s her! She is getting more confident at sharing her story. I am really proud of her for being vulnerable and willing to tell about her struggles, victories, journey she is on.

Meanwhile, I'm still sweating. Shirt is sticking to my back. Is it possible that even my knees are sweating? I was left with 10 short minutes to teach about self-control/strongholds, which is also a weighty topic. When the microphone started slipping out of my sweaty hand, I wrapped it up. Whew. Made it through another Sunday.

Back at church at 3pm for a women's conference. When I helped the women's ministry team plan the conference, they thought that 30-50 women might attend the event. We planned to have plenty of room to move chairs into circles for small group interaction. Planned to have a good Q&A session at the end. Well, when we walked into the church and saw over 100 women, I realized that we were going to have to be flexible and go with the flow!

I began in Proverbs 31:10-12 and spoke to the women about what it looks like to be a woman of worth, like a diamond or precious jewel. We may not be perfectly faceted or brilliantly sparkly yet, but God has chosen us to be women, given us a specific role, and is using all circumstances in our lives to refine us, shape us, polish us into beautiful women of great worth. I also went through Titus 2:1-5 and talked about the 7 things that are "good" that we are to be teaching younger women. Larissa also shared a personal testimony about forgiveness which really struck home with all the women. All in all, it was a wonderful afternoon of worship and the Word. 

Then it was time to distribute the dresses we were given by Dress A Girl Around The World! We had nearly 150 little girls, infants through age 12 who stood in line to receive one of the handmade dresses. It was rather chaotic in spite of our best efforts to stay organized. The power went out twice which made it really difficult to reign in the chaos. Eventually, every girl who needed a dress, was given a dress. To those of you who sew dresses for "Dress A Girl" thank you, thank you, thank you! You brought beautiful smiles to the faces of these Burundian girls!!

Patrice

I just wanted to share one story of life-transformation from our 3 days of evangelism in Bubanza last week. On Monday, we shared the Gospel with two men who were working together. When we were finished, the older of the two men thanked us for sharing. Told us he was already saved, in fact, he was an evangelist with his church. He verified that what we had said was true. Then he said that he was only speaking for himself. He was not speaking for the salvation of his helper, Patrice. I asked Patrice if he wanted to receive the gift of salvation. He declined. Said he needed time to think about such a big decision. I asked him how much time he would need. He said he would think about it more that night then decide. So, we left the men and went on our way.

Wednesday was our third and final day of evangelism. This day there was an outpouring of grace. We shared with many large groups and many received salvation through Jesus. We kept walking, climbing, the road twisting and turning then suddenly we were in the same place we had been Monday.

We greeted the older, Christian man. Asked him where his helper, Patrice, was. He sent one of his children down to the bottom of the mountain to fetch him. When he arrived, I could tell he was somewhat dismayed to see us there. I asked him if he had been thinking about becoming a Christian like he said he would do. He admitted that he had not given it a second thought. I asked him how much more time he would need before deciding. He thought it would be many more days, maybe even weeks. I talked to him about how empty the things of this earth can be. If a man drinks a bottle of alcohol then goes to sleep with an empty bottle in his hands, when he wakes up in the morning, all he has left is an empty bottle. His heart is empty. If he goes to bed having salvation, when he wakes up in the morning, he still has salvation. His heart is full. At this point, another young man walked up to us and said we had preached to him the day before and now he was ready to be saved. All of a sudden, Patrice relented and said he was ready for salvation too! The Pastor prayed with them and had them pray for salvation. It was really a great moment of victory for the kingdom! Then I told Patrice that I wanted to take his photo now that he was saved so he could see the joy on his face. 

Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

 

 

Abundant Goodness

We were invited to work in Bubanza last week. Dan and I were assigned to work with Rocher Church. What a great pastor! He had 7 other members from his church ready to work with us every day! He and his team led us up and down many hills -- it seemed that our steep ascents far outnumbered our minor descents!

                                          For some reason, this goat perched in a tree caught my eye!

One of the days, we were in the bus waiting for some pastors to join us for the ride home. Of course, we attracted a crowd of kids who snuck around to my side of the bus so they could touch my arm which was hanging out the window. One of the boys had a "guitar" with him that he had made out of an empty water bottle, some wood scraps and some kind of string. Love his creativity!

We worked with 6 different churches to plant 5 new churches and strengthen 1 existing church. We had a team of nearly 40 Burundi nationals join us for 3 days of evangelism. Some were nervous about sharing the Gospel. Only a few had used an Evangecube to share the Gospel. But, by the end of the week, they were so excited about what God did in expanding his kingdom that they can't wait to go out and share Jesus boldly and actively.

Each church was given a Proclaimer (audio Bible) in Kirundi (primary language in Burundi). Dan held training in how to use the Proclaimer for Bible study and discipleship. By the end of 3 days, we shared the Gospel with 0ver 1,000 people. 511 people made a new profession of faith in Christ. Over 200 of these new believers attended at least 1 discipleship meeting. I shared the Gospel with individuals, families, students, skeptics, men who were sawing trees into 2x4 boards, even at the home of a muslim --  there were many amazing moments where I saw the grace and kindness of God poured out into the lives of people who, just moments before, had been going about their daily lives!

Psalm 145:1-7 I will extol you, my God and King and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

Women of Worth in Burundi

I had a wonderful meeting on Saturday with the Pastor’s Wives from New Vision Church. These delightful ladies were so sweet and somewhat shy at first. They brought me a huge basket filled with delicious gifts: 6 huge avocados; 2 bottles of yummy passion fruit juice concentrate; several pounds of fresh beans ready to be boiled; and a bag of 10 eggs! We spent over an hour chatting, drinking juice and water, nibbling on gallettes that I picked up at Le Café Gourmand in Bujumbura. We talked about jobs, families, ministry, life in Burundi. I asked them if they were part of the women’s ministry at New Vision. Moment of awkward silence. Turns out there is not a women’s ministry at New Vision. However, they have been getting ready to start women’s ministry. They just lacked the knowledge of how to begin. I've been invited me to help them organize and launch the women’s ministry. I am excited about this opportunity. The launch event will be on Sunday afternoon, May 26. It will include a time of worship, time of teaching, perhaps some light snacks, maybe some “table time” discussion. All in all, if you look closely and of course look past the language difference, it will look a lot like our first “Midnight Madness” event at Harvest Bible Chapel only contextualized for Burundi and reproducible so that they can be equipped to hold regular events for women.

Proverbs 31:10 An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels! (NASB)

Back in Bubanza

This week we held the first of our 2-day LDC’s (Leadership Development Conference). These always precede our church-planting expeditions. 2 of our expeditions will be Burundi-national-led. The final expedition will be led by our North American team. We drove to Bubanza Province which is a about a 40-minute, white-knuckle drive away from Bujumbura. We last worked in Bubanza in August, 2008. Seems like a million years ago. So much has changed in Burundi since then. In 2008, Burundi was just barely in the process of ending the civil war that destroyed so many lives and much of the country. Bubanza was the province most impacted by the war. They were literally cut-off from Bujumbura and the rest of the country from 1993 until 2005. In 2008, so much of the military camps still lined the road to Bubanza.  Lots of vacant land lined the road since 1000’s of coffee trees were cut down in an effort to eliminate places where the rebels could hide. Many people were driven from their homes by the military, by the rebels, by the conditions of the war. Bubanza is a beautiful place and it is slowly being re-built with help from many organizations, among them the Chinese government. When we last visited there, we met with Governor, a devout Catholic man who welcomed us to evangelize the area. He said that his people were suffering much from the war. They needed so much help. NGO’s were not allowed to enter the area until the war had been officially ended for 6 months. Meanwhile, people were starving, in need of medical assistance, desperate for help, while NGO’s were just waiting for the all-clear so they could proceed with relief efforts. Though the people are still desperately poor, thankfully, it appears that there has been much progress.

The pastors we met with were passionate about preaching the Gospel and excited about planting churches where there are none.  Five local denominations were represented: New Vision; New Life; Cepebu, Vivante, and Rocher. After 2 days of teaching, fellowship and training on sharing the Gospel using the Evangecube, these leaders are more than ready to answer the great commission to “Go!” We will begin a national-led, church planting expedition next week. It takes a lot of faith and perseverance to plant a church in Burundi. Every obstacle you can think of is usually right in front of them, beginning with zero funding available. But God’s plan is perfect. His ways are perfect. We have seen His faithfulness over and over again as He provides generously and in unexpected ways. May there be a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Bubanza. May the fiery arrows of the devil be extinguished before they are even thrown. May the power of the darkness tremble at the overwhelming, unstoppable force that is the Church, united to “Go” all for the Glory of God!

 

 

Living In A Houseful of Boys

Our youngest son, Steven, left on Monday for Marine Corps boot camp. His recruiter picked him up at 3am and then proceeded to pick up all the other guys before heading to Los Angeles for “processing.” My parents, my sister, Sandi, and Steven’s girlfriend, Kelsey, all were present for the swearing in and to say a final goodbye to him. I wish more than anything that I could have been there. however, my sister took some photos for me.

Am I a crying mess? Well, I think I would be if I was not in Africa. However, if there’s one thing i’ve learned living in a house full of boys, it’s that they are uncomfortable with tears. So, I do my best to contain them til I have a private moment. Even then, I find myself analyzing my tears, trying to make sure that they are not selfish tears but truly tears of sadness or grief or a valid emotion that doesn’t include even a tiny bit of self-pity. So far my tears have been proud tears as I believe Steven has an uncommon valor in making this choice in these uncertain days of war and rumors of war. My tears have been tears of love & affection as I reminisce about the past 19 years of steven’s life and the time that God allowed us to raise him, nurture him, watch him mature and become a man after God’s own heart, a leader, a compassionate, kind-hearted, driven, lovable, verbally gifted, masterful communicator who can make me laugh just about any time he tries to! My tears have been sad tears as I recognize that Steven will most likely not ever live in our home again except as a guest. I will miss him a lot. My tears have been mostly unshed because, truly, they would accomplish no good and, well, tears in Burundi are extra-salty when mixed with the gallons of sweat pouring off your face, stinging your eyes!

Am I surprised that he has joined the Marines? Well, somewhat. However, if there’s one thing I’ve learned living in a house full of boys, it’s that they love to play tough. They are competitive. They all jockey for alpha male. They are competitive. They fight and wrestle and have wars of words and they punch each other and she-doink each other and pester each other to death. So, I shouldn’t be surprised that Steven would be attracted to an all-male, boisterous, goal-focused, leadership-oriented environment. I guess I am surprised that it happened so quickly after he moved to California. I’m surprised that he began boot camp in May while we are in Africa. I am surprised at the depth of emotion that his decision has evoked not only from me but from family and friends.

Am I just counting the days 'til his 6 yr commitment is up? Well, I'm tempted to. However, there’s one thing I’ve learned living in a house of boys, it’s that they need their mom around but they don’t want to be hovered over, babied, controlled, pitied, patronized, held too close or kissed after I’ve just put on lipstick or told to be sure and wear sunblock at boot camp (“uh, yeah mom, I’m sure that request will go over really big with the boot camp instructors”). I am counting the days 'til I can see him again after boot camp. Then I will count the days 'til I see him again after weapons training. Then I will count the days 'til I see him after his job-training. By then it will be Christmas and hopefully we will all be together to celebrate and to cherish the time we have together. Six years is way off in the distance. So much will happen between now and then. We've got a lot of living to cram in to the next 6 years. It is always best to live in the present, trust in God’s sovereignty and goodness for the future, and press on with faith and hope, courage and anticipation, love and peace for the days ahead. 

Be Ready To Preach

This is our friend/translator. His name is Philemon (say it with a french accent -- Phil-eh-mohn). On our last trip here he told us that his church forbids young people from serving or leading in the church or in ministry without permission of the leadership. They must just be attendees. Evidently when his pastor found out that he would be joining us for evangelism and church-planting last July, the pastor called him and told him he was not allowed to do that. Philemon told him "but Pastor, I must share the Gospel, it is building up inside of me, it will explode out of me because there are so many people that must hear the Gospel and God is calling me and giving me the opportunity to do it." The Pastor did not relent. Philemon joined us anyway. He is just one of many young, Christian men & women that we have met who are passionate about reaching Burundi with the message of the Gospel at any cost! We can feel an undercurrent of hope just bubbling under the surface, fueling the desire and passion of this generation that was born into and grew up in the turmoil, insecurity, and despair of civil war and its ravaging effects on a country. Now that they are free to move about the country, they are realizing the impact that God can have if the Gospel is preached boldly in every corner of this tiny nation. Each one that we meet has asked, almost begged us for equipping and training and teaching on the basics of the Bible, Christian living, really anything Biblical that they can teach others. They are ravenously hungry for it. On Monday evening, we were invited by Philemon to teach at a youth meeting at a home in Kanyosha. I prepared to speak to a group gathered in a living room or perhaps around a table. I geared my talk toward discussion and interaction. When we arrived at the house, we were introduced to Kevin, the leader of TMM (Transformed Missions Ministry). Kevin is 23 years old. He began this ministry 2 years ago with the vision of reaching out to his immediate neighborhood. It meets in the very house that he grew up in. We saw a few students enter the house and head out to the back yard. Then we were ushered into the backyard. We were surprised to see that the entire backyard was set up as a meeting place with iron sheets for a roof and cloth-covered walls. 

Dan counted 96 people sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on low wooden benches. First, there was an exuberant time of worship. Then I stood up to teach. You better believe that during the worship time I was praying desperately for some inspiration and help on how to re-work my message for this large group. Thankfully, God gave me exactly the words and message that needed to be taught. I was so grateful for the opportunity to teach Biblical truths. I was even more grateful for those who have spent themselves pouring Biblical truth into my life!

2 Timothy 4:2-4 Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 

Making The Best Use of The Time

                   L-R: Dan, Pastor Auvit, Pastor Philippe, Dieudonne, Pastor Domitien

There is a lot of waiting to do in Burundi. You wait for the water to turn on. You wait 'til you get to a hotel or cafe to use WIFI. You wait for a taxi. You wait for the bus. You wait for a menu. You wait FOREVER for them to bring what you've ordered. You wait FOREVER AND THEN SOME for them to bring your check. You wait for the rain to stop so that your backpack full of electronics won't get soaked. You wait for phone calls, emails, texts, meetings. Impatience lurks. Frustration threatens. Then you realize...life has a gentler pace here in Burundi. A pace that can't be measured by Western standards. So, you memorize scripture while waiting. You have more time to pray for the person you are waiting for. You actually sit down and relax for a minute. You begin a conversation with the people you are with. You offer more water or juice. You share a handful of almonds or pecans. You show photos of your family. Stress becomes gratitude. Waiting can be good for the soul. Yes, the days are evil. Yes wasting time is bad. BUT, making the best use of the time looks and feels different here. That rushing, stressed out, jam-packed calendar way of life isn't always an accurate indicator of making the best use of the time. At least not here in Burundi! So...yesterday...I was getting a little frustrated with waiting. I really wanted to walk to King's Conference Center to use the WIFI. I wanted to send out our updated May calendar. I wanted to see the sweet face of my grandson, David Francis. All day I waited. And waited. I honestly did not want to trust God's sovereignty over my internet usage. And then I surrendered to God's timing and to the rhythm of life in this crazy place we are calling home for 3 months. Then people started showing up at our home. A translator named Dieudonne whom we haven't seen in 3 years. Pastor Domitien. A couple in ministry we have been trying to get in contact with for a long time.  Pastor Auvit who brought a pastor from Congo with him whom we haven't seen in 2 years.  The waiting resulted in great blessing. Among many other things, we are now making plans to begin doing e3 church-planting expeditions in Bukavu, Congo. Pastor Philippe and the pastors in the coaltion that he leads are impatiently WAITING for us to begin equipping God's people to evangelize Bukavu and establish His church!! 

Ephesians 5:15-16 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Stewards of Grace

Traveling to Burundi is quite a task. Phoenix to Dulles. Dulles to Brussels. Brussels to Bujumbura. That's a lot of "time travel" too. We are wiped out when we arrive. Thankfully, we are always greeted by smiling, hospitable, grateful pastors and translators. This time, we were met at the gate by Pastor Domitien and Philemon, one of our long-time translators. They carried all 5 of our 50-lb duffel bags, 2 carry-ons and 2 backpacks up to our 2nd floor room at King's Conference Center. All the while, they were so helpful, not complaining at all, practically tripping over each other in an effort to help us get settled. They have been gracious hosts for the past week, always available by phone, calling taxis for us, dropping by the house to make sure we have what we need. Their hospitality has helped make our transition to city life in Bujumbura much easier. Life in Burundi can be hard. Water shortages. Power outages. Language challenges. But life in Burundi can also be beautiful when you have friends who surround you with love & grace!

1 Peter 4:8-10 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace

No Lost Luggage

Always amazed when we arrive with all our luggage in Africa! Part of the fun of arrival is when we cram most of our stuff into a car then start adding people into the car and then finish cramming the rest of the stuff in. The car this time was a cute little Rav4. We stacked & shoved & loaded in all 350 pounds of baggage. Then when we were just about all in, the car key was nowhere to be found. Searched everywhere, the ground, under the car, unpacked most of the bags...Dan sat in the car patiently, somewhat unable to move or breathe then finally he un-wedged himself from the stuff and came out to join the search...surprise -- he had been sitting on the key the whole time!

PRAISE GOD: Protection, provision, mercy all in abundance during 2 days of travel!!

This song was written by my nephew, Levi, and came out of an extremely painful & difficult time in the life of his family. I am so grateful that God used music to begin healing the hurts and drawing them to Himself in such an incredible way! Seriously, I was so moved by this song the first time I heard it and every other time!! Check it out! When their Kickstarter page goes live I will post it on Facebook!!

We Go To Africa - Mar 2013

We had a wonderful evening of food, friends, family, photos, fellowship and, of course, FUN at our "We Go To Africa" event last night!! I love sharing stories of what God has done and is continuing to do in Burundi. We have been so blessed to be part of His plan for sharing the Gospel with the people of Burundi for the past 5 years!

We always look forward to our WGTA gatherings and work hard on preparing our home, covering the walls with storyboards, colorful photos, clothing, Evangecubes, anything that helps bring an African flair to the party! Thankfully, a few friends & family arrived early to help wrap up the last few projects in the carport and in the kitchen (thanks-a-million to Lori, Jeff, Victoria, Tony, Lorna, Ray, Mary, Michael). We brought in delicious chicken from Chick-fil-A, a 10 lb., 4-layer cake, bacon-wrapped jalapenos, garlicky hummus & pita. Filled the ice chests with ice and beverages.

Dan lit up the front yard and carport with utility lights strung from the house to the big tree in the middle of the yard. He even set up a firepit & was ready for roasting marshmallows and making s'mores after dark. Our guests arrived in a slow but steady stream. We had family from Orange County and Flagstaff. Friends from many different churches. Congolese refugees, previously living in Rwanda now resettled in Phoenix. This morning, as we were putting the party away, shuffling the furniture back into place, putting things back into our storage shed, I happened to wander into the backyard looking for Dan. And then, I saw the Big Tumbleed and its smaller companion.

Then, I took a second look. Um, yeah. That's our Christmas tree and a chunk that fell off. Apparently, I haven't been in the backyard in a while. And Dan has been hoping I wouldn't notice that he didn't dispose of the tree in the alley like all our neighbors did 3 months ago. Sigh. "Why, Daniel?" "I was planning to chop it up for firewood." Sigh. 

Number 16

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. 

Bienvenue Au Burundi

Burundi is beautiful, mysterious, virtually unknown to most of the world, and has a heart-breaking history of civil war similar to its neighboring country of Rwanda. Burundi is listed among the 25 most corrupt countries in the world. Only 1 in 2 children attend school. According to a scientific study done among 178 countries, Burundians have the lowest life satisfaction in the world. Articles I've read in The Economist among other periodicals generally have a bleak forecast for Burundi's present and future. And, it's true. Burundi, just like every other nation in the world, has no hope apart from God.

We have seen a glimmer of that hope in many areas we have visited in the past 4 years in Burundi. We have seen that hope in the pastors of rural churches who are working tirelessly, most of the time without pay, under-resourced, under-trained, yet fervently reaching out to people in villages who are desperate for faith in something other than themselves, traditions, and empty religion. These pastors and church leaders have a spark, a fire that won't be extinguished by abject poverty, poor health care, lack of food, or civil war. In fact, this hope seems intensified because of not inspite of the odds that appear to be stacked against them. 

I am always inspired by this hope that they have within them. This is a supernatural hope. It makes no earthly sense. The world disregards them. They are hungry. They are thirsty. They are perpetually exhausted. But this hope burns brightly in spite of their circumstances.

When we arrive in Burundi and are welcomed by these people, we are immediately humbled by the hope in their handshake, their hug, their expectant conversation, and we soon realize that our all-American hope is so easily misplaced. We trust in our stuff. We hope in our good fortune or a stroke of luck. We rely on our intelligence, talents, connections. We "pray" for a chance favor from the world.  

In Burundi, our hope is redirected, not gently but rather violently and out of necessity back to our Living Hope. Burundi requires us to utterly depend on God, keeping our eyes on Him, keeping our hearts enslaved to His, keeping our purposes totally aligned with His. 

We pray that many more will experience the blessing of hope with us in Burundi. 

Women of Faith - Lasting Impressions

This is my third and final post about my Women of Faith experience last weekend. I had mixed impressions of individual parts of the event, however, ultimately there are a few lasting impressions which will change the way I relate to various areas of life. Lisa Whelchel - thank you for teaching me the difference between transparent and vulnerable. Brenda Warner - you are my hero. Andy Andrews - I will never forget the Butterfly Effect. Patsy Clairmont - thank you for making your bed! To all the "porch" members: I am inspired by your love for each other, by your friendships which transcend generations, by your joy in serving and worshipping and living your life in front of others for God's glory. Made me realize that I am already blessed with a porch full of incredible women -- love this metaphor and look forward to sharing it with my friends! 

While there were take-aways from nearly every session, I was expecting more of a "ladies, grab your Bible and let's dig in to some Biblical truths" sort of teaching. Maybe not for every session. But I did expect to need my Bible at some point during the weekend. I love being able to scribble a million notes in the margins of my Bible. The speakers did a great job of creating a "need" for their books/resources by whetting our appetites with their compelling stories and I will be ordering several of their books in the next few weeks. But books won't ultimately satisfy my spiritual hunger & thirst. They will feed my need and love for knowledge. They will challenge me and inspire me. However, I found myself wishing that the speakers had emphasized the Bible as the ultimate source for life and godliness a lot more than they did. 

Women of Faith was definitely "over the top" - to the point that I was "over the top" at the end of each session -- (I tend to hit sensory overload quicker than most). I am a slow processor. I like to process things by journaling or talking them out. I wish I would have trusted more in the rhythm and build of the overall program so that my "processing" would have happened in real-time rather than after-the-fact time. 

In my quest to de-brief and process this event, I've begun to take advantage of the abundant resources available on the Women of Faith website. I encourage you to join the WOF online community, participate in a Book Club, get some sweet discounts. I'm looking forward to diving in and making the most of what the WOF team have put together as practical tools for everyday life.  

[Confession: due to a scheduling error I found myself not able to attend the afternoon session on Saturday -- I was instead driving my 17-yr-old son to the mall to shop for Homecoming attire]

[I was given 2 free admissions to the event, courtesy of BookSneeze, in exchange for a blog review.] 

Women of Faith - Second Impressions

My friend Kari and I joined a group of her friends for dinner and hang-time til WOF began again at 7pm. Lots of cool stuff going on in downtown Phoenix - Cityscape holds a lot of promise with shops and restaurants and entertainment. Somehow, we found ourselves at the corner of 2nd Street and Washington at Majerle's. So we settled in for some burgers, wings, salads and girl talk. After a quick stop at Charming Charlie's for some inexpensive bling, we headed back to US Airways for an evening of worship and inspiration like none other! 

The worship team really did a great job of leading us not just in songs but in worship. They added Mandisa to the line-up which brought an extra shot of energy and enthusiasm and soul. That girl can sing! Now, I don't want to misuse the phrase "variety show" because I don't mean it in a derogatory way, but the rest of the evening was back to back entertainment, music, videos, speakers...thus, variety show is the best way I can describe it. I especially liked all the video clips -- the "porch" line-up, all dressed up and jamming on instruments was super-fun and engaging -- and I loved the video interviews with the speakers. Well done media team!

My least favorite part of the evening was the comedian. I was disappointed in his antics, his choice of topics, his choice of words, his negativity toward his wife, kids, prayer, etc. I know he was going for "over-the-top", tongue-in-cheek, irreverent humor, but it struck me as out of place for this event, although the audience seemed to think he was hilarious. It just wasn't my style and everything about him made me cringe. So, although not a highlight for me personally, his performance was a great foil for the rest of the program which was top-notch.

I really loved Brenda Warner's time on stage. Her story, her "imperfectness", her brutal honesty were refreshing, challenging, heartbreaking, and inspiring. I kept discovering "water in my eyes" and "water running down my cheeks & dripping off my chin" while she spoke. The other speaker who took me by surprise was Lisa Whelchel...what a neat woman of faith she's turned out to be! I was totally a fan of "Facts of Life" and it was so good to see her in real life (looking EXACTLY as she did in the 80's in my mind's eye) and hear just a part of her story. Patsy Clairmont spoke - so wise, so full of life and so talented at making us laugh with one breath and tear up with the next. Andy Andrews spoke -- he brought the house down and was amazing. The evening and my heart were full. I was becoming undone in a good kind of way, needing to nail down some of the main points from the speakers and so I could put them into practice in my own life and share them with others. 

Saturday morning came a little too soon and I was on the road again to "Over the Top" and wondering how they'd top the previous evening or if they'd even try. I can totally see the value of using this event as an women's ministry outreach for a local church, with the ministry leader gathering all their women into small groups and having group leaders help de-brief and challenge and pray for the women. I didn't do much de-briefing at home with my husband and sons...and I could have used time to process the things I'd seen and heard and experienced before jumping right back in to it...

[I was given 2 free tickets to this event in exchange for this blog review...thanks BookSneeze!]

Women of Faith - First Impressions

Women of Faith. For Christian women it's a household name, right? I'd heard about it. Read about it. Assumed it was like a girly-girl, hormonally imbalanced, over-sized support group accented with "contemporary" music, light humor and perhaps some female-themed sermons. "Over The Top" but not exactly in the best way. I was more than a little worried about spending 2 days with 1000's of women who were mostly strangers to me, crammed into plastic fold-down seats with emotional turbulence abounding. 

I carpooled with a carefully chosen friend, one with a scientific, practical mind and not given to dramatic outbursts. We entered the arena along with a throng of women who were eagerly greeting each another, chattering, hugging, shrieking, laughing, taking photos, group hugging. You can imagine. I found myself smiling and calmly engaged on the outside, overwhelmed and scribbling details furiously on the inside. Hair. Jewelry. Perfume. Matching shirts. Embellished chef's hats. Pink tiaras. Women. Lots of women. 5 minute countdown.

House lights down. Stage lights up. Worship team bringing life and energy to the simply decorated stage. Creatively arranged music (produced for women's voices - thanks for lower keys!) was interspersed with speakers Patsy Clairmont and Andy Andrews. I first heard Patsy speak at Recreate 11 in Franklin, TN. This woman is a gifted and colorful communicator, a true lover of words, with a solid Biblical basis undergirding her hilarious, masterfully woven stories of her well-lived life. Andy Andrews probably deserves an entire blog post of his own. He was constantly in motion. Not like poetry. Like a whirlwind. I had read "The Noticer" when it first was published. Always imagined what the author must be like: southern; well-spoken; southern; funny; from the south; clever; southernly; intelligent. I was glad that his real-life voice matched his writing voice. His constant motion was somewhat distracting to me and at times I lost his main point because he tended to suddenly take a rabbit trail to the left or right, but his wisdom, his love and respect for life and family, and his gift of storytelling made me a fan.  

After lunch, there was a Q&A session with Patsy and Andy answering questions from the attendees. This was probably my least favorite part of the weekend. I found myself somewhat frustrated with the advice they gave. Or maybe I was frustrated with the advice they didn't give...oh please don't tell me I've become an "armchair counselor!"

As quickly as the morning session had begun, the afternoon session was over. We filed out of the arena, suddenly ravenously hungry for dinner and de-brief time. My heart was full, my mind was spinning, I wasn't sure what the evening session would be like, but I suddenly knew that I had been inexplicably drawn in to this over-the-top entity called Women of Faith and I had to see what would happen next...

[I was given 2 free tickets to this event in exchange for this blog review...thanks BookSneeze!]

Women of Faith...Over The Top!

I am attending my first Women of Faith event - it's called Over The Top and I have pretty high expectations! I will be blogging about the event daily and sending out the occasional Twitter during the event, so stay tuned, this promises to be a great experience!! Check out this video for a preview of what this weekend might hold...

 

Deep Fried Googly Eyes

See these piles of adorable little fish? The ones with the googly eyes? I wasn't aware until our last night in Burundi that they can be deep-fried with a light, crispy batter, lime wedge on the side, salted generously and eaten by candlelight in the finest dining establishment along Lake Tanganyika! Our host for dinner was Herve's father, Gabriel. He returned from a work-related trip to France just before the end of our trip and insisted on treating us to a fantastic, lakeside meal, complete with live music and the hypnotizing sound of lake surf in the background.

I'm not sure if I would have known to order the tiny, crunchy fish and I'm not even sure what they are called, but I can say, without a doubt, not even one of them made its way into Dan's mouth. I wish I had taken a picture of my meal - it was absolutely beautiful. I started with a fresh, sweet corn, bean, tomato, & onion salad - it was perfection on a plate. Burundi has outstanding fresh produce. And my Sangala Meuniere (the freshest fish possible in a lemony, buttery sauce) was fantastic. I skipped dessert, but Dan ordered ice cream and said it was impossibly icy and creamy. The more I think about the googly eyed fish, the more I can't believe I ate them. My Omega-3 levels better still be sky-high - was I really crunching & munching on fish bones? Someone please tell me it was the batter that was crunchy! 

 

Burundi Forecast

This week of Easter prep has collided perfectly with our e3 trip prep, producing a perfect storm of very little sleep, FedEx runs, a bedroom loaded with half-packed suitcases, and a late night venture into Walmart for toiletries, Pringles, and Raid. This is all part of our pre-trip M.O., I mean, how does anyone leave the country without kind of going a little crazy first? 

Dan and I should arrive in Burundi by next Wednesday. We look forward to working with our ever-expanding team of Burundian pastors, translators and friends. We will visit Muyinga province to plan for our summer expedition, follow-up with churches previously planted, and help plant a new church in the Bubanza province. We will also hold a Leadership Development Conference for pastors where we teach and model evangelism and church multiplication. We will also introduce a new tool for discipleship called "I Am Second." 

In the midst of all this, we have produced a Team Berryman Prayer Calendar which you can download HERE! We would love to have you join us in prayer for the next couple of weeks as we have so many things packed into our days in Africa. If you're interested in following our activities in real-time, Dan will send out regular Twitter updates which are posted to his Facebook page. Make sure you are his Facebook friend and if you're on Twitter, follow @daninreallife.  

Jesus vs Religion

I've got some amazing friends that I've met while working and being involved in churches for the past 22 years. One of these friends is Bobby Brewer whom I met in 2005. Bobby is on staff at a church with campuses in Scottsdale and Mesa, AZ. He's got an incredibly diverse background, once saw a UFO, has authored some interesting books, wears cool shirts, and knows EVERYBODY!

Bobby sent me this video a couple of days ago. I watched it and thought it was absolutely worthy of posting at all the social sites I'm involved in. Hope you watch it and learn something new, are encouraged, and take time to check out Bobby's facebook site, and his blog (recent review of "the book" by Rob Bell - definitely worth a read)!

From Zanzibar to Burundi

Here's more of Dan's updates via Twitter via Facebook from Zanzibar and his transition to Burundi. He and Auzelio will be there for 8 days before the next team arrives. They will follow up with many of the churches that we have helped to plant since e3 started working in Burundi in 2008. It's so cool to follow-up: it's like watching your babies grow and mature!

Had a mystery bite at dinner. Spit out a shell or exoskeleton? It was either a whole spice or spicy bug... Ug... Just thru up a little again. After 2-days of no one accepting Jesus, I stood in awe watching the miracle of salvation. Very cool. God is very good. Thank you Jesus. ‎"... dark as night & deep as death broke the light of thy salvation..." that describes dramatic contrast of salvation. In Zanzibar at Chinese restaurant celebrating. The table next to us is full of Chinese. Refused, denied permits, mocked & intimidated. But on Zanzibar 3-Americans & 20-Tanzanians told 1017 people about Jesus & 198 accepted. The Zanzibar Christians cannot believe so many prayed for Jesus. They are excited and hopeful. Zanzibar has 1.2 million people & fewer than 10,000 Christians & fewer than 45 churches. In 5 days Christian population increased 2%. Today is a good day in Zanzibar. Today, I reach into my suitcase & get a clean pair of pants! Umm... So soft... So clean... Fresh smell... Just finished "spice tour" in Zanzibar. My love affair w/ spice tea continues. My spice tea love is getting out of hand. I'm buying it in unlabeled plastic bags by the kilo. There is a Quaker church in Zanzibar that was established in 1800's. Today it has 2 only members but they are still faithful. Good news! There is no (very little) malaria in Zanzibar. I feel better about bites now. Took tour of St. Monaca's Church & my hotel. My room is over the slave cells. Church w/ Dr. Livingstone ended slavery in Zanzibar. Remembering how @berryman & I met. We would show up early or stay late & accidently meet up. My spicy tea relationship is out of control. I need to end it. We brought 60lbs of tracts from USA & more from the Tanzania mainland. The Islanders liked gospel of Matthew most. God's word is powerful. Sharing Jesus w/ tour guides. Nice rejections, saying that they need more evidence, saying it's hard to go against culture. When a muslim needs more evidence, he means prove Jesus is God or man, prove virgin birth, but don't use Bible, and only answer yes or no. Watching "God Provides" videos from Crown Financial w/ Tanzanian church leader. Last dinner in Zanzibar on the beach, sun setting, traditional sail boats, freighters loading on beach, acrobats, singing... Travel day. We move from Zanzibar to Burundi. We go from hot & humid to humid & hot. Watching Thursday night football in Zanzibar on Friday afternoon. Best travel day ever! We've been sharing Jesus w/ young woman in Nairobi for couple hours now. Pray for her salvation. We have arrived "home" in Bujumbura. Good night. Sobering thought: if Final Judgment were today, everyone (over 99%) in Zanzibar would perish. Sad reality: in Zanzibar the people are poor, but the Zanzibar people are rich, very rich, compared to the people of Burundi. Getting ready to connect w/ e-mail for 1st time since leaving for Africa. Looks like I'm 400 behind. :-( Little progress connecting to digital world. Power out in Bujumbura. Rainy day in Bujumbura, but we still can have dinner at Ubuntu w/ in country missionaries. FINALLY! Local missionary has 6 children visiting her in the city from the village. One of them is wearing a Christ Lutheran shirt!!! This week New Life Church in Bujumbura trained church members to share Jesus around their new campus using e-cube. Over 200 heard 80 prayed. The wife of the president of Burundi asked us to go to her church tomorrow. I guess we'll go.

 

Zanzibar via Dan via Twitter via Facebook

God is doing some amazing things in Zanzibar. Keep praying for seeds to be planted and sown, for the churches in Zanzibar to be strengthened and encouraged, that they would be committed and passionate about sharing the Gospel now that they have been trained and equipped by Dan and his team, that they would faithfully disciple all believers, and that ultimately God would grow His church and be greatly glorified!! 

The following is Dan's daily chronicle on his current short-term mission trip with e3 partners to Zanzibar. He posts to Facebook via Twitter (@daninreallife). I copied all his Tweets and pasted them into paragraph form for easier reading. 

Last time I wore these pants I was leaving the USA. I wore them for the next 17-days. Yes, they're like a good friend. Boarding Group 1! Does this nullify my "mission" trip? Need to fly across USA then Atlantic then Europe then the Sahara then a little more. Still waiting to board. Need to go back to gym, bags are all too heavy. Going to Africa. Landed in Chicago waiting for connection at Manchu Wok, why? Tradition! On flight leaving USA, need to turn twitter "off". I can send, get DM's, get text, but can't afford to listen to all of you. Miss you guys! In Chicago & London, experiencing cross cultural dress. People carry large, bulky clothing. They call these items "coats". Strange. The American team has assembled. We are 3 strong. Zanzibar, here we come.

Made it to Nairobi. Best all around flights ever. Thank you, United Airlines & Kenya Airlines. 1 more flight to Zanzibar. Leaving Nairobi, home of the world's hottest airport. I'm sweating like a dog in Chinese restaurant. Arrived in Zanzibar w/ all our bags. Bags look a little looted. TSA took my can of Raid, but we're in business to plant churches. Staying at a hotel in Zanzibar that used to be the slave market. Carried 60-pounds of scripture tract & gospels to Zanzibar. I had booklets in suitcase, carryon, pockets. Pray Isaiah 55. Wow, a tourist bus full of white people pulled in front of hotel (old slave market). Hope they don't think I'm part of interactive show. Woke up from sound nap dazed & confused. Rushed to opening ceremony. I'm an hour early. Wished I'd brushed my teeth or ate a pack of gum.

Pastor's story: his sister converted to Jesus, as muslim it was his duty to kill her, thru a miracle & sister's testimony he comes to Jesus. The influence of 1% Christian population ended slavery in Zanzibar. I have a new love - Spice tea.  In Zanzibar, 1st man prayed for Jesus as crowd made fun of him. Just shared my lunch (bag of peanuts) w/ children around church. Tanzanian children very well mannered unlike rest of Africa. Need prayer for health, not well in Zanzibar. Also, pray for new Christians & the muslims who mock them. 1st day in Zanzibar 168 heard the story of Jesus, 35 professed Jesus as Lord. Hard to do when all your neighbors are muslim.

Slept good last. Many crazy dark dreams. Best dream was of ice cream sundays & shakes. Rod this is a prophetic dream. See you at BR [Basking Robbins] in Dec. Zanzibar lunch yesterday: hand wash (village water) no towel, no tools just fingers, ate w/ wet hands, OOPS! & my 1st coconut (whole thing). Today In Zanzibar, shared Jesus w/ 79 people, all muslim. 1 man was an iman. None accepted Jesus. Muslims wanted proof Jesus is God or a miracle. Pray that God will speak to the people of Zanzibar in dreams & visions. Thank you for prayers. My health has improved! In Zanzibar, no new Christians attended Bible studies but 1-church new Christians came undercover of darkness. Spent night in prayer & study. Spoke in church using Pastor Jim's notes from last week: Eph 2:4-10, Acts 18:28, Gal 2:20. God is good & provided me a message. Praying for my USA church services in Phoenix: Harvest Bible Chapel & Christ Lutheran. Miss you guys. In Zanzibar church buildings are good construction, but churches are few & members very few. Most Christians came from outside Zanzibar. At 1-church only Pastor's family, 1-American + 3-Korian missionaries showed up. Why? Fear. Muslims burned pastor's house 3-days ago.

Spoke at 2nd church Zanzibar today, 7 people attended. We met in house, we prayed, sang, took an offering & preached. In Zanzibar we have worked w/ 9-churches, shared Jesus w/ 382 people & 107 have put faith in Jesus. Zanzibar: major rain this am. Hot, humid pm w/ major bug plague. We ate at tourist stop along sea wall. Fresh sea food all crawling w/ bugs. Confession: found Internet cafe near hotel during break Sunday, spent my 1st 30-min adjusting NFL fantasy team. Sorry. Got strange "green" drink for breakfast in Zanzibar. Hmm. What is it? Blah, blah, blah? Oh, it's avocado juice. Didn't know it was a drink.

Working at a house church in Zanzibar that muslums regularly stone during prayer - worship services. Someone just prayed to make Jesus Lord of their life in Zanzibar. God is good! Found a group of Christians. We gave them gospels of Matthew. They dug right in. I thought some finished book before we left. Prayers are being answered, people in Zanzibar are trusting in Jesus for salvation. Muslims called after us for prayer. God is glorified. Came across rare Christian family, they were born & baptized Catholic, sent kids to Lutheran school, learned that Jesus was the Way to God. In Zanzibar, my translator was busy, praying w/ convert. Woman came to us. I gave pastor e-cube. He started sharing Jesus. She prayed too. Zanzibar Pastor has not given me the evange-cube back. He keeps sharing Jesus.

 

 

Culinary Class - Garde Manger

My son Michael is back in culinary class. It's an online course which means that I get to have a lot of hands-on experience as a culinary coach for Mike. I'm no chef, but I'm making a lot of progress toward becoming a sous chef in my next life. 

This week's assignment: Cheese Platter with a variety of cheeses, all artfully arranged on a platter. Then we had to taste the cheeses and rate them according to taste, texture, smell, like and dislike. Don't even get me started on all the cheese jokes I've had to endure over the past couple of days.

Here's the final product in all its glory. 

From top left, clockwise; Maytag Blue, Dutch Gouda, Spanish Manchego, French Brie, Greek Mizithra in the middle. Each cheese cost between $16.99 & $19.99 per pound. In fact, you're looking at $34.08 worth of cheese on the platter. We sliced up a Braeburn apple, Bartlett pear, scattered green grapes and fresh raspberries over all. Toasted up some crunchy crostini with olive oil and butter. My favorite cheese was the Gouda. @daninreallife loved the Manchego. Mike really liked the Brie. Steve cleaned up on the raspberries. Next time we will drizzle some honey on the Mizithra and sprinkle it with chopped walnuts. Actually, next time we will skip the Mizithra and go with a nice Taleggio or perhaps a high quality goat cheese rolled in fresh herbs or lavendar. 

Last Of Summer - Checking In

I've got exactly two weeks to complete my "Last of Summer" list. I'm happy to report that I've been making great progress on 2 of the items and have checked 1 of the 7 items off the list: 

"I'd like to finally pick out a new pair of glasses..." It was difficult and I lost the will to keep shopping more than once, but I ended up with a fantastic BOGO deal at Eyemasters. Alyssa talked me into buying one pair to wear when I want to look smart and one pair to wear when I want to look pretty. 

"Finish up the children's songs I'm writing for my sister's kindergarten class..." I'm making great progress on the songs! This past weekend I actually had a friend record 2 of the songs for us! I've got 2 more songs written and 2 more with just lyrics written. 

  "Read The Making Of A Chef and Day After Night..." I'm halfway thru Day After Night. Can't recommend it yet. But it's kept my attention so far. I went to the public library two weeks ago just to pick up a book for my son for his English class and came home with a stack of books to read. This stack did not include either of the above-mentioned books. But I did read the entire stack of books, including The Shadow of Your Smile (Higgins-Clark) [good read], The Aloha Quilt (Chiavirini) [liked it, didn't love it], The Apple Turnover Mystery (Fluke) [kinda boring & predictable], Hester (Reed) {fascinating "sequel" to The Scarlet Letter], and Low Country Summer (Frank) [disliked immensely]. Today I will return the library books and try to remember to check out The Making Of A Chef!

Sadly, my hair, makeup and overall fashion have made little to no progress except for 1 day last week when I led worship for the Women of Worth kick-off at Harvest. Alyssa stopped by and did a 13 minute hair/makeup job on me...it was great while it lasted! 

No progress on making a perfect pie crust - I did, however, make a fantastic, 2 layer strawberries & cream cake. Totally worth the outrageous amount of calories! Now that the weather is cooling down slightly, I'm gearing up to try another pie crust. 

Hiking - I hate to blame the weather for my lack of motivation, but it really has been unbearably hot. However, by or on September 21 I will make my first attempt up Piestewa Peak, hopefully with a friend, possibly under cover of nightfall.

No Zumba class yet - I've watched a few YouTube videos of Zumba classes - the students look like professional dancers and the teachers probably moonlight on MTV. This will be the ultimate "dying to self" experience I could imagine, sigh, :/

So, what's on your "end-of-summer-list" and are you making progress?

 

 

We Go To Africa!

Welcome to Rock The Desert!! In 2007, our lives were turned upside down as we realized that the next season of life would include forsaking pride, professions & possessions and leading short-term mission trips to Africa! Click on WE GO TO AFRICA! in the side bar to read about our expeditions then JOIN US on our next mission trip to Africa!!

Desperation Matters

Yesterday was Sunday. @daninreallife was out of town, speaking at a men's retreat in Prescott. I was supposed to play keys in the worship band at Harvest. Then I halfway planned to have lunch with friends. Then I imagined we'd hang out with Joshua and Alyssa at some point. Then I'd make dinner for everyone after @daninreallife returned home. Well, as you can probably guess, things didn't turn out the way I planned (do they ever?)

Steven, my 16 yr old son, was involved in a serious car accident Saturday night on his way home from work. He walked away from it shaken up but without a scratch or bruise. Too many details to share here, but just believe me when I say I was equally shaken up when I drove up to the scene - pouring down rain, fierce wind, flashing lights, traffic backed way up, fire truck, ambulance, 4 highway patrol cars. One of the officers said Steven was lucky to be alive. The car was towed away to an impound yard 'til our insurance company can give it a once-over. I tried to empty it out a little bit while it was still on the side of the road before it was towed, but I could only grab a few things before it went away. Last night Steven realized he left a textbook in the car. That meant I'd have the not-so-great job of finding the impound yard and having to see the damaged car up close. My oldest son, Michael, drove me there. I took one look at the car and it nearly took my breath away - Steven isn't lucky to be alive - Steven is alive for no reason except for grace, God's life-giving grace!

As you can imagine, I didn't get much sleep on Saturday night. I slept fully clothed with all the lights in the house on. I spent every waking minute praying through the horror and praising God for His grace and goodness and kindness and mercy. By daybreak, I was completely spent, but also completely at peace. I found myself wanting and actually desperately needing to express my thankfulness to God in a tangible way. I decided to attend an evening church service at a church I don't normally attend. I couldn't wait to lift my hands and voice with complete abandon and joy and gratefulness and love and, well, I've gotta say the band delivered on some powerful praise and worship [... **Our God Is Greater (if you haven't heard this song, buy it now, put it on "repeat" and sing it at top volume until you are hoarse or until you really believe it and can't forget it), How Great Thou Art, I'll Stand...]. My heart was right and open and vulnerable and teachable and praising and giving and receiving. And the Holy Spirit, my Comforter and companion all night long, had softened my heart, convicted me, renewed my hope. He drew me in closely, intimately and I lifted up my humble offering of worship freely so that God would be glorified and magnified and exalted.

Hmmmm, isn't that the way it could always be? You know, if I lived my everyday life in the raw tension of desperation and expectation? Desperation matters. It really does. It sends me to my knees. It forces my eyes upward instead of inward. It keeps me broken, diffuses my haughtiness, reminds me to be kind and gentle. Desperation leads to utter dependence on God. It leads to a relationship worth living for. It leads to a relationship worth dying to self for.

Desperation matters to me. Does it matter to you?

**Our God Is Greater lyrics click HERE

My Tag-a-long Vacation

I've been on vacation this week - a "tag-a-long" vacation. You know, the kind where your friend emails you kind of last-minute and invites you to go (tag-a-long) with their family on vacation and you don't have any good reason to say "um, no, awkward, I just couldn't" and your husband says "go ahead" and your teenage son says "great idea" and your daughter says "have fun" and all of a sudden you're in the backseat of a van, heading west, wishing you had brought a harmonica to liven up the ride!

Seriously, my good friend Pam invited me to go to Big Bear Lake with her family for 5 days of rest and relaxation so I truly didn't hesitate for more than 10 seconds before I found myself getting really excited about the possibility of reading a few books all the way through with no interruptions and sleeping in and napping and boating and fishing and hiking and biking. Actually, Pam and I didn't do any biking. I believe we were napping. Or reading. Or reading 'til we fell into a deep and fabulous nap.

And as far as fishing goes, I never really used a fishing pole or touched a hook or worm (unless you count the split second of horror I had when the worm on Ryan's hook slimed my leg as he was getting ready to toss the line back in the water) but I did spend a few hours in the rented fishing boat observing the fish which were jumping in and out of the water but totally ignoring the big juicy worms on the end of Jeff & Ryan's hooks.

Boating is incredibly relaxing. Just being a passenger is fun and speeding back to the dock is great fun but sometimes it makes you yawn!

On our way out of town we headed to Forest Falls for a quick hike up to the highest waterfall in Southern California - Big Falls. All in all, I had a fantastic time of deep rest. Really. It was deep. And I didn't realize how much I needed it. It was truly divine and delicious and I'm grateful for the love and kindness of friends who allowed me to tag-a-long!

 

Bittersweet Giveaway Aug 18 - 23

Welcome to Rock The Desert! Today is the BIG DAY! I'm truly excited to be giving away a signed copy of "Bittersweet" by Shauna Niequist and an 8-piece box of handmade chocolate truffles from Jessica Foster Confections to one lucky reader: Heidi - hooray! Heidi wrote via Facebook, "Ask any kid that I've had in class and they'll tell you what makes me "spark into wild color"...is telling stories! I use the experiences that God has allowed me to go through in order to "finish the work He's started in me," and when I do I feel like I'm doing the right thing, in the right place, at the right time. I am a performer by nature, and I love to entertain, so when I can combine the talents God's given me, a captive audience, and a way to communicate the fire I have for Christ, it's the only time I am completely content. My not-so-secret dream is to be paid to tell stories, like Jeanne Robertson (I love her!!!!). Makes me sigh, just to think of it...."

Congratulations Heidi! I will be emailing you shortly to notify you that you've won and to get your mailing address! Your signed copy of Bittersweet should be on its way this week - in the meantime, I need you to peruse the delectable truffles at Jessica Foster Confections and select the 8-piece box of your dreams!!

Bittersweet Giveaway Hooray!

We're in business people - the Bittersweet Giveaway has officially kicked off today - hooray! The prize is sweet and simple: A signed (by Shauna) copy of "Bittersweet" AND an amazing 8-piece box of handmade Jessica Foster Confections.

This post has 3 sections - please read each section thoroughly before proceeding to the next section.

Section 1: Bittersweet Review

Bittersweet is a brilliantly penned, painfully beautiful glimpse into Shauna Niequist’s personal journey through a bittersweet season of life. I purposely slowed down to read this book, taking time to savor the words on the page, willing myself to remember the poignant moments she shares with great candor, at times laugh-out-loud humor, and surprising vulnerability. I appreciate her willingness to share personal experiences, both bitter and sweet and the way she masterfully weaves in faith, hope and grace for the moment and for the season. I’m not sure why Shauna’s writing resonates so deeply within me - by the end of the book (which ended too soon) I felt like I had been on a sacred pilgrimage alongside Shauna, through the ups and downs, the joys and sorrows, the bitter and the sweet, and I felt her words, metaphors, and stories resonate with my own life experiences deeply and personally, leaving me with new truths to ponder and  new grace to live in. If I had to choose a favorite chapter, it would be an entirely new chapter made up of favorite quotes from every chapter!

Section 2: Bittersweet Excerpt - just one more tiny little taste!

From the chapter titled Love Song For Fall. "...Fall is harvest, when we're getting all the good stuff that someone took the time to plant many months ago. Someone planted it, and now we benefit from it. And that's how it is when we make art. We struggle and push and plant seeds deep underground, and it doesn't look like much for a while. But then someone comes along and listens to your song or sees your painting or reads your poem, and they feel alive again, like the world is fresh and bursting, just like harvest. Plant something today that will feed someone many months or many years from now. Plant something today, because you've feasted on someone else's carefully planted seeds, seeds that bloomed into nourishment and kept you alive and wide-eyed. Use what you have, use what the world gives you. Use the first day of fall: bright flame before winter's deadness; harvest; orange, gold, amber; cool nights and the smell of fire. Our tree-lined streets are set ablaze, our kitchens filled with the smells of nostalgia: apples bubbling into sauce, roasting squash, cinnamon, nutmeg, cider, warmth itself. The leaves as they spark into wild color just before they die are the world's oldest performance art, and everything we see is celebrating one last violently hued hurrah before the black and white and silence of winter. Fall is begging for us to dance and sing and write with just the same drama and blaze..."

Section 3: Bittersweet Giveaway - pay attention, here come the details!

a) Answer the following question by leaving a comment on this blog or on Facebook: "What is one thing you believe you can "plant" or create or do or be? It can be something you're not currently doing but secretly dream of doing one day. The one thing that makes you come alive and "spark into wild color." If you can't think of anything, just say Zumba. We'll all understand!

b) Feel free to Twitter about this giveaway - if you do, DM me and I'll make sure your name goes in 2 more times (@berryman)

c) Last comment will be accepted at 9:00PM PST on August 23. I will announce the winner on August 24. "Bittersweet" and Jessica Foster Confections will be mailed to the winner!

d) The not-so-fine-print: I did not purchase the copy of "Bittersweet" to be given away - it is being provided by Zondervan for this giveaway in exchange for my unbiased review of the book. However, I love Jessica Foster Confections and will be providing that portion of the giveaway!

Bittersweet Giveaway Tomorrow!

I'm starting to get really excited about the Bittersweet (by Shauna Niequist) Giveaway that begins tomorrow (August 18) on this very blog. I do believe that it is my first giveaway. I've entered plenty of giveaways (mostly at The Pioneer Woman) and have not even come close to winning. I have a feeling that I won't have 27,854 comments/entries like PW does. I'm thinking we'll be in the "under 20,000 entries" range. So, if you're shy about trying for the prize, don't be - the winner of a signed copy of Bittersweet along with a box of handmade truffles from Jessica Foster Confections truly could be you!

Today's excerpt from Bittersweet is from the chapter titled Things I Don't Do. I thought I'd give you just a taste of things that Shauna does do - I'm skipping around a bit, don't want to blurt out the entire list. I'm inspired to make my own list after reading through hers. Much more helpful to me than the list of Things I Do - that list used to be sort of out of control, is getting better, but I really want to challenge you and me to make our own list of "Things I Don't Do!"

"...above all else, I try to keep my faith in Christ at the very center of my life, the heart and source of everything. I trust God's voice as my guide and Christ as my comforter. I pray, Practice confession and forgiveness, and I seek to see the world through the eyes of its Creator, believing everything can be redeemed. I'm a part of my church community, volunteering on its behalf, and working to make a better city and a better world because of our church community...I work hard to become a better writer with each page. I want to tell the truth as best I can, to tell the story of God and who he is and what he does, both through the way I write and the way I live...I live in daily, honest, intimate community with a small group of people. I give my time and energy and prayer to my immediate family and close friends. To a slightly wider circle of people, I give them my love and friendship through intermittent emails and very occasional visits..."

Come back tomorrow for the Bittersweet Giveaway - hope you win!

Bittersweet Giveaway This Week!

Let me just tell you some really good news - this could be your lucky week - really, it could be so great if you were to: 1) read my official, *starred*, succinctly-written, un-biased review of Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist, to be posted on Wednesday, August 18 AND if, after reading the review, you were to, say; 2) LEAVE A COMMENT on my blog (I will, of course, post a must-answer-question); 3) IF, after leaving a comment, your name were to be selected by some random method (tbd), you might just be the lucky recipient of: a) A signed (by Shauna, not me) copy of Bittersweet; and b) A box of Jessica Foster Confections, which are handmade in Santa Barbara, CA...mmm, divineness in a box!

Here's an excerpt from Bittersweet - I'll post another excerpt tomorrow (Tuesday) then come back Wednesday to leave a comment and we'll just see who wins this scrumptious prize! (P.S., giveway will run from Aug 18 - Aug 23, winner announced on Aug 24!)

From the chapter titled Ravenous "...I'd like to host a dinner party every other day. I think life is delicious, and I want to gobble it up in big bites, eating, drinking, reading, talking, traveling - everything. I want everything. I'm hungry for everything, all the time. Bookstores make me ravenous, as do city streets and airports and glossy fashion magazines. So much to see, taste, touch, try, do. I can feel myself come to life, eyes open, taking everything in, fingers running over textures, ears pricked for sounds. I feel like life is so genuinely interesting, that there's so much to be tasted and tried and discovered.

I love it when a day's activities stack up on top of each other perfectly, from breakfast to work to lunch to grocery shopping to coffee, all the way through till I fall into bed. I love days when you're always leaving something early to arrive just a touch late at the next place, like pearls on a string or Tarzan swinging on vines, feet never touching the ground.

Or really, I love the idea of that way of living, so I sign myself up for it every change I get. And then I realize in the moment that it isn't what I wanted at all. After a while, I'm frantic and tired and not really listening when people are talking. I'm frazzled and frustrated that Henry doesn't want to get in the car again, but of course he doesn't. Why would he want to get dragged around on the crazy whirlwind that I think will keep me happy? I've been around this block a thousand times. I'm ravenous, and life looks to me so sparkly and beautiful, waiting to be devoured like a perfect apple. So I say yes, yes to everything, to that meal and that event and that trip and that person. It's so delicious, and I don't want to miss out on even one moment of it. And that's the point; I miss all sort of sacred and significant moments, because of my frantic insistence that I can do it all, and that I don't have to miss anything..."

Last of Summer

I just finished reading "The Kitchen Sink" on Shauna Niequist's excellent blog.  She is one of my favorite authors (Cold Tangerines & **Bittersweet) and I always look forward to her blog posts showing up in my Google Reader. Shauna meanders through several topics (thus the title) before landing on this question: What’s on your “must-do-before-summer’s-over” list?

Honestly, I hadn't really thought much about this list - living in Phoenix, we just pray to stay hydrated and air-conditioned for another day during the long, nearly unbearable summer. However, I can appreciate the question and it really made me pause to think through things I'd like to accomplish over the next two months as summer slowly, but surely, starts to dissipate, leaving us with an incredible fall, winter and spring.

I came up with 7 items for my list. I'm sure there's many more, but I don't want to think that hard today.

1. I got my hair cut last week for the first time since December. Ashley (Mood Swings Salon) took the time to twist my hair into manageable curls before popping me under the hair dryer. I am beginning to understand why my grandma went to the beauty parlor every Friday to get her hair set for the week. That concept really needs to come back in to vogue. I am lame-o when it comes to dealing with hair and makeup. So, I really need to commit to taking the time to: a) look in the mirror daily; b) care about the reflection in the mirror; and c) do something about the reflection in the mirror. I'm talking about regular and competent use of hair products, face serums, tweezers, and lip gloss, along with dangly earrings du jour and possibly even lotion on my elbows, knees and feet. I know, I know, you probably won't recognize me.
2. I'd like to finally pick out a new pair of glasses, not because mine are 12 years old, so out of style that they're nearly back in style, and the lenses are so scratched that I have to peer out of the top or bottom 1/4 of the lenses in order to really see well. I want new glasses because these practical, functional, brown, every-day-all-season specs don't reflect my personality or passions in life. So, with the help of a committee, I have been trying on every pair of frames at 2 different Costco's and 1 Eyemasters, trying to find the perfect one. I think we're finally closing in on one.
3. I'd like to make a perfect pie crust. Perfectly flaky. Perfectly brown. Perfectly buttery and salty. Perfectly scrumptious. Perfectly able to support the chocolate cream filling, the banana cream filling, the fresh blueberry filling, the caramel apple filling, the pecan and even pumpkin filling. I made a crust just yesterday with an obscene amount of tiny cubes of frozen butter in it, the iciest ice water, flour, salt and sugar, rolled it out, baked it, pulled it out of the oven and was so disappointed that it tasted like an over-cooked flour tortilla. Do I really need to take a class to learn how to do this?
4. Hike up Piestewa Peak. I truly hate hiking. My legs are too short for the tall steps. I feel like I need a pair of ski poles to help me up. But I've heard there's an easy, gradual trail somewhere off the way back parking lot. So, I'm considering it. Could someone please tell me why they hike in the first place?
5. Go to a Zumba class. I am a klutz. I don't know the first thing about Latin dancing. I hate to sweat in a room full of non-sweat-ers who've been dancing with fluidity and ease since childhood. I will no doubt be stepping on toes, smacking people in the back with my uncoordinated elbows, and tripping over my own feet. I think I'll start with a Zumba video at home.
6. Finish up the children's songs I'm writing for my sister's kindergarten class. I've got two done, now working on counting to 30, the shapes, and the colors. Must buckle down and get them recorded before school starts. This actually should be #1 on my list.
7. Read The Making Of A Chef by Michael Ruhlman. Read Day After Night by Anita Diamant.

So, how about you, what’s on your “must-do-before-summer’s-over” list?

**P.S., I will be doing my first-ever giveaway next Wednesday (Aug 18) here on Rock The Desert. Theme is "Bittersweet." Will include a signed copy of "Bittersweet" and some bittersweet treats!

The Lodge Facelift

I am not an interior designer by any stretch of the imagination. My idea of decorating is to leave it to the professionals, i.e., my mom, my mother-in-law, my daughter, whoever stops by with a helpful suggestion. I know what I like and most importantly, what I don't like, and within reason, I'm relatively easy to please, especially if I'm not the one figuring it all out. Let me define easy to please: I like retro everything, meaning colors, style, everything. I love orange, amber, avocado green, aqua, brown, etc. I love anything that looks like it could have come straight out of the Brady Bunch house, Frank & Marie Barone's house (the parents on Everybody Loves Raymond) or the house you grew up in if you were born in 1965 like I was. With all this in mind, my creative and talented daughter decided to surprise us with a master bedroom "re-mix" while Dan and I were in Burundi last month. She conspired with her two California grandmas and came up with this beautiful design and implemented it at a feverish pace while we were gone!

The walls used to be 1970's brown paneling, and while I do love that 1970's look, paneling is the one thing I have to say "no way" to unless it's on a station wagon! The floor is still painted green with glue marks from previous hideous carpet, but you hardly notice it with the great oriental rug Alyssa had stored in her garage (gift from a friend who moved). They hung our wedding photos which have been languishing in the shameful stack of Un-hung Things for at least 5 years. They created the illusion of a headboard with the frame of a mirror that broke during our recent move (4 yrs ago). They got rid of the blanket hanging over the arcadia doors and the unsightly blind over the window. They shoved our old comforter into a new duvet and casually draped an orange throw on the bed. They disguised the giant, kelly green toolbox as a keyboard stand. They created a sitting area with a little white bench made by my dad and the orange armchair I bought for Michael's room originally. All I had to do when I got home was finish dealing with my keyboard mess (3 keyboards don't fit into most decorating schemes) and then relax in my comfy orange chair! Overall, they accomplished an amazing transformation in 3 days for under $150. Dan and I absolutely love it!

 

Kento

I'm not sure why, but we said "yes" to hosting a Japanese exchange student for 10 days. It turned out to be an incredible blessing for our family to get to know Kento! He spent every morning in ESL classes with 26 other Japanese students. Afternoons were filled with various activities in and around Phoenix. They had a tour of the MIM (Musical Instrument Museum), a very wet & wild time at Sunsplash, a fabulous, pizza-filled evening at Organ Stop Pizza, an overnight trip to the Grand Canyon, and tours of 2 local universities.

We took Kento rock-climbing at AZ On The Rocks, took him swimming, fed him til he couldn't eat another grain of rice, and generally incorporated him into all our family craziness. I found myself putting 23 years of practice being a mom into good use. Only this time around, all cylinders were firing and I was on-time or even early for drop-off and pick-up, I kept an updated schedule on the white board on the refrigerator, I cooked breakfast AND dinner daily, and most importantly, I enjoyed the experience immensely. When we dropped Kento off at 4:30am today for his departure back to Japan, I was overwhelmed with an intense desire to: a) visit Japan; b) adopt a 15 yr old; c) travel back in time and re-parent my kids with confidence and 23 yrs experience; d) go back to bed and rest my 45 yr old brain and body til a proper hour like 9am. Guess which one I immediately did?!?!?

45

45 is a new number for me to think about - I never thought much about 44, but 45 has great significance in that I'm now only 5 years from 50! At 45, I'm quite possibly halfway through living the one and only life I've been given, assuming I live to be 90! Over the last 5 years I've had lots of time to think and reflect and somewhat obsess over my mistakes of the past (no small feat) and I'm feeling more ready than ever to move forward, not looking back, pressing on faithfully, fearlessly, and with great joy! I can't really explain it, but it's like I've suddenly emerged from this deep, dark, long, cobwebby, tunnel, the kind bad dreams are made of. And the world around me is brimming with life and light and beauty and fun and yet-to-be-discovered creative expressions of music and art and culinary delights and, well, I could go on and on because it's like I've been set free. Literally. I can't put my finger on any one catalyst for this out-of-prison experience, but I do know that prayer, intense Bible reading, believing and acting on the Word, faithfully serving in spite of exhaustion, and times of incredible fellowship, unconditional love and worshipping with family and friends have all contributed to this overwhelming. I sense that I've been given a second chance to walk by the Spirit, walk in the light, walk by faith, walk in the truth, walk humbly, walk worthy of the calling of Christ, walk wisely, walk joyfully, walk in righteousness, simply walk with God. I find myself doing crazy things like baking pies and cookies, making breakfast for the fam, shopping with Alyssa, writing children's songs and stories, researching marathons, looking at bicycles longingly, reading recipes for Christmas cut-out cookies while listening to music on iTunes. 45 is feeling like the dawning of a strange, new, wonderful era. I'm ready. I'm walking, though not too fast because I think I can see 46 on the not-too-distant horizon and I want 45 to last as long as possible!

Psalm 145

Letters and Numbers from Karusi

There's really so much more to say, the memories are richer every day that we are not in Burundi - we realize over and over that God did a miraculous work in Karusi and we were so blessed to witness His power and Spirit in that place, transforming people's lives for eternity! We received a couple of letters from team members after we returned home. Thought I'd conclude with excerpts, few more photos, and the "numbers."

From Calvin

 ... The overwhelming "YES" responses we received is something I will never forget! God sent those who have never known the Lord, the totally uneducated farmer and herdsmen to the down trodden who spent much of their day and nights in sin drinking banana wine to drunkenness or worshiping idles to converting a Muslim to accept Jesus Christ.  Auzelio and I were rewarded with over 295 in the province of Karuzi who accepted the LORD as we planted a church before we departed. 

I returned on June 24th to the USA more humbled and blessed by this new chapter in my life in knowing GOD's disciples are present with so many around the world who love the LORD so much!  I am "on fire for the LORD" ...

From Ray and Mary...

...God blessed our efforts there and we were able to share our personal testimonies and the Gospel of Jesus Christ with over 4,040 people in that remote and primitive province in Burundi.  There were 2,002 people that prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior and our 8 teams started 8 new churches which are now meeting each Sunday with a newly trained pastor for each church.  Additionally, 1,188 of the new believers were discipled in their newly found faith.

The new churches will be supported by the original 8 churches who will help the new churches become self sustaining, viable churches as they move forward and disciple the new believers and followers of Jesus Christ.  Karuzi is the poorest province in Burundi (Burundi is the third poorest country in the world) and there are many needs.  Many of the children were dressed in dirty, rotten torn rags that would fall apart if you tried to wash them.  They were also infected with malaria and various skin diseases, as well as suffering from malnutrition...We are thankful to be able to serve the people in Karuzi, and we are especially thankful to be able to bring them genuine hope through Jesus Christ...

I sent this letter out when we returned to Bujumbura from Karusi...

We are back in Bujumbura, Burundi after spending 5 wonderfully challenging days of ministry in Karusi, Burundi. We encountered profound physical and spiritual poverty. 50% of our luggage didn’t arrive (Dan wore the same pair of pants for 12 days). The accommodations were, well, primitive. But, we can honestly say that Karusi, by God’s mercy and grace, will never be the same again! We literally saw darkness turn to light as people were set free from the bondage of sin, demonic strongholds, religious misconceptions, spiritual hopelessness and despair!

Our team consisted of 8 North Americans, 6 translators, 4 e3 Committee members and 8 TCCP pastors. 27 ordinary people committed to God’s extraordinary work in Burundi! We were astounded and blessed by the “numbers” – our challenges seemed insignificant when compared to:  

4047 Gospel Presentations, 2002 Professions of Faith in Christ, and 1188 New Believers Discipled!

We are so thankful for your faithful prayers – may God richly bless you for your prayer and financial partnership – you have made a difference in our lives and in the lives of 1000’s of Burundians who were walking in darkness and are now walking in the light! 

Christ Is All,

Dan and Marina (Team Berryman) 

 

Winding Down to Revenge

 
 
On the way back from Mugaruro, our bus driver, Manuel, invited us to his home to meet his family. Of course we accepted his invitation! He was one of our drivers last year. If we end up going out to dinner at night, we will keep a driver with us and then he will join us for dinner. So, last year, we went to the Ubuntu Residence for pizza (of course) and Manuel was our designated driver. Since he only speaks Kirundi, he sat next to Herve who ended up sharing the Gospel with him. By the time dinner was over, Manuel had prayed to receive Christ! We’ve had him as a driver several times since then. I hadn’t ever heard his testimony, so I asked him to share it with all of us. He said that when he became a Christian, it completely changed his life. He went home and told his wife – she was overjoyed because she was already saved. He said that his life is very different now. He goes straight home from work every day, instead of detouring to the bar. He doesn’t chase other women.

He now has money to buy food for the family and beautiful clothes for his wife. He lives in a walled compound in a modest, two-room home with his wife and three children. The main room had a small sofa, 4 wooden chairs, a coffee table, and a color TV! The kitchen was outdoors. We didn’t see inside the bedroom. Manuel told Dan that he wanted to give us one of his children – he asked his 4 yr old daughter if she wanted to move to America – she shook her head no and looked about as terrified as I felt! It really was an honor to be invited into their home. Manuel even bought us a round of Coca Colas! We prayed a blessing over him and his family before we left.

Saturday was our official rest day. I had picked up an annoying virus from all the coughing, sneezing, congested kids in every place that I had been. I spent the day napping, sneezing, blowing my nose, reading and packing. We decided to have a farewell dinner at a beautiful resort along the lake. The restaurant is outdoors and the breeze coming off the lake combined with the sound of the giant waves nearly lulled us all to sleep. The grilled fish was out-of-this-world good.  Along with a cold Coca-Cola, it was the perfect way to celebrate our trip!

On Sunday we attended church at New Life Church. Pastor Jeremie is the executive pastor. He and his wife Jeanne visited us in Arizona in January. They stayed for 4 days and we felt very blessed to be able to host them in our home. They had a great time in Arizona and Jeremie paraphrased a famous quote by Idi Amin, saying, “when you come to my country I will get my revenge on you” for your hospitality.”

Well, they have a lovely home and hosted us for Sunday lunch. Jeanne served fried fish, fried bananas, sliced onions marinated in lemon juice, rice, and sweet bananas for dessert. We ate on the front patio and savored every minute of the “revenge!”

Friday in Mugaruro

Dan had a full day of church follow-up planned on Friday. Two years ago, Dan and Charlotte (she’s from Florida and was part of our team) planted a church in a place called Mugaruro. Charlotte was deeply impacted by the experience and returned to America knowing that she couldn’t go back to life as usual. She was able to return to Burundi with us a year later. She and Dan visited their church plant and were encouraged to see that the church was growing and God seemed to be blessing the people who were part of the church. Charlotte continued to be in contact with the pastor of the church and Pastor Manasseh from the “mother church”. She finally knew that God was calling her to do something more than visit Mugaruro once a year – after a lot of prayer, she took the ultimate plunge and moved to Burundi in June of this year. She had only been in town for about 3 weeks when we got there. It was so great to see her and to know that she’s completely living and working by faith in this crazy endeavor. She found out that around 7,000 people live in this village. Approximately 200 people attend the church that she and Dan planted. The church now owns a small piece of land and has built a wonderful church.

Charlotte is determined to share the Gospel through prayer, words and deeds until all 7,000 people are a part of the faith community there! She and her translator, Ildephonse, have begun 2 Bible studies which meet every Saturday. She brings food and water to the church twice per week and spends time talking to people, praying for them and with them, encouraging them, ministering to the kids, and just trying to live out the Gospel of love. She is an amazing young woman with a huge vision of how God could redeem an entire community!!

We spent 2-1/2 hours doing person to person evangelism in Mugaruro. The team was pretty small – Dan and I, Ken and Sharlene, Charlotte, 2 translators (Ildephonse & Frank), Pastor Manasseh and eight men from his church. When we met back at the church for the discipleship meeting, the church was completely packed with kids and adults. Charlotte had witnessed to a group of men in a bar. They all wanted to pray to receive Christ but didn’t feel right about praying in a bar – they all followed her to the church and sat in the front row. When Dan asked who wanted to come up front to pray for salvation, these guys all stood up and came to the front to pray. It was amazing!

After the discipleship time, we went outside the church and had a good old fashioned "drug-burning" ceremony. One of the new Christians had pockets full of drugs - I wasn't sure what kind of drugs, just looked like piles of straw and weeds to me. Pray for the new Christians in this church, that their faith would grow strong, that they would be committed to studying the Bible and gathering for worship, that they would join Pastor Manasseh, Charlotte and the other Christians in the church in sharing Gospel and be blessed as they watch it powerfully impact the lives of all who live in Mugaruro!

 

Hippos and Pizza

On Thursday afternoon we headed to the Ruzizi River to look for hippos! Now, I am not really a hippo-type of person, but it's always fun to watch everyone else who is! I grew up practically in the backyard of the San Diego Wild Animal Park and went there a million times growing up. And I never became a huge fan of wild animals. (Or non-wild animals). But I really loved the park itself. Crazy, I know.

There was a garrison of soldiers stationed at the bridge (Congo is not too far from here). One of them happily accompanied us down to the river banks, armed with his AK47. He pointed toward a big island in the river. We watched as the island suddenly broke apart and became a bunch of swimming and floating hippos. Quite a sight to see. I have heard that hippos can run 40 miles per hour and I’m pretty sure that I can run about 1 mile per hour, probably a little faster if there’s a hippo chasing me, so I kept inching away from the shore, hoping I wouldn’t back into a sneaky crocodile in the bush. When everyone had their fill of hippo thrills, we paid our guide, piled back into the van and headed to dinner. 

The Ubuntu Residence serves our favorite pizza in the world. It’s a wood-fired, thin-crust, with delicious cheese, organic veggies and salami. It’s absolutely divine. And the setting is beautiful and relaxing. Except for the mosquitoes. The restaurant grounds are green and lush. Our table was under a giant coconut tree. There were crown cranes roaming around. Lake Tanganyika was just beyond the stucco wall around the property. So beautiful and almost un-real to be sitting in Bujumbura, eating pizza, drinking Fanta, watching the sunset, occasionally shining your mag lite into the waves, hoping to spot hippos.

Lunch at New Life Church

On Thursday morning, part of our team departed for the USA.  Calvin had to get back to work. Ray and Mary had to re-group and re-pack for their "E3/I Am Second" expedition the next week to Bolivia! The rest of us had a free day, but it wasn’t exactly a day off. We had the opportunity to go to New Life Church in downtown Bujumbura and minister to a group of widows and orphans who live on the streets.

 

This is a ministry that takes place every Tuesday and Thursday. Herve, one of the e3 Burundi Committee members, heads up this ministry. He usually shares the Gospel with these ladies, then helps to feed them lunch. Since Herve had to stay behind in Karusi for an extra day, we had the privilege of taking his place at New Life. We used the Proclaimer to play several chapters out of Luke.

 

Then Sharlene headed up a Q&A session about what they heard. We each shared a short Bible message.

 

Then lunch was served. They served the food in big, flat bowls. Everyone dipped their hands in a bucket of clean water then sat and ate the food without utensils. Ken and Sharlene were able to get a few photos of the food while  I wandered over to the outdoor kitchen and captured a quick little video with my Kodak. It’s amazing what they can do with a cooking fire, a couple of big pots and pans, some rice, beans, and little tiny fish.

 

The Kitchen from marina berryman on Vimeo.

We talked to one woman who told us she is not saved. She said she was a concubine, which evidently means “living together” in Burundi. They just couldn’t ever afford to get married. Anyway, she had a baby with her, probably under age 1. The baby had a soft, off-white, knitted cap on (in the photo above, you can see her and her baby right in the middle of the pic). It’s pretty unusual to see a baby with a cap on in Burundi. The climate is a consistent 85 degrees year round, even during the rainy seasons. That’s why it’s so lush and green. So, the woman was asking us to pray for her baby. She pulled the cap back just enough so we could see a giant, unhealed head wound. Like there had been a major head trauma that hadn’t recovered. She told us that she and her “husband” had been fighting; it turned violent and physical. He grabbed a knife and was trying to kill her. Then he threw the knife at her. She ducked down to avoid being hit with the knife. The knife went past her and right into the baby’s head. She had taken the baby to the hospital and they had treated the wound, but it wasn’t healing properly and they couldn’t seem to do anything about it. So, we prayed that God would heal the baby’s head. And we prayed that the woman would come to realize her need for salvation. I wish I could go right back there and talk to this woman. There is never enough time. And sometimes, by the time you understand the situation, the opportunity is lost.

Perspective

 

After Karusi, we went back to Bujumbura, picked up the missing / now-found luggage and went back to the King’s Hotel. When we walked into our rooms, it was like we had arrived at the Ritz Carlton.

 

 

The rooms seemed luxurious beyond belief! I took a shower and washed my hair. Twice! The rinse water = uugggh!! Dan finally put on clean clothes. We had a wonderful dinner with the team at the hotel restaurant. Fresh fish from Lake Tanganyika, covered in a spectacular sauce, rice, french fried potatoes. We also ordered avocado salad with tomatoes and onions. It was divine. We slept soundly under our mosquito net, in a king-size bed with clean white sheets, while the A/C cooled off the room all night. Perspective is everything when you’re in Burundi!

 

 

While I was definitely grossed out by my dirty hair (nearly dreadlocks), none of the villagers noticed it because they don’t have running water at all and clean, shiny, hair with all the right product in it just isn’t a priority. They just have as much water as they can carry back to their homes from their water source (sometimes a community spigot, sometimes a river, lake, pond, spring or puddle). They’ve never even imagined the luxury of a nice, long, hot shower. They usually have just 2 sets of clothing. One for everyday/working and the other for church.

 

 

They wear their clothes until they are literally rotting, threadbare, ripped to shreds, no elastic left in waistbands, missing sleeves, broken zippers, dirty, and way past what we would think is unwearable. Clothes are a necessity of life to protect you from the elements. I never saw a bedroom or even a bed in any of the homes I entered. They usually roll out woven mats to sleep on. Sometimes they have a thin piece of foam under the mat. Never saw a pillow or a blanket.

 

 

Their diet is simple – rice and beans are the staples. All else is a bonus – we saw a few people gnawing on sugar cane. Saw a few kids nibbling on a small boiled potato for lunch. Once in a while I saw someone eating a small ear of corn. That’s about it. Yet, it seems to be enough to sustain them for life and work. Makes me feel overfed, underworked, and shamefully discontent.

 

Cooking Over Fire in Karusi

The hotel staff did their best to accommodate our big group. It must be incredibly difficult to cook meals over an open fire for a large group of people – it was pre-daybreak when they started making breakfast and dark when they finished washing the last dish after dinner.

 

 Ken and Sharlene got a picture of the kitchen…

 And the plate prep area…

 And the dishwashing area!

On our final morning, Dan and I gathered the staff together for pictures and to give them a small gratuity - you would have thought we gave them a million bucks  - some of the guys went crazy, turning cartwheels, dancing, jumping in the air, posing for silly photos.

 

Our translators quickly built a rapport with the staff and ended up sharing the Gospel with most of them. I started noticing the dining room staff was joining us for our team meetings, devotionals, prayer and worship times. Several of them prayed to receive Christ as Savior. We gave Bibles to all who needed one. On the day we left, the lead dining room gal (far right in the photo) saw me in the hallway, pressed her hand to her heart, raised her fingers to her lips then extended a kiss and a wave to me. I was extremely touched by this gesture. She agreed to attend the new church we planted near the hotel!!

Unscheduled Stops

On our next to last day, we were heading to Kigoma camp for our final day of evangelism, when a young man stopped Dan and tried to talk to him in English. We thought he was a Christian because it seemed like he was talking about evangelizing. Our translator told us he was saying that he wanted to be “evangelized.” So, Dan and Stanley shared the Gospel with him. A small crowd gathered, mostly young men. They all prayed to receive Christ! These “unscheduled” stops are a great reminder to always be looking for opportunities to share with people who desperately need to hear the Good News! We would have walked right past him if he hadn’t stopped us.

 

While Dan was talking to the group of guys, a few young kids came over to listen. One little girl got her bare foot stepped on by an older kid. She started screaming hysterically. There was a puddle of blood forming around her toes. The child who stepped on her foot picked her up and tried to carry her down the street. She was still crying and in a lot of pain. Finally, Prosper picked up the little girl and we walked down the road to find her mom. I gave her an anti-bacterial wipe and told her to wash the little girl’s foot with soap and water then to clean it really well with the wipe. She promised to do that. I noticed that she had a bar inside her home – I saw a table and some chairs, a couple of men were in there smoking and drinking some kind of brew. I told her that I wanted to talk to her later and she agreed that I could come back and talk to her.

 

The next morning, we stopped at the bar to visit the little girl and her mom. The mom’s name was Francine. The little girl was Aliese. She showed me her daughter’s “clean” feet – they definitely were cleaner! Francine listened to the Gospel presentation. I asked her if she wanted to pray to receive Christ. She paused, then started talking, going on and on animatedly, somewhat defensively, and kind of preached a sermon right back at us! She basically told us she couldn’t be saved because she owned a bar and that was how she supported her family. Then she pulled Pastor Domitien aside. They walked over to the side of the building and I could see them having an intense discussion. Pastor Domitien motioned for me to join them. He said she really wanted to be saved, but felt like God wouldn’t want to save her because she was unworthy. She owned a bar. She owned a bar was because she was too weak to do physical labor. She was too weak to do physical labor because she had five abortions. She really wanted to pray. She wasn’t sure how she would manage if she had to close down her bar. She wavered, longing to surrender, and in the end, her faith won out. She prayed to receive Christ! I prayed for physical healing for her and for supernatural intervention and provision for her and her family. When we left her, I was overwhelmed with an intense feeling of anger. Not at Francine. I was angry beyond words at the person or persons who performed 5 abortions on this frail mom, rendering her too physically weak to work. I hope and pray that Francine’s faith in God will grow strong and that she will learn that He is loving and trustworthy and gracious and merciful.

Too Many Orphans in Karusi

There were many orphans in Kigoma camp - too many. After the civil war, a lot of displaced orphans were rounded up and placed here at Kigoma camp because many NGO's have a presence in Karusi and now they might have a better chance of getting aid from a relief organization.

 

 
We met a 10 yr old boy named Obadiah. He carried our Bible around all day. He had such a sweet, shy smile. At the end of the last day, he followed us back to our hotel. Pastor Andrew asked him a lot of questions. His story is not unlike many other stories you hear in a country scarred by civil war, devastating poverty and disease. His mom had died when he was pretty young, leaving his dad to raise him and his younger brother. Two years ago, Obadiah went to school in the morning and when he returned he discovered that his dad had moved to Tanzania. So now Obadiah is the head of his household. He and his brother still live in the same house. Once in a while, one of the moms in the village will drop off some food for them to eat. He can’t go to school because he has no money for books or a uniform. He’s had to grow up in a hurry. He asked us why his dad would do that to them – to just give up on life and abandon them for a better life in a different country without them…I was speechless and devastated. Dan spoke to him for a little while, trying to encourage him. We prayed with him. The pastor promised us he would look after him. I was weeping by the time he left. We gave him a can of honey roasted peanuts and a big water bottle to share with his brother. Big deal. We fed him for a day. It was more than I could handle or even verbalize until right now. I would have brought him and his brother home with me if I could have.

 

 

You know, you go to Burundi, you see things and experience things that are difficult to adequately put into words. You dutifully take pictures, chronicle your encounters with people, their encounters with Christ, the new churches, the revival in the country. You spin it positively because, yes, it is positive, God is at work, Burundi is undergoing a spiritual transformation. But then you meet someone like Obadiah. And your heart breaks and cracks wide open, spilling your guts in the red, dusty road, leaving a trail of tears down your sweaty, tired face, and a haunting picture of a little boy who needs a family burning a hole inside of you. And you realize, again, that life isn’t fair, but God is a God of justice and love. God loves Obadiah. He knows him by name. He has created him for a purpose. He will strengthen him and uphold him and sustain him. He will be his Father. He will train him in righteousness. He will seal him until the day of redemption. Because Obadiah told us, with a huge smile, that he is saved. He knows Christ. He loves God. He has hope. And a future.

The Hotel in Karusi

When we arrived at our hotel in Karusi, we started assigning rooms and roommates. We had 27 people on the team who were ready to settle in to their rooms. 
Right away I noticed about 4 dozen chickens walking around innocently near the kitchen. Let’s just say that every day we had an omelet (w/hot-pink salami) for breakfast and grilled chicken (too tough for a knife to cut thru) for dinner each night. Oh, except for the night we had goat, aka, “the night I cried when I looked at my plate.” I couldn’t imagine eating a goat – on my first trip to Africa, I had never even seen a goat up close before – I thought the goats were just weird-looking African dogs.
The hotel was somewhat primitive. Dan informed me that it was brand new - in fact it was still under construction when Dan and Auzelio visited there in April! I guess materials and skilled labor are hard to come by in Burundi. There was a small Honda generator which provided power from sundown (about 6:30pm) to around 10:30pm or whenever the World Cup game was over. Surprisingly, they had a beautiful, new, flat screen TV in the dining room (higher priority than mosquito nets – we had to bring our own). 

 

The rooms were pretty tiny - just a bed, small table & chair, pegs on the wall. We were very grateful for indoor plumbing and running water, although the water supply was limited so everyone had to take short showers. There was only one valve in the shower – cold water – very cold. That cold water actually felt pretty good after a long day of walking around on dirt roads in the tropical sun. There was very little water pressure. Not enough for me to wash my hair for 5 days. Don’t even ask. Notice the bright turquoise hat in almost every photo of me. The toilets had thin, useless toilet seats. They cracked and broke into pieces as soon as you sat down.

 

Dan’s parents duct-taped theirs together and tried to tape it to the toilet bowl. The next day the hotel staff removed it completely and they had no seat at all. Just the bowl. Yippee!  Every day when we returned at the end of the day, we noticed small improvements to our rooms – by the end of the week we had a toilet paper holder on the wall, a curtain on the bathroom window and a mirror hanging above the sink. This was probably because Dan paid daily for the rooms – influx of cash = upgrades!

 

The hotel staff did their best to accommodate our big group. It must be incredibly difficult to cook meals over an open fire for a large group of people – it had to have been dark when they started making breakfast and dark when they finished washing the last dish after dinner. I never got a picture of the outdoor kitchen. I can only imagine…no electricity, no hot water, chickens running around everywhere! Our translators quickly built a rapport with the staff and ended up sharing the Gospel with most of them. I started noticing the dining room staff was joining us for our team meetings, devotionals, prayer and worship times. Several of them prayed to receive Christ as Savior. We gave Bibles to all who needed one. On the day we left, the lead dining room gal (far right in the photo) saw me in the hallway, pressed her hand to her heart, raised her fingers to her lips then extended a kiss and a wave to me. I was extremely touched by this gesture. She agreed to attend the new church we planted near the hotel.

Karusi, Burundi - "New" New Vision

Dan and I were assigned to an area called Kigoma in the province of Karusi, Burundi. There was lush vegetation all around. Lots of bananas growing, mangoes, beautiful plants and flowers. In the morning we'd go separate ways, but by the afternoon we'd run into each other randomly in the middle of the camp somewhere. People were always quick to bring us chairs to sit and rest. We must have looked tired. Or old. Or both...

Pastor Domitien and Pastor Andrew inside the church

We've worked with Pastor Domitien from New Vision Church many times. His church in Bujumbura has planted several churches since we began going to Burundi in January 2008. This particular "new" New Vision Church was strategically planted in a displaced persons (re-patriation) camp. Pastor Andrew is the new pastor in Kigoma. He is a kind and loving pastor and he knows and preaches the Word of God.

This camp was within walking distance of our hotel. We did some research and discovered that around 12,000 people live in this particular camp. The people who live in the camp were forced to flee Burundi because of civil war. When they finally returned many years later, they found that their homes/land were now occupied by other people. Thousands of people were in this predicament so the government was forced to respond by creating these camps where people were given a postage-stamp-size piece of land and allowed to build a home on it. They also rounded up all the displaced orphans and placed them here because many NGO's have a presence in Karusi and they'd have a better chance of getting aid from a relief organization. 

Dan and I spent 5 hours every day walking up and down the roads in the camp, sharing the Gospel with every person we encountered. Sometimes it was a single person, sometimes a group of friends and curious passersby, sometimes it was with an entire family. Between the two of us, we shared with at least 100 people daily.

Romans 10:14-15

"How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’ ”

Just back from Karusi, Burundi, Africa!!

(dinner at lakeside restaurant in Bujumbura) 

Dan and I returned 4 days ago from a wonderfully challenging e3 mission trip to Karusi, Burundi, Africa! This was my 12th mission trip to Africa since 2007. I'd have to say it was the best one yet! From the moment we landed in Bujumbura we knew that God was going to do a miraculous work in our lives and in the lives of the Burundi people.

(here's most of the team) 

Our team consisted of 8 North Americans, 7 translators, 4 e3 committee members and 8 TCCP pastors. It's always amazing to see how ordinary people, submitted to God's will and committed to God's work can be used in extraordinary ways to impact God's kingdom!

At the top of our prayer calendar, I felt led to include this verse from Colossians 4:2-3a, "Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the Word, to declare the mystery of Christ." I'm overjoyed to report that God answered that prayer in great abundance, as 4047 people heard a clear Gospel presentation, 2002 people professed faith in Christ, and 1168 people were discipled! We planted 8 new churches of various (Christian) denominations and many of these brand new believers became part of these new congregations!

(Guy in red shirt stopped Dan and asked him to share the Gospel with him) 

Did we hold huge, crusade-like revival meetings?? NO! Did we meet in churches, send out invitations and wait for the people to show up?? NO! How about billboards, advertisements, bullhorns and free t-shirts?? NO! We, by faith, went into the villages surrounding the new churches to be planted and went person to person, house to house, thru the banana plantations, up and down the mountain paths, willing to share the Good News with all who would hear it! We'd start to share with one person and soon we'd be surrounded by 10 to 30 people, listening intently as we used the Bible and the Evangecube to share the message of salvation thru Jesus Christ. There's no experience quite like it. Time seems to stand still as you find yourself actually preaching with clarity and conviction and all around you watch recognition dawn on people's faces, and you sense the power of the Word of God penetrating and convicting hearts of their need for a Savior...always - ALWAYS - every time - you realize you're watching a miraculous new birth take place. It can be quite overwhelming. And exhausting. And exhilarating. And humbling. Mostly humbling.

I've got a lot more stories to share. I'll try to post them all in the next week or so. Hope you'll check back often!!