I’m right now battling for the nation of Burundi through prayer. In July I’ll have the privilege of going there with my church. Below is the letter that I sent out via email to those who know me.
Hi Everyone!
All of you are connected to me somehow — family, friends, clients, colleagues…. you know who you are to me!
Most of you also know that I’ll be going to Burundi this summer, July 3-16th, for a missions trip with my church, Times Square Church. I’m writing asking for prayer and financial support.
Now I’ll give you some background about Burundi and why I want to go there. Burundi is a small country in central Africa that had been a colony of Belgium until 1962. For generations there had been prejudice, tension, resulting in multiple civil wars and even two genocides between the minority Tutsis and the majority Hutus. Because of this simmering rivalry, there sparked another genocide in the 1990’s which spilled over into other neighboring countries like Zaire and Rwanda. After the genocide subsided, a democratically elected president, Pierre Nkurunziza, began forming a government that is made up of both Hutus and Tootsis. Later this autumn the UN will remove it’s last remaining peacekeeping presence from the country; however, there are many people who hope to resume the violence once the UN pulls out. My church has been praying for Burundi since early 2006 and we believe that a supernatural intervention from God is the only thing that will put this violent rivalry away and allow the country to heal and to be restored.
We’ll be there for about ten days doing all sorts of missions work. I’m really excited! I’ll be on the Medical Team. There will be other teams going into the prisons, into hospitals, to visit orphans, and to minister to “street kids” (orphaned and homeless due to the genocide and/or AIDS). Simultaneously there will also be a pastors’ conference, a womens’ conference, and open air meetings telling those in attendance about the love of Christ. In fact, that’s really what this trip is all about — to convey the love of Christ to the people of Burundi through our words and acts of love. We go believing that supernatural forgiveness and healing are the only legitimate weapons against repeated bloodshed in the name of tribal and ethnic distrust.
After I graduated from college instead of going immediately to medical school, I went to Zaire (now called the Democratic Republic of Congo) for six months. I went to see if I really wanted to be a missionary someday and I decided that I did! I’ve been on other short-term trips before but going to Burundi will be the most awesome experience of my life so far. Just to have the opportunity to give some of what God has given me (love, forgiveness, and joy) will be tremendous. Burundi’s recent history of neighbor-against-neighbor violence has made forgiveness and hope elusive for individuals. Hopelessness, depression, despair, and even violence can seem more real than hope. But there is hope! In Jesus Christ there is hope for lasting forgiveness and restoration no matter what you’ve seen or done or how you’ve been victimized. I’m really excited about this! I do believe that this is a critical time for Burundi and for the world.
Please pray for:
1 - Burundi’s restoration,
2 - The unity and effectiveness of our team, and
3 - For me to do all that I am called to do
If you want to make a donation to defray my costs ($2450 due by May 15th, 2007), donations by check should be made out to Times Square Church with “Wendy G. Johnson–Burundi” in the memo, and sent to
Times Square Church
Attn: Missions Department
1657 Broadway, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10019
If you’d rather make a payment using your credit card, just email me for my missions account login and password.
For more information about Burundi go to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burundi
For more information about Times Square Church go to:
www.timessquarechurch.org
For more information about me go to my Blog (link Below). I’ll make posts to my Blog weekly in conjunction with our Kirundi language classes and general training sessions for Burundi.
Thanks for reading all the way to this point!
The LORD Bless You,
Wendy
