Rebecca writing tonight: We wanted to write a brief mid-week update to all of you, because we know that many of you have been praying for Burundi especially hard during this week of presidential elections. People woke up very fearful on Monday morning, election day. Rumors abounded about violence which would be planned to prevent voters from going to the polls. But things were quiet all morning. By 9 am, people in the polling stations were breathing a little easier every time a motorcycle drove by. (Lately, grenades have often been thrown by the passengers of motorcycle taxis).
By the middle of the day, we were getting reports that “people were voting in security” all over the country. There were no reports of significant violence. People were able to get to the polls and express themselves, as much as is possible in a one-man race. Turnout was much higher outside of Bujumbura than in the capital city. People in this urban area show a lot more diversity in their political affiliations; and also they have been living under a lot more fear, of late. Evidently, the current president won over 90% approval from the people who chose to vote. I haven’t heard statistics about the percentage turnout compared to the number of voters registered.
At the end of the day on Monday I was responsible for driving some of our international observers back to their lodgings. I felt fine at that point driving them home and was so thankful that we didn’t have to endure overt violence. It was interesting to hear about their impressions in an informal way: overall, they felt that the staff at the polling stations really made an effort to be professional. But people were tired. I felt an intense weariness myself which was hard to explain in any other way than by this sense of preparing for the worst, and then finally letting go of anxiety.
Actually, that sense of extreme exhaustion reminded me a lot of what I felt once the symptoms of malaria finally wore off. And it struck me that these elections are a lot like a severe, recurring case of psycho-malaria, suffered by the whole country. Every night, as an election draws near, the symptoms of fear get worse, you loose you bearings as you start to worry about various scenarios, you can’t sleep, grenades and gunfire disturb your dreams. And then during the day, you feel a bit more normal, almost as if you could do all the normal things. And the cycle gets worse right up to election day when finally the “fever” breaks. But you’re left depleted and exhausted. So Burundi has now suffered two malaria episodes. People are really tired. And we’ve got at least three more rounds of election days to go. Malaria isn’t usually fatal on it’s own—but the exhausted patient suffering repeated episodes of a resistant strain might not make it. Please just keep praying for Burundi, for people’s stamina here.
I spent two hours on the election day joining a 24 hour prayer vigil. I think most folks poured themselves out praying all Sunday night, so I was part of the relief party on Monday morning. I was thankful that God gave me another picture of Burundi in the midst of all the anxiety here. I found myself thinking of a mango tree as a metaphor. The tree was set on fire 17 years ago. But now the tree is now covered with flowers, and even a few good-sized fruits have already formed. Yes, it’s a bit dusty, but there is so much potential for a rich crop. Yet around the base of the tree, ill-behaved children are fighting one another to claim ownership of the tree. One thinks, “I’ll chop down the tree if I can’t have it.” Another says, “I’ll set the fire around the tree to get it.” One boy is bigger than the rest, and easily knocks down the others.
And the parents? Where are they? They are the church, huddled, seeking shelter, not knowing what to do about such behavior. But now some are realizing, we do not need to be afraid. We are the parents. We can tell these boys, “NO! You may not set this tree on fire again. For the sake of all of us and our children, you need to guard this tree well so that it can bear fruit for all of us.”
Please pray for Christians here in Burundi that they will know the right response to all that is happening in this country. Pray for the church not to be manipulated by human powers on one side or another. Pray for courage to follow Jesus and to speak and act in ways that are fitting for the citizens of the Kingdom of God. And thank you for your prayers.
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