Open the Floodgates of Heaven

 David enjoying the first gullywasher of rainy season.

Rebecca rightly predicted that the first rain of the season would be a 'gully washer'.  It has actually threatened several times this week, but the clouds did not burst until this evening (Sunday) at about 5pm.  Yolanda, Spencer, Rebecca, the kids, and I were all sitting on the porch looking at the dust covered mango trees wishing it would rain, when it did.  Oren and David immediately ran out into it, eventually shedding their clothes and splashed around the house in the rapidly filling rain gutters.

Rebecca and I have mixed feelings about the arrival of rainy season as we are dying to be out of the oppressive dustiness of dry season, but are very concerned about the still uncompleted ditch in the front of our house which is a trench but without cement walls yet, so the erosion of the ground underneath the entire front wall of our house is only a matter of time.

The 5pm rain shower is the only precipitation we have had for months, and the past week was spent in dust and grit as well until now.  But it was not a week that past slowly for lack of things to do.  

I have been doing construction updates and I am including, on the bottom of the page, a picture of our new bridge which was built this past Tuesday.  We had given up on trying to get the work crew to put back the rocks they had taken out on Monday.  The solution of our neighbors was to hire carpenters to build a wooden bridge across the ditch.  We hired a carpenter that confidently assured us that he could build such a bridge for about $100.  He came with lumber, a saw and a hammer and nails.  Several hours later he had completed the BSO (bridge shaped object) in the photo below.  I was doubtful that it would hold a truck  (I did not see any civil engineer managing this project.) but on trying it, I found it did on the first run.  It has since begun to fall apart in subsequent crossings, and we will probably have to have it rebuilt before our permanent bridge is ready.  (Hopefully we won't fall in before we get it reinforced.)

Tuesday evening we were pleased to host some friends who work upcountry, a couple named Isaiah and Samantha who came here to do work with children in a small town called Muramvia.  They just had a baby (Malachi) and are doing well.  I have to say I admire their courage for coming here in faith to share God's love in very difficult circumstances.  They are basically pioneering as a new mission organization here and they shared some of their successes and failures in trying to work with local pastors and churches in the area. (The take home lesson was 'don't trust everyone who says they are a Christian with your money'.)  We did spend a very nice evening together visiting for an evening.

Wedneday was the climax of the week as it was Oren's first day back to school AND the day our former SALTer Yolanda was arriving back in Burundi to begin her 2 year term as a continuing service worker.  

Oren was quite happy to go back to school the first day, did not seem at all nervous and went directly to his new class and teacher and greeted her in French.  Madame Crystalle was Timmy's teacher last year and does not speak any English, so Oren will be challenged even more this year to speak well.  Many of his friends were in the class as well as Zack, Joy and Jesse's son, who is starting this year.  I think he is the only other anglophone in the class.  One change we will have in troisieme maternelle (kindergarten) is that he will go to school every day from 8-12, but also return on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons for 2 more hours of class.  (He also has to pick a language to study: Flemish or English.  We decided on English as we could not imagine him trying to learn another language being taught in a language he still does not know.  He will be like a genius in english :-)

Taking Oren to school was kind of fun as I enjoy minor celebrity status as the dance teacher because of the class I taught last year.  Many children ran up to me and hugged me and asked when I would be restarting.  I think I will do it again this year, but will not start until October.

Yolanda returned on Kenya Air about midday.  It was very good to see her and remember the same trip I made almost exactly a year ago to pick up her Robyn and Brandon.  She seemed very at home this time in Burundi.  She has been staying with us this week and I will take her up to Gitega this coming Wednesday to look for a house then she will spend 2 weeks in Burasira with Jodi doing intensive language study for 2 weeks.

We have had a full house this week as Spencer, our housesitter is still here and is scheduled to go back to Scotland for school (St. Andrews) this coming Thursday.  It has been interesting to have here as he is studying theoogy and was doing some training with Moisson Pour Christ (one of our partners).  He enjoys engaging in exchanges about the need for discipleship in churches here that have had extensive exposure to Evangelism but not much else.  (He says he preached at churches where hundreds of people come forward week after week at every alter call to be saved, because that is all they ever here by way of sermons.)

Saturday I did begin teaching the exercise/stretch class (formerly known as yoga).  Spencer, Yolanda, and Naia (one of our Danish friends) came over for it.  It was good to get back into it, but it was hard and I sort of wrenched my back on day one.  But I am reminded of the need for exercise to keep down the feeling of stress in working here and enduring some of the difficult parts of living here.  I was very happy to have been able to swim every day this week as we did not have to travel anywhere this week.  (This will not be true again for about 2 months as we have things to do upcountry and in other countries every week through mid October.)

Rebecca and I have continued as well, to faithfully fast two days a week, although we changed it to Monday and Tuesday from Friday-Saturday.   Strangely, it does give a sense of well-being, even though we feel quite hungry.  Rebecca did observe and I concur that fasting during our time in the US was far harder than here because of all the incredible food there is to eat there.  Giving up a lunch of rice and beans is far easier than passing on a salad with fresth apples, salmon, and toasted almonds.  I do miss the food in the US but I am thankful at times for the lack of temptation we experience here.

The weekend was enjoyable, spent with friends.  We had our German, Danish, and South African missionary families over along with Bridget, Zachee and Tim (Bridget and Tim just returned from Canada) over to our house.  Everyone had come back from a vacation home and had about the same feeling about returning to dry dusty Bujumbura.  

Sunday we went to church where Rebecca began a french/english Sunday school class this past week.  There are a few kids who do not speak kirundi and tend to run around the church property during church time (ours included) and Rebecca decided to begin teaching there.  (This replace the Sunday School we were doing at the afternoon English fellowship last spring.)

The rain on Sunday feels like a Godsend and the mountains of Congo were in full splendid view from our veranda this morning.  We have a busy day--interviews of candidates to replace Zachee, so I had better get back to work.

The Replacement bridge for last week's rock bridge.  Definitely weaker!