Foggy London Town

Take note that this blog entry was written on 29-Nov at London Heathrow Airport… after long debating at great length the options of either missing our flight, or posting a blog entry, we opted to hop on z plane… here’s a tardy entry from our travels..

Well ‘ello there all!

We hath arrived (and are nearing departure) from the foggy (& chilly) London town. Michael and I arrived without too many hiccups and immediately went off to find Jon March, Jake Hamilton’s good buddy, who is a minister here in London and had been in Burundi this past summer.

Jon was a younger, passionate bloke who was quite easy to chat with and had loads of good stories and connections with Burundi. Jon had met with, and had great things to say about, Simon Guillebod who we have planned to have dinner with this coming Monday night; apparently this Simon character will attempt to pressure us into grabing a crocodile’s tail… we’ll see about that.

After our encouraging chat with Jon, we hopped on the tube and were off to see all that London had to offer. The duration of the day was spent enjoying the fantastic architecture, sophisticated accents, and warm cafés of London (as it was 33 degrees outside). We shared a meal of cottage (shepherd’s) pie and chicken bacon salad after which we attempted to determine if social graces were to leave a tip or not... through spying on some local Londonites who did not tip, we followed suit (any comments?). After a romantic time in Trafalgar Square, we ensured all was well at the Texas Embassey (see above) and headed back to Heathrow.

We’re now a few moments from boarding our Ethiopian Airlines flight to Rome and then Addis Ababa airport in Ethiopia; shortly followed by another quick jump on Ethiopian Air to Burundi’s one airstrip and arriving in Burundi at 1:40pm local Burundi time (+3 GMT) on Sunday.

Vaya con Dios. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem and Burundi.

One Week!

We're just one week away from leaving on a jet plane! The trip has pieced together quite nicely over the past six weeks, including getting to meet with multiple people from here in Austin who have visited Burundi recently. About three weeks ago I even had the opportunity to meet and spend time with two refugee families from the country living here in central Austin, which was a really special couple of hours. The smiles on the kids faces as we played with them and chased them around the apartment complex brought great joy to my heart and I think gave me a slight glimpse of what we will experience while on the ground. We walked and talked with the kids that day, but most of the time they wanted to sit on our shoulders as we perused the apartment complex which houses refugees from other countries like Ethiopia and Burma. They were so content just sitting on our shoulders. Nary did they say a word, just holding on to our heads as they got to ride high and see the world from a 8 feet high rather than 4 feet. It reminded me of a much simpler life, one in which the cares and worries and troubles are very minimal. But it also allowed me to catch a glimpse of what they are so thankful for. Not clothes or televisions or bikes or shoes, but simply just company. Someone who wants to play and will invest time with them.

A man that I have recently begun to get to know who attends our church lives in the apartment complex, and he approached me about starting an ESL class with them upon my return from Burundi to help them improve their English and learn the culture better. I see it as an incredible opportunity to build a solid relationship with people from a country that my heart has grown tender towards, and assist them in whatever means in which God gives me the ability.

Within the next couple days we will be sending out a prayer calendar that will canvas our trip and have more details of exactly what we will be doing. There will be quite a few meetings with different missionaries on the ground in Burundi. One recently wrote to me about ministering to a jogging group that gets out every Sunday morning. Could anything be more right up my alley?!? We'll also get to see lots of the countryside and visit numerous villages, including the one where our friend and running coach Gilbert grew up! His foundation is currently in the process of drilling a water well that will reach thousands of his fellow countrymen and provide them clean and easily accessible water. There is so much other great work that God is doing in the country, and we just hope that we might be able to play a small part in that and humbly serve those who are already there on mission.

Thank you so much for you continued prayers and support! Recently the stalemate in the peace process between people groups there has been weighing heavily, as they are getting close to an imposed deadline from the U.N. in which many peace-keeping troops will be pulled out. Please pray that God might pierce the hearts of those who are harboring hatred to their fellow countrymen and that His love might permeate the land. We pray big because we believe in a God who is mighty to save!

Iyo Ngwe