bonjour, mi amigo!

Greetings from the only coffee shop with wifi in Burundi! The western way of life continues to spread its vast reach into the valleys of Africa! Yesterday we came here for a few minutes and had lunch and got another lesson in the locals trying to take advantage of us. By an “honest” mistake from the guy who took our order, there was an extra 2,000 Burundian Francs added on to our bill, which made the total 15,500 instead of 13,500, or roughly 13 U.S. dollars instead of 11. Not too much of a difference in the States, but to here that’s a lot, especially as a worker in a restaurant. We left it for them as their tip, but look forward to many more times of trying to be squeezed of a few extra BF. There was another American man in the coffee shop (imagine that, Americans meeting at a pseudo-Starbucks in Africa!) who had dealt with these experiences many times. He’s gotten use to them, but never pays. He also informed us that nobody tips here in Burundi, so they are always very, very appreciative when you leave them a little extra. We’ve been doing this everywhere we have eaten.

Yesterday we walked around Bujumbura for about 8 hours, doing lots of photography so that others may visually see both the beauty and the brokenness of this country. But we spoke to many, many locals, some who knew English and some who didn’t. Every time we talked with them about Jesus, they wanted to know what church we went to in the States. I, personally, love these kinds of questions because it opens up a door to explain a bit of my faith. You get all kinds of confused looks when you tell them that you follow Jesus and not a denomination, then explaining that you live by the Bible and the example that Christ gave us. Some remain puzzled by this, and others are intrigued. But it opened many doors today to talk with people about Jesus and why we are in Burundi. The presence of a large number of “muzungus” in Burundi for the past couple decades leads many to ask what our purpose is in the country. Around the 60’s the Belgians pulled out and it wasn’t until after they (the Belgians, who colonized this region) implemented the Hutu and Tutsi designations that the mass killing of one another began in some of these eastern African countries. So we tell the people we talk with that we love their country and think it’s beautiful and we love them and we come as brothers in Christ to encourage and serve. Not one that we’ve talked to has been disappointed by this answer.

One funny thing that has been happening over the past couple days is Travis’s tendency to revert back to Spanish when trying to speak in French. We went without our translator today to travel around the city – which worked out fine and we were able to make conversation with most everyone – so as we would start talking in French, my dear friend Travis would throw in the occasional “basura” or “salud” or “si” or “hola”. It’s quite amusing to hear, and it always provides for a puzzled look on the face of the person we are talking with. Today the language barrier was almost non-existent, and it was great to get out on our own and work our way through conversations. It’s by nothing but the grace of God that we are able to interact with so many, and we’re excited about getting even deeper into the language and with the Burundians over the remaining days of our journey here in His country.

Iyo Ngwe