DIFFICULT CHAPTER (Part 2)

This is not what I'm supposed to be doing right now...but there's too much going on in my head right now (one for the reasons that restful sleep is elusive right now).

The next two sections of this 'Part 2' were 'How am I doing?' and 'The Future'.

I think that common behaviours/feelings that those here feel include:

PEACE - In spite of what we hear and see, we have a sense of peace about being here right now. Part of that is familiarity with the new rhythm of life here...you don't really hear the shooting anymore. But mainly it is God's grace and the gifts He's given us to be able to operate in this environment. We are not, and will not be, reckless...but we are a long way from feeling the need to leave.

DETERMINATION - We have been able to stay and there is still much that must be done. We are few, but we are determined to make staying count for something. Determined to find creative ways to overcome new perils or obstacles. Determined to do what we can reduce the damage. Determined not to give up hope.

But both of these are at danger of being overwhelmed by two other insidious feelings/behaviours:

NAUSEA - When we consider the situation we feel physically sick. Less so for how things are right now, but for the, as yet, unseen consequences of this crisis. The significant one being the economic impact. Loss of funding and disruption/cessation of trading will have a crippling effect on all organisations. Most will have been paid for in April, so the impact will have been inconvenient. But many will not receive income for May and, in June, this will bite even deeper. And not just for those here, but also the 'middle class' refugees killing time in Kigali and Kampala. What happens when people can't feed themselves?

DRIFTING - The erosion (I won't say loss) of structure, certainty and hope create this drifting behaviour. An emotional quagmire that makes getting anything done feel almost impossible. This is where the determination comes into play, but often this lifts productivity to 60% at best.

I think we're all aware of these behaviours and, for me, writing about it helps me to accept and understand it...and, hopefully, manage it.

And where's God in all of this? Our unshakable hope in the sovereign Lord? Those living 'in the field' are generally, I would say, capable achievers and copers. Consequently we rely on our own gifts, skills and talents more than we would care to admit. So when these become ineffectual are we more lost? Do we analyse more that we pray? Do we seek to understand more than trust? Do we try and 'do' more rather than hand it over? Do we plan for a set of alternative futures rather than have hope?

If we're not careful we cease to inspire and witness; instead becoming a pretty depressing bunch of Christians. Martyrs to our circumstances.

HOW AM I DOING?

OK...I think. Two friends, Rachel and Simon, have moved in...creating and unlikely, but effective trio. Though if you read Simon's 'Naked Preacher' blog you'll know why I lock my bedroom door at night! And Allie's been amazingly supportive. Thank God for Skype.

Life goes on and we find new joys in our routine here; but I am exhausted by the thought of how hard our next chapter might be and would appreciate personal prayer for the following:

- Peace about options for the family in September. Will we or can we be apart again?

- Coping with the increased financial strain (especially providing for my workers and security guards for the summer (which has to be ready in 4 weeks) and all our usual summer costs). The costs of a split family and increased security cost have eaten into summer savnigs.

- Our house (the $1,000 monthly was being paid by the school...when will it be paid again?)

- Planning for the future. What will happen with the school? Will it be safe? Will people come back? Will people be able to afford fees? What about the huge debts? What about the education for the students from the two orphanages? What about discipling and educating the next generation of leaders?

- Balancing the need to rest and keep on top of things over the summer 

- Wellness and safety during the next month

But please also give thanks for:

- The ability to cope with the new normals (gunfire, explosions, roadblocks, tear gas and disruption)

- Friends

- The satisfaction of continuing to serve and support others

- The opportunity to grow in my faith

- For those faithfully supporting me

- Our safety

- The Lord's provision

- Desert Island Disks (my safe place)

- How well my family is doing in the UK

- The lock on my bedroom door

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support...not just for me, but also for Allie, Andrew, Becky, Harry, Caspar and Felicity. We feel loved and cherished.

God Bless,

Jez

DIFFICULT CHAPTER (Part 1)

I thought that, perhaps, you were due an update. Especially as Burundi has been in the news recently. Our family and our mission is currently going through testing times. I'm reluctant to write that it's 'the most' testing time as our first three years have seen some challenges that have really pushed us to our limit...or maybe beyond.

I'm writing this in two parts as focusing and articulating what's happening is not very easy...so this way something gets out.

The Family

As many of you know, in March, Allie, Becky, Harry, Caspar and Felicity had to return early to the UK to address some medical issues that couldn't be attended to in Burundi. A tough decision to make, but we have been so blessed with by the love and generosity of our family, friends and supporters.

It's been great for them to reconnect, but they really miss home (Burundi) and it has had its challenges. Having the family split for 3 months is difficult. But we were grateful that a gift enabled me to fly back for Easter.

Please pray for:

- Peace and grace as they live in a MUCH smaller house.

- Harry and Allie as they tackle homeschooling.

- Felicity, who only really remembers living in Burundi. The UK has never been home to her.

- Allie coping as a, temporary, single mum.

- Our finances, we now have costs in two countries.

Give thanks for:

- The Lord's provision

- The many people that have shown so much love

- Friends who are helping with accommodation, tutoring, cars etc...

Burundi

I have to be careful here, so I'll stick to the facts.

Burundi is in election season, the biggest being the presidential elections. The current president announced his intention to run for a third term and there are differences of opinion about the legitimacy of this decision. Big differences of opinion.

I'm not going to comment on the issue, but the election controversy has caused a massive deterioration in the security situation here. Previously we saw weeks of violent demonstrations and our neighbourhoods shutdown by roadblocks. Then, as I'm sure you've heard, there was an attempted coup the other week. The Wednesday and Thursday were war in all but name. We experienced window shaking battles at the end of our road.

The coup failed and we are now entering a new fragile phase. Many are living in fear. As shelves empty and prices rise we are seeing a mass exodus. In addition to the 105,000+ refuges many in our community are needing to leave. UN staff left last Saturday....the US last Sunday. I can count on two hands the number of expat friends left.

Whatever happens next, much damage is already done. Projects stopped, funding withdrawn, businesses closed, livelihoods destroyed, hope lost.

Such a shame, so much progress had been made. How many years will this set this country back?

Please pray for:

- The refugees in surrounding countries and an end to the cholera epidemic taking hold in Tanzania

- Wisdom for all leaders

- A peaceful end to the crisis

- The international community and the church to help

Give thanks for:

- The relatively low death count so far

- The majority of Burundians who are peace loving 

The School

But God has called us to do His work here. At the school it is to create well-educated disciples of Jesus. So what work can go on, must go on.

A couple of weeks ago I gave my blessing to staff wishing to leave. I can always fly or drive out, but it's not that easy for many of my staff. We also concluded that the environment was too uncertain and dangerous for the school to remain open and so the school now remains closed until September. Such a sad decision to make.

I'm left with a simply awesome skeleton staff of around 6 who are helping to keep things ticking over...many of them slotting into new roles. This is such an important time for our Year 11-13 students and, miraculously, we are quietly and calmly getting them through their exams. But the environment for them is not great. It is rare to have an exam without the sound of gunfire in the background at some point.

We've also had a desperately difficult time assessing our finances and needs. The majority of Term 3 fees were not paid. Consequently we are a long way from being able to cover salaries, rents, taxes etc... This crisis isn't even a month old and I already estimate that this will take 2 years to recover from.

It is hard not to be pessimistic about the future. It is hard not to, wearily, wonder how hard the next three years will be. But we have faith in God's plans for this school and the lives that can be changed...and part of preparing for the future is being honest about the situation.

Please pray for:

- The students doing their exams

- Protection over the school and staff

- The heartbreaking financial decisions that need to be made

- Supernatural strength for those remaining

Give thanks for:

- Protection

- Exams

[to be continued]...

Join Us...As A Teacher or Spreading The Word!

Hello,

We're busy recruiting for September, so we'd really appreciate one of two things from you...pretty please!

1. Are you a teacher with a passion for teaching and serving Christ? If so, consider joining us in September. New opportunities are always available for English-speaking teachers with experience teaching in a western environment; but we have particular needs for the following:
• Secondary school English Language and Literature teachers
• Junior school teachers
• Female, secondary school bible group leaders/youth worker
2. If you're not a teacher, please help us by spreading the word online and in your churches.

CV's and cover letters can be sent to me at jeremy.wisdom@thekingsschool.edu.bi

God Bless,

Jeremy

SHOULD I EVER GO TO THE GYM WHEN PEOPLE ARE HUNGRY? [written late Jan]

Life here...life as a missionary is full of confusion and challenges. So much is unclear.

I may have written on this before; but, without wishing to undermine God's work through us here or attempting to fully answer this question, it is an awkward thought that I continue to have.

I like to take lots of regular exercise; it's certainly good for my mind and body. So I was at the gym the other day. It's not LA Fitness, and is certainly much cheaper, but is a well equipped gym at KCC (a Scripture Union conference centre in our neighbourhood). The gym is on the second floor with the running machines in front of the windows, overlooking the street.

I was running and saw, out of the window, a man in the street looking up at me. His clothes were brown, his feet bare and his face had that roughness that comes from a hard life; and he was looking at me curiously. I don't know what he thought as he went on his way...but for me it was a familiar, uncomfortable, conscience-pricking moment. Well fed westerner in his sealed environment trying to optimise his fitness. Barefooted Burundian walking down the road; maybe with purpose, maybe not.

I think people at home assume that we know how to deal with this. That we know what the balance is...what the spiritually sound response is. That I know how to respond to the street children outside the fancy bakery.

The divide between the 'haves' and 'have nots' is impossible to get away from. I'm white, so I'm automatically let in, served first and sat at the front. I'm white, so I'm not asked to pay deposits, don't get stopped at the check points and am never asked to lift anything. Even the rain's not allowed to get me wet!

We talk too about living by faith financially...which we do in some sense. But I'll never forget someone saying to me that '...muzungus (white people) print money...'. Initially I dismissed this. But what would happen if we needed to fly to the UK tomorrow, get specialist healthcare or replace a computer? We'd pray...but we'd also make a call or send an email. The money would come. Mostly, the money always comes. I wonder how many Burundians could 'print' money like that?

I get preferential treatment, have the opportunity to optimise my lifestyle, have the same social circle as the UK and can 'print' money. Is this what being a missionary is?

'But life as a missionary is difficult, living overseas expensive and cross culture living stressfull'. Absolutely. It's the hardest thing I've done. It seems impossibly hard at times. But don't others have hard lives too?

'But you can't help if you're broken'. Definitely. But where do I find my strength?

I pray, I trust (sort of) and the Lord provides. But why do I get more?

We gave the workers in our house hampers and bonuses for Christmas...but we got more.

I'm simplifying the complex and making the difficult seem easy. God is doing amazing things through us and all of the missionaries here.

And please don't stop supporting us...we have big funding needs for May - August.

But I still struggle with the wealth gap.

Should I go to the gym when people are hungry? I think so...but I'm not always sure.

Waxey Hugs and Hamlet's Socks

It was half term when I started this, I was at the pool with the kids and they were jumping off this...

...so I thought it would be a good, and rare, time to write. Though perhaps more copy and paste rather than write; most of this is excerpts from blogs I never finished. My great unfinished works?

As usual, some prayer points up front:

- Please pray for violence free elections

- Please pray for successful English courses with the British Council

- Thank the Lord for all His blessings...

- ...and pray that we may better see them

- Please pray for our summer funding

WASHING HAMLET'S SOCKS

Life here is often surreal and last night was no exception. The Globe Theatre, London, are on a two year tour to perform Hamlet in every country in the world.

Recently it was Burundi's turn.

For two weeks, work and family life were supplemented by technical riders, conference calls and ticket sales. And, one Sunday, washing costumes.

Hamlet is barely mainstream in the UK...and it's distinctly niche here. So one evening, a mainly expat audience of about 240 (I haven't seen that many white people in one place for long time!) enjoyed some of the best theatre in the world. It was wonderful!

Not sure it had anything to do with our mission, but a real treat for those living along way from home.

CANDLELIT BREAKFASTS [written early Jan]

Over Christmas the power situation was awesome! 24 hour power...pretty much. This week we came back to earth with a BUMP. Getting back into the swing of things is hard enough...but getting up in the dark, with no power, can be pretty grim. Especially on a grey morning.

We have a generator, but it's too noisy for 5am. We have batteries, but I keep them to power our security lights and guard's station at night. So we started this morning with lamps; but soon it was obvious that this was not going to work. So I got out the candles; normally used for dark evenings when the generator is being serviced.

And wow! Such warm, friendly light. Much better than harsh glow of the electric lights. What a lovely way to start the day. A big waxy hug.

Candlelit breakfasts. Thank you God!

REGISTERING [written early Jan]

A definite source of anxiety continues to be the uncertainty that the elections bring. Up until now, it has been theoretical. But recently events have begun to turn...perhaps sooner than expected.

So we're planning, registering with embassies, putting in contingencies and having a lot of meetings.

It's hard to find a positive with this. As a family, and as a school, there are so many scenarios that create a lot of doubt. When will we be back in the UK? How long for? What will Term 3 look like? Will I be separated from the family? Will we make the right decisions? This list could really go on....

...but I should be grateful for wisdom (no pun intended). For all the uncertainty, we have been given the resources and support to prepare. And so, in the midst of this, although there are a number of 'futures', and we do not know which to expect, we're pretty ready for them all.

DISCIPLING

The Pastoral and Student support teams that Allie set up are fully self-managing and so she has, for now, stepped out of the school. So how are we discipling? Are we?

For now, one of the biggest ways that we try to disciple is to model Godly behaviour. Through hard work and servant leadership.

One Friday the staff and I received some strange looks. Inspired by the ways YWAM teams have blessed us in the past, we picked up shovels and paint brushes and set about sprucing the school up. To glorify God through hard work and stewardship of resources...and to set an example to the students. I was on a team removing piles of rubble from the front of the Infant School and using it to repair the roads. Back-breaking work in searing heat...but rewarding, bonding and a conspicuous example of hard work and service....even by a white man!

And every day my job, and our lives here, give me huge and complex challenges. How I respond to them, how I'm seen to respond to them, is one of the most important roles I have here. Leading consistently, with patience, grace, good humour, diligence, high standards, urgency, integrity, fun, planning, flexibility, perspective, a work/life balance, humility, authority, responsibility and wisdom is exhausting. But I know that all 750+ staff and students, and some parents too, are influenced by how I lead. How I lead sets the standard for how they should behave now and how they will lead in the future. And Godly leadership is so vital to this country's future.

I make mistakes...often...but how I admit them and deal with them, is one of the most important things to teach. 

EDUCATING

The staff at the school continue to look for ways to improve standards in the school. IGCSE and A-level exams loom.

We had a a visiting humanities teacher, from the UK, who, amongst other things, spent some time with our candidate students. And we hope God will make clear whether she should join the school next year!

One thing that still challenges us is English. We are an English school in a francophone country. Most staff and students are second language English speakers. Our students tend to be orally fluent, but their written English lets them down in exams. However, a meeting with the British Council recently raised the possibility of a partnership that would provide support for our students and begin offering English language learning to locals. This is a very exciting possibility, but would come at a cost to parents. Much prayer needed.

BILLS, BLESSINGS AND THE SUMMER

So far, this year, we have enjoyed relative financial security. Our daily bread has been provided and we've been able to deal with some unexpected costs. The roads here are brutal on cars, security upgrades significantly costly and our 'new' house in the UK is now less new and needing repairs. But we have been so blessed by God's provision, peoples' response and the way our support grows.

But as we look to the summer break, we still have a lot of costs to cover including:

- Food

- Fuel

- Medical Insurance

- A year's worth of clothes

- A year's worth of medicine

- A year's worth of toiletries 

- Christmas and birthdays

- Vaccinations

- Opticians

- Dentists 

- Extra education material for the kids

- Debriefing

- And maybe a day out or two

Please pray that our support will grow ahead of the summer.

SO...

...life remains challenging and rewarding. We regularly feel like giving up and getting on a plane...but so far we haven't. We know that this is where God wants us, so we are obedient...though sometimes without good grace. Sorry. So every day I try to focus on the blessings and His faithfulness

God Bless,

Jeremy

Christmas Blog 1 of 3 - A New Chapter

There's a distinct sense that God is moving our mission and the school into a new chapter. A period where we can grow and mature. Where we can invest and reach out. It's new and unfamiliar, but so exciting.

Please Pray:

- That we will be able to balance the books this year

- For a successful supporter campaign

- That the way we work will be a witness to parents

- For us make God central as we look to the future

SCHOOL FINANCES are better. This year sees some investment and a determination to finally, completely, once and for all put the 2012 financial crisis behind us. Is also frees us up to think about our...

...THREE YEAR STRATEGY which will give us a clear plan of growth and development. It's structured around the the key elements of the school. We are:

Christian - So we want to increase scholarships, invest in pastoral care and reach out to others. This week I am working with our parent organisation, ARM, to build permanent , long-term links between their healthcare, social development and evangelistic programmes and each of the school's four 'Houses'.

English-Speaking - We want to guarantee levels of student and staff fluency and be a leader in the promotion of English language eduction.

International - Moving to better than UK exam results, international facilities and standards. The first step towards this is our...

...2014/15 SUPPORTER CAMPAIGN. In the new year we are launching an appeal for three needs:

1) £15,000 to complete our final, unfinished building so that we can provide the Secondary School with a much needed Library. Libraries do not really exist in Burundi, but is an essential resource for our future leaders who want to progress to university.

2) Library books. A library needs books. We are trying to get donations of everything from teenage fiction, classic fiction and research books.

3) Filling our container. Through a relationship with another NGO, we have been able to secure very reasonable shipping rates for a container which can ship to us in March. But we need to fill it, so we will be approaching schools and organisations for school resources that can be donated and put in the container.

The campaign is ambitious, and not like anything we've done before, but we are hopeful that this will be a new way in which we can generate support for the school. Also, to help how we operate, I recently isolated myself for a week to write new...

...POLICIES AND GOVERNANCE. Writing does not come easy or naturally to me. I don't have the patience. But as I wrote these policies I became so aware of how the school is maturing and the staff have a desire to adopt best practices. The big ones were operational processes (how we work together), security policies (how we keep everyone safe and calm over the next year) and financial governance (how we can be good stewards of our financial resources). All of which will help our...

...NEW ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF manage the school. Due to some departures and new roles, we have a great new Admin Team, but it's been a tough and busy time for them; trying to understand the school, what needs changing and how to work together as the school has...

...CONTINUED GROWTH. Despite increased competition, the school is fuller than ever, particularly for A-levels. We don't seek to be competative, but parents vote with their feet and wouldn't be bringing their children if were letting them down. And many are excited by the unique...

...GRADUATE OPPORTUNITIES we offer. My relationship manager, Maya, is working tirelessly to build relationships, partnerships and scholarship opportunities at English-speaking universities in Africa, Europe, America and the Pacific. If we are to truly equip Burundi with a new generation of Godly leaders we must find opportunities for our students to get quality degrees.

NEXT?

I'm working with our student leaders to role out our values and changes in the Secondary School.

We prepare for exams.

And we pray and prepare for an uncertain year where political events may disrupt school life, our work and our iGCSE and A-Level exams.

God Bless,

Jeremy

THE KING'S SCHOOL NEEDS YOUR HELP!

THE KING'S SCHOOL NEEDS YOUR HELP!

We're about to launch our 2015 support campaign and would love someone to help with awareness and logistics in the UK.

Do you (or someone you know) have a passion for discipleship and the development of education in Africa and 1 or 2 days to volunteer each week?

God Bless,

Jez

(Please share this with your friends)