Burundi is in the house!

It's not often that we have the opportunity to have our DML colleagues join us in the US and meet the DML partners and supporters that are Stateside.  Last year, we were privileged to have one of are partners from India join us in Grand Rapids, and this past weekend, Pastor Isaiah from Burundi with us.  What a joy to hear him share about what God is doing in Burundi and how the message of DML is joining in that work!  (Picture is Pastor Isaiah preaching at my home church in Grand Rapids.)

Pastor Isaiah leads two organizations in Burundi - the United Christians for Change and Development, as well as International Christian Ministries Burundi.  He has a staff of 52 and about 500 volunteers who work throughout the country.  God has opened doors for his teams to influence churches and denominations, government, education, and business.  And Isaiah knows how to make quick and good work of those opportunities!  He is a natural connector and leader, equipping his team to also be leaders and own the vision of seeing Burundi develop and flourish.  We thank God for him and the privilege to work alongside him!

While he was here, he shared several stories of impact from the 400 youth that we are working with over five years in Burundi, and I'll share one with you here:

My name is PACIS NDUWAYO. I am a businesswoman and I sell clothes. When I finished Secondary school, I was hopeless. I didn’t see anything I could do, after a certain period, I chose to start a business but I used to do everything the wrong way. I was even put in jail for not respecting the law of our country in my business. I was not doing my work as worship.  I used to differentiate sacred and secular activities and my business was stagnant due to many mistakes. I was depending on my husband. I got life-changing teachings in DML which opened my mind amazingly. These teachings helped me grow my relationship with God by correcting all mistakes in my business. I wholeheartedly learned that I am serving God in the Marketplace. I decided to please God in all my activities and I started seeing much income. Now I am getting more money from my business to support our family than my husband does. I am proud of my contribution to the family and it is because of the life-changing teachings I got from DML. I am becoming a living testimony in the Marketplace. People are seeing Christ through observing how I run my business.  I know to count everything well and I do everything to please God, the Owner of all that I have. I am full of hope for the future because of what I learned in DML. I understand that I have been made on purpose. I have a great vision for my future. I see myself as a big entrepreneur in the future. God bless everyone who contributed to getting these teachings in Burundi. We pray for you to reach them to many. 

We thank God for His call to do all things as working for the Lord!  

We ask for your prayers this week as we have the DML board retreat and seek to discern how to continue to join God in what He is doing in reclaiming the redeemed Marketplace!

Pastor Isaiah being prayed for by DML Board members, friends, and partners.

Breaking Down Silos

Home sweet home!  Five weeks, five countries, twelve flights, forty hours by road, eleven cities, fifteen different beds, and eleven different workshops speaking to about 2000 people in total.  So thankful to God for what He is doing and how we get to join Him!  So thankful for the DML partner teams in each place who do amazing work at organizing, facilitating, and spreading this message!  And so thankful for each of you who has prayed, encouraged, and/or supported this work financially.  We can't do this without you!

Last week, in Cameroon, we saw the beginning of silos breaking down - silos that exist between church denominations, government, education, and business.  It was beautiful to watch the dialogue begin as people began to stop pointing fingers at the other for the cause of problems and begin to see opportunities for how to work together.  And the opportunities are many. The theme of the BAM Cameroon conference was "Synergy for Transformation" and we definitely saw synergy and discussed practical ways to move forward for transformation.

The government of Cameroon wants to equip 500,000 youth every year in doing business but does not have the capacity to mentor and teach them.  But churches have the natural environments to disciple and teach a healthy theology of work.  Faith and work NGOs present have the ability to mentor and provide guidance for new and emerging entrepreneurs.  Educators need to focus on character development, as well as creating not just job seekers but job makers.  

It was a refreshing, healthy dialogue with members of government, education, church, and business present.  There were two phrases that they caught and kept repeating:  "The purpose of Sunday is Monday" and "We don't have problems.  We have opportunities."  Those two phrases alone indicate the beginning of a paradigm shift.

It was time well spent.  Please continue to pray that the seeds planted, and the action steps that each group made, will result in growth for the flourishing of Cameroon, to the glory of God!

Nurturing Hope in Burundi

In my life, I have seen time and again that the rich have hope, the poor have faith, and together we can produce love.

This past week we were busy nurturing hope among 400 young adults (aged 18-35) in Burundi.  The hope planting began last year, when we started a five-year plan to develop entrepreneurship through young adults from twelve churches in four different cities in Burundi.  These young adults have been on a path for 15 months so far.  Last year, they learned about the God of business and about a healthy theology of work.  Then they went through DML's basic business training.  This year, they started with mentoring and working on their business plan.

And this past week, because of the generosity of many of you, we brought these young adults together, under one roof, for six days of singing, praying, laughing, playing, and learning.  It was an amazing time.  There was so much energy!  

Our goal was to provide inspiration for these young adults.  Inspiration to work as worship.  Inspiration to see themselves as co-creators with God.  Inspiration to be job makers, not just job seekers.  Inspiration to think outside the box.  Inspiration to create wealth in God's way and to manage wealth in God's way.  Inspiration to break strongholds that say "I can't" or "I have nothing" or even "I am nothing."  Inspiration to break the bondage of poverty and develop a vision future.

And from everything we heard from those gathered, that mission was accomplished.  

These were some of the testimonies from a few of these young adults:

• From a young man:  I had a farm where I was growing sweet potatoes. Thinking creatively about my work, I started making flour from the sweet potatoes.  Now I'm making donuts from that flour. It is seen as an innovative product and people love the taste, so many are coming to buy.  Demand is high!  
• 
  From a young woman:  I felt I had no future before going through DML. But after the training, I started to think about what I could do for myself. I started working as a home servant and began to save, as that is something we had been taught in DML.  I have been saving money to buy a sewing machine and will have enough money to do so in a few months. I have saved 500,000 Burundian francs (about $174). I want to be a job maker and not just a job seeker! I know have a vision for the future! This message was so important for me to hear, and it needs to go out to all youth! 
  
• From a young man, who is also a DML trainer:  I was trained by DML in 2021.  I thought that I was going to a conference to learn about evangelism, but rather found myself in a conference about development.  But I learned that evangelism and development can go hand in hand!  At the time I went through the training, I was working for the government.  I even had a car that I could use from that position.  But because of this training, I realized that I could go into business for myself and be a job maker.  I began to develop my vision.  I then left my government job and people thought I was crazy.  But I have been blessed to be able to buy many hectares of land for cultivation and the business has grown.  I currently employ 17 people and this September I will expand again and hope to have thirty employees.  I am so happy to get up and go to work every day, and I love doing discipleship with my employees!  I thank God for the chance to learn about work as worship - it has brought me much more joy every day!

Today (Monday), I begin the trip from Burundi to Cameroon, where DML is engaged in the launching of BAM Cameroon.  We pray that seeds of networking and collaboration amongst key institutions may result in fruit that will be for the flourishing of this country and its people!  Please pray along with us!