Big Miracles!

Micah and Daddy

            Wow, when God does something, He does it in unique ways. This past weekend, God did something that showed us that He is alive and in control. When God wants us to look to Him, He puts us in situations that we can only look to Him to control the situation. For those of you reading this who don’t believe there is a loving, caring and amazing God, please read on.

           We were going a bit stir crazy in Gitega, and the kids wanted to go to the capital city of Bujumbura to do something special. Before we drive this curving and twisting 2 hour trek between the two cities, we always start by asking God to put His guardian angels around us and protect us as we travel. By His mercies, and escaping 5 situations where children ran out on the road in front of us, we made it safe and sound. At times we had pounding hearts but God covered us with His grace.

swimming in Lake Tanganyika

            Saturday, we headed to one of the well-known beaches for International visitors, Bora Bora beach. This is where the greatness of God came in! As we were relaxing at the beach, security approached us….with my purse in hand! My hand bag had been stolen! Thankfully I had our library cards, with our pictures on them, loose in my purse….and of no interest to thieves so the security guard was able to identify us. He asked if everything was there…..ALL valuables had been stolen. Our cell phones, and my wallet with all our money, credit cards (which were of no use to anyone as you cannot use credit cards in Burundi), and my driver’s license! My heart hit the floor and a heaviness hung over my head. We could only cry out to God, claim His promises and trust that He would take care of things.

Savana

            The security guard took it upon himself to see if he could find the culprit. Within 10-15 minutes, the lady had been identified and ALL our valuables had been recovered!! When approached, the lady did not deny taking the items and handed over all the phones, and my open wallet with the money still intact! God clearly showed us that He was in control. How else do you think it is possible? We are in one of the poorest countries of the world, phones and money were taken and completely in the hands of the thief; essentially the lady had already gotten away with the theft, but EVERYTHING was returned! Wow! We were blown away……God you are good.

            It is times like this that God teaches us some life lessons:

1.      We are human and our capabilities are limited.

a.       We must trust in God who lovingly created us and wants to have a personal relationship with us. He only wants the best for us and He wants us to fully rely on Him. In my weakness, He is strong…. “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. (2 Corinthians 12: 9).  

b.      Too often we become self-sufficient and think that we can do things on our own but it is only through Christ that we can do all things. “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’ ” (Matthew 19:26). Finding the contents of my purse was humanly impossible, but God made it possible to recover everything that was stolen!

2.      God is still in Control, even when we don’t think He is.

a.       It is human nature to try to be self-sufficient and to live life without relying on God. He calls us to lean on Him in all things. “In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:6

b.      If life is getting you down, try crying out to God….He will hear your prayers and He will answer. It may not always be the answer that we want, but it will be the right one.

God cares for each and everyone of us!

Mama Savana

            As for our family, the past month has been a bit of a rough go as I have been sick with Typhoid, and the kids have been running a fever on and off for the past few weeks. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Pray for our health and endurance, especially as exams start soon for the kids.

            This past Saturday, we celebrated Elijah’s 7^th birthday. The day started out a bit shaky as 20

minutes before his friends were to arrive, Elijah started vomiting. I gave Elijah some medication and when his friends arrived, we decided to go ahead with the birthday party anyway. After the medications started working, Elijah perked up a bit and was able to come out for the last part of the party. Overall, it was a great day. We thank God for our quiet and shy boy. We pray that God will wrap His loving arms around him and draw him closer to God.

            Even though I have been sick, I have continued working at GIA. It has been a challenge on many levels recently. As we get closer to exams, kids become “sick” with ailments….the sicknesses are not always true or real; anything to get out of class. In addition to looking after the students, I have been doing lots of teaching with the house parents….how to give medications properly, first aid on fainting, fevers, abdominal pains, choking and how to deal with bone and joint injuries. Overall it is exciting to see people learn something new that makes them excited.

Charles

            Serving God at GIA as a chaplain/pastor as well as a Christian Education and Leadership Teacher has been an amazing experience even more this term than ever before. God is doing amazing things at GIA. Students are getting saved and the saved ones are growing spiritually. Some are becoming great leaders before our eyes.

            Out of our discipleship group, 14 students have become exemplary leaders. They meet together to strengthen each other in Christ. Students come to see me to ask more questions. They want to learn more how they can grow in Christ, and are willing to sacrifice anything for Him.

            One of those students is Samuel. Samuel came with another student, Dick, to visit me. We talked for a long time and I prayed for them. Samuel was a bit worried about school because his grades had gone down. He confessed that his grades have gone down because he no longer cheats on quizzes or exams. He decided to give himself fully to God and that meant quitting cheating. I encouraged Samuel that he had made a good decision and that the more he continues to study his grades will likely improve.

            Samuel’s dad came to the parents’ visitation day and as soon as he saw his son’s school marks he was not happy. Samuel’s dad is a strong Christian. He asked me “why did Samuel’s marks go down”, and I could tell he was unhappy and concerned. So I explained to him that God was doing great things in Samuel’s life and that he needed to hear from his son what is happening. He went to talk to his son and soon after,  he came to see me again. He thanked me for the spiritual help I have given to his son. He said to me that after hearing what God is doing in his son’s life, he was overjoyed and no longer worried about the marks. He said, “if my son develops a great relationship with God, that is what makes me happy”.  I am sure his marks will improve with time. We were right, now Samuel’s marks have greatly improved and his Christian character is most exemplary at GIA.There are so many amazing stories of spiritual transformation and growth among our students. Many of them have become to me what Timothy was to Paul and it is beautiful to watch.

            Let me tell you another story. It is the story of Andy. Andy has been in my discipleship group since last term. One Sunday after service, he came looking for me to help lead him to Christ. I lead him to Christ and since then Andy has been growing greatly in the Lord. Andy was the first student at GIA that I led personally to Christ.

            One day, I gave Andy’s class a quiz. Later, he came to me and said that he wanted to make sure I know the answer that he gave as he had chosen one answer and erased it to write another answer which was the right answer.  I said to Andy, “I hope you are not cheating. I hope you haven’t changed your answer after the quiz.” Andy was very surprised that I would think that he could cheat. Andy knew that I knew he was an exemplary Christian student. So Andy simply said, “But teacher, you know me.” He did not say anything else. He simply said “But you know me.” That was enough for me to come back to my senses, and realize that, “Yes, I know you, Andy.” I know that if there is one student who has integrity enough not to cheat, it is Andy.

            I used Andy’s example in the chapel to teach about integrity. I asked fellow students in the chapel to tell me why Andy would challenge me. They all said, Andy was surprised that you of all people would doubt his integrity. It was such a powerful illustration to all other students. I also asked other students if all students could have challenged me as Andy challenged me. They all said no because Andy is one of those unique outstanding Christian students.

            God is doing amazing things and I am humbled that He has chosen to use me beyond my imagination. Today I preached on the goodness of God from Romans 5:6-8 and Romans 8:31-39. Romans 8:32 shows us how God’s love is so great and amazing in the fact God did not even spare His own Son but gave up His Son for us.Then I talked about how this loving God is inviting us to repent of our sins, accept His forgiveness and give our lives to Jesus Christ. I invited students to give their lives to Christ and we had at least 25 students who responded. A number of these students were literally crying as they committed themselves to Christ.

            I can write a whole book on what God is doing but hopefully someday I will write that book. Please continue to pray for us and God’s ministry with us in Burundi. Pray also for God’s peace over Burundi, especially as we near the June 2015 election. Right now, we are living in difficult times in Burundi and it looks like more could be coming very soon. Since the 3 Italian Nuns were killed, there have been many other killings. Please remember us and Burundi in your prayers. Please also pray as we evaluate the safety for us to be in Burundi, and where God wants us to be at this time.

           Thank you for everyone who continues to support our family during our time here. We encourage notes from back home as it helps us to stay connected. 

 God bless,

         Charles & Darla, Savana, Elijah, Micah, Joshua