Judgments!!

            Boy, did I ever get a wake up call this morning. As usual, getting to school was rush, rush, rush….but we got there by 7:30am. Joshua is still having a bit of a difficult time when we drop him off but he settles within a few minutes and does well for the rest of the time. Today, he wimpered as I gave him to the

teacher but, Praise God, it was not an all out cry/scream we usually get. At the school, I have many of the young kids want to shake my hand…because I am white….but I have made a conscious decision not to shake their hands. I will say “bonjour” and wave, but I don’t shake their hand. If I shake even one child’s hand, I am inundated with multiple kids surrounding me, just to shake my hand. Joshua becomes very intimidated with so much attention from so many kids and then it becomes very difficult to leave him at the school. To stop some of the blatant attention, I usually interact very little with other children at the school….with the exception of one little girl. She is so tiny, and adorable and once in a while, she will run and give me a huge hug. That behaviour, I embrace.

            My awakening came when I was walking home from dropping the kids off at school. When I am walking alone, without Charles, many people who walk past me put out their hand to ask for money. As a result, I don’t make eye contact with many people to avoid the confrontation. As I continued on my way, I saw a man coming towards me in the distance. Right away, I made a judgement based on what I thought he was wearing. From a distance, on his very thin frame it appeared as if he was wearing dirty red/brown jeans and an old dirty dress shirt. As we approached each other, I was thinking how I would respond when he asked me for money. I had already made my judgement on this man. When we were very close, I realized how wrong I was. The jeans were not supposed to be “blue jeans” but rather a greyish brown, and a bit stylish… and the shirt was clean but he wore it casually. Another young man beside us started talking to him and his face broke out in one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen. The two men engaged in a very friendly and jovial conversation but because of my judgements, I missed a friendly greeting with a very nice young man.

            It got me thinking as to how do these automatic judgments quietly weave their way into our hearts and minds? Do we always recognize when we have made a preliminary judgement against someone else? Are we in tune to our own thinking where we recognize and correct ourselves when we have made a misjudgement? God tells us in the Bible, “Do not judge lest you be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1,2 NIV) Lord, forgive me for my judging heart against others; help me to recognize and change my mindset. Thank you, Lord, for a renewing every morning. Great is thy Faithfulness my Lord.

Savana reading a story

            For our family, this week has been very interesting spiritually. On Sunday, Savana was reading the book “Have You Filled a Bucket Today” by Carol McCloud in the morning before church. The concept of the book fit completely with what Charles was preaching on… ..encouraging others. Savana bravely went to the front of the chapel, infront of 250 people she bravely read the book. She did an awesome job and we are very proud of her!

Staff/students encouraging each other

            Micah has been our little evangelist. At school, he is asking all his classmates if they know God. He was shocked to find out that some kids at school don’t even know God. It is great to be in a country where we can talk about God freely and openly anywhere! As he and I were talking yesterday, we got talking on how Jesus and God are the same which lead into the discussion about the Holy Trinity.  I was surprised to hear the

 questions coming from ou young 5 year old boy. At the end, I am not sure if he fully understood the Trinity; my goodness, many adults have difficulty understanding the concept, let alone a young child! I am sure there will be many more discussions such as this but I thank God for His Spirit being active in Micah’s heart.

Darla & Savana with GIA girls

            School at GIA is going well. Students are settling in and getting into a routine. Charles is having fun teaching his classes, personally ministering to staff and students, and working at making chapel fun and exciting. I have been kept busy on the nursing side of things. Daily I see approximately 20-25 students when I am there in the morning. A praise item: We are now 2 months into the school year and we have NOT had one case of malaria, and only 1 case of typhoid (the student had it when he arrived at the school).  Yahoo!! I have worked with the leadership of GIA to incorporate stricter rules for using mosquito nets and for incorporating hand washing, and the results are paying off! Please continue to pray for wisdom for me in deciphering true illnesses with the students. Some students want to go home so they create symptoms to say they are sick. I had one girl who started with a small scratch on her leg but she took foreign substances and rubbed in the wound to create a deep, infected wound. Other grade 7 students are in my office 2-3 times every morning with a variety of “ailments”. Sometimes I need good assessment skills to know if the students are telling me the truth and are truly sick, or if they are creating sickness.

            We pray for blessings over each and every one of you who are walking this journey with us. Continue to pray for us as we work with the staff and students at GIA. Please also pray for our finances to continue to come in. We are planning to be in Burundi until April 2015 but currently our financial status is a bit short. Thank you for those who have provided financially for us during this time and if God leads you to give towards our mission, you can do it through two organizations. Bridges of Hope, based in Lethbridge, as well as Youth Unlimited Edmonton (aka Youth For Christ).

God Bless,

     Darla Balenga

Online Donations:

http://www.thebridgesofhope.com/index.php?p=Donate  (Project: Burundi Mission)

https://yuedmonton.com/index.php/donate/how-to-donate (Project: Charles and Darla Balenga)

Mail:

Bridges of Hope,    PO Box 81 Stn Main,    Lethbridge, AB,    T1J 3Y3    CANADA

(877) 460-6036

Getting Back Into The African Groove

            If you would like to follow us on a more daily basis, you can follow our facebook page “Balenga Mission to Burundi”. It has been a couple of weeks since I have written. Myself and the kids have been fighting throat infections and bad colds. In the rainy season, the temperatures vastly change, and very

Micah and his fort

Elijah and Joshua on their castle

Savana and her friend

Doing pullups on the B-ball net

quickly! Now, we are all feeling much better and only Savana and Joshua have residual coughs. Occasionally Elijah and Micah say they are not feeling good when they don’t want to go to school! One very good thing with the rainy season, most of the energy used in Burundi is green energy and the cells are rejouvenated with the rain….therefore, we have electricity more often. Yeah! Joshua is often heard yelling….”Yeah, the power is on!”

local store

"school bus"

            The kids are finally into a routine for school! In the mornings, it is a race to see who can get dressed the quickest in their school uniform….even Joshua gets into the challenge. I am including a few pictures of school life….one is of the local store that is just outside the school gates (in case one needs to buy a bignet, a drink or some other small item). Another picture is of the “school bus”, as I call it. It is a truck with a 3 sided cage that arrives at school. The children of the families who pay for the “bus” all climb into the back and it gives them a ride home. This picture is taken when the preschool is over, but the truck returns when all the kids are out and there is usually 20+ kids crammed into the back. I usually shudder when I see the truck barreling down the main roadway with a truck full of kids!

          

At the clinic for stitches!

  Things at GIA have been busy. On an average morning I see 15-25 students who are sick or injured! Many of these illnesses/injuries are very minor but when you are dealing with kids who are away from home for the first time and they are still learning English, things take a lot longer to figure out.  I am amazed that we have so many students at the start of the year who have problems with their eyes. By Canadian standards, when you send your kids to school, one should have their kids eyes checked and glasses ready to go when school starts. We have so many kids who broke their glasses during the summer, or whose eyes started giving them pains, but the parents could not make time to have their child’s needs looked after. As a result, many of our kids are suffering from headaches, eyesight problems and are missing school because the parents could not take time for their kids basic needs. I know that no matter where one lives, life can get very busy. But God has entrusted very precious gifts to us…..our children! We need to make sure that we are making time for our kids and letting them know they are important in life and to us!

LOVE IN ACTION - discipleship group

washing floors

washing shoes and backpacks

GIA girls with some of the orphans

            Charles has been busy getting “Love in Action” off the ground. Two weeks ago they had their first Love in Action with the discipleship team for this year. The group of 20+ kids went to the orphanage, Homes of Hope, and washed the shoes of the orphans and washed the houses where the orphans sleep. The kids and I could not attend as we were sick but we got to see all the pictures! I will let Charles write another blog on that event. 

Thank you to everyone for continuing your support for us!  A few people have asked if the Ebola is affecting us...the answer is NO! We are in East Africa which is over 3000 miles away from the Ebola affected area. We always love to hear from our supporters....it is good to get news from home. Happy belated Thanksgiving to everyone!

God bless,

      Charles & Darla,

           Savana, Elijah, Micah, Joshua

If you would like to donate to our mission, you can donate through the Youth for Christ Edmonton website or Bridges of Hope website earmarked "burundi mission".

 

http://www.yfced.com/index.php/donate/how-to-donate
http://www.thebridgesofhope.com/index.php?p=Donate

OR if you prefer you can contact Bridges of Hope via mail:

Bridges of Hope 

PO Box 81 Stn Main
Lethbridge, AB T1J 3Y3

Searching For The Heart Of God In Africa

Kids running when I tried to take a picture

         We went to a GIA staff get together a couple of weeks ago at one of our local teacher’s houses; he lives in a suburb of Gitega. The area where he lives is across a valley and is an area where white people do not go. As we started up the mountain, there was the usual “muzungu” yelled from the kids on the sides of the road. Most of these kids are young, dressed in dirty and ripped clothes, and are unsupervised.  As we headed up the mountain to where we were headed, the concentration on the “muzungu” intensified. We had kids chasing our van as they yelled “muzungu, muzungu” over and over.  At one point, we had to stop to find out directions and people began to just stand outside our van, watching and waiting to see what we would do. 

Brave kids that entered our compound

Micah playing soccer with the kids

        We found the house that we were headed to and when we exited the van, we instantly had an entourage of kids around us. Even when we headed in to the compound, the kids found a way to be able to watch us overtop the fence! As time went on, the kids got braver and braver and eventually started poking their heads into our compound…..just to watch the “muzungus”, and if they were lucky, they would even be able to touch our white skin.  Time continued on, the kids got braver and started coming in, just inside the gate, and just to watch us. We started playing soccer with a ball made out of plastic bags. As soon as a couple of kids started coming in, more and more kids joined the group. These kids were eager to see the white skins, and no matter their fears, they took the risk. When I pulled my camera out to take pictures, they all ran away! As well, Burundian kids are told that “the white skins will eat you”, so many are curious but scared of us.

            As these kids pursued us eagerly, I got to thinking about Christianity and our faith. We are instructed in the Bible to actively search for God. We are instructed to seek God, but do we? Do we read our Bibles, do we listen to what God is saying to us when we pray, do we take time for Him?

 “O God, Thou are my God; I shall seek Thee earnestly; My soul thirsts for Thee, my flesh yearns for Thee, In a dry and weary land where there is no water. Thus I have beheld Thee in the sanctuary, To see Thy power and Thy glory. Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise Thee”. Psalm 63:1-3 (NASB)  

   Just as the village kids pursued us, the muzungus, and even though they were afraid, they eagerly watched everything we did. As we get caught up in life, do we continue to seek after God’s own heart? It does not matter how we look, how we are dressed, or the language we speak, we all are to seek after God and to know Him. Deuteronomy 4:29 states “You will seek the Lord your God from there, and you will find him^[a] if you seek him with all your heart and with all your being.” (Common English Bible). It is my challenge to you to actively seek who God is. Even if life is difficult for you, come before God, the living Prince of Peace and He will give you rest.

        I wanted to share one of my challenges and frustrating situations I had this week here in Burundi. My school phoned me early in the morning and asked me to meet them at a local clinic as there was one students who was very sick. I met them at the clinic to find one of our girls in full body muscle contractions....very similar to grand mal seizures but she was completely coherent! She even translated for me. We asked for electrolytes to be checked only to be told to "wait". After a day or so, their answer to what was happening was "it is psychological....because when she is awake the movements are bigger but when she sleeps (with phenobarbital on board) the muscle contractions get much less. It must be that when she is awake that she is thinking of school, tests, problems, etc". I was so angry because this girl is one of the top girls in the school! I asked again about having Lytes checked only to be told they don't have the equipment to check electrolytes. Meanwhile, the girl has been in full body muscle contractions for over 48 hours! After this, she complained that her abdominal muscles were hurting....so they wanted to do an ultrasound of her abd to see if that was the problem. In the end, I spoke to the parents to tell them this issue is not "psychological" so they ended up taking her out of this clinic and went to the capital city, Bujumbura.....which is 2 hours away. Buja is the only place in the whole country where there is capability of having your electrolytes checked! We are in Gitega which is the second largest city in the country....about 50,000 people.....but it has very limited capabilities healthwise. 

     I have also since learned that doctors here do not even know how to interpret electrolyte results. They only do tests here that are definitive....malaria, typhoid, amoebas, etc. Anything else is pretty much ignored. It is a real eye opener to see how privileged we are in Canada. I pray here almost every day for God to keep us safe from sickness or injury because I do not trust any of the local clinics to be able to treat appropriately.

Continue to pray for us…..for safety, for wisdom in dealing with situations that arise with the GIA kids, and that we would grow closer together as a family and to God.

God Bless,

     Darla Balenga

If you would like to donate to our mission, you can donate through the Youth for Christ Edmonton website or Bridges of Hope website earmarked "burundi mission".

 

http://www.yfced.com/index.php/donate/how-to-donate
http://www.thebridgesofhope.com/index.php?p=Donate

Twisted Ironies of Life in Africa

Kids playing in the gutter

            As we drive to GIA, I study the communities, the homes and the families that we pass by. It is easy to get fixed in my thoughts and not even notice what is right before me. Many families live in partially built brick or mud houses. Many of the children play in the streets and in the gutters when they are not helping bring water for the household or working in the fields. I have seen kids that look like they are 3-4 years old carrying water on their heads and following closely behind their mother or older siblings. When one looks at the torn, and ripped brown and dirty clothes of these kids…not even a pair of flip flops on their feet! I have to admit, it is embarrassing that my kids have at least 2 kinds of flip flops each PLUS one or two pairs of running shoes.

kids with mother working the fields

Man repairing shoes

In Burundi, many people make a living from repairing shoes! On many street corners there is a little tent with sticks set up and a man sitting under it surrounded by shoes. He works many hours just to repair the worn footwear. Even at GIA, for the rich kids of Burundian society, a man is brought in once a week to repair shoes! There is a balance to find between being too “frugal” or being too “wasteful”. God encourages us to be wise with our money and to give to Him what is His first.

Savana

Micah

 

Elijah teaching Joshua

             It is good that my kids are taken care of, but how often do we as Canadians over do what our kids truly need. I know I have bought shoes for my kids before just because they wanted them….did they need the new shoes? NO. But I wanted them to feel loved. How ironic….have we as a society build our relationships on “things”? If I buy my kids such and such they will know that I love them….if I do this, then I can get “x, y, and z” accomplished. I have to admit, it is difficult to change some of this internal thinking. I have gotten so used to being “busy” that I have lost the ability to just relax and play with my kids. A reminder for me: "Let your character be free from the LOVE of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,"  (Hebrews 13:5)

Eric, our gatekeeper, with the kids

            A little closer to home….Eric, our guard and gatekeeper. He plays with our kids almost every day at our house. Eric goes home to visit his family once a month now for about three days. Here is a man, he has seven children under the age of 13…the youngest being 10 months old. This man knows my children better than his own kids. There is kind of a twisted irony about working away from home in this country. A man has to leave his own family in order to provide for them but in turn, he works for another family and he invests in those kids.  I wonder how do the Burundian children survive with only seeing their father for 3 days every 1-3 months.

Darla's office

            For a more personal note. Life has been busy here in Gitega. GIA is in full swing and the year started off with 50+ kids sick with the cold/flu! Gitega has a much cooler climate than Bujumbura and area, which is where many of the kids come from. When the students arrive, many get sick due to the climate change. Thankfully I have been able to handle most of the students at GIA and not have to send them to the clinic. Other than that, I have had a few emergencies….a broken wrist, a gash that needed stitches, and a girl that collapsed. It is good to have some of these things happen to keep my nursing skills up a bit.

Charles office

            Charles has been busy with teaching his classes, preparing Sunday chapels and starting preparation work for Love in Action events. We have learned that we need to have permits to be able to do some of the events that we would like to do. Pray for the planning of these events and that the local government will work with us and not use this as a time to get a “Fanta” (aka bribe).

 The kids seem to be getting settled into school but they are really starting to miss Canada. School here goes from 7:30am-1:00pm with one 15 min break. They return (Tues/Thurs) to school from 3-5pm. On Mon/Wed/Fri the 3 older kids go to a homework club from 3-5pm. Savana and Elijah remember the breaks they had in Canada so they are greatly missing those times. Please pray for the kids that they would see this as a short time in their lives to help make a difference and to impact others for Christ. My kids miss snow so much that they found some white rocks and were crushing them to make snow!

            I celebrated my 40^th birthday last week. The kids built me a rock birthday cake at the school and gave me gifts of rocks. I was then “surprised” with having a houseful of people over for supper. It was not too much of a surprise as Charles had bought a live goat the day before and it lived in our backyard for the day….this tipped me off to something happening. Most of the night we had electricity but part way through, our electricity went out so we spent the time by candlelight and flashlights. Overall, it was a great evening with some great friends.

 

            Prayer items:

1.      Pray for our kids that they can handle being away from Canada for a few more months.

2.      Pray for wisdom for Charles and I to know how to help the kids get settled

3.      Pray for Charles to be able to effectively teach his classes and build relationships with students

4.      Pray for GIA as there have been some significant changes in the leadership and some positions still need to be filled

5.      Pray for the houseparents that work with all the GIA students….for wisdom to know how to set boundaries and wisdom to give out punishments that are appropriate.


Thank you to all who are walking this journey with our family! May God bless you all....especially since the snow is coming :) You can also follow us on facebook at "Balenga  Mission to Burundi".....I post more frequent updates on that page.

                 Charles & Darla, 
                          Savana, Elijah, Micah, Joshua

If you would like to donate to our mission, you can donate through the Youth for Christ Edmonton website or Bridges of Hope website earmarked "burundi mission".

 

http://www.yfced.com/index.php/donate/how-to-donate
http://www.thebridgesofhope.com/index.php?p=Donate

PS
   Avocado anyone?

 

A New Time, A New Season in Burundi

            Well, we arrived safely in Gitega, Burundi last Saturday morning. This trip was a bit more challenging as we had an extra flight with extra layovers, and the kids seemed to have a lot more energy! Adjusting to the 8 hour time change has also taken a bit longer this time. The kids are still waking up at 3:00am ready for the day. I am looking forward to a time when we can all sleep normally again J Please pray for all of us to adjust to life in Burundi. It is now the rainy season so most of our days are filled with rain. It actually gets very cold....I could see my breath in the air the other day!

            Sunday was the opening day for Gitega International Academy (GIA). This year there are 237 students registered and they all arrived yesterday. The village people seemed to just line the streets to watch the entourage of cars headed in and out of GIA throughout the day. There have been many changes at the school….staff changes, building changes, and protocol changes. Charles has his own office space for meeting with students, and I have my own Nurses office where I can talk with students more privately! It is nice to have my own space where I can keep my record books and medications.

            Monday morning I was kind of dreading as it was the first day of school….Kids were awake at 1:30am but the day went very well. Even Joshua went to school and not a tear shed. I told him, “Mommy is proud of you.” and he responded, “I like when people tell me that, can I get a candy?” Oh such sweet innocence and manipulation! This year has started out better than when we arrived in January. Savana is starting grade 3, which she loves but oh the difficulty to get her to try to do her homework. The other day she woke up at 3am and sat in our hallway doing her homework by headlamp because she failed to do it the night before. Elijah and Micah are starting grade 1. It was nice to see Micah walk into his class without a big temper tantrum. It helps that his best friend from last term is in his class. Elijah is so proud because he is one of the fastest writers in his class…that is a big deal here. Joshua is starting prematernelle 1….a room of thirty-two  2 1/2 – 3 yr olds for one teacher with 1 helper….a big challenge.

            We are just finishing our first week at GIA and things are underway intensely. Charles has started teaching his two classes and starting the process of getting some “love in action” events planned. His leadership group from last year all came to him and said how much they appreciated his work last year! A good way to start the year off. We had the first chapel service today! Wow, so many kids this year....many faces are familiar but there are lots of new students.

           I am starting work on the kitchen and the hygiene policies that will be incorporated there. Some of my health and hygiene suggestions were incorporated for this term, hopefully we will see a sharp decrease in malaria, typhoid and amoebas! I am currently doing lots of work researching requirements of handling food, etc. in a large kitchen.  Not everything applies as when one does not have a fridge, one cannot keep things at a cool temperature…..this is not even mentioning what should be frozen!

            I will end here for now. Thank you for everyone who opened their homes and hearts to our family this summer. Our time went by very quickly….too quickly! We made many new friends and we are looking forward to keeping contact with you all. 

  Darla Balenga

If you would like to donate to our mission, you can donate through the Youth for Christ Edmonton website or Bridges of Hope website earmarked "burundi mission".

http://www.yfced.com/index.php/donate/how-to-donate
http://www.thebridgesofhope.com/index.php?p=Donate

August Schedule

Hello to all our faithful friends. We just wanted to connect with you and let you know our scheduled events for the month of August. We have appreciated those who made a special effort to come out to see us and hear what is happening in Burundi. We look forward to seeing many more of you in the next 3-4 weeks. The following is where we will be over the next few weeks.

   

            Sunday, Aug 3 5pm           African Fellowship Saskatoon, SK   Westside Pentecostal                                                                                           Church on 3488   Fairlight Dr

            Wednesday, Aug 6 7pm     Saskatoon, SK   Emmanuel Baptist Church on 1636 Acadia                                                            Dr at Taylor St…… in the Fellowship Hall

            Sunday, Aug 10 10am        Lethbridge, AB   The Misericordia Church, 502 13th st. N

            Sunday Aug 10    6pm        Calgary, AB     Congolese Church

            Monday, Aug 11 7pm         Rhineland Christian Fellowship church (Swift Current, SK)

            Sunday, Aug 17 10am         Wetaskiwin, AB

            Sunday, Aug 17   7pm         Lloydminster First Baptist Church         3915 47 Avenue,                                                                 Lloyd

            Sunday, Aug 24  9:30 & 11      South Edmonton Alliance Church   6508-31 AVE,                                                                             Edmonton

            Sunday, Aug 24 3pm         Burundian Church  Edmonton

Thank you for all your support through prayer, financially, interacting with us on our blogs! We love you all and we appreciate your support as we continue with our preparations to return to Burundi at the end of August!

  God bless,

           Charles and Darla Balenga