We read the Old Testament and read the stories of the Israelites. They fled the slavery of Egypt and harsh quotas of Pharaoh, the wandered in the desert for 40 years sustained by manna, water from a rock and an occasional feast of quail, and they stood perched on the banks of the Jordan River looking over into the Promised Land. We read about their fears, complaints, longings, hardships and hopes for a better day for their children and generations to come. We do our best, on good days, to imagine what that must of felt like to finally cross over into that longed-for land, to finally shed homelessness and embrace home. But for most of us who grew up in a home, it is hard to see the Promised Land as more than a biblical metaphor for the things we want in life.

This past season I have seen the pages of the Old Testament come to life before my very eyes. Our Batwa friends live a landless existence in Burundi, their own homeland. They are without roots, as the government can order them to move at any time. So their grass huts are flimsy and unable to withstand the heavy rains, unable to keep families dry or warm of safe. Their villages are often far from the road to town, too far for children to walk to local school, a days walk to get meager amounts of water and a great distance from the crossroads of commerce. It is barren land. They might as well be wandering in a desert.

Bubanza, the village where we first encountered the Batwa’s living conditions, was a place of mere existence. I could imagine the cries that went up from this place. And what I know now is that, just like in the stories of Exodus, God hears the cry of the poor and exploited. He hears, He remembers and He responds. He delivered then and He delivers now. I don’t claim to know when God heard the cry of the Batwa of Bubanza, how long ago He considered them and set into motion salvific action on their behalf, how long they wandered with a wisp hope. Maybe more than 10 years ago… when Liberate had a burning in her heart to see emancipation for her tribesmen and women. Maybe all these years God has been at work, bringing together a new future, a promised future, for the Batwa.

But last month we saw the further unfolding of the Biblical narrative before our eyes. Etienne, Liberate and Evariste went to see the land of Matara, and like Joshua and Caleb, pronounced it to be good land! Maybe not flowing with milk and honey, but there was a green field thick with tea plants! And a water source on the land, and a forested hillside that offered shade and shelter. This was promised land, indeed!

So on June 1st the men relocated from Bubanza, among other similar villages, to Matara. They came ready to prepare the land for their families. For 2 weeks they worked at clearing the land and building the temporary homes out of bamboo, mud and sheet metal roofing. And on June 19 they welcomed their wives and children to their new home. Crossing the little river on Matara must have been like crossing the Jordan for them… moving onto their new land where they could build permanent, weather-proof homes, plant gardens to have fresh vegetables to eat, a running river just meters from their village center where they could now have ample water for cleaning, bathing and drinking and an elementary school within an easy walking distance for their children. Now there is a homestead for them and their children and future generations. This is the Biblical story come to life, yet again!

Temporary homes

Welcome to our home!

Greetings

The Batwa of Matara welcomed us with extravagant hospitality to their new home. There was enthusiastic and athletic dancing, the singing of ancient songs and roasting of goat over the fire to be shared with us all. The celebration was a homecoming party… God had answered their prayers for real land. And we, as friends, were so humbled and honored to share in the holy moment. I felt like I was transported back to the banks of the Jordan… crossing over with these friends into a promised land as real as Israel. I was reminded that God delivered and He delivers.

How many times do we get to walk the Biblical story so literally? To be so tangibly reminded that God is still active in the world in such ways – listening to the cries of the poor, bringing liberation, giving land, handing us hope and holistic salvation? It has been overwhelming, to say the least. One thing this has done for me is reminded me that the Old Testament stories are not collecting dust on a shelf somewhere, or only read to children in Sunday School… they are continually being enacted across the world where God is on the move for the sake of the world He so deeply loves and is committed to restoring.