Within the first few weeks what was evident was that Nestor did not want to work that hard. He wanted hand outs instead. Whenever the community gathered to work, Nestor was absent or late or slow to move. We later learned that in a previous village he was known to drink too much and work too little, a pattern that he packed with him and brought to Matara. Nestor’s laziness did not escape the notice of community leaders and CFB staff.

However, there was something else that Claude noticed – Chantal. Nestor’s oldest daughter was a young lady that stood out. She helped her parents with the younger children, worked hard around Matara doing chores and was a strong student. As a matter of fact, over the course of the year she achieved that status of ‘first in class’ in her eighth grade classroom! Her hard work and intelligence impressed Claude, and seeing her succeed and have ample support to stay in school was important to him. It was so important that he put up with Nestor’s laziness to keep her in Matara. Claude did let Nestor know that were it not for Chantal, he would have been kicked out (several times over).

A few weeks ago Claude was hosting a regular meeting with the Matara leadership team. Everyone was there – Francois, Little Claude and all the rest of the men and women of the village. They were sharing stories of personal progress – now harvesting a relative abundance of food, generating some income from small businesses (shoe repair, charcoal production and soap-making) and the overall health of the families was better a year later. They were telling Claude to share this good news with the friends in the States, to tell people that they are, in essence, able to take care of themselves now and walk with pride in their community. What they wanted to send with us was a blessing from Matara, not a request for anything. This was a time of great gratitude and good news.

As Claude was preparing to leave Matara, Nestor followed after him and asked to have a moment of his time. Nestor extended his hand to Claude, ‘Thank you so much for giving me another chance. I know I was lazy and a drunkard and you wanted to kick me out. But now I am making soap and earning 10,000 francs a week (about $10). I am clean and I want other to be clean, too. I don’t drink anymore, I work hard and I can provide for my family. Thank you for the chance to be a better man.’ The two men embraced. Claude said he had to push the tears from his eyes, he was so deeply touched with Nestor’s words.

So friends, this is why we do what we do. We work to see deep transformation on the land, but more so in the terrain of hearts and lives of Burundian families. People can work their way out of chronic laziness if there is an environment of support and a high standard set. People can put down the bottle and start making soap instead. People can change and embrace a new way of living. We’ve seen it happen in Matara, we’ve seen it happen before our eyes with Nestor.

In the first election, all voters were able to vote for the political party of their choice for local governance. The president’s party won 65%+ of the votes, a landslide. This was a huge surprise to some of the other political parties. While the international observers said it was, basically, a fair result, those in the other parties doubted that evaluation. So the other parties all banned together and created one opposition party and decided to boycott the next election in the series… the presidential election. If the numbers were true, then people voting for that party would most likely vote for the president of that same party. So the president was really pushing people to get out and vote – though his was the only name on the ballot. Meanwhile, the opposition was encouraging a boycott of the vote, to demonstrate a lack of confidence in the president and the election overall.

Prior to voting day, round two, there were some grenades lobbied into local restaurants and such. There were rumored threats of arresting all the opposition candidates. There were actual arrests of those involved with other parties, the government claimed this was to provide security since these people were stirring up trouble. It was minor, by many standards, but still troubling.

The result… on that voting day, few people turned out to the polls. It was a very quiet day. Most people stayed home. I don’t know if they were demonstrating their agreement with the opposition or not. Several friends I spoke with, people who were excited to vote in the first round, were opting out due to the futility of it all. With only one person on the ballot, why take the trouble to go out and vote? The result was already assured. So that may have played a part in the low turn-out as well. It was rather sad to see the initial political enthusiasm diminished to a quiet whimper.

So this seems like a rather bleak story of an anemic and flawed attempt at democracy. And maybe that is the truth. But there is another story I want to tell you, one that is more exciting and worthy of genuine enthusiasm. In Matara, 27 couples set out to vote on that day. They walked together to the polling site, voting for the president of their country for the first time. They dipped their fingers in the dark ink and affixed a thumb print on the books. They walked back to the village with stained fingers and a sense of excitement – they voted! For the first time they were recognized citizens of their own country and were eligible to participate in the election process, however flawed. For them, it did not matter so much who they voted for (or that there was only one name to select) but that they were able to vote at all. Participation in the election was a sign of membership, a declaration of belonging and a recognition that their voice would now be heard as all others. Election day in Matara was a success… as a sign of something larger! The overall voter turn out for the election that day was under 30%, and most think even that number is inflated. But in Matara, voter turn out was 100%… what good news!

There are three more election dates in the series. This week on July 23rd there will be the election of members of the legislature. On July 28th there is another vote for the senate members. As far as we know, all parties plan to run in these races. Please pray for peace amid the process that remains. Pray for all parties to show restraint and to forgo the use of violence or the inciting of unrest. Pray for the people to be able to engage in their political process with a sense of confidence that their vote will be counted, and their voice heard. Pray for good, competent and credible leaders to emerge from this election, for the sake of Burundi. And when you pray, take a moment to thank God for the good news coming out of Matara! Thank Him for one corner of the country where the voting really mattered in deeper ways!

Yesterday was an exciting day in Matara… the beginning of soap production!

Each family in Matara has been encouraged to start a business enterprise to help generate family income. We offered a class on micro-enterprise which included things like creating a business plan, considering the market for goods, recording expenses, accounting for the profits and how to evaluate success. Some families begun their first venture months ago – shoe repair, charcoal production, someone even tried to sell fish! But seven families were having a bit more difficulty coming up with an idea that they deemed worthwhile. Claude kept encouraging them to dream and not to give up on the idea of starting something new.

So at long last, these families came up with an idea… making soap! They decided to work together as a co-op. So together they researched the local need, what would be required to make the soap in Matara and estimated the potential profits. They put together a plan and requested the loan money from the CFB team – and got the loan. The families found a soap maker who was willing to teach them how to make the soaps and assist them in the early stages of production. Just before the Texas friends arrived in Matara last month, the families made their first batch of soap as a proto-type. It was a success! (We used some to wash our hands when we were there for the wedding celebration and work day!)

But yesterday they officially launched the Matara Soap Shop! The seven men were in ‘the factory’ making the soap with such excitement. David even got in on the action and helped with the cutting of the first white and blue bars of soap! Another man from the village, who has a business of his own now, was so intrigued that he had to get in on the action of helping his friends in this new endeavor. The excitement seemed to be contagious!

Epitas took special care in showering and dressing… since he would be the salesman. He donned his COF shirt and set up a table on the dirt road so many neighbors pass each day. The road gets a lot of traffic as people walk to the market, to catch a bus into town or to escort their children to school, so he thought it was a perfect place to display the freshly made soap. The first purchase was made by none other than David Shook! He bought 24 bars of soap made in Matara. WOW!

We are all convinced that this might be the best enterprise yet. The potential is huge, as they are the only community in the area making fresh soap. They are on track to pay back their loan in a mere 4 months, if sales go as projected, and then all profits go to their families. Claude is so proud of them for coming up with this idea, investigating it and now implementing it with such energy. Their personal investment in this business is one key element in making it a success… they are committed to the soap making idea that they initiated!

There is more happening in Matara these days. Many of the men are making bricks for sale in local markets…

And the women are working hard in the fields… yesterday they were tending to the cabbage recently planted. (Look familiar? Some of you helped plant these ones!)

Life is good in Matara… bricks are being made, cabbage and new businesses are growing, too! These families know that they can begin ventures and have a chance at success. They have a growing sense of confidence in their own ideas, abilities and potential. No longer dependent on hand-outs, these families know they can provide for their families and community with their own hard work. What a great gift!

Planting together

Ubuntu is a Xhosa word that represents an African concept – we are persons through other persons. I am who I am because you are who you are, and our interactions contribute (or detract) from the other. My quality of life is enriched when you are healthy, when you are employed and your family is around you. But should you succumb to an illness, or you lose your job or your family is at odds, my life is somehow diminished and less complete. Because we are all connected, what happens to others matters to us in a personal way. This reminds me of Paul’s image in the New Testament about us all being part of Christ’s body, and when one part of the body is broken it affects the entire system. Again, we are connected to others in deep ways that impact us.

I just finished reading Desmond Tutu’s most recent book, Made for Goodness. He speaks of ubuntu, not surprising as an African elder who knows his continent’s wisdom deeply. He says, “One consequence of ubuntu is that we recognize that we all need to live our lives in ways that ensure that others may live well. Our flourishing should enhance the lives of others, not detract from them… God’s invitation to wholeness always includes more than ourselves. God’s invitation to wholeness is ubuntu.” He challenges us to live our lives in ways that ensure the livelihood of others. He cautions us that some of our choices could actually harm others, maybe even our friends.

I was thinking of this statement as I thought of our recent time with our Batwa friends in Matara. We worked together, side by side in the cabbage field. We sat together under the canopy of shade and made containers out of banana leaves for the tree farm. We took cotton, fabric, baskets and some string and sewed fireless cookers together. We were making life better for our Batwa friends as we labored alongside them. We were investing in the health of their land and the health of their families. But did we realize that we were also investing in the health of our own families and our own land? Our lives, Texan and Twa, were improving. This is ubuntu.

It is striking to consider Tutu’s final sentence … his claim that our wholeness depends on the wholeness of others. We cannot be complete on our own, we need to recognize our connection to others and seek their wholeness. Doing this improves their life, but also ensure the health of our own. We are only whole when we are all whole. Interesting thought, isn’t it?

Again, think of our Batwa friends in Matara. As the quality of their community improves, somehow your life is enriched in a tangible way. When the cabbage grows, when the kids are doing well in school (and not experiencing any discrimination), when the Batwa are able to engage in community service with their Hutu and Tutsi neighbors… we are better in America. When the trees are planted, mature and eventually provide shade cover and help preserve the rich soil of Matara… we are better in Texas. When the Batwa families all have identity cards and birth certificates, all are legally married and full members of society… we are better in Cypress. When Iribuka grows up with the proper nutrition and can be found running in the green fields alongside her mama… we are better at Community of Faith. We are more whole when they are more whole.

But take it a step further… and think of things that we can do better in Texas to make things better in Matara. How can ‘our flourishing’, as Tutu says, bring them bounty? Are there ways in which we seek to flourish that might actually due them harm? These are questions worth considering, as we understand that in Christ, we are all members of the same body. And part of the mystery of this body is that what happens in Matara matters to Cypress, and what happens in Texas matters to the Batwa friends in Burundi. It is amazing how Christ has connected us in, as the Africans say, ubuntu. And it should challenge us and the choices we make at home.

I loved hearing Martha share how she plans to buy fewer shoes and save more money to contribute to our friends in Matara. That is a very direct expression of ubuntu. I imagine there are some other ways to think of this, too. Think about how the Batwa friends were refusing to use plastic bags in the tree nursery, opting for banana leaves instead. This was a choice to minimize waste in Matara and avoid plastic bags that are not good for the earth. Maybe we can use reusable bags when we go to the market and try to minimize the plastic bags we consume in Cypress, caring for our locality with the same diligence. Maybe we can commit to using less plastic water bottles – remembering that Joel recycles them into pavers in Congo! What if we planted a few trees this year in solidarity with our Matara community, caring for our land as they care for theirs. Trees are the lungs of the earth… we could strengthen them here and there. What if we considered all the energy we use daily, and how we might lower our usage by using eco-friendly bulbs in our lamps and turning off the lights when we leave a room. That is what the fireless cookers are all about – consuming less energy in the daily task of cooking (here it is coal and firewood we are trying to conserve). These are some ways to think of ubuntu, to consider bettering our lives and their lives, knowing that they are doing the same in Matara today!

Ubuntu is like an embrace, realizing we are connected. Let us not forget to hold each other tight as we work to ensure that our flourishing brings our friends benefit. Let us be creative in expressing our solidarity with the Batwa friends we made in Matara. Your coming was just the beginning, how you live is the daily expression of that friendship you embarked on when you first walked (and danced) in Matara!

Friends embrace...

P.S. The women have their pots with lids and are staring to experiment with the fireless cookers! And the cabbage you helped plant is growing! Goodness continues…

“We are official now!” was his pronouncement to the friends gathered at the wedding celebration. Over recent generations, the Batwa had fallen out of sight. They were pushed to the margins and so began to relinquish the rights of civil society – like marriage. They stopped getting married, opting for cohabitation without any legal accountability or protection. But last week 10 Batwa couples decided to get married and enter society in the fullest way possible. The governor of the province came to Matara in all his ceremonial garb, and he brought the marriage book and ink pad. One couple at a time, they signed their names in the book, a permanent record of their marriage in this province. They rolled their thumbs in ink and pressed with pride… they are now official! Their names in this book, alongside all the other married couples of the entire region, means that they are now full members of society. They have moved from the shadows and into society with all of us as witnesses. They wanted us to celebrate with them – they have birth certificates for all children under the age of 5, all the adults have identity cards, and now they are all married and in the book. They are official. For our Batwa friends, this is a monumental statement of belonging.

“We will build it together,” the governor said. He was referring to a road that the commune (like a county) had wanted to build for years, but could never get the permissions or have ample manpower to complete. The road would have to run alongside the Matara property line to reach from the highway to the more remote country road deeper in the region. But, he told us, now they can do it because the Batwa families of Matara have agreed to allow the road to run on the edge of their property. And… the Batwa families volunteered to help build it. They volunteered to work alongside Hutu and Tutsi neighbors to build a road that will run alongside their land and create access for others. With this the governor said that ‘we will build it together.’ Stunning! Our Batwa friends are making a better life for themselves, but they are also making a better life for their neighbors. They are contributing to the community at large, because they know they are members of that commune and can now engage as such. For the first time, they will work on a road not as hired help, but as fellow volunteers helping the community. Later the local chief of the zone added that the Batwa families are ’showing us our prejudices.’ Another statement worth reflection, as these families are helping reveal and improve the character of their community.

These are astonishing statements from the Batwa families and their local leaders. Astonishing announcements just one year into this community development project.

What they said is what matters. What we say, less so. We can talk about strategies, intentions, attempts and high hopes. But they speak and witness to a new reality – their hard work bearing fruit, their efforts bringing results, their new life proving to be better than the old one. They say they are healthier this year – all births and no deaths in Matara. They say they are better fed – fresh crops and a variety of vegetation resulting in full pots on the fire at dinner time. They speak with such pride about their accomplishments, what they have achieved on their own land. They offer us words of gratitude for friendship. Their words tell the story we need to hear. Their words say that they are living better in Matara, that they are building something for their children and that they are now integrated into society in ways they never dreamed before. They are, as Francois said, walking tall.

Our words echo theirs… but their words carry the weight and show us what it looks like when hope takes root and transforms a community. Our best word in response: Amen!

God created – land, trees, streams and soil. He took great pleasure in the activity of creating and with each new marvel; He declared it ‘good!’ I think we often forget that God took great pride in His handiwork and, more to the point, He still does!

We read John 3:16, well, really we know it so well that we recite it by heart more than read it. But it is worth reading again. For God so loved the cosmos that He sent His Son – God loved the cosmos, and was compelled to take the bravest step and become flesh and blood to bring salvation to this entire enterprise. John could have written that God so loved the ethnos, the people inhabiting the planet. But no, God loves the cosmos – the world, all that He created. He loves all of it! Everything God created matters to Him and is worth His salvation. What a stunning thought. And this leads me to the next thought – if God so loves the cosmos, do I?

I have spent a lot of time learning to love the people God has placed in my life, in my country and in this world. But recently I feel God is widening the scope and showcasing all of His creation and inviting me to embrace it with the same enthusiasm that He does. This means seeing that the world, and those that are in it, are good and all beloved. It means we need to not only care for one another, but also the environment where God has put us. This is part of loving the cosmos, recognizing that God wants us to be trust-worthy with one another and with all created things.

So I look to the land that God has gifted to the Batwa families in Matara. It is good land with rich, dark soil that produces wonderful vegetation. There are trees covering the mountainside, offering shade and protecting the environment. Not too far from the village there is a fresh water stream with its source right on the land, clean water that is accessible for cooking, cleaning and drinking. You just see creation goodness all around when you walk the ground of Matara. This might as well be the Promised Land!

And so – this is part of the cosmos God created and loves, and this plot of land is what He has given to these 27 Batwa families. We have been entrusted with this land – like Adam and Eve, we are invited to cultivate the land, sustain its goodness and protect it from harm. As we care for the land, it will care for us. As we ensure that the environment remains healthy, then the trees will continue to grow and give shade, the water will remain clean, the soil continue to bear fruit and this will remain a hospitable place for the Batwa families.

So I have been asking myself – how do we care for this land in sustainable ways, so that we can honor God’s good gift and ensure that Matara remains a productive home for the Batwa families? How do we make sure the stream does not fill with silt and the water become too dirty to drink? How do we make sure we are tending the soil in a way that keeps it moist and rich – so it does not dry out and the top soil blown away? How do we ensure that the trees won’t all be chopped for firewood or charcoal production, but instead remain a canopy of shade and protection for the land? These are important questions to be asking as we move forward with the growth of this community. The relationship between the people and the land matters, it did in Genesis and it does in Matara.

These are good questions to be asking. These are good issues to be exploring together. God loves the Batwa families that live in Matara. He also loves the land of Matara. So we need to be thinking about how to care for both.

This gives us great confidence for the election rounds remaining in the cycle, including the presidential election in late June. Since it is the president’s party that won by a landslide yesterday, there is a strong sense that the people are behind him and will also support him in the presidential election. People all seem to agree that the vote was fair, so there is confidence that their political will is being witnessed, welcomed and will bear good fruit. So any fears that people had going into yesterday’s election are slowly being quelled. There is a swelling sense of confidence today in Bujumbura… and that is good news.

Thank you for praying Burundi through this election season. It is a landmark on the political landscape of the country, and your faithful prayers for the people of Burundi move us toward a better future filled with peace and democracy.

“The exercise of good leadership would end government violations of human rights and restrictions on freedoms such as the right to move, assemble, access information, and organize. Good leadership could decide, for instance, not to sell off Africa’s natural resources for such low prices, and then to invest the additional revenue to accelerate human and economic development. Good leadership could curtail corruption, one of the most corrosive aspects of poor leadership that has been rife in post-independence Africa. Good leadership would provide the milieu in which citizens can be creative, productive and build wealth and opportunity.”

Tomorrow Burundi will host the first in a series of five elections, the Burundian people participating in the selection of their leaders for the first time in seventeen years. You can imagine how excited people are on the eve of the first election, the selection of regional leaders. There are party flags waving proudly in the African sun, rallies with party leaders sharing ideas over megaphones, small groups all over the city talking together about the kind of government they want and the type of leaders it will take to move the country forward. These are important days and intoxicating times to be in Burundi!

Please pray that the Burundian people will be blessed with discernment, wisdom and courage to elect good leadership as described by Wangari Maathai. Leaders who will protect human rights for all citizens, protect the environment and natural resources of Burundi and combat corruption at every level of government… leaders who will want to serve and not steal, who will bring blessings and not a curse to this country. Pray for Burundi tomorrow – for peace to blanket the cities and citizens of this land as they cast their first vote for a new season of political life.

Lord, bless Burundi with good leadership so that your dream for this land may unfold on every hillside and in every household. Amen.

Another friend visited Matara this week. Brian was with Mark, Sarah, David and Sydneyanne on that first visit to Bubanza to meet some of our Batwa friends. He shared in the sights, sounds and sadness of the living conditions in that roadside village. And he dreamed with Claude, Mark, David and Sydneyanne about a different life for these families.

This week was the first time he returned to Burundi since then. This time he went to Matara to see a new way of life. He saw families working hard for a better future, people filled with hope. Instead of empty pots on the fire, there were gardens of fresh vegetables. Instead of bare and arid land, there were trees, flowers and even a river. The contrast could not be any more stark… then and now are like two different realities!

Brian was eager to pitch in, and the women welcomed an extra set of hands. He was immediately handed a hoe so he could join in the joy (and sweat) of cultivation.

He walked the land with our agricultural engineer (also named Claude) and learned about all the crops, the seasons of growth, the progress in the very soil of Matara. He said he could tell how proud Claude is of the families, how he praises their hard work and sees how far they have come in a year.

Brian and Francois, the current Matara leader, walked side by side through the village. Brian amazed at the new reality on the ground; Francois delighted to share his home with another good friend.

Brian saw the desperation in Bubanza more than a year ago; now he bore witness to the hope brimming in Matara. This continues to be a story of good news!

a baby girl named Irankunda. Her name means ‘God loves me’ and the chosen name reflects her parents’ knowledge that their daughter is cherished by God, being born into a good place and at a good time in their lives. This family is feeling God’s love, and expressed as much in the naming of their little girl.

There are other new things happening in Matara these days. In the last couple of months Donatien, our micro-finance trainer, has offered training sessions on the basic principles of micro-finance. He taught our friends about loans and repayment, investment in local enterprises and income-generating ventures to help earn money for their families. As of today, twenty individuals have been certified to participate in this in-house program.

This group is the first within Matara to attempt to start their own businesses. They have each qualified for a $50 loan to start something and learn how to run a successful business. Ten of the group members decided to begin making charcoal to sell to local communities. Some are buying beans, a staple for the local diet, and trying to sell in the nearby marketplace. One man is doing shoe repair. Others are providing wood for construction sites in the vicinity. For all of them, creating and running a business is a new thing. So learning by trial and error is to be expected during this initial season of the micro-finance project.

Donatien has noticed that while the business people were initially a bit shy to ask for his help, as the weeks progress they are seeing his value as a business counsellor and resource for them as they develop a new set of skills. Now he regularly meets with these friends to offer advice, help them think through rudimentary business strategy and related matters. He is pleased to report that 100% of the new business people are repaying their loans on time! Donatien, as a member of the CFB staff, is in Matara 5 days a week. His constant presence helps the participants to learn, offering daily accountability and daily access to advice. So far, it seems the friends in Matara are learning about the basics of business and enjoying the challenges of entrepreneurship!

So babies continue to be born… as well as a new crop of business people!