One of the nicest experiences that we have had since we have been here in Burundi is to be a part of the creation of a new branch. We have watched as members so new in the church have accepted callings that many of us who have been members all of our lives feel inadequate at accepting. Elder Frogley was instrumental in finding this wonderful building. It was build and occupied for a Catholic school 4 - 6 years ago and then after two years they couldn't pay the rent so it has been vacant for 2 years. It will be large enough for two branches and even District offices.
The building is located on a main road across the street from one of the largest hospitals in Bujumbura. Hundreds of people walk by this sign every day and it has already drawn many into the meetings and the missionaries.
I thought this sign was interesting as it has the name of the Church and the Sunday Meeting time (9H00) in French but the bottom line is in Kirundi. Notice that they start their meeting at "3". 6:00 a.m. is 0 in Kirundi and so 9:00 a.m. is "3" or "the 3rd hour".
Since the building had been vacant for 2 years it was full of spiders, cobwebs and dust. As most of the buildings and homes have floors of tile the members just dump soapy water on the floors, squeegee them, and then put cloths in the squeegee's and wipe the floors up. As they pushed the water from the 1st floor down to the ground floor it came down as almost black mud. It took a lot of work to get it clean.
Sister Verdiane Ntirubuzaguhita is the new Relief Society President. She has been a member for about 5 months. She is a very shy sister and it took a lot of faith for her to be in front of people, to teach and take charge. Great sister.
150 plastic chairs were bought that had been in storage for a long time and were very dirty. They each had to be washed and dried. This is Johnson Hatungimana our new Branch President. He's only been a member for about 8 months. He is writing his life story which is full of visions and divine help as he brought his family through the war and was directed to the church.
Tough job but someone has to do it!! It was fun working with the members. They are so thankful and proud of their new building.
I think this is the second Sunday in the building. This has been a challenging assignment for Phyllis to try to help keep the children taught and entertained for two hours. We now have about 25 + children coming to Primary. A couple of the children come in with babies (brothers or sisters) on there backs so that also adds a different dimension to the mix. The biggest problem is that the only language they understand is Kirundi so everything has to be translated. Elder Badibanga was assigned to be the teacher for the first two weeks until a Primary President could be called so you can imagine that he ran out of ideas fairly quickly. Phyllis comes out of primary pretty hot and tired.
Some of the children that love Phyllis. They have quite a range of ages in the one class. From 2 months to 11 years.
This is the investigator class. There were 27. President Johnson held a special meeting after Sacrament meeting for all of the investigators so the missionaries could get all of their names and addresses. It is an exciting time to be in Bujumbura.
The building is located on a main road across the street from one of the largest hospitals in Bujumbura. Hundreds of people walk by this sign every day and it has already drawn many into the meetings and the missionaries.
I thought this sign was interesting as it has the name of the Church and the Sunday Meeting time (9H00) in French but the bottom line is in Kirundi. Notice that they start their meeting at "3". 6:00 a.m. is 0 in Kirundi and so 9:00 a.m. is "3" or "the 3rd hour".
Since the building had been vacant for 2 years it was full of spiders, cobwebs and dust. As most of the buildings and homes have floors of tile the members just dump soapy water on the floors, squeegee them, and then put cloths in the squeegee's and wipe the floors up. As they pushed the water from the 1st floor down to the ground floor it came down as almost black mud. It took a lot of work to get it clean.
Sister Verdiane Ntirubuzaguhita is the new Relief Society President. She has been a member for about 5 months. She is a very shy sister and it took a lot of faith for her to be in front of people, to teach and take charge. Great sister.
150 plastic chairs were bought that had been in storage for a long time and were very dirty. They each had to be washed and dried. This is Johnson Hatungimana our new Branch President. He's only been a member for about 8 months. He is writing his life story which is full of visions and divine help as he brought his family through the war and was directed to the church.
Tough job but someone has to do it!! It was fun working with the members. They are so thankful and proud of their new building.
I think this is the second Sunday in the building. This has been a challenging assignment for Phyllis to try to help keep the children taught and entertained for two hours. We now have about 25 + children coming to Primary. A couple of the children come in with babies (brothers or sisters) on there backs so that also adds a different dimension to the mix. The biggest problem is that the only language they understand is Kirundi so everything has to be translated. Elder Badibanga was assigned to be the teacher for the first two weeks until a Primary President could be called so you can imagine that he ran out of ideas fairly quickly. Phyllis comes out of primary pretty hot and tired.
Some of the children that love Phyllis. They have quite a range of ages in the one class. From 2 months to 11 years.
This is the investigator class. There were 27. President Johnson held a special meeting after Sacrament meeting for all of the investigators so the missionaries could get all of their names and addresses. It is an exciting time to be in Bujumbura.
