Our Missionary in Burundi

May 11, 2007
Excerpts from a correspondence:

April 14 2007
Excerpts from the blog of my niece Christine Buettgen, 23, short term missionary to Burundi.

…the past three weeks, five of the thirteen kids have been in the hospital with serious malaria, and both moms were sick with malaria themselves.

…I ended up staying 5 extra days to help be a mother of 8 African children… I wore the same clothes everyday, was cooking over coals to feed the kids and staff, washing dishes and clothes by hand, and all the while trying to love on, discipline and raise these orphans. We made regular trips to the hospital to bring food and encouragement to the sick ones, and you honestly wouldn't believe the conditions of this hospital.

Earlier on in the week five year old Blaise fell and cut his head, and I [took] him to the hospital …[where he] received four stitches without any anesthesia, because it wasn't available, and the way that [he] looked at me…

I saw conditions that would be unacceptable even in the poorest hospitals in the States… an old man being carried by four nurses because they don't have a single wheelchair in the entire hospital…

…the lack of doctors on staff can be credited to a generation of educated people lost to war and disease…

…it becomes an awfully inescapable reality when you live it, when you see it with your own eyes…There shouldn't be such an enormous gap between the way people live in America and the way people struggle to survive in Africa.

Where you live should not decide whether you live or whether you die…I wonder how many children, and adults for that matter, lose their lives because they simply live out of reach of any medical treatment? …

Imana iguhezagire. God bless you all.

Christine

April 19, 2007
Email excerpt

Dear Christine,

…your mom sent me your latest post and I read it to Pastor Rafael and he said, “let’s send some local anesthetic and malaria medicine to her in Burundi” and I said, “That is from God” so on Sunday we’ll take an offering.

Just tell me where to send the medicine or the money!

Love

Aunt P

April 20, 2007
Email excerpt from Cindy Buettgen, my sister and Christine’s mother

…What a blessing, praise God for you and for Pastor Rafael. No wonder you want to work with him. I am truly humbled by his generosity and God’s grace.

Thank you for your words of encouragement re: [Christine’s safety.] I am praying for the devil of negativity to be gone!!!!

Love you,

[Cindy]

April 23, 2007
Email from Christine

Aunt Pam, you are an enormous blessing to me! When I read your email, I cried right here in the internet cafe. God is truly bringing nations together and is using the humble and poor of this world to shame the rich...thank you for supporting me in so many ways.

I am sharing in a small group in Bujumbura tonight and I will use the example of your church, being the hands of God even when they don’t have much to give, really incredible.

I think it would be best if your church could make a monetary contribution that we could set aside for medical needs of the children. You could send a check to my mom and she can put it in my account and I can transfer it to the YFC orphanage account here in Bujumbura. Is that okay with you?

Please keep me updated on how I can be praying for you and your people in Honduras. How are Joel and Bertha? I come home in a little over a month, hopefully we can reconnect before we both leave the country again.

Blessings on you Aunt Pamela!

Imana Iguhezagire,

Christine

May 11, 2007
Email
cc: Cindy Buettgen

Dear Christine,

We are all doing well. I saw Bertha today and she and Joel are fine. We can use prayer for the Lord to bring more workers for the harvest. Our projects are starting to take off and be more than we can handle by ourselves. We are praying for God to show us those he has appointed to partner with us – both in person and financially.

I just sent your mom $100 as the offering for Burundi from the churches of Honduras. I wanted you to get it before you leave there! I’m sure you are right that shipping actual medicine would be far too difficult.

We are so excited about the opportunity to partner in the ministry in Burundi. I translated your blog into Spanish and put it up on the wall along with maps and information in Spanish from Wikipedia. Several of our literacy students used Burundi for an assignment they had!

Pastor Rafael says with pride that you are our missionary in Burundi. We can’t wait to see what God is going to do through this connection, both in Honduras and in Burundi. I have been saying that my dream is to see missionaries sent out to other countries as a result of our work with these slum churches, but I didn’t think we’d begin sending support to a missionary so soon! God is so faithful – when we are aligned with his will, we don’t have to figure everything out. He will show us the steps!

So, from the churches of Ministerio Cristiano Jehová Rafah in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, grace and peace to you and to the brothers and sisters in Burundi. We praise God for you and pray that this gift may not only save people from malaria, but also be multiplied by God in ways that we can’t even imagine.

Your loving aunt,

Pamela