After years of serving together with Harvest Initiatives, Onesphore thought he had a good relationship with Jean, until he suddenly stopped hearing from him. Jean had connected with a preacher with false, unbiblical views and persuaded him to cut ties. Jean grew zealous for this worldview, so much so that he later tried to persuade Onesphore. 

Surprised to hear from Jean after such a long time, Onesphore wasted no time in asking, ‘How can you live with that guy?!’ Jean tried hard to convince Onesphore, but to no avail. Rather, his counter-arguments forced Jean to reexamine the teachings he had been promoting. As Jean reflected, he realised “I knew I was stuck in my faith and my calling.”

By this time, Onesphore had pioneered Antioch Foundation and its programmes aimed at church leaders and members to equip them with a sound Biblical understanding. Because of limited Biblical resources, false teaching abounds in Burundi, especially for poverty-stricken people, who are susceptible to promises of easy wealth and health. Onesphore invited Jean to participate in the course, which had a huge impact. “I didn’t need to tell him to leave the false teacher; he understood he needed to. The teaching helped him catch the vision of the church.”

After they reconciled, Jean was a new man! He planted a house church of a dozen people, which eventually grew into a small congregation. Three years on, it has grown to over 200 people!

We heard this story whilst sitting at the offices of Antioch Foundation on a visit to Burundi, with Onesphore and Jean telling their respective sides of the story. Jean shared his joy at how far he had come, and his current prayer request of a building for their thriving church. Onesphore turned to Jean and said, “He doesn’t know this yet, but Jean, we have found two-thirds of the funding you need for your building.”

At the news of that amazing answered prayer, applause broke out in the room! Jean simply bowed his head, moved to tears. It was a beautiful moment, and a privilege to witness. Bearing good news is a beautiful perk of our work. As another key leader commented when he received much-needed funding he had been praying for, “you have lifted a 10,000kg weight off my shoulders”. 

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When he was 15-years-old, he inherited the powers and charms of sorcery from his mother. With these abilities, he continued their family tradition of practising witchcraft and was highly sought after by people in the Congo and Tanzania. They paid handsomely for his services, promising riches through dark magic and healing from curses or spells. Unfortunately, this came at a great cost to him – he never knew inner peace.

Feared and hated by everyone in his village, Yesaya lived a miserable life. Even his wife, Bujenie, despised him, numbing herself with heavy drinking, whilst Yesaya had multiple mistresses who hoped to benefit from his wealth.

In collaboration with GLO Partner Harvest Initiatives, the local Church held a two-week evangelism outreach, but they knew they faced the challenge of approaching Yesaya’s house. “When Pastor Richard suggested that we visit Yesaya, we were all worried, but we refused to let fear control us,” recounted Pastor Nichodem. Their fear was amplified by a local story in which someone had once tried to share the gospel with Yesaya, but Yesaya had cast a spell which had killed them. “When I joined the church, I was warned about Yesaya, and advised never to approach his house and avoid interacting with him at all costs. If I ever happened to cross paths with him on the street, I should turn around and walk away.” So Pastor Richard and his team fasted for three days to gather the courage to approach Yesaya.

Initially outraged when he saw the preachers, Yesaya allowed them to speak. Despite his past anger towards Jesus and the Church, Yesaya felt increasingly peaceful as the conversation with the preachers progressed.

“I’d heard about the power of Jesus, but I was also confident of my magic powers. Despite having all that I needed materially, I never felt peace in my heart. Every night, I struggled against relentless demonic attacks. I had to perform nightly rituals that required isolation from even my wife. In a flash of light, I felt like a heavy weight lifted out of me, and I immediately hurried into the house to take all the charms and sorcery accessories I had been using, so that we could burn them,” recounted Yesaya. It took three days to destroy everything in a bonfire.

Yesaya has spent the last year committed to evangelising lost souls, particularly trying to seek out those who had been his customers of witchcraft. Yesaya now speaks of the power to bring healing and reconciliation within his village. He is a respected member of the community, and his marriage is transformed. Whereas previously they were at loggerheads constantly, now they are affectionate and playful. “We live peacefully with each other. There are no more fights or quarrels; whenever we face a problem, we discuss it and pray about it together. His transformation has inspired me and strengthened our marriage,” says Bujenie.

Every year, Harvest Iniatitives run a two-week outreach campaign, and we always get amazing stories like this! Sign up for our emails to make sure you don’t miss out! Or check out some other stories from the last outreach:

The post From a World of Darkness to the Kingdom of Light! appeared first on Great Lakes Outreach.

The flooding is just one of many crises that Burundi is facing at the moment. We are raising money to support our Partners at this difficult time.

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The flooding is just one of many crises that Burundi is facing at the moment. We are raising money to support our Partners at this difficult time.

The post Aid for People Displaced by Flooding appeared first on Great Lakes Outreach.

Our partners are under such intense pressure, and yet are doing stunning work despite the challenges. But they’re struggling to feed their own families, let alone help others.

We want to increase their support allowances so their staff (and their families) can continue to be provided for, and their ministries can continue to thrive in this, the most difficult of seasons.

Could you help by pledging £20/month (or any smaller or bigger sum)? We even managed to secure matched funding* that doubles each new (or increased) monthly support for the first year, so your £20 becomes £40 etc.

*We’ve got match funding of £50,000 for monthly giving. That means that first 12 months of donations will be doubled.

The post Flooding & Crisis Appeal appeared first on Great Lakes Outreach.

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Thanks to a partnership with global French broadcaster Canal+, HTV is available to over 24 nations in Africa and beyond. (It’s channel 397 if you’d like to watch it yourself!) As well as reaching people from other nations, it’s a wonderful taste of home for the Burundian diaspora network, living all around the world.

“We get feedback from people from all these countries, and people say that they are blessed by our testimonies and teachings,” shares Martine, leader of HTV. She even reported that people who don’t understand the languages of French and Kirundi sometimes like to watch!

Heritage TV is run by a fantastic team, who work hard at all hours to keep the channel broadcasting 24/7! Beyond this, they are also working hard to grow their presence online and through social media to reach the upcoming generation beyond terrestrial broadcasting. With media as a key influencer for a nation, GLO is delighted to support this work.

The post An Audience of Millions! appeared first on Great Lakes Outreach.

What is the reason for this? Experts are not certain. But it seems to be a combination of heavy rain in the wider region, landslides and strong winds. It seems likely that climate change is the ultimate culprit for the rise of the water level of the world’s second-deepest lake.

Whatever the cause, the effects are devastating. The UN-operated IOM estimates over 98,000 people have been affected. As well as displacement, the flooding also brings an increased risk of cholera infecting the water supply.

In Bujumbura, you can observe scenes of people taking boats back to their homes to try and recover what possessions remain. Families are forced to put up makeshift shelters to sleep outside as they have nowhere else to go.

This is also a big concern for our Partners. The offices of Youth for Christ have been evacuated due to the water breaching their building. Kings Conference Centre, the incoming generating business of Scripture Union, is very close to the edge of the floodwaters. Just down the road, a major international school has had to close, with students being homeschooled. Check out this film one of our team took to see how close the waters are.

We are calling upon all of our supporters to pray for the floodwaters to recede, people to be able to return home, but also for the wider issue of the climate crisis – which threatens to shake the long-term sustainability of Burundi. If you would like to join our online Saturday Prayer Connect meetings, you can sign up here.

• Pray for families, businesses, schools and churches impacted
• Pray for Youth for Christ, Kings Conference Centre, and New Generation, who’s buildings are all close to the lake.
• Pray for wisdom for the Government on how to address the issue.
• Pray for the issue of climate change across Africa and the world.

If you would like to support our strategic work amongst the last, the lost, and the least in Burundi, could you consider supporting us with a monthly donation?

The post Huge Floods in Burundi appeared first on Great Lakes Outreach.

Lots of GLO Partners provide Bibles and resources to support Christians in Burundi. For some it is their primary focus and for others, it is part of a wider, holistic programme. Here are a few vignettes of the impact made in people’s lives.

In the first two months of 2024, Scripture Union Burundi were able to distribute 1000 subsidised Bibles across Western Burundi through their network of Christian Unions. You can see how highly they are valued in this photo of Thérence, a grateful recipient of a new Bible. “I thank God for this day when I was given my own bible. I will use it whenever I want to read it without needing to borrow one from others. I also thank those who support this work of spreading the great news of God! I also thank you for the training on how we will use it accordingly.”

RAJEDES work with young people struggling for work. They equip them with skills, empower them with microloans and teach them good practices. Sharing their faith is also a key part of their work, as they run a popular 6-month Bible course which over sixty people have taken so far, with 22 being baptised as a result of it. You can see the joy in their faces as they receive their completion certificates, and prized Bible at the end of it!

Igniting Communities for Jesus have distributed over 25,000 Bibles in the past few years. Their work with marginalised people focuses on whole-life transformation, with an understanding of scripture, academic education and practical training. To put scripture into practice, they also produce thousands of booklets in-house titled ‘Choose Life’. To keep costs low, they use their own photocopying machine!

To support our sustainable and transformative work in Burundi, you can make a donation here.

The post Turning Pages, Changing Lives appeared first on Great Lakes Outreach.

Their children didn’t have the materials required for school – although primary education is free, children must bring their own books, stationery and uniform. So the kids would turn up at class empty-handed, only to be sent home again. We can only imagine the humiliation they must have felt.

When Thalia spotted an opportunity to change her tragic circumstances, she seized it with both hands. Spotting some friends headed for a savings group operated by Greenland Alliance, Thalia asked what they were doing. When they told her about the scheme, she asked to join. 

In the group, she was equipped with training, and given the opportunity to join their microloans scheme. Thalia’s mindset totally changed, “I realized that I could work myself and provide necessities for my family instead of always waiting for what my husband gives us”, she said.

With capital of £27 / $35, she had a leg-up to start a business delivering lunch to workers. Word got around and business quickly boomed, with the demand now outweighing the supply! In the picture, you can see Thalia in full flow preparing that day’s meals, a smile on her face as she thrives. She hopes to employ some more women stuck in similar situations – which will create a beautiful ripple effect in the community!

Thalia has now repaid the loan, and is able to provide her children with what they need. Moreover, her grit and determination made a strong impression on her husband, who has changed his behaviour, with things improving in their relationship. 

“I no longer have any problems with feeding my family nor paying my children’s school fees and my husband respects me now and doesn’t beat me anymore.”

Greenland Alliance’s model of empowering those in need is effective because it enables people to grow for themselves, rather than creating a dependent relationship. This philosophy of hand-ups, rather than hand-outs, is foundational for our partners.  You can support this kind of transformational work today with a donation to GLO.

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