To summarize this once in a lifetime opportunity I had to go to Burundi with my oldest son, Josiah and work on the house my family will be living in, well, that’s a tall order but I’ll do my best.

There were so many highlights from the trip, but my top highlight is that Josiah and I got so much quality time together. We had a lot of different conversations, but the best conversation was that he shared his desire to be baptized. 3 John 1:4 says, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” That’s exactly how Michelle and I feel, it was difficult to be apart as a family, but to know this time helped stir Josiah spiritually and that he is ready to make this public proclamation is sheer joy for Michelle and I.

I also loved working alongside Josiah everyday, we worked really hard and he kept pace so well. He is growing into a strong young man. I loved seeing the team of Americans work alongside the Burundians so well. We had a lot of fun working together. We carried bricks, but the Burundian women would carry them stacked high on their heads…we didn’t do that. We built the security wall around our house and laid a ton of brick. We also laid the plumbing and electrical pipes to our house. A container was dropped off which we made electrical and water lines to that will be used as a mill to help widows make plants into powder, like moringa, for nutrition benefits for them and their children. We also organized a storage area where widows will be keeping seeds they can then plant and harvest to use the produce to feed their family or sell it to earn some income for their family.

Our home is actually a Sister Connection guesthouse, so once we no longer live there it will be used for teams coming in instead of needing a hotel. It has 6 rooms each with a bathroom, a kitchen, living room and a veranda which overlooks one of the most relaxing, breathtaking views. It was amazing to see all the work that had been accomplished in just 2 weeks.

One of my favorite things every trip is the kids. A lot of them are called street kids, they don’t have the money to go to school and their parents are working (oftentimes they work too), but whenever the white people are around the street kids come to watch them. We love interacting with them. I had an old map in my backpack from a zoo we went to as a family a year ago and I gave it to one of the kids and they treat it is a priceless treasure. I also loved interacting with the Sister Connection staff and one of the guys has his family living on the mountain too and his little girl stole our hearts.

The jet lag is not easy, it’s harder coming back to the States and they say for every hour in the time difference (6 for us) is the amount of days it takes you to adjust back. You’re tired and ready for bed around 4pm Indiana time, because it is 10pm Burundi time. Josiah and I are fully adjusted back now! Our efforts are now fully focused on finishing up our funding before departing the last week of July. Currently we are about $900 short for monthly commitment. You can get to our giving page by going to this site. https://www.worldrenewal.org/burundi.html

Thank you for your prayers! We are so thankful for the many people, some of whom we don’t even know have been praying for us! It makes such a huge impact and your prayers really have carried us and strengthened us.