Easter Sunday ISOB Activities- April 12th 2009

 

Introduction

 

Jesus is risen indeed! We are celebrating the great victory that Jesus had and brought to us over Satan and his kingdom. This day was the day of new beginnings and so victorious to us that we celebrated Jesus in many different forms: three young men chose to step in Christ's steps by being baptized in much water (the first baptism in our church), ISOB books transformation being shared, launching the school activities of ISOB-Burundi, Bujumbura area and celebrating together as the new things (new era) happen in our ministry.

 

  1. Baptism in the Lake Tanganyika

 

Pastor Jean-Baptiste Sibomana and Pastor Augustin Omana baptizing three young men in our church early morning on the Easter Sunday in the Lake Tanganyika where the capital of Burundi is at the shore of the lake.

These three men were changed by the message that is in the book, "Grow or Die" written by Larry Chkoreff.

 

It was a great day of celebration when we celebrate how God's people die with Christ and rise up with Him. This is the joy of being wet in Christ. Since we received the book "Grow or Die" we took time to talk with these three young men who committed their lives to Christ and live for Him forever. We thank God for these three young men who are ready to serve Christ with all that they are.

 

  1. The Baptized in Church

These three young men (from left to right: Epimaque, Matthew and Remy) are here holding the books ("Grow or Die") in our church to show the instrument that was used to allow the thirst and hunger for Christ to grow. The strange story is of Epimaque who is from a very strong and radical family that worship in Roman Catholic is now accepting to be persecuted by his family and friends. He is a university student in the 4th year (his last year of school) in the faculty of Economics. But he decides to make that commitment despite the cost. Remy presented his theses in January 2009 when he finished his university studies in the faculty of Law. He is an orphan because of civil war that took place in Burundi. All these young men are taking all the risks that go together with persecution because of believing and following Christ.

 

  1. Civil war in Burundi

 

There is a sad story that we cannot escape to tell you concerning civil war that happened in Burundi. Burundi has been damaged by civil war due to ethnic differences. The amazing thing is that the three ethnic groups that are said to be in Burundi speak the same language (Kirundi). But since 1962, the time of our independence, blood shedding never stopped just as we can consider 1969, 1972 (the notorious one), 1988, 1991 and from 1993 till 2005. Due to conflicts and mutual killings, many Burundians sought refuge in foreign countries, neighboring countries and even displaced themselves inside the country. Houses were destroyed, people gathered themselves in suburbs according to their ethnic groups (there was ethnic cleansing where Pastor Omana was arrested one time in 1996 and was forced by some militias to dress up a vehicle tire so that they can pour on it petrol so that he can be well burnt, but God saved him from that terrible situationÉ). Transportation was risky because travelers died in ambushes because of their ethnic groups. Rebel groups developed and many families lost their parents and different members of families. Now what is happening after all this time is mainly gun robbery with conflicts after war (conflicts that never spared the church), rebuilding destroyed homes, welcoming refugees that have been living in foreign countries for many years, facing conflicts over lands because when people sought refuge, others stayed in their lands. We cannot well describe horrible things that happened that have heavy consequences on us today.

 

  1. Musenyi war zone

 

Musenyi, where we launched for the first time ISOB (in the province of Bubanza, western part of Burundi) is near a forest where rebel groups developed their strategies of fighting against the government army. From Bujumbura to Musenyi there are 23 kilometers. It is a place that was so much affected by civil war and fortunately that is a place where we have our bible school. It was a place where rebels used to come and get food to be able to survive in the forest. But in doing all of that, many bad things happened that made civilians very terrified and intimidated. That is the area of ISOB work. We have a vision of having ISOB work in all 17 provinces of Burundi. There is an evaluation that has been done in Musenyi on the recent time when we presented ISOB to the church leaders. The pictures of that time of evaluation will be soon sent and the short report that goes with it.

 

  1. Books presentation to the Bujumbura church

Pastor Omana Augustin and Pastor Jean-Baptiste Sibomana took time to present the school to the congregation. First it was by presenting the photo of founders of ISOB (the picture besides), and the titles of different books and even the modality of studying.

The main issue was that Swahili books are needed to be able to reach out to most of these people.

  1. Celebrating ISOB Bujumbura Launching time

 

People rejoiced to hold in their hands books that will help them to study God's word and grow. It was a great celebration that happened on the day of Easter. We brought together the 2 churches that we have in this capital city of Bujumbura.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. More during the ISOB Bujumbura  Launch on Easter Sunday celebration

 

After the service and the school presentation, it was raining heavily and we had prepared a time of refreshment before releasing people. It was very important to refresh these people because they had come from far. We also wanted to combine that time by celebrating both the first baptism that happened in the church and ISOB launch in the capital city of Bujumbura.

The congregation enjoyed this time of fellowship together after being informed that God has remembered us so that we might grow in Him through ISOB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Children were blessed on this day

 

It was a great pleasure to have different activities going on today. Children were present so that they can be blessed. We blessed them and committed them in the hands of God. Pastor Jean-Baptiste and Augustin led that ceremony of blessing children.

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

We want to praise God for His great love and grace that allow us to serve Him and move forward in Him. As we work together with other churches, we are thrilled to see the International School of the Bible-Burundi going forward. Our goal is to have ISOB represented in all the 17 provinces that make Burundi. As we serve Him, we are sure that we will be growing and God will be providing and expanding our church as well. The church of Jesus Christ has a lot to accomplish and God will provide. We praise God for how ISOB is progressing. Soon we will be at the border of Burundi and Tanzania (Nyanza-Lac) and at the border of Burundi and Congo (DRC) in Gatumba. Finally we will be going soon in the province of Gitega (the center part of Burundi-the heart of Africa). Praise the Lord with us for what He has done, what He is doing and what He will be doing soon. We hope to have the FIRST NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF ISOB-BURUNDI, in July 2009. GLORY TO GOD!

 

On behalf of ISOB-Burundi

 

Pastor Augustin Omana and Pastor Jean-Baptiste Sibomana

B.P. 6862 Bujumbura-Burundi

East Africa

Emails: serviteur_augustin@yahoo.fr or sibomanajb@yahoo.com

Tel: +(257) 79560049 or +(257) 77753665 or +(257) 79474098