Holidays at Kibuye

By Alyssa

We've experienced quite the joyful holiday season the last month here in Burundi with many encouraging visitors and community events and thought we'd share some (actually many!) pictures of our celebrations.

 We all enjoyed the traditional drummers at a Ministry of Health sponsored event at Kibuye...

 especially Micah...

and Liam!

And what fun it has been to welcome many family visitors over the past month - and to take them all to the nearby waterfalls:

 including Jessica's brother Jeremy,

 most of the extended Fader family, 

and my parents. 

 Micah welcomed lots of guests for his 7th birthday party (above and below)

 And we gained three new pets (above left) and also enjoyed the nearby hot springs (above right)

 Lots of cousin fun!

Visiting the southernmost source of the Nile River. The visitors who previously lived on the Nile in South Sudan were especially interested in this tourist attraction!

 Christmas activities included singing in church, 

visiting the hospital to share the Christmas story and pass out donated baby blankets and toys, 

 a med student Christmas party, 

 a kids' nativity play, 

making gingerbread houses, 

 delicious meals together, 

 a white elephant gift exchange,

 smiling for the camera, 

a movie, 

and an ultimate frisbee game. 

 And there were lots of group games for New Year's...

...and the traditional ball drop. 

 Our team enjoyed being a part of two traditional dowry ceremonies over the holidays - always interesting to experience new cultural events and to honor our Burundian friends and colleagues by participating in and learning about these ceremonies. 

And we put our visitors to work, too! :) Our visitors have blessed us so much with their thoughtful questions, encouraging presence, and also their ingenuity and industriousness in jumping in to help out in so many ways including with the satellite internet (above), 

 photography opportunities, 

and teaching. 

And finally, we all appreciated the year end hospital party yesterday which was quite the community event! 

 Employees who have worked at Kibuye Hope Hospital 10 years each received a goat

 and those who have worked more than 20 years received a bicycle. In speaking with the employee who has been working here the longest (40 years), I was so interested to hear his perspective. He's seen a lot of changes over the years and is happy to continue in his work on the pediatrics' service. I'm thankful for his wealth of experience and that he and many others were honored at the ceremony yesterday. 

 The speeches were inspiring

 and the gifts much appreciated. 

 And of course everyone enjoyed the meal together. 

We're so thankful for our community here at Kibuye and look forward to many more years of holiday celebrations here with our Burundian and missionary neighbors!

On the Eve of Returning to Burundi

(from Eric)

In two days, we will board the plane to return to Burundi.  This is when you normally don't hear from us.  Normally, there is at least a few weeks of radio silence, then we reappear saying that we're OK and that there is a lot to tell and that we'll tell it to you later and then we don't.

It's a busy time.  Busy with packing and prep.  Busy with cherishing some last days with family prior to another long absence.  We've done it before.  Several times.  Rachel has become an expert packer.  (I have become an expert at realizing that I'm just getting in the way.)  This is the first time that we're going back to a place we already know and have a home.  Maybe that's why I'm actually finding a moment to talk about it.

It has been a good nine months.  We have connected with our families, our friends, and our home church.  We have worked.  We have updated our licenses and spoken at conferences.  We saw two newborn nieces and one newborn nephew.  We celebrated my mom's 60th birthday.  We've had our hands in dozens of little Burundi projects that are a lot easier to effect stateside.

But nine months?  Really, it's been that long?  Nine months that we've been away from the main thing we do.  We're excited to go back, because being in the US means being in a kind of limbo, and that's a long time to be in limbo.

All of that aside, here on the eve of departure, I'm feeling an unexpected anxiety.  What will we find? Burundi has been through a lot since we left, and so has our team and the community at the hospital.  In addition to that, there are new teammates, new medical staff, new buildings that weren't even started when we left.  I'm sure there are new problems, and new nuances to the old problems.  I sort of had a bead on things when I left.  Now I feel rusty, but maybe it's changed so much it will be more like starting over.  

That's all the things we know about.  What do we NOT know?

***

I know what I'm forgetting, and it is precisely this:  God is with us and he is working.  He has ordered our steps here in the US, and he has ordered Kibuye in our absence.  He has prepared the way and called us to walk forward in it.

I resist trusting.  I want confidence and surety based on what I can see by myself.  So, I am anxious.    However, there is hope in repentance.

Pray for us.  For our travel and for our readjustments.  For the kids and the jet lag.  Pray for my ENT appointment tomorrow (Toby accidentally rammed the end of a pair of sunglasses through my now-ruptured eardrum on Monday, but that's another story...)  But our biggest need is the same as it always is, whether in the US, Burundi, or somewhere in between.  We need to turn our hearts to our loving God, hear his voice, and trust in him.

Once again, he has laid out a road for us.  Let us follow him and see what he has prepared.