Letter 4

Greetings to you all- our dear friends and family! I am glad that you are receiving our emails and joining
us in our short journey here. Iʼve decided to send an email that only includes things that will bring joy and
gladness to your hearts! The heavy things of life can become too much to bear, and I want to make sure
that while we know there is pain and suffering, we rejoice that God is good and proclaim the GOOD things
He is doing here and in our hearts.
It has been a wonderful week here in Kibuye. The sun shines everyday and most days a short
thunderstorm rolls through the hills and cools it down. I love the sound of thunder- and the roof here is like
tin so you can hear the rain fall well. Itʼs beautiful. Weʼve discovered we can listen to BBC in English at 7
AM and 7 PM- so we have been somewhat enlightened to the things of the world. With the increase of
food prices I hear there is mayhem in Egypt and Somalians are starving because of the drought and
increase of food prices. I am so thankful that this place receives daily rain to keep the crops fruitful. Most
people grow their own food and are self sufficient.
I have discovered Kibuye is home to some really beautiful birds. In the afternoon when the boys are
sleeping I take my camera outside and Camaro and I look for birds. There is a bird with a really long red
tail- itʼs quite beautiful. The birds that drink from the poinsettias have a bright turquoise chest and are neat
to photograph. The first day I photographed the birds I showed Camaro and Boteyi the pictures and their
faces lit up with excitement. They couldnʼt believe the pictures I was able to capture! We had SO much
fun. I have never stopped to discover birds- at all. The pace of life here is so calm that I have found joy in
flowers and birds!
We had a dinner party this past week- as in we invited friends from the community! We invited John
Baptiste who works with World Relief and 2 nursing students- Alida and Anosiatte. They came for dinner
and then we watched the movie Up. At first they laughed that it was a cartoon, but I think they got into it
as it went on. It was sooo fun to have friends over. Ezechiel made a wonderful dinner and I made
snickerdoodle cookies. I love having friends. I want to tell you about the World Relief program here in
Kibuye. It is a 5 year program that has 4 facets: 1. Prevention of malaria 2. Immunizations of children 3.
Nutrition 4. Clean water …. So malaria kills a lot of people, but it can help be prevented. The mosquito
nets really can protect people from malaria. However, people are resistant to the nets for a few reasons:
1. They donʼt understand what causes malaria 2. They donʼt think the nets will actually help 3. The nets
are hot to sleep under 4. In Burundi, the man builds a home. The nets are given to the women at clinics
and then they bring them home and the men feel that it interferes with his building the home. (This may
sound ridiculous or a chauvinistic- but we all know that it is difficult to break cultural barriers- and we all
have things that we live by that are ridiculous- like buying things we canʼt afford with money we donʼt have
for people we want to impress. ! ) Immunizing children can save hundreds of lives. It is important to
teach families about each immunization and what it is preventing the child from receiving. Nutrition- the
staples here are cassava bread, beans, and rice. Children need to get green vegetables and need more
nutrition than an adult because they are growing- it is important to teach families the balance of a meal.
There is a wonderful organization here called Project Busoma. Busoma is like a porridge that has lots of
great nutrients for children. It is located right here in Kibuye next to the hospital so when a malnourished
child comes David can prescribe busoma to help! The organization is a Free Methodist organization
based out of Indiana. I think you can look it up online. The water here is really contaminated. I avoid it all
costs- unless Iʼm using soap! It is good to teach families to boil the water before they drink it- it takes a lot
of time to boil water over coals so I can understand why people donʼt want to do it, but it can really help
prevent diseases. I am so encouraged by Project Busoma and World Relief.
There have been a team of people from the US here in Burundi this past week. They stayed in Gitega, but
came to Kibuye for a couple things. Yesterday a childrenʼs pastor,Abby, from Washington came to give a
workshop for the Sunday School teachers. It is extremely difficult to get a curriculum here- the cost of
materials is too much for all the churches here in Burundi. Also, itʼs good to teach churches to be selfsufficient
and not depend on outside help when they can. So Pastor Abby came to give a workshop to
various Free Methodist churches on how to teach a Sunday School lesson with what they have. She had
a pile of sand and used things from the environment to tell Bible stories. Then she split the teachers up
into groups and had them present the lesson to the whole group- I was able to see what the teachers had
prepared while Barb (a missionary from Bujumbura) watched the boys- what a treat! So there were 4
groups I think- they told the stories of Noah and the ark, Good Samaritan, Jesus healing the sick and
feeding the 5000, and Zaccheus. So they had cloth to make a Jesus, and sticks to represent disciples,
bottle tops were sheep in the story of Noah, leaves became boats, an orange cone was cut to become
Jerusalem, etc… She talked to them about asking questions- what is the main point of the story? What is
the most important part (there are lots of important parts!) Who are you in the story? It was FABULOUS!
The teachers were so encouraged that they had things to teach Sunday school lessons with- and they
were materials they already had here! They were each given a Bible and a little notebook and a pen for
the workshop. Why do we go to such excess to communicate the story of God to children in the US when
we could communicate it more simply?
Today the whole group came to be part of Sister Connection. Sister Connection is an organization that
was founded by the daughter (Denise) of the missionaries who teach at Hope Africa University- Wayne
and Barb Vibbert- it is focused on widows. “Following over a decade of civil war, thousands of Burundians
became widows and orphans, experiencing intense trauma along the way. Literally an entire generation of
fathers and husbands lost their lives, one family at a time. On average, each widow cares for four
children. Some households have as many as 11 children many of which are orphans.” So the Sister
Connection is a sponsorship program. So for $30/month you can provide your sister in Christ with food,
medical care, household necessities, clothing, seeds for planting, and educational assistance. You
receive a profile and photo of your widowed sister, occasional letters, and the Sister connection
newsletter. One hundred percent of the $30 is given to the widow. There are additional educational
initiatives that people can help support as well- childrenʼs camp, youth camp, widowʼs national retreat,
leadership seminar- all around $30-$50 and for a 4 year degree it is $4800. You can support the workers-
So there is a social worker salary of $40/month- which trains and employs social workers- most of them
widows- monitor and support widows and projects in their area. Also, you can give any amount to go to
the administrative staff in Burundi. Finally, you can build a woman a house- For $600 you give a sistersecurity,
shelter, Dignity within the community. The homes are constructed by local builders, materials are
purchased locally, and it foster pride in the local community. You receive a certificate of appreciation, a
personal profile, and a family photo in front of the new house. Additional resources help with health care
bills and other needs. Also, the program is adding an additional feature which includes a micro
management loan- so you can loan a widow money to start a business and she begin to wean off of the
financial part of the program!
So now that you know what Sister Connection (SC) is, hereʼs a bit from my experience today:
Teresa- the local director here- invited me to attend the celebration today at the church. I arrived a bit late
and walked into to over 60 widows praising the Lord with their beautiful voices, large drum made out of an
oil barrel, and dancing. It was amazing. I was placed up front with the group from the US and my eyes
immediately filled with tears. All these women have lost their husbands and are making it on their ownthey
have been so blessed by the SC program. Many of the widows are educated as the killings began
with the intelligent of society. It was so overwhelming to be among such strong women. The service
consisted of a few women sharing their stories, the bishop from the US giving a great sermon, and
various words of gratitude from both sides. I was honored to be a part of the celebration. Then the team
came to our house for lunch. Ezechiel made a wonderful lunch. It was so great to hear more about the
organization. So it began when some women from Deniseʼs church in Phoenix wanted to help women
internationally- this small group of women began a huge initiative which impacts more than 400 widows
and their children. SC profiles 50 more women than they have sponsors for and then continue up from
there. That way they donʼt have 100 women waiting to be sponsored with no money in sight…. There are
1000 of women who could benefit from this program. Look it up: ! www.sisterconnection.org I will put
the video from today online when I get home!
So as you can see God is doing some AMAZING things in Burundi. Behind each organization is a story- a
story of a simple man or woman who obeyed Godʼs calling- whether it be educating people to help them
live longer and more healthy, or taking care of the orphaned and widowed or sharing the word of the
Lord… I am so encouraged by people who have been convicted to change something- enter in humility
knowing they really arenʼt big enough to make a difference- but know that they serve a God who is and by
faith step out and are part of change. May we all be encouraged!!!
We love you and are happy to share our joy with you!
Love,
The crazy crawfords