Letter 7

Home sweet home.
Our trip home was fairly uneventful other than the minor problem in Bujumbura that required some negotiating, a $100 bill, and prayer. Turns out having an expired visa doesn't help you get out of Burundi! Somehow our visa was marked through 11 February- the guard didn't even realize it until after he had stamped 4 passports and was about to make his final signature- David did a lot of negotiating and finally after about 45 min. the guard accepted the $100- he said $20 for each passport + a $15 fine per passport- but David convinced him we only had a $100. Not sure if he is going to pocket the money or if it was a legitimate fine- whatever- I am safely home. The first flight stopped in Nairobi to fuel up, let off some passengers, and fill up the plane. The rest of our time was a breeze. The boys were exceptional.
Kristen picked us up and was waiting outside of customs with a sign welcoming us home! We had dinner here with the usual crew and got the boys bathed and into bed.
It's good to be home. The boys were soooo excited when they saw their room with their toys. They also are more excited about the foods they're accustomed to eating. A quick trip to Trader Joe's for a few groceries was great- I think I bought a few more "treats" than normal!
We had a dinner with 14 last night- and enjoyed many visitors throughout the day. We feel very loved.
I guess this is the end of our emails! I will use this email system to inform people of the presentation we'll be doing soon.... Thank you so much for faithfully reading our emails, praying for us, and for your kind words of encouragement. As I look back and read old emails and journals I can see God's hand upon our family- prayer after prayer was answered- even if it wasn't the way I wanted it answered I can see God's footprints.
I am going to give you all a link to the hundreds of pictures I took while in Burundi- if you come to our presentation you'll see many of them again. I tried to label many of them. Feel free to download any of them- just don't sell them- unless you're giving the money to Kibuye Hospital!! This does take humility on my part- but I know that I can only take pictures because God has given me the eyes to what is beautiful and the means to buy the equipment to capture them- they are His pictures. :) So enjoy. https://picasaweb.google.com/fotosdefamilia05/ALLBURUNDI#

The verse that really spoke to me while we were there comes from Isaiah 65 (you can read it at the end of the email.) We were talking about how the Burundians seem to really long for heaven and how often we long to stay on earth- this verse was a good reminder to me of why it is important to long for the New Earth- that even though I experience very little suffering- there are millions who do- and the hope of heaven is very calming.

New Heavens and a New Earth
17 “See, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
and its people a joy.
19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more.

20 “Never again will there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[a] a hundred
will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
the work of their hands.
23 They will not labor in vain,
nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the LORD,
they and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,”

says the LORD.

David
It is good to be home, sort of. I miss Africa already. There's a foot of snow on the ground in Detroit. We have been going through pictures and reflecting on our time iin Kibuye. For me our time in Kibuye was a time of learning and growth. It was an eye-opening experience. If you look at straight GDP, Burundi is the poorest country in the world, no matter who is counting. If you adjust for cost of living it ranks somwhere between 2nd and 4th poorest country. >90% of the population survives on subsistence agriculture. I know that you have heard this all before from us, but to see it is a life changing event. That's not to say it was a sad experience. I enjoyed being in Kibuye. The people there were friendly and inviting. For me, as someone who is constantly inundated with consumeristic culture it was refreshing to be in a place without internet, television, or even a store that sells more than daily necessities. But it was an experienced that revealed the extent of the need in Burundi specifically, Africa more generally and the poorest couple billion people in the world even more generally. It was also a learning experience to see the effect of war, particularly prolonged war on a country.

So I have spent a fair amount of time considering what those needs are, and in true American fashion trying to figure out how to fix the problem. The need is more than monetary. The war deprived the country of a generation of intellectual and experiential capital. When the army targeted educated Hutus, it accomplished it's goal of removing the leadership of the majority of the population. Medicine is a good example of the needs. YOu could send money to pay for medical care for every member of the population of Burundi, but that doesn't mean that they would get quality medical care. There is a shortage of doctors, of nurses, of hospitals and hospital beds, of people trained in x-ray, lab techniques, and pharmacy, of accountants to keep the hospitals open, of health education in the population to know when to seek medical care over witch doctors...

It was encouraging to see the effect of Hope Africa University. The goal of the university is: "The university seeks to send into African society Christian scholars and professionals who will be able to effectively apply economic, political, and social principles for the well being of African people!" It was started in 1999 in Kenya then moved to Bujumbura in 2003. The first medical school class entered 6 years ago and will graduate next year. HAU has quickly established itself as a premier institution in Burundi and now has over 4000 students. It has now come up against another shortage in Burundi's resource pile--qualified teachers. There is pressure to accept more students and pressure to put more and more students in a class, and the resources are stretched thinner and thinner...but a quality education depends on a thick application of resources. The great need in Burundi and elsewhere in the developing world is for qualified, trained personnel who can invest human intellectual capital.

The medical school has made a great start with two great first classes, but they are trying to create a clinical education system on the fly without doctors to teach. This was a large part of what I did when I was in Kibuye. I did a lot of teaching and modeling for the students to begin their clinical education. But what the students need is long term instruction from qualified doctors. I think to maintain a class size of fifty (which it looks like will be the class size within 4 years) with three clinical years, I think they will need (not that I have any say in what they need or what they will get) at least 20-25 qualified clinical faculty split between the clinic/hospital in Bujumbura and the hospital in Kibuye.

On my last evening in Burundi I had dinner with a group of young doctors. There were three of them out of a group of six that are working together at Tenwek hospital in Kenya on a two year stint. They decided several years ago together to invest long term in developing a hospital/medical school somewhere in Africa. And now it looks like that place is going to be Kibuye. They are tentatively set to arrive in 2 1/2 years. I was really encouraged to talk to them and see the desire to invest long term in this place. They talked confidently of securing funding to expand the hospital, bring in new equipment etc, and then seemed excited about the prospect of teaching medical students and education a new generation of doctors. In addition our friends the Dr.'s Miller, are set to head for Bujumbura to teach at the medical school and work at the new clinic starting one year from now.

Suffice to say, I saw the need in Burundi for what I am good at. So I don't know what that means. There is also a great need in the community I live in now. But I would love to return to Burundi someday--for now we'll be in Detroit for four more years as I complete my residency. But after that--there is an excitement I feel when I think about the prospect of returning to and working in Burundi, a sense of doing something constructive...a chance to build and not destroy, to invest instead of consume...

A passage I read over and over again--almost daily--while I was in Burundi was Isaiah 58...I was especially drawn to verses 6-8

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

And I think, what if the church fasted like this. What if we sacrificed our comfort and our material "blessings" and sought first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. What if we sought out opportunities to give of ourselves? I know that personally, when reading this passage, I feel like a failure. I know that my first concern is generally my own comfort. But I want the glory of the Lord to be my rear guard. I want to be an agent of recreation. I want to be filled with the passion of the Lord for justice for the poor and oppressed.

And then I get to the promise in verses 10-12...

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

I want to see the restoration. I want to be an agent of the kingdom of God, to work towards rebuilding society as it was meant to be, to fight for justice and remove yokes. I want to be part of a body called Repairer of Broken Walls and Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

Anyway, we had a good time in Burundi and learned a lot. We would be happy to sit down with any of you and talk about what we learned, what we saw, what we hope. We have collected our thoughts and pictures in a journal of sorts which we would be happy to share with you if you are interested.

Love
David Adrienne Bentley and Clayton