To pay Fanta or not to pay Fanta...

I know this one is a long read, but please take time! I hope you enjoy it!

I would like to share with you about my trip back from Rwanda to Burundi a couple of weeks ago. But first I have to go back before that, about the time we first entered Rwanda in 2005. Let me first set the precedence so that you will have a better understanding when I tell you the story of my trip from Rwanda to Burundi.

Title’s here in Africa are of huge importance, by your title the populous will respect you reject you and or judge you. By your title they will set the standard for how you are looked to live your life. From the cloths you where to the car you drive to the house you live in.

Here the favorite titles that I hear so often are pastor and man of God…..Both of these I am not too quick to call myself. But this is the chosen title that the locals prefer. Now by this one is judged very seriously and held to a high standard. It is not really a special title, it is what they call all missionaries who are working with or alongside the church. Every so often you will hear the title Apostle or evangelist. Really any way to put you in a box, then they will know how to look at you.

As I sit and talk with the other men of God (missionaries) one of the common pieces of conversation is about the bureaucracy and corruption that is slapping you in the face day in and day out while trying to do the Lords work. At times it seems that you can’t get anything done. As the discussion unfolds there is talk about standing for righteousness, truth, and justice. Never telling lies or paying bribes, for that is the way of the Lord.

This how we Men of God start out, or for the most part. Let me give you an analogy, picture a big stone or piece of marble. As the artist chips away at the mass it slowly gets smaller and smaller all the while taking form and shape to become something that is so beautiful a piece of work that will cause every one that see’s it to marvel. (And God Said let us make man in our likeness.)

Now take this beautifully carved image that has taken so long to make. Something that is such a piece of beauty reflecting even the artist (masters) very likeness. Now it is put in a place where it is being hit and chipped on once again. Yet the chipping is not like before, it is not being done little by little there is no grace in the movements or carving for that matter. No standing back for moments of reflection or planning. No; the one who has the tools now, is one that seems to have no vision or goal to what he wants the beautiful piece of work to become. As time goes by the hits become harder and more frequent. It is as if someone is standing over the piece of work with a very large Hammer swinging wildly hitting it repeatedly. Now what was once something of marvel, something that was altogether lovely reflecting the very nature and likeness of its maker, begins to lose its form.

I like many before me have and do stand, in the midst of the calling that God has put on my life, I at all times want to uphold righteousness, truth, and justice. Never to lie to get what I want, never to pay a bribe so that I can see things move forward at the pace I desire.

I have been greatly disappointed in the last four years of living in Africa. As I start to hear things coming out of some men of God’s (Pastors, Missionaries) mouths like,” it is necessary to give a fanta or chi every once and a while”, (fanta & chi refer to giving money or paying a bribe)of course this is done in the name of building relationship, so that is ok… Or “this is the African way”,“If you want to get anything done here then…..” or “it is Africa there is bound to be some corruption”.

In the beginning many start strong but the system begins to chip away at you first slowly then harder and harder. Then the morals and beliefs begin to get weakened. Before you know it a year has gone by then two it gets harder and harder to fight. You get weaker and weaker, you just want to see progress, something has got to move forward or it is going to kill you. At what time does it become ok to buy a fanta or give chi? Finally you give in, you tell that little lie or give that little money and bam things move forward you see progress. Your paper work moves up to the next step, your able to get that package out of customs without paying all the taxes, you get through the military or police check point without being harassed. It is truly the African way, before you know it you find yourself just part of the system. It doesn’t take long; you don’t even realize you’re doing it daily now. Amazing that all it takes is a little untruth here and a little fanta there and your right where you want to be in the time you want to be there.

What has happened to that beautiful piece of art work that once reflected the artist, does it still have the same form? Does it truly reflect the likeness of the maker? Can it be looked at in marvel as it once was or has It lost something?

Please hear me out; I am not stereo typing missionaries or pastors on the mission field! I am simply saying that I have seen and heard these things more than I wish to. Not to mention it has been a serious battle and road that I have been walking myself.

Now; the trip from Rwanda to Burundi…..

I will start from the moment that I arrived at the border. Everything was going so good, the police registered the car to come back in the country, they stamped my passport and I had no problem at customs. To my surprise they didn’t even want to look at my stuff and I’m telling you the car was packed. I had our washing machine, stove/cooker and at least 15 boxes filled with cloths, toys, books, kitchen items, gardening tools, etc. then sitting in the front seat with me was my dog Komera.

I started the car, the police man walked to the gate and started to open it. As I pulled forward another police man walked out of the building said something and the gate was lowered again. They motioned for me to pull back and park. After approaching the car they asked if I had the passport for my Dog. I shook it off, laughing, Ha, passport that’s funny…. Then I realized they were serious! Confused I asked them for clarification. They wanted to see the dogs immunization card to be sure that it was up to date on it’s shots. I explained to them that I knew the dog had shots as a puppy but I had no record to prove it. It was very simple to them, no papers no crossing. It was aggravating yet in a way I was impressed. I tried everything from begging to asking for forgiveness. At one point I even asked them if I could talk with their chief of police. The officer agreed and told me that he would call him for me and explain the situation maybe the chief would have mercy. Unfortunately the officer had no phone credit in his phone to make the phone call and asked me for money so he could help me talk to the chief. I thought ok I guess that is ok, perhaps the chief will be more understanding. The officer then told me that $10(ten) dollars would be enough. I instantly knew what he was getting at and played stupid, telling him that $10 of phone credit was far too much to make a phone a call and gave him about $2 to buy a phone card.

He bought the card and talked with the chief who also rejected me, telling me to go back to Rwanda. I finally after talking with them for three hours got them to agree that if I could get a doctor form Bujumbura to come out and give the dog a check up and some shots. They would then release us to move on.

I called every one that I knew in the Bujumbura to ask for help. After waiting another two hours a Vet. (doctor) arrived. By now it is after 4:00 in the afternoon. The Vet. goes and talks to the police then signals for me to bring the dog behind the building. With the police watching and I of course holding the dog, he takes his temperature, checks his teeth and says “ok no problem”. At this the police tell me sawa (it’s ok, good). Now I am told to rush along because the road into the capital (Bujumbura) will be closing at 6:00. It is already after 4:30 and the drive is at least 2 to 2.5 hours without a over loaded heavy car.

The doctor and the people with him tell me to follow them so that I will not have any trouble at the check points on the road as it is getting close to road closer time. This worked wonderfully for the first 20 or so km, we flew pass the first of the check points. After reaching the first major town they stopped and told me that we could not continue because it was getting late. They were planning on spending the night and getting a fresh start in the morning. They tried to convince me to join them but after being gone from home for three days and waiting for five hours at the border in the hot sun the only thing I wanted was to get to my family. I kindly declined and told them that I must continue and God will make a way… Now it is well after five and I think I still have about 100km to go. I quickly phoned everybody and told them to start praying for God to do a miracle. What I didn’t know was I had 4 to 5 military/ police check points to still go through.

This is where it gets hard! I am flying in my loaded car as fast as I can without driving like an idiot asking the angel’s of the lord to hold on to the stuff.

I come to the first road block and sure enough they tell me to turn around that the road is closed. I argued with them at first telling them it was not six o’clock. That didn’t work, I then started pleading with them telling them that my kids and wife were waiting for me and I must make it through. They of course wanted to see what it was worth to me, so he simply raised up his fingertips rubbing them together as to say (money….) and told me “sorry the road is closed”. I lifted up an emergency prayer to the lord at this time saying “ok Lord, now what??? I have a pocket full of money and it would not take much to get these guys to open the road. But it is wrong!!! I would rather sleep on the side of the road! Please God, I don’t want to pay a bribe….”

After that emergency prayer I looked at the soldier and just said “please”!! To my surprise he turned and motioned to the others to open the road block and I was off again… Praising God all the way!! But lost ten minutes of my time…

Then bam I came around a corner almost running right through a road block. The officers not being amused at all with me almost crashing into their stuff told me again that the road was closed and to turn around. I started being very apologetic and tried joking with them a bit to get them to lighten up thank God it was working. I told him that I had still ten minuets before the road would close and if he would open for me I promise to go very vuba vuba (really fast!!) He laughed and told me “you will never make it”. I told him I know because you guys are always stopping me. I said “me I want to go, go, go, but now all I get is go stop, go stop, go stop..” I thought at this maybe I said to much..oh Travis you ruined it now! He looked at me and said “give me a fanta (money)!” All I thought was God…..Please…. what do I do???? Oh man…. Again he ask me for fanta, I looked at him and said “please, I promise, I will go vuba vuba (really fast)”. He laughed and motioned to them to open the road block and away I went. God you are so good!!

Now number three road block, the two military officers cut right to the chase of course assuming that the only reason I was there at their road block was because I gave some fanta. They were not hesitant a bit to ask, after of course giving me the lecture that the road was closed and that I need to turn around. I knew what was coming so I thought and prayed quickly. Then he said those beautiful words do you have fanta? You see fanta is meaning money but what it really is, is a soda pop drink. There are different types orange, lemon, passion, pineapple. So playing dumb I told him that I had none of the above mentioned fanta. He then rubbed his fingertips together saying fanta, fanta… Again I played dumb telling him that I had no fanta. Then I decided to take it a step further, I asked him why he was asking for fanta when it is a cold night and he should ask for chi (also meaning money but is really tea with milk). The officers both laughed so hard and the one said “Oh yes” still laughing “chi, give us chi.”

At this I responded “I am sorry I have no fanta and I don’t have any chi either, all I have to offer is water, would you like water?” They seemed to get a little agitated at this and I thought Travis you idiot you took them too far. Now they’re mad and you will never get through. The one officer finally tired of playing games, called it what it is. Amafaranga (money) give us amafaranga!! I could not play dumb any longer and it would not be smart at this point I thought. God I said, these guys are serious!! And this stinking money is burning a hole in my pocket! It is wrong!!! God what can I do?? Do I have a choice?

I looked at the officer and said, “oh you mean money! I am sorry I can’t give you money, but please my wife and my four kids are waiting for me and I must make it home to them”. I think this is where I held my breath for a while…. He turned and told the other officer to open the road block, and away I went…

I drove hard and fast and just when I was thinking I must have made it through all the road blocks, I saw a car stopped ahead of me. I thought oh no not again is this ever going to stop??? After a few minutes of talking to the car in front of me they opened the road block just enough to let him pass then closed it again. I knew that I was not to far away from the city at this point. By now my faith was built up and I was determined not to give any money no matter what. The officer came to the window and told me “ the road is closed, you stay here!” He just stood there and looked at me. I tried to plead with him and say something but he interrupted saying again the road closed, you stay here!! Again he stood at my window just staring at me… So I said “ok I sleep right here, thank you”. At this I turned off the headlights of the car, put the window up and stopped the engine. He then walked off, so I put my head back and closed my eyes (to pray of course). When I did this I heard some of the other people at the road block shouting and yell something obviously to this officer. But I kept my eyes closed, I was praying so hard!! God you have got me this far, don’t stop now!! I cannot stay here and I will not pay a bribe!!!

Oh I forgot to mention that this road block was in the middle of a village center, so there were a couple hundred people standing all around the crazy white guy’s car. I know this because I was squinting with my eyes so I could see out of them yet have it appear that I had them closed. Don’t ask me why I did this because I don’t know….

About five minutes later there was a tap on my window and there stood another officer who spoke better English than the first. Again he told me that the road was closed and they could not let me pass. I told him that the other officer had already given me that message so I knew that I had to sleep there.

I then pleaded with him, telling him that I know I am very close and all I want to do is get to my wife and children so please just let me go. He turned and motioned to them to open the road, then told me to go but take it easy. I thanked him and was off.

I arrived in the city about 7:30 in the evening, finally into the arms of my wife and four beautiful daughters who were all very happy to see me and our Dog komera.

Believe me or not it was all done without paying a fanta!

God’s word stands true, Do you??? (He will make a way where there seems to be no way!)

Thank you Lord!!!!

Pioneer...

The last few months I have spent a great deal of time thinking and pondering at where I am at, the life and the ministry that the Lord has asked me to be part of. A long time ago I said those dangerous words and I was very serious! “Here am I Lord send me!!!” I didn’t care where and didn’t care what… I just wanted to be used greatly for the kingdom, to be part of his master plan.

Then it happened, My heart broke, my ears began to hear more than I wanted them to, my mind was filled with dreams and visions, my mouth would open and I would be shocked at what was coming out as I spoke.

Long ago, a simple prayer “here I am Lord send me” mixed with an over whelming desire to have an intimate relationship with my lord and creator. As one missionary I know calls it “A laid down lover of Christ”.

As the Lord began to pour himself out on my wife and I we started looking for a place (organization) to see how and where we could fit all that the Lord was pouring into us. We became very frustrated as we could not find any one with the heart and vision that was being given to us. With that said the Lord made it clear that what he was giving to us was not to fit anywhere else! But it would be a new wine!

He said I am making you Pioneer’s who will take my heart to my people and do what I tell you to do when and how I tell you to do it. You will say what I want you to say when, how, where, and to whom I want you to say it to.

I am sorry but who in the world wants that kind of ministry? I thank God that I was so in love with him and so ignorant at that time! What did I say?? “Here am I Lord, send me”! I did add though, that if I was going that he better go before me and he better be behind me.

So Wow, a pioneer sounds nice, but what is it and what does it look like really?? By definition a pioneer is: one who leads the way, to open up, break new ground, initiate, establish, prepare, blaze a trail, be the first, light the way, set an example, break through, set up, start, begin, launch. These are all words that if you would have asked me four years ago I would have told you none of them described me. Yet for the last four years this is exactly what I have been trying to do. Taking what God has given me and go trail blazing, breaking new ground, being the first, lighting the way…

This is so not easy, all my life I belonged to something that already existed. Someone had already invested their life to get it going. Then I and others would come along and join what was already working just adding our talents and skills to keep it going. Most organizations, church’s, and businesses are like that. You have people who set it up and establish it then others get to come and help maintain it. Really reaping the harvest and blessing of someone else’s hard work, sweat, and tears. (at least it can feel like that some times.)

I have been learning the last four years that pioneering is not easy, many people love to watch but will most often not get involved. But the moment that there appears to be some organization, structure, and programs, they come by the hoards. Is it safe to say then that there seem s to be more maintainers than pioneers in this world??

I have learned that pioneering can be a long, frustrating, and lonely road. One that many don’t choose to go down! But there must in the end be an incredible amount of joy and satisfaction gained by watching what you have spent so much time and energy trail blazing. To see those who grab a hold of it and take off with it running making it work just the way the Lord had you prepare and launch it off.

This is one of the reasons why I must not stop! I cannot stop and will not stop until I see what the Lord has said happen. The other reason of course is the knowledge that I am in the center of what God has for me and my family no matter what happens, that in itself makes it easy to keep going.

So If you are a pioneer and love to be a starter/ trail blazer/ ground breaker/ etc. etc.

If you feel you have a heart for Africa and want to see the Lords kingdom established in a mighty way then please feel free to contact me for more info.

Last Sunday with our Lord

Last Sunday we were invited to come and speak in a church about 25min north of Bujumbura. We had no idea what to expect! We were pleasantly surprised with a church filled with 75% under eight teen years old. Oh man was it fun!!!


Got my best (only) cloths on and are ready for church...... I don't know sometimes they can be so loud!

All kids from the community trying to decide if they should come to the church or not.

Worship Begins/ Lead by the kids mind you... how cool!

After speaking we began to pray for every one.

He thought it was about time to start with music again.

All in all it was an awesome day as we got to see God pour out him self on these kids!
it was my understanding that there were some people missing from the church that day.
None the less God was pleased with his church last Sunday!
I will attend a church like that any day! Gives a whole new meaning to child like!

Why Burundi

Rwanda and Burundi Once know as one Nation, one people…. This was changed during the time of colonialism. There was a split and the people divided! Forming now two nations, two governments and somehow two people

Yet in the Spirit they are still looked at as one! Both nations are known as the heart of Africa.

They are also known as sister nations; I would go as far as calling them twins! When you look at them at first it is so easy to tell that they are related. The more time you spend with them you begin to realize that yes they are very much related but just like real sisters they are also quite different.

Rwanda appears very much to be the older sister. More developed, can express it’s self much more, is in the center of attention, (like most older sibling’s) want to be in charge, (as reaching adolescence)knows what’s best and does not like to be told what to do by any one, etc. etc. the list can go on and on.

You know in the times of the bible and I believe even in some cultures today, the first born usually gets what is known as the birth right. Most often this means that the first born has the right to the largest and or best part of the father’s estate. This can cover land, livestock, money, etc., when the birth right is handed over. It normally comes with the fathers blessing.

I believe that Rwanda is the first born of the sister nations therefore was given a birth right and blessing by the father in Heaven to be a carrier of his presents and to display the very power of God, as the heart of his African body they are to pump his glory and power through the nations of Africa. Call it a spiritual heritage if you will!! In history you will find that this very thing started to take place on several occasions but as fast as it started it was also somehow stopped. The heart of Africa has seen Meer glimpse’ of what God has planned for his body!

In my observation and time spent with the people of the two sister nations I can give this as an analogy.

In the bible Luke 10:38-42 tells a short story about two sisters Mary and Martha. When Jesus and his disciples came to a village, a woman named Martha welcomed them into her home. Her sister Mary sat at the Lords feet, listening to what he taught. Martha was worrying about all the details for the meal preparations. She went to Jesus and said “ Lord isn’t unfair” (another translation says)”Lord doesn’t it bother you that my sister has left me to do all the work?”

Two sisters, two attitudes …. One is what you would call a busy bee… focused on nothing but the tasks at hand. Always working, always busy, always concerned with what (it) looks like, always pointing the finger at what the other is doing or not doing… The other attitude is quite different! It Says she Sat at the Lords feet, listening to what he taught. No details, no work, no concerns, it was an attitude of this is the Master and I must be with him at all cost. I have something to gain from just being at his feet! Notice the response of Jesus to Martha. “Martha you are so upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about, Mary has discovered it- and I won’t take it away from her.” Jesus did not tell her that all her work was in vain or that she was wrong to work so hard. It was a matter of priorities. What is the focus on? What comes first?

Rwanda is very much like Martha… They have a very large goal and much work to do! The focus on the development of the nation is for sure the key priority. When there you can really see that everything is busy, busy, busy, work, work, work, buildings going up right and left, changes occurring around every corner, they have been doing an amazing job and at the pace they are moving I am sure they will reach their 2020 vision goal and if not then they will just barely. It is impossible to go there and not be impressed! First thing from everybody’s mouths is “Wow how clean!, how secure!, So beautiful!” This is partially true. In Rwanda you learn the saying that nothing is what it seems….This is the truth! As Martha they are very busy, concerned very much with what (IT…)looks like, and always pointing at the other, focused on what the other is doing or not doing. This comes with a very high cost and it is the people paying it.

The people are so precious! But they are living in a lie and extreme pain!! Trauma cases raise almost every year (when they should be decreasing..) when you’re identity is taken away from you and your not free to talk about who you are. “Oh Martha why are you so worried about all these things?”

“Mary has discovered it- and I will not take it away from her.” So far my observation and feeling about Burundi is that of Mary, Martha’s sister. Not worried about details. The people are not high strung at all but very low key and easy going. I see that attitude that was in Mary, just wanting to sit at the Masters feet and listen. There seems to be such a hunger for God and a desire to hear what he has to say. Of course with such a contrast as this I can not say that Mary is found with out any troubles at all. I am sure as we continue to keep our eyes on the Lord and pray we will begin to be shown more and more of God's plans for these beautiful people.

I believe that just as Rwanda and Burundi has the same past, torn by years of war and genocide. They also have the same future, calling, or heritage if you will. Both sister Nations are known as the heart of Africa! They have a very big job to do, if they are going to see the power and glory of the Lord Pumped through the vein’s of the African body, the body of course being the continent of Africa…..

Just as it is in the case of a real heart, if all the chambers of the heart are not working properly then it puts a stress on the parts that are. The result of this is having a weak heart and if the heart is weak then the body will be weak as well! So it is with the heart of Africa (Burundi & Rwanda), God desires them to be strong and healthy. Living in humility and displaying extreme righteousness! As they humble themselves, repent and fall on their knees to pray, God says he will hear from heaven come and heal their land. This is just the beginning!!!

You see for many years now, I would venture to say more than a decade. God has been speaking to his heart about his desire to bring them in to a promise land, a land flowing with milk and honey….(sound familiar???) That he is going to pour his spirit out in a mighty way and that great revival will sweep through his heart and not stop there but grow in momentum as it gets pumped through nation after African nation. We will even see and feel the effects of it in the west!!(How can we not) But it will start right in the heart! It is not hard to see why the enemy wants to kill the heart through, Genocide, etc ….. it was happening long before anyone was even aware! Is it really over now??? Or is it just changing names and faces?? We couldn’t or wouldn’t define it when it was slapping us in the faces. So now it is even easier to ignore what is happening! What am I talking about? Oh nothing, everything is great! There is finally peace and things have never been better…..The world had no idea what was going on then and I wonder if they even know any more now.

Satan will do anything to see that This Continent is known as nothing less than the Dark Continent!

God is changing this!!! Keep your ear to the ground; things are happening all over this African body of Christ!

Revival is coming to Africa and it will no longer be known as the Dark Continent!!! There are revival fires starting all over, and Africa will be SAVED!!!!

Thank you Lord for putting me in the Heart!

God, dreams, and more God...

Ahhhhh!!!!! The last few months has all been a blur……

It started back In Nov. when I woke up from a dream that God gave me. I say “a dream God gave me” because If you know anything about me, you know that I don’t ever have dreams and when I do they have all have been from God.

In the dream I was approached by the Rwandan gov. and told that we had to be out of the country again. When told this I went home and shared it with all the other staff, children and family. We assembled in the living room of the house and all began to cry out to God. The strange thing was that our prayers were all focused on the fire and glory of God coming down. We were crying out for an anointing to fall upon us. Then literally a fire came from the sky and began touching us all!

When it came time for us to leave Rwanda we went to Burundi and began to start Sozo Ministries Africa there. We saw such favor of God!!! Miracles were flowing, dead rising, deaf hearing, blind seeing, etc….

The Ministry was growing like wild fire! We contacted the staff in Rwanda to tell them the awesome things that were occurring. To our surprise they shared with us that the same was happening there….

We found out that they had also really grown in number, when we left there were nine kids. Shortly after it went to 20, then 50, before they knew it they found themselves with 200 kids and miracles happing daily.

When we shared this with the people of God in Burundi many of them rose up and said let us go help what God is doing in Rwanda.

After this I woke up, it was about three or four in the morning. I began to weep because I knew what this meant. Forget the outpouring of God; I was upset that we were going to have to leave Rwanda!

After talking to Stella about it we had decided to try to do what Moses did. Astrid on the other hand was somehow rejoicing , feeling it was about time for a change. I wanted to cry out to God and ask him to change his mind, to make another way. I prayed and prayed…shortly after we received word from the minister’s office that the letter for our registration process was ready to pick up.(this was the letter we have been trying to get for the last three years) You can imagine our excitement I’m sure!! I thought to myself “WOW I really did it I changed God’s mind”….

When I arrived at the Minister’s office, to make a long story short… I did not get the letter! To make matters worse I had got in a verbal fight with the assistant of the Minister. I had to leave Kigali once again with no letter or even any for sight of future registration. As I took the two hour drive back home crying and praying the dream I had came back to my memory. I decided it was time to start sharing it with others.

As I began sharing the dream with others it seemed to them that it was highly unlikely to happen. After all we had already been removed from the country ounce and then told in the last hour we could come back. Our friends advised me not to just go off a dream but to seek confirmation first.

This made perfect sense to me, So I began to ask God to confirm if this dream was really from him. I started to read about all the times in the bible that people had dreams and the effects. It was really not so reassuring, as many of the people in the bible upon having a dream would wake up and respond almost immediately to what God had shown or said. Tell me what makes us today any different than the people back then? Does God no longer speak using dreams? Do we not trust that God would speak that way? Or is it us??? Do we really know so little about God and his character or perhaps trust so little in our ability in hearing him if he is to speak to us. Let’s face it we are most of the time looking for the audible voice or flash of lighting. We trust so little in our ability to clearly hear his voice that sometimes I think that God must laugh or get frustrated with us because he might answer right after we pray but then we spend another couple of weeks or longer asking him for confirmation in what he has already said. Out of fear of screwing up and being wrong, I am not saying that having confirmation is wrong.

Or maybe I am! How about, instead of wasting so much of our own time, let’s have such a relationship with God that when ever, and however, he chooses to speak to us we will listen then obey the first time. I can only imagine the amount of time saved and things we can accomplish when this is done.

In my case I began not to ask if the things in the dream would happen but how much time did I have before it would happen… ounce again God answered very quickly! On Jan.8^th I was called by the immigration and asked to come in for a meeting. In the meeting it happened just as in my dream! I guess this was the confirmation….Ha Ha… A little late…. Were given seven days to wrap everything up and be out.

On the drive back home I received an exhortation from the Lord. He said “Travis you know me! You know my voice! You have had little problem in the past hearing from me. You did not want to accept my plan for you and your family. Now you see you are paying the price! What could have been done in almost three months you now have only seven days to do! Will you still obey?”

I spent the rest of my drive repenting and telling God that I am his servant and I must obey. Of course as we began to unfold the news to everyone it was very hard to believe. We were of course asked about what was next, you can only guess our answer…. Burundi ….On Jan.12^th we sat down with all the kids and staff to pray as I had seen in the dream. It was a pretty awesome time and I could sense that there was something that started stirring in the heavens although it just did not reach the breaking point. It is something that we are going to have to continue to press in on. Also that same day we received a lot of concerning emails from the American Embassy and some friends talking about a travel advisory between Rwanda and Burundi. They were highly advising not to travel between the two countries due to some unrest that was still occurring from the time of the cease fire and peace agreement made between the last militias group and Gov. People would tell me that I should go into Uganda or Tanzania because it was of course safer and easier. I was not concerned about what was safer or easier but with what the Lord had said. On the same day of receiving those disturbing emails we had also got another one that night from someone we had not heard from in a long time. They said they were praying for us and God told them that Isaiah 41:9-17 (paraphrased, “I am with you, don’t be afraid! I am personally on your case! I will do away with those who are against you. I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and with many sharp teeth.”)

So what do we have to worry about…. Right….I thank God for his leading, now if I can just learn to be a bit quicker in my response to his leading!

So here we are now in Burundi! We left Rwanda on the 15^th of Jan. with only what would fit on top and inside the car, leaving everything behind for the staff and kids at the Gilead house, Pioneering God’s work yet in another nation. Some may ask why Burundi. Others might even wonder where the hell it is, it sounds more like an ethnic dish than a nation.

Just stay tuned as in the future I will be writing more on why Burundi and the awesome planes that God has for this little place, located right next door to their sister (Rwanda)!!