I want to introduce you to Peniel, a Burundian man who I am mentoring and if all goes well, will begin working on the Redeeming the Land project. Though it is still early days, Peniel has shown himself to be diligent and committed to the mentoring process, and I have great hope that God is calling him to play a part in our project in Burundi.
Having been told by many people that it would be impossible to find such a person without local partners, God introduced me to Peniel in an extraordinary way. But rather than me tell you about it, I will leave it to Peniel to introduce himself and tell you how we met.
Peniel writes:
“Hello, my name is Peniel NDUWAYEZU, and I am Burundian. My hometown is located at Gitega/Mutaho (towards the North of the country) but now I live in the capital Bujumbura. I grew up in a Christian family, and I am the only son among three daughters.
In 1993, my Dad passed away in the civil war; I was 8 years old then. This war took away all my grandpas, uncles and aunts; our home and all our possessions were ransacked, burned and destroyed. We were empty-handed but survived by the Grace of God.
Since then our situation was very difficult in life, but fortunately, God provided for my school needs in primary, secondary and university education. I finished University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication. I’d like to continue my studies with masters and PhD courses – although the situation seems to be impossible in my eyes, Almighty God will handle it.
In terms of my Christianity, I grew up in Christian family. I attended protestant church from my young age but I got true salvation in 2007. Now, I am committed to Christian Life Ministries Burundi Church (CLM) getting trainings to grow in the word of God to reach out to the whole man. In the process of my life, I got various experiences with International Youth Fellowship as a translator and public relations officer and in Econet Wireless Burundi in customer care.
Now, I am in mentoring training to be involved with Blessed to Be a Blessing a nonprofit Christian organization. I came to know about BTBAB by the Grace of God – I was at the market and suddenly one European lady came to shop. Then, some merchandisers called me to help them translating. I helped them and afterwards I asked why she is in Burundi. She didn’t have time to tell me all the details then but gave me her business card, and we started to correspond by email. We then planned to meet face to face for more details. There she explained to me her mission in Burundi and I expressed myself who I am.
I was interested in working on the Redeeming the Land project, and after she talked with the OCT Director in the UK, she gave me the great news that I will be a volunteer with her in the Redeeming Land Burundi Project. This was good news.
Now, I am in mentoring process with Karen which I hope will equip me with the principles and strategies of finding out my real calling and how to use it for the community of Burundi through BTBAB. I request prayer for this training and the entire journey with BTBAB in Burundi.”
