First Graduation at Gitega International Academy

June 2017 has been a busy and exciting month for everyone at Burundi YFC. We launched the graduation of the first international

private Christian  boarding school in Burundi. The graduation was on the 17th and the excitement we saw from the parents and students showed their confidence in this school.  Thirty two students graduated and the pride of the students and parents was evident.  Several of the parents offered gifts to Freddy and the other leaders to show their deep gratitude. We continue to pray that the hands of God be on GIA and Burundi YFC leaders as they work together to make this school a great success.         

Our principle mission is to offer quality, internationally recognized education. We aim to provide academic, moral and cultural education to the students to enhance their relationship to others in local, national and international communities through exemplary leadership. By this we contribute to the expansion of secondary school enrolment in Burundi, build capacity for ministry of Education in Burundi thus improving the education standards and producing young leaders who will impact their communities. We praise the Lord as  this dream is becoming a reality. Please continue praying with us for next step.

Serving with Local Churches

We were so blessed to welcome, again, a team of six from North Point Church (Texas, USA).  Pastor Sallie Leifeste(the team leader), Pamela Foster, Rachel Leifetse , Brianna Dunn, and John and Angela Howarton have been in partnership with Youth for Christ Burundi since 2010 hosting seminars for local pastors in Cibitoke promoting unity among the different denominations.  During their most recent visit, they also organized a womens conference as well as a youth conference.  We know that their words and presence have both encouraged and impacted the attendees of all the conferences and we are so grateful to God for their willingness to serve.

Youth for Christ Burundi Thanksgiving day

The day after we celebrated the graduation we held a day devoted to simply thanking God for all the miraculous ways He has provided for us.  Seventeen years ago we had nothing.  There was no building, no office, no children’s home.  But there was a seed planted in the hearts of people when a woman brought us her malnourished son.  We wanted to take him but had nowhere to go.  Praise the Lord that the vision was planted that day and we stand today to testify that with God all things are possible.  Now, there are 91 children who have homes in our three orphanages across Burundi.  They have enough food and clothes. They learn about the love of their Heavenly Father and receive an education at our schools.  YFC schools have been named the best in the country, including GIA (where the graduation was held).  There are over 200 staff employed at the many locations across the country including the main office, guest houses and Shammah Health Centre. 

On this thanksgiving day, around 400 people gathered to give praise to the God who has truly made something from nothing and we will be eternally grateful for His work in our lives and our beloved country.  All the honor and glory belong to Him.

On the same day, Freddy launched his first book, Where The Cow Grass Grows, explaining his journey and God’s faithfulness.  Euphrate was welcomed as the new National Director as Freddy stepped out of the position to be the Legal Representative for the organization.  We are thankful that God will continue to guide us with His wisdom from here.

Discipleship at Gitega in YFC Ministry

YFC likes to partner with others to spread the Word of God as widely as possible. These last months, we welcomed a

team from Youth With A Mission. They spent time in Gitega busy building the children and youth of this nation in discipleship.  They also shared the love of God through drawing and colouring. Let’s invest in the youth to prepare the future. Please pray with us for this plan.  
educational pictures on the walls in some of the nursery classes. It’s like planting the seeds in good soil. When you sow a grain, you wait until it grows. Let's always have a hope and trust in the Lord!

Electric poles in Gitega Homes of Hope The Lord makes a way where there seems to be no way, and no one knows his hour to intervene! We spent many years praying for mains— powered electricity at Gitega Homes of Hope, using solar panels which were expensive to install and fix, and therefore limited how much we could use it.  Curiously, during this period of political and Economic crisis, when we could not expect it, the government company in charge of electricity has just came and installed electric poles next to the Homes of Hope. Hopefully, this means that mains—powered electricity will soon follow, which will  be cheaper and less stressful for both Shammah Health  Center and Homes of Hope. We are grateful to the Lord and  we pray for the next step of installing electricity to be quick.  Farming Project It’s a joy to share with you that farming project is becoming generative in the life of our ministry. We are grateful to the Lord as we cultivate different items to feed the kids. The farming project is making an impact in the lives of our kids in all our Homes of Hope ( Gitega, Cibitoke and Makamba). The children are now having milk, meat and vegetables more often than before and the soil is being fertilized to improve productivity.  May the Lord bless you abundantly!  These last months, with the help of Villages of Life Australia, we bought a new land in Cibitoke to cultivate and grow vegetables and other plants for kids. Yeah, there is a hope for enough harvest to feed the kids and surrounding community.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Dear partners, sponsors, supporters and friends, it is our great honour to recognise and   appreciate you, for the support you have given us this entire year, for your consistent prayers and for the different ways you have touched many lives through this ministry. On behalf of everyone at Burundi Youth for Christ, we want to wish all our friends and supporters a very blessed year 2017. May the Lord bless you abundantly!

The past year has been a hard one, here in Burundi in terms of political and economic situation.

 The price of food is increasing from day to day. The season is very bad due to drought in some areas and torrential rain even destroying houses in other areas. However, we thank the Lord as together with you through out your support, the children in the orphanages and all the people whom we are in charge of, are steel getting the minimum required to be fed and are healthy. In addition, we worked tirelessly with our staff team to get GIA construction facilities finished and now we keep praying for GIA  Accreditation in ACSI.

Since April 2015, the country entered a period of  socio–political crisis and this has been a big hindrance for the development of our country in general and our organisation in particular.

Anyway, 2016 has been a year of hard work in all our different areas. In Makamba Homes of Hope( orphanage), six new kids were welcomed and two other more in Cibitoke Homes of Hope to give home to the homeless and a pigsty to help the

projects become more self-sufficient. Talking about schools, all the Future Hope Schools and Gitega International Academy are providing a good quality education for children in the surrounding area. We thank all our guests, volunteers and short term mission teams who have worked with us last year, we pray that you will continue to follow our journey as we move forward into the new year…

Partnership with Churches

We have a privilege of starting the new year off with North Point church from USA again. These God-sent friends have decided to come twice a year to bless the Burundian pastors by organising seminars for them. This year, although the country is in socio- political crisis, we were not left by our own. The Lord sent us Pastor John Howarton( North Point Church). We are delighted to partner with these local churches and connect them with other churches for a good training.

They have many young people under them and still, we step by step realise a positive impact in the community. May God bless everyone who contribute to widespread the Kingdom of the Lord.

Student’s Graduation and  Thanksgiving day in Preparation

Sixteen years are over since the foundation of Youth for Christ Burundi by Freddy Tuyizere. 
This organisation

 spent all these years witnessing God’s provision. It started from a tent as both an office and orphanage at Gitega . But now, it has a building at Bujumbura (headquarter office), three sites at Gitega, one site in Cibitoke, a site in Makamba and hopefully another one to start in Ngozi.  Yes he is the provider of everything. All those sites are made of five schools, three Homes of Hope ( orphanages) two Clinics and farming projects. For sure, your support was not money lost, it contributed a lot to make Freddy’s dream become a reality. BYFC is now busy organising a thanksgiving day to the Lord for all the miracles witnessed over the journey and a first students’ graduation of Gitega International Academy (one of its five schools) on the 17th and 18th of June 2017. Could you please join us and witness these God’s provision?

Operation Hannah Mothers

Operation Hannah is a movement of prayer women of our organisation. These women led by Marie

Josée Karewa, the Operation Hannah Mothers Coordinator were in Gitega this month to awaken the ladies of Gitega area to faith. The speaker of the day reminded to the participants that children, families and nations rely on pious mothers. There is no chance in life, she said. We must make a spiritual battle to achieve victory in everything. The devil never falls asleep and he is jealous of us. We must act accordingly, she added. The speaker has taught a lot about education of children to help prepare future generations to start with our children. Each was encouraged and determined more than ever. May the Lord bless the initiators and all those who contribute to the success of this project how commendable!

Partnership with Operation Christmas Child (OCC)

We are at work preaching the Good News to the children and youth of this nation in partnership with OCC and local churches. It’s like planting the seeds in the good soil. When you sow a grain, you wait until it grows. There is a hope that things will be better tomorrow. Let’s invest in the youth to prepare the future. For sure, we reap what we sow and preparing the future is investing in the youth. Please continue praying with us for the successful.

A New School Year in Burundi Youth for Christ Schools

August and September have been busy months for everyone here at Burundi Youth for Christ. In August, we were still busy building and recruiting new teachers for both the Future Hope Schools and Gitega International Academy (GIA). We then opened a new school year for both Gitega International  Academy and Future Hope Schools, Gitega, Cibitoke and Makamba. Registration day for GIA was August 28^th and  excitement that we saw from the parents showed their confidence in this school. Some parents are bringing back students from East Afican Countries to GIA. God is faithful! We continue to pray for peace and wisdom so as to make this school a great success.

On the other side, the Future Hope Schools opened the new school year on the 12th of September. We praise the Lord as many parents keep showing  their confidence in these schools. We can observe it through the number of students which keeps increasing each year. . We are grateful for the light that FHS is being to the community, and we are glad to see so many students being added! The Lord is guiding the teachers, students and parents.

 In the same way, we are grateful to the Lord as building the multipurpose hall is done. It  can easily host 800 persons. Even the community will benefit from the use of it either for conference or other activities. We are now praying for the equipment.  In addition, the final constructions for the kitchen are still going on. We will be done soon and we also pray for its equipment and accreditation for GIA as we prepare for the very first graduation at GIA in June of 2017. It will be followed by a big thanksgiving service on the Sunday.

     You are welcome!

 New Faces in Homes of Hope ( Orphanages) in Makamba and Cibitoke

These two months, we were blessed to have more kids in our Homes of Hope( orphanages) Cibitoke  and Makamba. We welcomed four kids in Cibitoke whereas five kids were welcomed in Makamba. We have now a total number of 89 kids , 43 in Gitega, 39 in Cibitoke and 7 kids in Makamba. We are grateful to the Lord as the kids are well settling in. We are praying for the sponsors to help these angels. Soon, they will start serving the Lord. 
What a blessing to invest in kids life!

           

Water Filter at Gitega International Academy

Water Filter is here! It’s a great excitement to have water filter in GIA. Actually, boiling water everyday for around 300 students was not an easy task. If we don’t boil, we were obliged to import “Eau sirop” from Rwanda to purify the water. It’s too far and also

demanding. Now, there is no other need. It’s just connecting the filter with the jerrycan or the tank and the purified water is there. We thank the Lord for this donation from USA. It’s a huge blessing for our schools where drinking water was a big deal.  May the Lord bless  you all who keep supporting us in a way or another.

                                                                     

GIA Summer School    

 

The students from GIA have had a chance to break up their long summer holidays with good training, the last week of June and to other more weeks since 11-22nd July, 2016. Within those three weeks, the National Office was filled with life and energy as the students were coming each day to take part. They had two different teachers covering two different subjects:

William Caswell from USA, South– Carolina, with lessons to assist finalists students on how to prepare for some international tests allowing access to English universities like SAT. The Entrepreneurship course was covered by Sandra Dennis from USA, Seattle. It’s a very needed course to raise up these godly generation of leaders with an open mind. It’s also good for the students to get out of the house and continue to learn, grow and expand their minds whilst there are no expectations and pressure of exams and grades. They  were grateful to the Lord to have an opportunity to learn those lessons. May the Lord bless fully those who made this happen (Sandra Dennis, Will Caswell and BYFC Team). We pray for more volunteers to come and serve with us.

A two weeks Holiday for HOH Kids

We keep seeing the favor of the Lord upon all our Homes of Hope children (orphanages). They are well and growing both physically and spiritually. Please pray with us as all the kids are in Summer holidays with their biological siblings when the financial situation is critical during this socio – political crisis in Burundi. Some did not have any of their relatives to welcome them . But  praise the Lord as YFC staff decided to receive them in their different homes to avoid children staying lonely in the orphanage.                                                                                                       Construction Work Building work is going on at all the Burundi Youth for Christ sites as we prepare for the new school year. This is how far we are with constructions: At Bwoga (a new site for FHS Gitega), we are busy adding more classrooms for the nursery and high school level. At Cibitoke, we are building a Headmaster’s office and a new home to house the new orphans to come soon. We praise the Lord as the building work is already done at Makamba. Talking about  GIA, we are busy with finishing works for the multipurpose room, adapting the kitchen to the standard required by the Association of Christian School International.  The building under constructions will hold boys dormitory to house the new students , multipurpose hall ... This will free up existing classroom space for the new grade 7 classes that will start at the end of August. Building work has been an on-going project at GIA; expanding each year until the school reaches Grade 12. Now that we have reached Grade 12, we will be evaluating to make sure if we have enough space to house the entire school’s worth of students. We are grateful to your support and pray that the Lord will rewards you fully! Staff Recruitment We are recruiting  new teachers for the Future Hope schools in Gitega, Cibitoke and Makamba. We had a huge response with many applicants to assess and interview to ensure we selected those with the best skills and teaching abilities for our young children. We are also busy recruiting new teachers and volunteers for Gitega International Academy and a Headmaster for Future Hope School High School. We pray for a successful recruitment so as to have faithful and skilful teachers and staff to help us build the Kingdom of the Lord.