YOUTH GROUP CHRISTMAS PARTY

The majority of my time here in Burundi is spent in work/ministry with World Relief. I'm daily at the office or on the field... these days, mostly in the office working on writing reports and concept notes, creating stories and pictures to help the world learn about Burundi and the needs here, and helping the general flow of office activities (sometimes, my job can be quite the potpourri of various activities). However, as much as I believe in WR, enjoy our staff, and am learning so much from (and hopefully helping) the work here, I find my passion remains with young people! I just can't stay away from them.So, here is my crew! A group of approximately 20 students from our church (Partnership Trust International) crash our place every Tuesday afternoon. I think every youth group around the world is defined by at least a bit of chaos. This one is no different. Our formula for chaos= lots of "fantas" (high sugar soda drinks) and kids from at least 5 different nationalities, speaking 3 different languages, and ranging in age from 12-22 years. And they all still have the universal syndromes of kids in that age range... flirting, short attention span, teasing, easily distracted, high energy, etc. Add the additional challenge of language, culture, and huge age range... and there we are! It's crazy and I LOVE IT.

We began a year ago, January... a small, struggling group of 5 (and 2 were the pastor's kids!) and at the end of the summer, we had multiplied! We play volleyball in our yard to start most evenings (and have seen great improvement in skills, I might add) and have studied the books of Matthew and Romans.

It's a pretty unique (if not only) thing here in Burundi. Most churches do not do much for their youth... and what they do is usually a re-creation of the adult's service. Long preaching. Hymns. No discussion. So we make it interactive with lots of activities, food, games. We look at Bible passages (reading it in French and English and sometimes Kirundi) and then discuss together or break up in discussion groups.

Most of these guys have memorized at least 5 different Bible verses from Romans (motivated, I admit, by chocolate M n M's from the US. But hey, it works! I remember being motivated by my growing sticker collection, rewards from memorizing verses in the KJV as a kid!). And most importantly, they are learning (I hope!) that being in the Word is important... that it is relevant and challenging and exciting... and that there is much depth and fun in Christian community.

We had a bit of a Christmas party yesterday. It was pretty different than what I've ever done in the States. I did make Christmas cookies for them to decorate (crazy mess after!)... and Jim (pictured far left in first pix above- WRB intern who is helping me with this group for the few months he and his lovely wife Karri are in Burundi) organized a great relay theme game with- "wise men carrying gifts to Jesus" (on the head as Chemin is doing in the 2nd pix... it was easier for the Burundians than for our Scottish members!), a four-legged "shepherd run" (3rd pix), and of course, "Mary, Joseph, and the donkey en route to Bethlehem" (Mary riding the donkey, pictured last). It was hilarious fun. Much laughter and several wipe-outs. We concluded the evening with Christmas pictionary and a brief Christmas exhortation on joy.

So, with this celebration... and a small but brightly-lit fake Christmas tree in the living room, 5 Christmas cds on repeat, an attempt at Christmas baking, and doing some advent reading... Seth and I are preparing for Christmas despite the warm weather and lack of other festivities. This year, we will be out of town... and we'll post about our adventures in Tanzania when we return. With that, we wish you a very...
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!