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The Christmas period began with a sad event followed by exciting ones.
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ARCHBISHOP
SAMUEL SINDAMUKA WENT TO BE WITH THE LORD
December 18th
2005
The
first Primate of the Episcopal (now Anglican)
Province
of
Burundi
died on December 18th at the age of 77.
For the whole Anglican Church (especially our
Diocese) and the bereaved family, it was a time of
mourning but especially of remembering his great
achievements and of praising God for his long
service. In fact, Most Rev. Samuel SINDAMUKA
worked hard for both the Church and the
Government. As well as his great spiritual and
development work within the Anglican Church, he is
the one who fought with the colonial government
for the admission of some of the Protestant
Churches to
Burundi
. He left a memorable name in the former
“Alliance of Protestant Churches in
Burundi
” now CNEB (National Council of Churches in
Burundi
). He also began the Scripture Union and gave the
land to build the current offices. As far as
politics is concerned, before he joined the work
and ministry in the church,
Archbishop SINDAMUKA had been one of Prince
Louis Rwagasore’s closest companions in fighting
for independence. He will mostly be remembered for
his love for the Gospel. We shall miss his smile.
May
he rest in eternal peace.
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CHRISTMAS TIDE
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As known, Christmas opens with a period of preparation and expectation (Advent) to welcome the Anointed Baby, Saviour of the World, and to await His Return. Throughout our Diocese, Christmas festivities were marked by long meditations on Christians’ lives as they begin the New Year. Many promised to live a more godly life in 2006. What makes a Christian different from other people, especially in these days of rebuilding our country and our communities?
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MULDP
SEMINAR
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The Mothers’ Union Literacy and Development
office held its 4th Facilitators’ Training
Seminar in January. The seminar was well run and
the new Facilitators promised to start a race with
the existing ones! 36 Literacy Circles are now up
and running.
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MATANA INSTITUTE OF THEOLOGY
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MIT warmly welcomed Rev. William Challis, one of the founders 20 years ago, to teach for 2 weeks and Soul MAGURA who was an inspiration to the Young People while he was here.
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ORDINATION SERVICE
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On January 29th , the Diocese had the joy of ordaining 25 Deacons and 2 Priests in St. Peter’s Cathedral at Matana. Rev. Pascal BIGIRIMANA, the outgoing Provincial Secretary preached a challenging sermon to the newly ordained from John 9:10-16 on the importance of keeping the mysteries that are entrusted to them by God. He warned them not to join the Ministry as job-seekers but to see it as a God-given task; not to seek for their own esteem but to work for God’s honour; not to work as hired men and women but as Good Shepherds who follow Jesus’ example.
We are grateful to the Botteley Trust and St Andrew’s Church, Kinson who enabled the Diocese to give each ordained pastor a new bike.
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ASSISTANCE TO PEOPLE LIVING WITH AIDS (PLWA) & ORPHANS
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The Department to Combat HIV/AIDS has given goats to 10 families and basic food supplies to last for a month to 60+ families of PLWA and orphans. Thanks to the loving generosity of ordinary people in the UK, about 80 families have been helped so far. This distribution of goats and food is a sign of encouragement to those struggling with bereavement or with AIDS, that life is still worth living.
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TRAINING THE TRAINERS HIV/AIDS WORKSHOP
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At the end of January, the Diocese welcomed Dr. Richard and Mrs Prilla Rowland (from the Judah Trust) with a colleague from Rwanda, Eric Singirankabo, to lead a devotional workshop on HIV/AIDS. It was attended by 30 members from each Archdeaconry in the Diocese and included pastors, leaders of women's work and of youth work. The 3-day workshop provided an excellent resource that was both informational and transformational.
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PRAISE &
PRAYER
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·
For the
newly ordained who have all been appointed to new
parishes
·
For the new
babies to different families on the hill
·
For the
visit of Rev. Pat and Mrs Pam Brooks from now
until April
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For Flavia
Sindamuka and the family in their bereavement
· For
those who are dying throughout
Burundi
from generalised famine because of prolonged
drought
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