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brooksinburundi@googlemail.com                                                     EAB Matana, 
No attachments or photos                                                                    DS 30, BUJUMBURA 
                                                                                                                 Burundi Africa.

Subject: Pat and Pam or Anne                                                            February 17th 2008 

Letter 6

Dear Family and Friends,

Many thanks for the emails from many of you.

Matana, where we are staying until we return to the UK is familiar ground for us. I began work here in 1958 when I was Schools Inspector for the district stretching as far as Lake Tanganyika. Many of the teachers under my supervision then have died - as have a number of the pupils I was preparing for secondary school! Matana itself has not changed a great deal apart from a tarmac road, built by the Chinese, which runs from Bujumbura to well beyond Matana, a more modern market and some impressive looking new houses.

We are living in a missionary home built in the late 30s by those who begun the work here. With some attention required to the fabric, we sometimes feel caught in a time warp, but the human beings around us don't let us live in a museum! Present need is the burning issue: medicine for the family, money for secondary school fees, spectacles for my eyes, a little money so that I can plant some beans, for prices are rocketing. We need a deep breath of God's Spirit, an encouragement from His word and a determination to hang in if we want to make a difference to the day.

I am teaching the Pastoral Epistles to the student body at the Theological Institute. They are 10 in number - 3,4,3 - in three separate years but I teach them altogether. They represent 5 dioceses, two of which only have one student. One has two and the other two have three each. In terms of numbers of clergy, Matana is a wealthy diocese with 67 clergy, whilst many of the others struggle with less than 20. Could there be a clergy loan - a missionary endeavour? This would mean considerable vision and sacrifice on the part of the bishops, not to mention clergy who are used to staying in their own native patch.

I teach from 9.00 to 11.00 each morning. Meet three of my students.

Amos from Buye diocese is in Year 1. Short of stature he is intense and alert, with a strong spark of commitment and when he has expressed for himself some Christian truth, a sense of quiet pleasure seems to fill him.

Alexis from Matana is mentally sharp. He would like me to feel that I can never go too fast for him and he has a playful sense of competition. 

Thaddeus from Muyinga, a new diocese has been off sick with malaria. He joined us this week and is struggling to catch up. Please pray that he will get into his stride and cope well.

We start each day with an hour of worship together with the Bible School students. We follow the pattern of Morning Prayer, with Holy Communion on Wednesdays. One of the students ministers the Word and there are usually 2 new Kirundi worship songs and a hymn from the hymn book which contains translations from Golden Bells and Tabernacle Hymns, put together by a team of missionaries and local Christians in the 50s. We bond, shake hands as we leave (de rigeur in this country) and then get on with learning in our classes.

In the afternoon I do lesson preparation and then walk for about an hour along various tracks. We have an early supper and lights out is usually by 8.30 p.m.! (Note from Pam - He's always up before 4.00 a.m.!) There is no TV to distract us - nor books to read - but we do have a radio for the BBC World News.

Pam writes: Yesterday we began the Lent services, with the Scripture, "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written, "Be holy, because I am holy." 1 Peter 1:15 and 16, and Leviticus 19:1 and 2. 

Pat was one of 2 preachers yesterday in the cathedral here with over 100 students from the local Secondary schools. Today he was at a Technical College and Anne and I were at a local daughter church of Matana parish. Both these services lasted for 4 hours! Our church was on the top of a hill and we were really cold. The church is still being built and they are having trouble with boring beetles eating into the roof trusses. They are wondering about metal trusses or pillars to support the roof - the latter being the cheaper option. They have done really well to have built as well as they have with their meagre resources. We promised to pray for them.

Thank you for continuing to pray for us,

With our love as we pray for you,

Pat and Pam and Anne