3 September 2009
From: Simon Guillebaud [mailto:simon@greatlakesoutreach.org]
www.greatlakesoutreach.org
16 September 2009
Dear All,
God always on time in Burundi and everywhere!
God is never in a hurry, but He is always on time.
There has been no visible progress on our visa application in the last few weeks. The form is filled out and with the US Immigration lawyer as she seeks some paperwork from Homeland Security, and only then can we start our application in England. I could be frustrated and stressed but honestly I am not at all. There’s nothing I can do about it but pray and trust the Lord for the outcome. Various memorized Scriptures come to mind, like “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. The Lord works out everything for his own ends.” (Prov.16:3-4) Well, we’re only seeking to do the Lord’s will on this, and his timing is perfect, so although I’m itching to embrace the next chapter of our lives, I’m forced to simply ‘be’, and enjoy the incredible blessings God has granted me (Lizzie, the kids, in-laws, friends, good food, peace, health, etc).
Seth’s visit to finish the films was intense with only a few days here. Basically we have a master copy, and honestly, it is SUPERB. The musicians did an outstanding job writing a wholly original soundtrack for all thirteen films. Seth’s extremely gifted and has crafted great effects and used all sorts of different lenses and filters. The variety from stunning scenery through harrowing and haunting images with challenging scripts makes for a raw and provocative resource which I hope will bless tens of millions of people. And with your help we’ll get it out there to create momentum to take it beyond just the GLO network. The one total pain in the immediate is that the USA uses a different system to the rest of the world, so we are ready for launch in the USA but it will take several weeks to reformat everything for the UK and the rest of the world. And now Seth is back in Burundi, he’s there at a time when power is off mostly and the country is going through a chronic shortage of electricity so it makes it very hard to work, sometimes days going by with no power. Do pray that we get it all done quickly without any hitches or compromises.
We have a very delicate and tricky situation with a coworker to deal with. He is in massive financial difficulties and has taken some very bad decisions to try to stay afloat. We need wisdom to handle this rightly. I’d prefer not to say more on it. We no longer support him financially because of his constantly dishonouring commitments, but we don’t want to see him go down the pan.
As with most organizations, giving to GLO has decreased dramatically. Do pray that we are able to meet all our commitments and keep the momentum going with the incredible local partners we work with. I’m hugely grateful for the amazing outpouring of generosity earlier in the year which meant we were able to get KCC launched, but there are still some big needs to make it really satisfactorily ship-shape. Do keep on praying for Olivia, Goretti et al there as they continue to be very stretched and in demand.
Josiah is putting on weight nicely. Zac, Grace, Lizzie and I are all generally wonderfully well, and so grateful for it.
Lots of love and thanks to you all,
Simon Guillebaud
Great Lakes Outreach
www.greatlakesoutreach.org