‘All the time, God is good!’

Bishop Emile Nkurunziza from Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church in Burundi caught up with LM-A President Pastor Matt Anker during the International Lutheran Council's World Conference in the Philippines.

During the recent International Lutheran Council World Conference in the Philippines, Pastor Matt Anker had a chance to sit down with Bishop Emile Nkurunziza from Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church in Burundi (HELCB). They recorded a video interview in which Bishop Emile reported on the rapid growth of HELCB, the many projects they are engaged in and the vision for the future.

HELCB was first registered in 2017. Beginning with two congregations, they now have six congregations across every province of Burundi, and 3000 baptised members. As their government requires that churches must own their own buildings and cannot rent or borrow premises, the church has worked hard to build six churches and has two more land plots ready to build on.

Bishop Emile says, ‘So concerning the Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church in Burundi, we really thank God for what he's doing. God is amazing. He is always good. All the time, God is good.’

During the interview, Bishop Emile listed the following major projects HELCB is engaged in:

• Translating the Book of Concord into French, the language of Burundi. They are already using the Small Catechism very widely, and the Large Catechism is currently at the printers.

• Training pastors and evangelists. HELCB currently sends students to Tanzania, the Congo and Kenya for training, but are hoping to establish their own French-speaking seminary. There is a huge demand for pastors. Bishop Emile hopes that one day they can develop a theological library where pastors and the people of Burundi can read more about God’s Word and the confessions.

• Social work projects. As Burundi is one of the poorest nations in the world, there is much work to do ensuring that people are able to receive their ‘daily bread’ in physical as well as spiritual ways. Some of the current projects include:

  • Running a piggery, which allows them to give pigs to the poorest people so they have manure for their farms and an income so they can send their children to school;

  • A pilot program making soap, which teaches people how to make liquid soap so they can set up home-based businesses;

  • Sewing training teaching single women and widows how to make shirts so they can support themselves; and

  • A feeding program for malnourished children, which provides meals each Sunday for children and sometimes sends home packages of food for their families. The food is provided by church members who have some income and can donate either money or food stuff like soy beans or maize to make porridge.

When Pastor Matt asked about some of the groups coming to be baptised in Burundi, Bishop Emile shared some amazing statistics. In February, in the northern end of Burundi, more than 140 adults and children were baptised and 24 marriages were blessed. Last December in eastern Burundi more than 90 people were baptised and seven to ten marriages were blessed. In central Burundi in July this year, 47 people were baptised.

It was interesting to learn that in these mission areas, the Small Catechism is taught and distributed by trained evangelists, and then the elders keep on teaching the people. In the northern Burundi example, a recent student was sent to preach and teach specifically about baptism. while the pastor ministered to the Christian families. In the central Burundi area, Bishop Emile commented that they had distributed the Small Catechism and the seeds planted had started to take root. The elder there kept on teaching the catechism and then contacted the church to say he needed someone to come and baptise a large group of people.

Pastor Matt concluded the interview by asking Bishop Emile why so many young people and adults are coming to join HELCB. Bishop Emile attributed the church’s growth to four factors:

• the good teaching, especially the teaching of the Small Catechism.

• the social programs they run. People sometimes come for the social work programs but then when they receive help and hear the Word of God they stay.

• the love the people in the church have for each other. Everyone knows each other and is very close, and if someone is in need they all mobilise to help them. When this happens over and over, that person’s neighbours see the love they have for each other and come to learn more about God.

• God’s amazing power. Bishop Emile says, ‘ourselves we are very weak. God is strong and he's behind his Word, the truth of his Word. And His word is powerful. I can testify that. I have seen wonders! I could not figure out in some eight years after beginning that we could have such a number of parishes and also, you know, we were planning [when we first started thinking about construction] that we may have a building after 10 years, but after some years we have six church buildings, and two plots now which needs to be built.’

It has been enormously encouraging to see how God is using his servants, his generous people, to support HELCB. Bishop Emile expressed his thanks for everything Pastor Matt has done to encourage and support the church in Burundi, and thanks God for Lutheran Mission - Australia’s partnership with HELCB.

Throughout the interview, Bishop Emile expressed his gratitude to God and to all who have helped the church grow over the past eight years. ‘So we thank God and we thank you so much, every person who have just put one cent - it is changing hearts… Thank you so much again. God bless you so much.’

LM-A has received $30,000 in donations to aid Hope Evangelical Church in Burundi. These funds will provide great support for our brothers and sisters in Burundi. Thank you for your generosity. If you would like to donate, please deposit funds into our account with the reference line ‘Mission Appeal - Burundi’.

You can watch the full video on our Videos page or on the LM-A Youtube channel.