Cranmer ordinand Daleen Bakker spent two weeks this summer in Burundi teaching about both prophecy and agriculture, which was made possible by a grant from St John’s Student Opportunities Fund.
I had the honour this summer to spend two weeks in Burundi as part of an exchange with Cranmer Hall. I’d love to share something of the experience.
We spent a week at Bujumbura Christian University (BCU) where we joined in with the ordinands in their learning and taught some things ourselves. My colleague Paul taught ethics for two days, and I on prophecy in the Bible and I taught at a mission conference.
I learned a lot. The students’ commitment to God and the sacrifices they make and their gratefulness to study are quite extraordinary.
We attended a 4 hour long ordination service which ended with a reception that included dancing with the bishops, which was great fun!
After that, we travelled inland to the political capital Gitega, where we met the bishop and pastors who are BCU alumni. Talking with them about the joys and challenges of ministry was an incredible blessing.
We spent our last week in Rutana were we were being hosted by Bishop Pontien and the church with incredible hospitality. We taught at a conference for pastors.
I’ve got experience with a Christian organisation that teaches sustainable agriculture, Foundations for Farming. After an introduction about a Biblical perspective on creation and stewardship, I taught Foundations for Farming for 2 days. It was deeply encouraging how enthusiastic people were.
We attended a Roman Catholic ordination, and a confirmation service in the cathedral in Rutana where 470 people were confirmed. The Church is growing rapidly there and I’ve taken a lot of encouragement from that.
My prayers are that some of the African Christian enthusiasm might catch hold on the UK and Europe, and that we might be able to support their theological education in whatever form God has in mind. It was an incredible experience and I hope I will be able to go back one day!
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