Blessings in Burundi

Amohoro!   (Peace to you)

Nov. 7-17 my husband, daughter and I were able to visit Burundi, Central Africa through Sister Connection, an organization helping widows and orphans in that country.  We were able to meet our sponsored widow, Yereda, pictured next to me below.   

Burundi is recovering from years of civil war that left thousands widowed.  I had been in the country 10 years ago, and it was a joy to see the greater stability and peacefulness since that time. 

Stephanie and I at the SC office

Praying God's blessing on Yereda and her family.

Meeting Angelique, our sponsor child.

The joy and praise these lovely women had for the Lord was a delight to see and experience!   They shared stories of how they had been homeless, barely finding food to eat, and now because of a sponsor willing to help them, they have clothes to wear, regular meals, and a home to live in with their children.  

Our team worshipped and celebrated with different groups in various parts of the country, going on day trips to small villages through lush hillsides of tea plantations, bananas, and small garden plots.  Burundi is a small country next to Rwanda, and is about the size of New Jersey.  Travel distances are short, but the time can be long and bumpy due to the dirt roads!  

Our BSF study of Isaiah fit so well with this experience, for God cares deeply for the widow, the orphan, the poor and the oppressed.   (Isaiah 1:17; 10:1,2; 58:6-10)

The praises of these women echoed Isaiah 12:2,  "Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.  The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation."
It was a joy to be together, and the love we share in the Lord transcended the differences in culture and language!

Your Notes:
Read Isaiah 12:1-6


1.  For what have you praised and thanked the Lord for recently?
2. Have you drawn "water from the wells of salvation?"  What does this mean?  Do you have the joy that knowing the Lord brings? 
3.  How are you "making known among the nations what He has done?"  Who do you know who needs to hear about the great and glorious things of God?  

Glorious! Isaiah 6

Have you ever encountered something glorious?   Something that blew you away?

Perhaps a stunning mountain scene, or the classic icon of beauty, a glowing sunset.  

What comes to your mind?

A few weeks ago we looked at Isaiah Chapter 6 in our BSF study- where Isaiah encountered God in a mind blowing, glorious, almost indescribable way.   He "saw the LORD, seated on a throne, and the train of His robe filled the temple with glory."

He heard angelic beings calling out "holy, holy, holy", which indicates God's purity, his transcendence, his greatness beyond our understanding.  "The whole earth is full of His glory."   Isaiah felt the very foundations of this temple shake, and was overwhelmed. 

His response was from the depth of his soul  - he saw God more clearly than ever, and so saw his own impure heart, motives and words as never before.  He cried out his anguish, "I am ruined" - not worthy to be in the presence of God.  

Isaiah could do nothing about this, but God could.  God took the steps Isaiah needed for the healing of his wrong, his sin, his unworthiness before the Lord.

That is still the glorious work of God:  any who come to Him realizing their need and their unworthiness He will reach out and heal.   In humbly admitting all the wrong in life that keeps one from the presence of God, they will find they are restored.  

John 12:41 clarifies for us that Isaiah saw the Lord - the Lord Jesus Christ!  It is He who is Holy, glorious, and who cleanses from sin.   It is He who restores and heals us, and is then the very presence of God within us.   Now that is glorious!

Read Isaiah 6:1-7

Have you ever had an experience of God that "blew you away?"

How reverent is your opinion and worship of God?

How have you responded to God's offer of cleansing through Jesus?  

Galilee, Isaiah 9:1-7

The Sea of Galilee at sunrise.   

Isaiah 9:1 speaks of the land of Zebulun and Naphtali...."He shall make it glorious."  It is made glorious by the coming of the promised One, for 9:2 says "The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them."

Jesus was raised in Nazareth, 20 miles from the Sea of Galilee.  Pictured above is

the 4th Century A.D. "White Synagogue" in Capernaum.  This is the town where Jesus based His Galilean ministry.  Isaiah's prophesy of God's Light coming to this area was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who said in John 8:12,  "I am the Light of the World; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life."   

The black stone at the base of the White Synagogue is the foundation of the earlier 1st Century synagogue where Jesus would have often taught.  

Your Notes:
Read Isaiah 9:1-7   
1.  Have you come to Jesus and had His light shine into your life?
2.  How has He been your Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace?
3.  Who do you know who needs to hear they can have light and life in Jesus?  

More reflections on Living Water; Isaiah 55:1, Exodus 17:6

Reflections on John: Living Water

Bottled water....we see it everywhere.  We have some of the country's best tasting tap water in Seattle, yet we spend money for unknown water in a bottle!  Marketing slogans tempt us:  

Evian....Live young!

Kerry - Refreshes in every sense!

Vittel.....A new life everyday!

But when you drink these waters, you will thirst again.  This is also true in life.  We often thirst for something;  fulfillment, love, purpose, stuff, travel, adventure;  but it is all only temporary.  We will thirst again and want more.  

In John Chapter 4 Jesus describes a type of water that quenches... fills... overflows... and actually fulfills the slogans plain water cannot.  Jesus offers Living Water, the source of eternal and true life satisfaction. 

"Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."  John 4:14 

Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "if any one is thirsty, let him come to ME and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the scripture said, 'from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.'" John 8:37, 38

The water Jesus offers satisfies the true thirst of life; our need for God, for forgiveness, for wholeness and healing.  Living Water is the gift of abundant and eternal life, which is life in Christ Jesus, given by His Holy Spirit.  

Have you taken the drink of Living water offered by Jesus?  What blocks your drinking deeply of this Water of Life?   And are you continually drinking of Jesus through His Word, the Bible?  

Drink deep and be filled!   

Living Water... you can't bottle it, sell it, contain it... but you can receive it!

Ein Gedi, "Spring of the Goat",  an oasis

near the Dead Sea, Israel

John 21, Galilee

In John 21, Seven disciples of Jesus went fishing on the Sea of Galilee.  They had been fishing all night without success.  Jesus comes to the shore at dawn and called for them to throw the net on the other side of the boat; it was immediately filled to the breaking point with fish, although the net did not break.  This miracle caused the insightful disciple John to realize it was Jesus, and the passionate disciple Peter to then jump in and swim to his Lord.  Once the catch of 153 fish was hauled in, they all ate breakfast with Jesus on the shore.

The Sea of Galilee at sunrise, Mount Hermon in the distance.

Click on photos to enlarge.

Last November our travel group went aboard a tour "fishing boat."

A traditional net fishing demonstration was given.

The Yigon Allon Museum contains "The Jesus Boat," a fishing boat from the time of Jesus.  It was discovered in 1986 in the mud on the shore only a few miles from the city of Tiberius.  It took 14 years to preserve the 2000 year old wood, and has been on display since 2000 AD.  

Model of a Galilean fishing boat of Jesus' time.  

The Galilee from Mount Arbel.  In Israel, this fresh water lake is known as Lake Kinneret.  It lies 212 meters below sea level.  

The city of Tiberius at dusk.  

Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus declared, "I AM..."

 "I AM the Bread of Life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry, 

and he who believes in me will never be thirsty."

John 6:35

"I AM the Light of the World.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,

 but will have the light of life."  

John 8:12

"I AM the Gate; whoever enters through me will be saved."

John 10:9

"I AM the Good Shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

John 10:11

"I AM the Way and the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."

John 14:6

"I AM the Vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit."

John 15:5

All of Jesus' claims were validated by His death on the cross for our sin,  

for it was on the cross...

The Bread was broken to nourish our souls

The Light took on the darkness of sin to ultimately overcome it

The Gate appeared closed by death but in actuality opened heaven wide

The Good Shepherd was killed by the false in order to rescue the sheep

Jesus faced death in order to fully become the Resurrection and the Life

The Way is now opened to the Father; we can now walk the path of truth and life

The Vine was cut down that we could abide in the Father and He in us

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Now remain in my love.....

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

John 15: 9,13

The Garden Tomb

This site is outside the current old city walls, and was discovered by a British archeologist in the later 1800's.  It has a lovely garden, and is a place tour groups can come to hold worship services and communion, which we did.  It was touching to hear hymns and readings in many other languages as we saw this potential place of Golgotha and the tomb.   The tomb found here was later identified as probably one from a time earlier than Christ, but this was still a meaningful place for our group to remember and celebrate the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross, as well as rejoice in the resurrection and the fact that His tomb, no matter where it actually was,  IS EMPTY!

This cliff is reminiscent of a skull (the meaning of Golgotha- "Place of the Skull") and was next to a well traveled road where crucifixions would have an impact on passersby.

The ancient tomb in this garden.  This gentleman is part of the British organization that runs the site. He gave an excellent gospel presentation and history of this place.  

Inside the tomb.

Photos for John 19:31-42

An example of a 1st Century tomb from the time of Jesus.  This was excavated in the 1980's in the Galilee area.  

Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem 

Orthodox worshippers at the site honored as the place where Jesus body was taken off the cross and put into the care of His mother Mary.  Joseph of Arimathea  asked Pilate for the body, and after customary preparation placed it in his own new family tomb.

Lighting candles at the site of the site believed to be that of the empty tomb of the risen Christ.  The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is built around this tomb.

Jerusalem sites for John 19

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Old Jerusalem.

Tradition holds it is built over the site of Golgotha and the tomb of Christ.  It appears this has been an honored Christian site since before 100 AD.  The first church here was built in the time of Constantine (later 300's).  Much of the current building was built in the time of the Crusaders in Jerusalem (1095-1187).  There are currently 6 main denominations that reside on this property:  Greek Orthodox, Catholic, Arminian, Coptic, Ethiopian Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox, each with various chapels, and all part of the history of this site.  

Courtyard and Entrance.  

Stations 10-14 of the Stations of the Cross are inside the church.

Orthodox lanterns and mosaics of Jesus in prayer at Gethsemane and the betrayal of Judas

Beautiful mosaic on the pillars near the Altar of the Crucifixion.

The 11th Station with a mosaic of Jesus being nailed to the cross.

The 12th Station, the Orthodox Chapel at the place of the death of Jesus.  The Altar of the Crucifixion is built over Golgotha.  The rock can be seen through the glass case on either side of the altar.  In the center under the altar is a silver disc marking the place the cross of Christ is believed to have stood.

Jerusalem, November 2009

Andrew and I on the Mount of Olives 

   

The Dome of the Rock, a Muslim shrine at the site of the 1st and 2nd Jewish Temple.

Chapel of the Flagellation, near the Antonia Fortress in Old Jerusalem, commemorating the site where Jesus was scourged and mocked by Pilate's Roman soldiers.  The design over the door is to remind one of the thorns in the crown placed on Jesus' head.

The Via Dolorosa, (the Way of Sorrows) a winding pathway through the Old City; since Byzantine times considered the traditional way of Jesus to the cross.  There are 14 stations marking different events along the route. The chapel above is station #2

Today it is a crowded, noisy market area - and probably was as Jesus went by, bearing the cross.

Station 3 marks the first of three times tradition says Christ fell under the weight of the cross.

The 5th Station, where Simon of Cyrene was pressed by soldiers into service to carry the cross for the stumbling Jesus.  

The 8th Station (not pictured) is the site of the lamenting women of Jerusalem in the Gospel of Luke.  

Israel pictures for John chapter 18

East Gate of Jerusalem - now closed in but open at the time of Jesus.  Where He and disciples exited the city to go to the Garden of Gethsemane.



Modern artwork at probable site of Gethsemane.  Jesus in agonized prayer.

Mosaic of Judas' betrayal kiss at Gethsemane.  Church of All Nations, Jerusalem.

Ancient olive tree.  Gethsemane means "Place of the Olive Press."

Church of All Nations, Jerusalem, next to the olive grove commemorating Gethsemane.