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Burundi Prayer and Thanks giving Ceremony |
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THREE years
ago when Burundi ’s President Jean Pierre Nkurunziza took over leadership on
August 28, 2005, uncertainty prevailed over how long he would hold last. This
was because of the track record of toppling and assassination of earlier
Presidents some of whom include Melchoir Ndadaye and Cyprien Ntaryamira. (God
had Burundi at heart and as a result sent His servants and spokemen)
Last week,
President Nkurunziza a renowned Born-again Christian invited Ugandan pastor
Robert Kayanja of the Miracle Centre Cathedral as chief preacher during the
four-day national thanksgiving holiday for peace in the country.
Pastor
Kayanja was accompanied by Ugandan and American pastors during the four days of
incessant preaching, praying and healing during a crusade to pray for sustained
peace in Burundi .
President
Nkurunziza said that it was by divine appointment that he was joining the
entire country to celebrate three years of relative peace. “When given
stewardship, there is need to seek God’s assistance for direction since all
gifts come from him.”
Accompanied
by his 3-year-old son Jonathan, President Nkurunziza preached, sang, danced,
jumped and literary rolled on the ground to Praise and worship songs much to the amusement of hundreds of
countrymen, women as well as the invited guests.
 An equally mesmerized
Pastor Kayanja said it was a brand new thing to see a sitting African President
holding a microphone to dance and praise God.
The ex-rebel
is also a worship team leader and leads a choir called Komeza Gusenga (Continue
to pray), which is comprised of ex-rebels who fought alongside him during the
civil war. This is the team that provided backup dancing and singing for him.
Another group of elite army and police officers danced alongside the President
and were deceptively dressed in civilian suits.
The songs in
Kirundi language included Ndawizeye (I believe it), Yesu Oli Mwiza (God is
beautiful) along with Warakoze Mana (Thank you oh God), Louer (pray), Ndavizeye
(I know), Yesu yarazutse (Jesus is alive) as well as Indirimbo (song).
"In
three years of leading this country, God has given us peace and is able to do
more than that. We come to thank God because he protected us and delivered us
through tough times. Burundians do not forget to thank God for what he has done
for us. We cannot give him our cars or our potatoes," the President said.
This was
resonant of his swearing-in statement three years ago, when he compared himself
to a small ant on the back of a big elephant. “When the elephant does
something, the ant rejoices as if the ant himself has done it," Nkurunziza
had remarked at that time.
 Nkurunziza
said marking such a day was a milestone in the country’s history and it was
needful to thank God for the safe journey moved so far.
“We have
spent three years of protection and prosperity. We are now entering into the
fourth year of leadership and let us dedicate our country to God because we
cannot thrive on our own. We ask God to touch our hands and pray for blessings
on all Burundians,” he remarked.
Other guests
present included foreign ambassadors, vice Presidents Yves Sahinguvu and Gabriel
Ntisezerana and parliamentarians. Others were Pastors Marty Martinez from the
Family Worship Center, Louisiana, US; Dr. Brigitte Kitenge of the African
Global Mission Tennessee, Dr. Steve Ball and Nathan Westfield from Metro
Tabernacle Church Chattanooga, Tennessee, in USA.
At the End of every meeting for the four days Pastor
Robert Kayanja went into the word of God and he let God minister to the people
of Burundi in miracles signs and wonders, which drew crowds from all over the
nation of Burundi to see and experience the power of God during these meetings.
Pastor Robert and his team from Uganda also gave a word of hope to the people
of Burundi in the morning before the prayers and thanksgiving meeting began. Speakers
like Pastor Jessica Kayanja of the Girl power Ministries Spoke to the women in
Burundi, Pastor Steve Ball gave a word of healing to the people, Marty Martinez
also shared the gospel of the kingdom of God and Pastor Peter Ssematimba spoke
to the government leaders and the pastors about prosperity.
God is indeed at work in the nation of Burundi and
the people are craving for his power and wisdom to better them selves and there
country.
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