EFM is announcing an urgent rebuilding fund for Burundi Friends and your help is appreciated. The men’s dormitory at Willard Ferguson Seminary in Kibimba caught fire this summer. We wish to raise $5,000 to help with the costs of rebuilding the dorm right away, which will allow our Burundian Friends to complete the work in time for school to reconvene in September.
As the Lord leads, please mark donations to “Burundi fire” and send checks to EFM, PO Box 525, Arvada, CO 80001 or give online here. Type “Burundi fire” in the comment box. You may give with a credit card over the phone by calling our office at 303-421-8100.
EFM has partnered with Burundi Friends through the leadership of the Great Lakes Leadership Training (GLLT) committee to establish two high-school-level private Bible schools in the two Burundi yearly meetings: Kwibuka Willard Ferguson Seminary and Kibimba Willard Ferguson Seminary.
At the end of July, the same night an EFC-MAYM student team called Saltshaker arrived in Burundi, a fire broke out and heavily damaged the dormitory section of the Kibimba seminary. They believe the cause of the fire was a rigged phone charger cord that shorted out. The fire was in an older section of the facilities, not the newer classroom sections that some of you may have contributed to in the past. The fire destroyed several windows and doors, some roof rafters, most of the electrical wiring, mattresses, student clothing, bed slats, and all the ceiling materials. Only one student was injured; his arm was cut when breaking through a window.
David Williams, EFC-MAYM Superintendent, requested a budget for the rebuilding of the facilities. David Kellum reviewed the budget and was pleased with the low cost of the rebuild and how appropriate all items on the request were.
The Saltshaker team enjoyed the opportunity to spend about two-and-a-half days with the seminary students tearing out and removing damaged sections and cleaning the facility. They also had wonderful fellowship and heard those boys sing with amazing harmony. There were about two-dozen male students working with us, but the female students had already left for home before the fire. The Saltshaker team provided funds to replace taxi fares for the boys to return home because their money was destroyed in the fire. The team also replaced the funds the boys had pooled together for an “end of the year celebration.” The seminary students went home with just the clothes on their backs. Bibles that were burned will be replaced in a Youth Bible Project that the Saltshaker team had already raised funds for.
Please pray for the students of Kibimba Willard Ferguson Seminary as many of them will have to return to school and re-take some of their classes because their books and notes were destroyed in the fire and they were unable to complete their final exams.
Thanks for responding as the Lord leads you!
– Matt Macy
***If additional funds come in above this project’s needs, those funds will be applied to other EFM GLLT projects in Burundi, Rwanda, and Congo.
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