Burundi 2025

Val and Sharon visited Bujumbura, Burundi between 3 – 9th October. This mission was in preparation for a Flame team to return in Spring 2026 to assist Dr Emmanuel Ndikumana and his team in the pursuit of justice, forgiveness and reconciliation at the parliamentary level of leadership.

On Sunday, Sharon preached on Healing from Trauma, which was well received. Several people expressed that they had been touched by the Lord, including one of the pastors in the church, and another lady whose long-term stomach pain was healed. The Lord appeared to have directed some specific people to be there – 3 people said that they had either not been to this church for some time, or had only been attending for 2 or 3 weeks. All 3 felt that the message Sharon preached was especially for them. They all went on to receive prayer ministry during the following 2 days and also brought 2 other family members who were prayed for.

We had two half day sessions with Emmanuel's team and invited guests. Around 20 attended each day.  The first morning was an opportunity for everyone to introduce themselves and then for Emmanuel and Val to share with everyone. Emmanuel leads Partners Trust International Church, with a mission to work behind churches and Christian ministries as a resource church, including running a Theological College. Val spent time explaining why we had come, some of the early history of Flame in Africa and particularly Burundi. During the second session, we taught on Fear and Forgiveness with many people releasing people from their unforgiveness.

We were encouraged that, even from the small pool of people we met during our visit, several had previously received training from Flame International and all were using what they had learned to minister to others. One of them was an excellent co-lead in our prayer ministry sessions.

We were delighted that Emmanuel was able to arrange a 2-hour meeting with several high-ranking Christians who work closely with the Government. These people all agreed that there was a great need for healing from trauma amongst senior people in the government and on a broader level across all leaders. Emmanuel emphasised to them his desire to support them to achieve this and spoke very highly of what he had seen during our visit.

As well as seeing Jesus touch individual lives and bring some healing, the outcome of this visit is an invitation from Emmanuel, supported by the high-ranking people we met, to go ahead and plan a mission for next year. Many details have yet to be worked out, but the outline is that we will do some training and ministry with church leaders, who will then partner with us to provide training and ministry to senior government officials. Following what we shared about the importance of prayer in all our work, the people we met are committed to promoting and growing their own prayer and intercession.

We have really felt the Lord's hand on this mission and are so grateful for our prayer supporters. We had many messages of encouragement, some specific words/scriptures, but we are also grateful to know that there were many people quietly praying for us. We rely on the Lord’s leading in planning a return visit in 2026 and for our hosts to gather those who the Lord wants to encourage and heal. We believe that the healing of these senior church and government leaders is key to unlocking healing from trauma across the nation of Burundi.