Friends -
Grace and peace to you! We're back in Fort Wayne, preparing for our departure on September 9th. It's good to see the family again and to worship with our community at Fellowship. Having gained more insight after a day of orientation at World Relief headquarters, we thought we'd give a bit more clarity as to how we'll be serving in Burundi.
There are several projects that World Relief runs in Burundi. Karri will be involved in their microfinance initiative. She will be working along side the staff at Turame, a financial institution where widows, mothers, other entrepreneurial poor with resolve to grow beyond their situation can receive small business loans. Karri will be returning to her teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) experience, helping the Turame staff with the English language and American cultural mannerisms. She'll also get to do some documentation and story writing, helping others understand the nature of Turame and the people they serve. She will also be finishing two classes via the internet, so she'll need prayer as she balances her work and her school.
Jim will be working with World Relief's Church Mobilization initiative. This is an effort to bring the local pastors together to encourage them, empower them, and connect them to helpful ministries and programs. Jim will be serving with the staff through music and teaching at these pastoral gatherings. He will also be leading some devotional time for the World Relief staff, as we're hoping to find deep community together as we serve. Please pray that God would pave the way as Jim makes relationships with the staff and the pastors, that God would speak through him and that the people would be receptive to God’s call.
We're so excited to be on the ground in Africa! We believe that this is a season where God will make himself known to us in powerful ways, as the more we draw near to the poor, the more we draw near to Christ himself. We believe in the next months, we will see visions and dream dreams of how God will use us in the future for His Kingdom, even as He is using us at the present. The skills and experiences we will receive will give us a foundation for service in the years to come. If you would like to support us and support the future God is calling us to, please cut off and mail in the attached form. You can also support us online, at:
Send us an email at to receive our email updates and prayer lists.
jim.deselm@gmail.com
kkdeselm@gmail.com
Peace be with you!
Karri & Jim DeSelm
