Dec 23, 2019 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States |
Editors Note: Since May of 2019, the Adventist Church members in Burundi have endured ongoing persecution from the countries government. On October 24, the president of the Burundi Union Mission, pastor Lamec Barishinga, was arrested. This arrest was part of an escalating series of threats and attacks on the Seventh-day Adventist Church by the government of Burundi. For further reading about the situation of our Adventist brother and sisters in Burundi, please visit the Pray for Burundi website.
Below is a letter to the Adventist Church in Burundi from Seventh-day World Church President, Ted N.C. Wilson. You can see the original letter here.
Dear Brothers and Sisters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Burundi,
I praise God for you and your faithfulness to His Holy Word and the proclamation of the three angels’ messages telling others that Jesus’ second coming is soon! You are facing increasing difficulties and challenges as you stand for Bible truth and for God’s precious worldwide church and its evangelistic system to share Christ’s soon return. I have prayed for you and I know God will take care of you as we enter into the new year of 2020. Remain firmly on God’s side as you study His wonderful Holy Word and the Spirit of Prophecy. Continue your strong prayer life all the time with God. His promises are sure! May God be with each of you and your leaders, especially Pastor Lamec Brashinga and his faithful colleagues in the union and the local fields. May God give strength to every pastor, local church elder, and each member in Burundi.
As you head into the new year of 2020, I wish you God’s greatest blessings personally and for the church in Burundi. I wish God’s blessings on the country of Burundi as people place their lives completely in God’s hands. Claim the following encouraging promise from God’ Word in Psalm 136:1 (and throughout the chapter)“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”
May you also be fortified with the following quotation from the Spirit of Prophecy found in Selected Messages,Book 2, pages 272-273, “You may be disappointed, and your will and your way may be denied; but be assured that the Lord loves you. The furnace fire may kindle upon you, not for the purpose of destroying you, but to consume the dross, that you may come forth as gold seven times purified. Bear in mind that God will give you songs in the night. Darkness may seem to enclose you, but you are not to look at the clouds. Beyond the darkest cloud there is an ever-shining light…….God has a special work for everyone to do, and each one of us may do well the work which God has assigned him. The only thing we have to fear on our part is that we shall not keep our eyes continually fixed upon Jesus, that we shall not have an eye single to the glory of God…..”
May God bless your new year of 2020 as faithful and strong members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Burundi. We will be praying for you and your Total Member Involvement witness and evangelistic outreach during the new year! May the Lord give you unusual courage and blessing in your personal lives and in your public witness for Him as you lift up Christ, His Word, His righteousness, His sanctuary service, His saving power in the great controversy, His three angels’ messages, His health message, His last-day mission to the world including the need to plead for the latter rain of the Holy Spirit, and Christ’s soon second coming!
Maranatha!
With kind Christian regards and sincerely yours,
Ted N C Wilson
President
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
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