Capital City: Bujumbura
Year of Independence: 1962
Area: 27,830 sq km
Arable Land: 35.57%
Population: 8,691,005
Median Age: 16.7 years
Population Growth Rate: 3.443%
Infant Mortality: 60.77 deaths/1,000 live births
Life Expectancy at Birth: 51.71 years
Literacy Rate: 59.3%
Ethnic Groups: Hutu (Bantu) 85%, Tutsi (Hamitic) 14%, Twa (Pygmy) 1%, Europeans 3,000, South Asians 2,000
Religions: Christian 67% (Roman Catholic 62%, Protestant 5%), indigenous beliefs 23%, Muslim 10%
Languages: Kirundi (official), French (official), Swahili (along Lake Tanganyika and in the Bujumbura area)
Coordinator: Peter Barakamphitiye
Peter is from Burundi and coordinates the VCP ministry around Gitega, the second largest city in Burundi after the national capital of Bujumbura. He and his wife, Fidelity, have four children.
The VCP partner in this part of Burundi is AMEC, the African Methodist Episcopal Church of Burundi. Peter got involved with the Into Africa Project in 2001 in South Africa, and relocated to his home country of Burundi in 2003. The couple met and were married during their time in South Africa.
Fidelity works with a sister ministry of Peter's, reaching out to individuals with special circumstances. Together, Peter and Fidelity have seven training centers, one of which is volunteer.
Peter is a very calm brother, but hardworking. He is a "real a VCP man." He is often asked by visitors of the small villages in his area, ”How do you know this village?” This brother goes where none has been.
Country Wide VCP Statistics as of June 2011:
Members - 35,341
Churches - 1,082
Training Centers - 22
Coordinator: John Gahungu
John and his wife, Marie Claire, have two children. They have been with the Into Africa Project since 2001, and relocated to Burundi in November 2003 after completing their training in South Africa.
John coordinates six VCP training centers in the western province of Imbo Nord. Three of these are volunteer centers. The local denominational partner with the Into Africa project is Eglise Méthodiste Libre au Burundi, or Free Methodist Church in Burundi. The major language groups in Imbo Nord are Swahili and Kirundi.
John Gahungu is a very hospitable, joyful brother. He is enthusiastic about his ministry, and he shares with everyone, at any time, and anywhere, his faith in Christ. He was the first in the Great Lakes region of Africa to implement the VCP principles, and all who have followed have been inspired by his success.
At their 2007 annual conference, the Free Methodists requested John to implement VCP principles in all districts, and not just in the western conference. As a result, he initiated two additional VCP training centers during 2008, one for the rural areas surrounding Bujumbura and the other in Makamba Province, in Nyanza Lac.
Testimony
Therese Ntakirutimana is one of the recent converts through our village church planter Ernest Bizoryabandi, who is the trainer at the Ndava training center and pastor of the Ruhogwe Free Methodist church in Gasenyi.
Therese was a fortuneteller who practiced witchcraft as an income generating business for many years. Ernest presented the Gospel to her during the initiation of this church plant, and by God’s grace she gave her life to Jesus. She renounced these practices and brought all her witchcraft devices and burned them in public. Those who were in the same business laughed at her and considered her stupid for giving up her business, while others were rejoicing for what the Lord Jesus done in her life. Since then she has been a happy and fulfilled person, and is active in the women's ministry. Today, whenever people who don’t know that she is serving Jesus come for consultation she instead shares with them about her new found faith and tells them that Jesus is the great healer. Praise God!
