His Excellency the President of the Republic and the Right Honourable President of the National Assembly during the crusade

From 17 to 19 June 2021, the Presidential Couple organized a thanksgiving crusade on the occasion of the first anniversary of His Excellency the President of the Republic of Burundi Evariste Ndayishimiye administration. This crusade took place in the political capital of Gitega Province under the theme: "bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive", taken from the Holy Scriptures found in Colossians Chapter 3 verse 13. The population and high authorities of the country such as the Speaker of National Assembly Right Honorable Gelase Daniel Ndabirabe and his wife, members of the Bureau of the National Assembly, Deputies (Mps) and senior executives of the lower House of Parliament including some foreigners residing in Burundi attended the crusade.

View of the country’s dignitaries during the crusade

All the preachers expounded various topics related to this theme of forgiveness and reconciliation. According to Pastor Isidore Mbayahaga for instance, “forgiveness is like a bitter medicine, hard to swallow but healing ultimately.” He explained to the audience that when we refuse to forgive others, our hearts become like a cemetery where all those unforgiven people are buried. As for Bishop Déogratias Nshimiyimana: "If someone hurts us and we don’t forgive him, we carry a heavy weight on our shoulders that we will always have to carry uncomfortably. " “Forgive each other because forgiveness heals the soul,” insisted the Reverend Pastor Emmanuel Sinzohagera who is also the President of the Senate during his sermon.

Mother Buntu during the preaching

Mother Buntu, meanwhile, in her preaching, made it clear that daring asking for forgiveness requires first a spirit of humility which will allow to become aware of own faults and recognizing them. She therefore urged all Burundians to promote forgiveness through the approach of accepting guilt in order to achieve concrete and effective reconciliation. “Resentment and hatred are two enemies of joy. We must therefore fight against the trial of these vices which always tend to draw us back into our painful past. Let us forgive each other with no ulterior motives,” pastor Marc Kagisye also insisted.

His Excellency the President of the Republic giving testimony

The President of the Republic of Burundi, His Excellency Major General Evariste Ndayishimiye, thanked God the Almighty who has been on his side during this first year in power with overall positive outcomes rated beyond expectations. He indicated that Burundi is a promised land and thus called all Burundians to pray and praise the Lord who always protects the country and endowed it with diverse natural resources. Based on the Holy Scriptures from Nehemiah 5:1-13, His Excellency the Head of State stipulated that prayer is an important means of experiencing God because the believer can exchange with him. By bringing our problems to God, we come closer to him and thus become conquerors. He also asked every Burundian to get rid of ethnic segregation and injustice. “Let’s create a new Burundi and new Burundians,” he said.

The President of the Republic praying for Burundi and the Burundians

During the thrilling moments of the crusade, he shared his testimony pertaining to his first year of administration in length, thanked his collaborators for their combined efforts, especially the National Assembly and the Senate for their clear willingness to support the global government mission statement of “Reta Mvyeyi - Reta Nkozi” which can be translated as “Caring and laborious government” whose vision is to see “every mouth eating and every pocked filled with money”. On the last day of the crusade, the Governor of the Gitega Province, on behalf of the people of that province, bestowed gifts to the Head of State as a sign of gratitude for the honor granted to their province to host such successful crusade which began with a prayer presented to God by Her Excellency the First Lady Angeline Ndayishimiye and concluded by another one uttered by His Excellency President Evariste Ndayishimiye on behalf of Burundi and its people.