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Burundi Nazarenes, missionaries flee country
by | 19 Jun 2015
Dozens of Nazarenes in Burundi fled the country because of political unrest. Nazarene missionaries temporarily left the area.
Other church members and residents are staying in their homes for fear of facing violence on the streets. They are too afraid to go to work and are running low on food, said the Nazarene Compassionate Ministries coordinator in the capital, Bujumbura, who will not be named for security reasons.
Nazarenes have organized home visits to both church members and non-church members to bring them fellowship and whatever food they can.
"We have a lack of food for them," the coordinator said. "It's not easy."
Political protests began in late April after Burundi's president announced he would run for a third term. Burundi's constitution and a post-civil war peace deal allow for two presidential terms, but the president and ruling party said he is eligible for re-election because he was appointed by parliament for the first term, not voted in by the public.
On June 10, Burundi's president announced that the election would be postponed from June 26 to July 15. There was an attempted coup in May. Later that month, East African leaders met at a summit and urged Burundi to delay elections.
News reports show that upwards of 20 to 30 people have died in the conflict since April 25, and more than 100,000 people have fled the country. In a press release on June 9, the United Nations human rights chief called for Burundi officials to take action against the increasingly violent tactics of a pro-government militia.
Thirty Nazarenes from Burundi have fled to a camp in Tanzania, and five others are unaccounted for, though they are believed to be in Rwanda, according to a Nazarene leader.
"There is need for emergency response in the Nyanza Lac region (a city in southern Burundi near the border of Tanzania)," he said in an email on June 8. "We are asking for prayers for the country of Burundi and our Nazarenes."
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