Sowing Hope in Burundi Africa

10/01/2025

We are excited for the start of our new project, the Oholiab Sewing School and Workshop. The name comes from the Old Testament for one of the men who was charged with putting together the tabernacle who had skills in the area of embroidery and teaching others to do it. See Exodus 35:34 & 35. This is a response to our visit in January and our desire with our coworkers in Burundi to give training on more complicated electrical machines like sergers and embroidery machines.

Three men have been trained on them and the school is off to a start, albeit a modest one with only one student at the moment. We expect the number of students to grow as time goes on. Once they have learned how to use the machines, they can then rent the machines in our workshop instead of paying others to do the work for them. For those who cannot afford the training but want help with embellishing and completing work on clothing they are making for clients, they can pay for one of the three trained workers to do the work for a much-reduced price.

Join with us in thanks to God for his blessings on these two projects and the Burundians who are benefiting from them. It would not be possible without your prayers and support!

09/28/2025

On August 15 twenty-four women graduated from our Dorcas Sewing School with celebrations of joy and hope. They had completed 8 months of hands-on training in using a treadle sewing machine, measuring clients and creating clothing. Also, with a financial participation on their part, they received a sewing machine largely paid for by contributions from our US supporters. Thank you to all who have contributed!

The celebration was full of praise to God and singing as they also received regular instruction from God’s Word accompanied with times of prayer. So, the joy comes from the teaching & modelling they have received and hope that with these new tools that they can begin to earn money to enable them to feed their families better.

07/29/2025

Our coworkers in Bujumbura, the capitol of Burundi, have been able to locate land with easy access from the city. It is about .88 acres which is the standard size of arable land (60m x 60). This is a huge step forward as the fields that were rented last year were way outside the city and took a huge amount of time for the women to reach the fields. They will start working the land in September.

05/05/2025

As we met with the women in the farming project last January, several talked of loss and struggle. One said that her two-year-old child had recently died because of sickness. Another said that she cannot afford for her children to go to school because she can’t afford the notebooks and pencils they need. A widow spoke of the struggle to feed her children.

Against the backdrop of significant loss and need we heard three different women say that being in the project has opened up their minds to new possibilities. Many also expressed thanks to God and to Sowing Hope for the help that the project has provided to create a small income and food to feed their families as well as the possibility to do something with their time and strength.

What we found about the Farming Project after meeting with the women participants and visiting one of the fields in which they have been working:

* The women are doing an amazing work of manually clearing and preparing the fields as well as well as planting seed and monitoring the crops.

* This growing season they have been able to grow corn and soybeans in one field and rice in another. In fact, they just harvested both in March!

* They are getting technical help from a Christian brother who is an agricultural engineer.

* It has been increasingly difficult for the women to find plots that they can use for more than one growing season. They have had to travel farther and farther from Bujumbura to find fields for rent. On several occasions, after signing the contract, the land owner has decided to use the field themselves and prevented the women from actually using it, leaving them in a quandary.

What we are going to do:

* After a lot of discussion and prayer we have decided to help with the purchase of land for this project. We will be providing a large amount of the needed funds with a small but significant participation by the Dorcas Association (see below) in Burundi.

* The plan is that the women who farm the land will pay the Dorcas Association what they would naturally pay for renting land. This will allow them to use the funds to rent more fields, giving more opportunities to more women, impacting more families.

01/28/2025

We were able to visit Burundi in January. We were struck by how much the country is struggling, even more so since our last visit. The country is having a problem in obtaining dollars to purchase gas. As they have to drive to Congo or buy it on the black market it has made their prices for everything soar. Rice a year ago cost 1,000 francs for a kilo. Now it's 6,000 francs (that's about a dollar). If they are fortunate enough to be working they are only getting about $80 a month .

12/23/2024

After visiting Burundi in 2022 we are planning to visit again in early 2025. We are delighted that new members to our board, Paul and Karen Tae, will be joining us. We have a number of goals for this visit.

Together with Pastor Boniface we will look to see how we can enhance the work of the sewing school as well as the farming project. This involves a lot of discussion and face to face time which is so important for our understanding and his. One of our goals is to see these efforts grow to becoming self-sustaining, something challenging for the school but close to realization for the farming project.

We also are considering the purchase of land for the farming project as well as hoping to start a new project that is geared primarily toward men.

Usually we end our letters with an invitation to help support the purchase of sewing machines and staff salaries, but at this time all of those needs have been met, thank God! However, we would like to share with you the opportunity to give toward the development of new projects which we hope to develop on our trip.

We also ask prayer for wisdom on our trip as we navigate a culture very different from our own using French and English. It is at times daunting and we need God’s help to be effective and useful in communicating God’s love and helping to build hope for some of the poorest people in the world.

12/20/2024

Over and over again our sewing school students express thanks that the school exists for them and thanks to all who help make the school possible for them!
• What I want to say concerning our daily life is that we thank the Lord for this school. -Hope
• Thank for those who help us and support us in learning this livelihood. -Rose
• I thank all who contribute to make the school possible. May God bless you. -Marie
• Thank you very much! I thank our God and I thank you as well. -Jaqueline
• Thank you for the school and the material things that are provided for us. We are at your side hoping that you will continue to help us as a parent helps their children. -Esther

12/19/2024

Here are comments from sewing school students about what the school means to them.
• I am a mother with 4 children. I came to learn to be a seamstress. It was difficult for me to earn money so I decided to come to learn and see what God would do with me. -Edith
• I am married but I don’t have any children yet. I have finished my high school studies. My husband was at the university but because of lack of jobs he could not find employment. I preferred to learn to be a seamstress so that we can have something to share with others. Also, so that I can have something that will enable me to feed my family. -Marie
• I thank God that I was able to earn a degree in computer science from the university but I didn’t have the opportunity to find a job. I was pushed by friends to come to the school so that I could learn to be a tailor. This is a very important skill and livelihood. We thank God that this school is here. -Paul

12/17/2024

We recently received a number of videos of folks in the sewing school sharing how the school is impacting their lives. Here is what they said about how the school is impacting them spiritually.
• Every morning we start the day with a prayer. I find this very interesting because it gives us the message that unless we start with God, we will achieve nothing. When we start with prayer we start the day with conviction. -Esther
• Since starting I have benefited greatly, spiritually speaking. I am thankful that we give the first place to God. Every day we start with the Word of God which strengthens us. I appreciate those who teach us the Word as I have learned much from those who have been teaching us. I am hanging on to the truth of John 15:1 (I am the true vine, and the Father is the gardener). -Rose
• As a woman I was facing things in my life and in my family that weren’t good. I had extreme anger. One simple word and I would immediately light up in flames. That cause a lot of problems in my church and in my family. Since coming here to the school, the teacher who teaches us the Word has touched many things. He has taught us about humility, about not speaking quickly and about anger. This word has profoundly changed me. Since coming to the school my life has completely changed, and I have completely changed. -Sylvie

12/15/2024

Farming Project
In spite of a small setback, the ladies involved in farming are pressing ahead. The owner of one of the two fields they had rented changed her mind and decided to farm the plot herself and returned their money. Undeterred, they found another plot and are now planting rice as this is the wet season.

12/09/2024

On December 12 the sewing school will have a graduation ceremony for 31 people who have taken the 8 months of training—one of the biggest classes we have had in a while! This is, as always, a big thing, and we look forward to hearing about it and getting pictures from our director, Pastor Boniface. The picture here is of the graduation in September in which you can see the radiant joy of folks who have accomplished something tremendous and opened up a potential for meaningful work and a way to provide for their families.
As well as a celebration with refreshments, Boniface will share from God’s Word about how hope, real hope, is not found in machines or in material things but ultimately in Jesus Christ. This is a time to share the good news of Jesus to family and visitors who come to the graduation.
See https://sowing-hope.org/ for more information about Sowing Hope.

12/31/2023

December 2023 Burundi News
The financial situation for the people in Burundi is currently very challenging! They have experienced 35-40% inflation cumulatively over the last two years. The war in Ukraine, an increase in shipping costs, a rise in energy prices and problems internal to the country have contributed to a significant rise in the cost of living. This combination is having huge impact on the lives of ordinary Burundians. What they can buy and eat is directly affected by this crisis and many are eating one meal a day.

Part of the motivation of Sowing Hope has been a desire to respond in a way that allows folks in Burundi to get skills and tools that allow them to provide for themselves. Our support of local leadership to create earning opportunities is just a small way to respond to this gigantic need. Small but impactful. The sewing school in particular has brought hope to many of the poorest of the poor as well as women who are struggling to support their family.

Sewing School
• Three classes have graduated in January, May and September. About 75 received subsidized sewing machines
• In May we had to move the school from the classroom that we had been using to another location. Fortunately, Pastor Boniface, our leader in Burundi had a room next to his church that he could put at our disposal. It is smaller than the old one but it has better light and ventilation.
• All classes start with a Bible lesson and prayer.

What students are saying
“This is a gift that keeps on giving!”—from a graduate of the sewing school.
“Learning to sew is my last hope to provide for my family”—from a college graduate who could not find work after looking for 4 years.
“Being disabled, sewing is something I can do to earn money”—from a woman with mobility limitations

Farming Project
After a very successful rice harvest by two different groups of women, we were surprised in that the owners of both plots of land that they were working have decided not to rent the land to us this year. There is a possibility of other crops if land can be rented but for the moment this project is at a standstill.

How you can help
Please pray
• For financial relief for the people of Burundi.
• For available land for the farming project.

Please consider giving for the upcoming graduation of students in the middle of January.
• A gift of $100 subsidizes the purchase of a sewing machine for a graduate.
• A gift of $50 allows us to pay for the set up the formal graduation exercise.
• A gift of $25 helps us pay year-end bonus to the four staff of the school.

Gifts to Sowing Hope can be sent through our website or mailed to us. See https://sowing-hope.org/ for details.

Thank you for your participation in this work through your gifts and prayers. Thank you so very much for making this possible!

With much gratitude,
Leslie & Tim Boettcher

Sowing Hope lies at the intersection of economic need and a response of love. Helping people in Burundi find a way to economic freedom, financial and spiritual hope is one of our largest goals. Compassion, drawn from our understanding of God’s love for humanity, drives this work and guides our dir...