"For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race." Romans 9:3

Danielle Mbesherubusa was born in Bujumbura, the capital city of the central African nation of Burundi. As civil war rages on in this ethnically divided country, claiming tens of thousands of lives, many young people who get the opportunity, are fleeing in order to live abroad. Danielle did so as well when in December 1993 she left for Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire to attend university. But in 1999, after becoming a disciple, she packed her bags and headed back to Burundi with the sole purpose of making disciples of her nation. The mission team, sent out from Nairobi, Kenya, arrived in Bujumbura in May 2000.

Danielle got to know the church while in Cote d’Ivoire. She received an invitation to attend the Abidjan church from Sonia Kabwa, a friend of hers from childhood who was now a disciple in the London church. Sonia sent Danielle the phone number of Janet Fleurant, who was at the time leading the women in the Abidjan congregation, and after studying the Bible with the sisters there, Danielle was baptized into Christ on the 25th of June 1995.

Danielle grew in her faith, became a leader in the teens ministry in Abidjan, and was a part of the HOPE Youth Corps in 1999.

As the new millennium rolled around, the church in Nairobi had a plan to plant a church in Bujumbura. Danielle made the radical decision to return to the country she had left six years earlier and where the civil war was getting worse. For the love of her people and her devotion to God’s cause, she agreed to go back to Burundi to lead the women on the mission planting to Bujumbura.

While in Nairobi for a few months of pre-mission training Danielle was personally fruitful two times and introduced the Gospel to a young Burundian man who would later go on to be the first person baptized in the infant Bujumbura planting and in turn bear personal fruit himself.

Like many young people in Burundi, Danielle is an orphan. Because of her faith and her deep love for people, she is able not only to relate to her compatriots but to offer them hope and a future.

The principal turning point in Danielle’s life came when she did the Word study. "It was," she says, "the answer to all the questions I had in my mind about God, his love for us, and why all the bad things happen if he really loves us." With the conviction that the Bible provides the answers to all her questions and those of others in the same situation as herself, she says: "I was and am still convinced that that’s all most Burundians need to find peace."

Though Danielle’s uncle was not initially positive about her returning to Burundi, his and the entire family’s reaction is now enthusiastic, which has served to further inspire Danielle. She had never previously imagined that she would ever lead the women in her country, and sees this as Ephesians 3:20,21, one of her favorite Scriptures, coming true.

But it has not all been plain sailing for Danielle. In April of 2001, with the women’s ministry in Bujumbura not doing well and her own faith at a low point, she returned to Nairobi to do some soul-searching, get hands-on discipling and achieve a personal turn-around. And in an eight-month period in which she ceased to be on the church staff that is exactly what happened.

"I learned to trust God," Danielle says of the impact of that period on her life. "I also learned to take responsibility for where things were in my ministry and saw clearly my pride towards God. Previously, though I knew much from the Bible, I had a shallow and very shakable faith."

Now that she is back in Bujumbura she says that it is very different from the first time around. "I’m more aware of who I am now and what my weaknesses are, so it helps me focus on praying about them."

Danielle cannot help but share about the spiritual growth of the sisters in Bujumbura. "It’s been so encouraging. I like it when disciples are busily involved in studying the Bible with people and living out their calling. The sisters are self-motivated and initiate to seek advice about different issues."

At the beginning of 2002 Danielle prayed to meet "a Zaccheus". One day, following a meeting of a women’s youth group where Danielle is a member, one of the other members, Esperance, came up to Danielle wanting to know more about the church. Within two months, Esperance had become a disciple and was baptized.

Of her vision for the women in Bujumbura, Danielle says, "I really want to build a strong church of true disciples. If they are strong then they’ll want to make disciples until all of Burundi is evangelized. A lot of people are leaving Burundi because they feel there is no hope here," she continues, "but they need to know that hope is in God and not in living in a particular country." That is the conviction that keeps Danielle going, as she enthusiastically states, "The Burundi dream is coming true."

Danielle is a great example of courage, conviction and compassion. In a country many of whose citizens are leaving at the first opportunity, she has gone against the grain and made the bold decision to return, understanding and trusting the promise from God that "surely I am with you always to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)