Ministry Report June 2006

Wednesday, June 21, 2006
African Enterprise

1. Radio programs were aired on the important work of the Holy Spirit to convict and enable people to turn back from their sins, and receive Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The speaker also emphasized the need to bring renewal to Christians and enable them to spread the Gospel with zeal and power. Also emphasized was the need of the Holy Spirit upon Rwandans for sincere repentance and forgiveness especially among the key people affected by the genocide. There is hope that many souls were touched by the message.

2. The Top leaders prayer breakfast is becoming more lively and attractive as time goes on. There are always more new faces at every gathering, and God wonderfully touches many souls. We are thankful to Him, and we hope the impact will be a big blessing to the entire nation and even beyond. This month a good number of parliamentarian ladies turned up and were so much blessed to be part of the event, and they showed interest to keep coming

3. Two Healing and Reconciliation seminars were held: one with Gacaca judges and local authorities, and another with university students' survivors association. They were all being prepared for significant role in Gacaca justice in their respective home areas. During the seminar, the participants were first helped to process their healing, and then given some time in groups to share issues related to Gacaca; and come up with what they thought could be their contribution for its success. It was not so easy in the first place as many had a misconception of Gacaca as government way of achieving cheap justice, but at the end of the seminar; all were fully convinced of its relevancy and their hopes started rebuilding up. One of the revelations is that healing does not depend on the depth and intensity of the offense but on the willingness to partner with God for healing. The AE healing and reconciliation team was also invited to facilitate a two day seminar with ladies formerly prostitutes. The aim was to help them process their healing, and to affirm them for recovery of lost self-esteem; and then guide them to more significant life style.

4. The prayer mobilizer was able to visit 5 prayer groups in Kigali city, and carried out 3 seminars with intercessors in the countryside. People responded so well that one initiative by one individual church came up with 120 people in a seminar where the AE prayer mobilizer was invited to facilitate. In addition to this, there was intercessory ministry local supporters' meeting at AE on June 3rd 2006. About 20 people responded and they were committed to mobilize more others so that the Rwandans come to understand the work is in their hands. There will be regular meetings once every three months to keep their cohesion, and to lay new strategies according to what periodic evaluations will have shown.

We cannot wind up without mentioning the Global Day of Prayer where around 100 people met in the Pentecostal Assemblies of God Church and prayed together. They were thrilled to know they were associated with other intercessors all over the world. The team leader of AE-Rwanda gave a message based on Habakkuk 2:14: "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." He told his audience that they as Christians were the ones to bring God's glory in their nation by living their faith appropriately. He reminded them about God's promise to bring revival in Rwanda which will later fill the whole earth. He added that it shouldn't be taken for granted, but that they have a role to play in the whole process. He used some characters from the Bible like Moses, David and others to explain the importance of obedience and total surrender to God who has to be central in all our endeavors. It was a big challenge to them, and he encouraged them and led them into a thoughtful prayer inviting God to provide more insight and strength.

5. May 15th-19th, we held a Pastors training seminar in an area called Nyamata, in the Eastern Province. We had 50 people from about 13 denominations operating in the area. They were trained in: Christian Leadership, Bible Based Community Development and Self- Help Group Approach to development ( This is where a group of 15-20 persons with same life standards and living in the same area undertakes an income generating project ). The Evangelism Department organized and facilitated the training in collaboration with Projects' Department. The training was participative, and the people contributed a lot for its success. They promised to go and start implementing acquired knowledge and skills in their local churches. We are expecting them to have made remarkable progresses by the time we meet for follow up in 2 or 3 months' time in revisiting their structure and develop a strategic plan for church involvement into the community.

June 5th-8th, was held another training in Gisenyi town, in the Western Province as a module of our Ministry development curriculum. We had 50 church leaders from around 20 churches in the area. The following topics were addressed: Church growth and discipleship using Rick Warren material in context. It was a big challenge to them, and they realized well their need for preparing younger people to stay behind with the work as the majority of the present leaders are ageing. Most of the pastors have not undergone Biblical studies. Some are simply uneducated and find it difficult to adjust. It will require systematic training of young committed and serving Christians in the church. We expect to see most of them redefine their strategies for evangelism, develop an adapted curriculum for discipleship and encourage the youth to get involved into ministry. For AE this is breakthrough as we believe there will be a tremendous revival God has promised to our nation. This time it will find the church 'edified' into a strong body of disciples and ministers.

6. Testimony:

One lady formerly prostitute: “I have been pretending to be a Christian. I would go to church and get involved in some activities, but at the same time still messing up with substance abuse and immorality. I am now convicted and ready to stop all my filthy behavior. Please pray for me to have a victorious life.”

7. What to pray for:

• People trained on Gacaca justice to have positive impact on its implementation by providing correct information, repenting and forgiving where necessary, and encouraging others to act in the same manner;
• The AE Gacaca mobilizer to have more wisdom in carrying out planned activities, and the church local authorities to understand and fulfill their tasks consistently;
• The present church leaders to be able to prepare young people whom they will entrust the work when they phase out.