Rwanda
Team Leader
Antoine Rutayisire
News
Gicumbi Evangelistic Mission Report
(3rd-9th September)
INTRODUCTION
Gicumbi is a district in the North East of Rwanda
with a population of around three hundred thousand
people (300.000). The area is situated within a
big region of idol worshippers. The area
has been defiled by witchcraft, sexual immorality,
alcoholism and polygamy. AE has been trying
to initiate transformation of the area by introducing
church based programs, evangelism being one of
them. After thorough preparation, an evangelistic
stratified mission with the theme found in Isaiah
52: 1-2: “Awake, awake, and put on your strength,….” was
held.
These activities took place from 3rd-9th September
2007. We are grateful to God for His mighty hand
upon us from the beginning to the end of the mission.
We are witnessing a total of 479 people altogether
who gave their lives to Jesus Christ. Many other
people renewed their commitment.
Seminars: Pastors from
different churches, together with other strategic
leaders were invited for a two day leadership seminar.
The trainer emphasized God’s purpose for
the church and stressed strongly the mandate the
church has been entrusted with. The participants
were very motivated by his message. We praise God
for the unity among the pastors. We ministered
to 30 couples and to 30 youth. It was
a new experience to minister to homogeneous groups
with selected relevant topics. The people were
so blessed, and conveyed their appreciation to
AE.
Open air evangelistic meetings
The pastors identified strategic areas
for ministry. We had some dynamic singers leading
warm choruses which attracted the people in the surrounding
areas. We knew exactly the right moment for the preacher
to come on with a short, powerful message.
The number was smaller than we expected but surprisingly
about 159 of them came to Christ. A woman in Kageyo
had this to say after the preaching “I praise
God for this time. I feel I am a sinner but I want
to confess before God and before all the people here.
First of all I am alcoholic and I want to stop it.
I ask God to forgive me for infidelity towards my
husband.” Several other people
came to the front to confess their sin publicly on
Pentecost Sunday as did the people after the preaching
of Peter said in Acts 3:19 : “Repent and
time of refreshment will come to you.”
Stratified evangelism
A refuge camp known as Gihembe has 15.000 Congoles (from the Democratic
Republic of Congo). They have been there for 10 years, but even though they
speak the same language and culture of the nationals, they are always yearning
to return to their families and property in their homeland. We encouraged
them to build their hope on Jesus Christ alone. We had a small shelter
which accommodated 200 people as it was raining heavily. After the evangelists
had spoken, 20 people came forward and gave their lives to Jesus Christ. We
joined in the dancing in the mud and had a good time especially when
300 children arrived back from school.
We also visited two prisons: one for ladies (150 in number) and another
for 700 men. We are thankful for 120 prisoners who received Jesus as Lord and
Savior, and other 200 who recommitted their lives to Him, and were prayed for
by AE team.
Here are some of their testimonies:
A man called Moses said: “I am here because my neighbor accused me
of taking his land. I have been here for 18 years. I have become a great smoker
and drunkard, and everyone in this prison knows about me. Today I confess my
sins and from now on, I will never do the same.”
A teenager of 18 years “I am here in prison for a couple of months.
I am accused of bringing ethnic division in my district. Several years ago
I was at home and the police came and arrested me. Today during the preaching,
I felt a lot of fear and started sweating. So, I would like to confess what
was in my heart. This is what I had in my mind: “When I get released,
I will kill the person who brought me to prison.” I am now convicted
and I ask God to forgive me my evil thoughts and plan. I need Jesus to come
in my life and transform me.” We had several other
testimonies that day and we thank God for the spirit of repentance in that
prison
Church visits and closing evangelistic meeting at the car park of
Gicumbi town:
Sunday morning, the AE team visited 15 different churches, and 150
people gave their lives to Jesus Christ that morning. We praise God for the
partnership that we have with churches in Gicumbi. The preacher in the
closing meeting reminded the people of God’s purpose to restore the country,
Pray for
- The unity of churches to take roots in Gicumbi, and in other parts of our
country;
- The churches to be able to follow up and disciple the new converts;
- The prisoners to sincerely confess their sins, and become well integrated
in the community once they are released;
- The AE team to flourish in wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit as they
minister to the needs of Rwandans.
US Contact:
Malcolm Graham
African Enterprise
128 E Palm Avenue
Monrovia CA 91016
"Rwanda - A Purpose Driven New Generation"
Three years ago Rwandan Team Leader, Antoine Rutayisire received a copy of 'The Purpose Driven Live' by Rick Warren. After reading it in one sitting on his trip back from the United States, Antoine was very impressed. He then decided that the Rwandan people who do not read English or French should also have the privilege of reading it in their native language. He started translating it, hoping to use the manuscript to lend to anyone who would be interested. Read More
Ministry Report June 2006
Read More
Rwanda Evangelism Department Issues May Report
by African Enterprise
In addition to our regular activities we managed to carry out two big events: Butare Mission and Global week of prayer. Here is a list of other activities carried out during the month: prayer crusade, preparation of teaching manual, radio emissions, top leaders prayer breakfast, healing and reconciliation workshops, visit to prison, top leaders. We were very blessed to host a team known as Rwanda Partners from USA, whose involvement in some of the activities left a remarkable consideration by both AEE team and the people ministered to. More...
If You Are Thirsty Come to Him and Drink More...
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