Gene joins in the worship

Greetings from our home away from home,

Frank and I had a tremendous opportunity today to see the Spirit of God at work in the Rwandan church leaders we are meeting with this week.  This afternoon we all met together in the living room of the house in which we are staying and viewed the movie The Passion of the Christ.  As various scenes of the suffering of Christ appeared on the screen you could hear these men wincing in anguish.  Some cried, all were moved.

At the end of the movie a spontaneous worship service broke out with singing, dancing, praying, and testimony of how good God is to us.  It was humbling to see these men broken spiritually by the message of Christ, and to hear their various testimonies.

One leader shared how watching this reminded him once again what Jesus went through for him.  He stated that sometimes we forget about the depth of this love and suffering, and he challenged the men to never forget this.

Another came before the group asking for prayer as he was dealing with struggles in his personal life.  Heartfelt prayers poured out from around the room (all at once) as Theophile, Frank, and I laid hands on him.  This church leader wept as we prayed.

A touching testimony of one man related how he has been following God for a long time, but could not seem to determine where he was coming from and where he was going in that walk.  But now, through the ministry of Rwanda Challenge, he is focused and his walk and growing in his faith.

Many others shared of how appreciative they are of the ministry of Rwanda Challenge and how they are growing in their faith and knowledge of the word of God through RC.  God has used Frank in a great way to build bridges into the culture.  Pray with me that God will give the increase.

Pray for these church leaders as they complete this week of studies on Friday and return to implement the teachings they have received in their local ministries.

Thank you for your prayerful support.

Gene

Desire, one of the church leaders, brought a special gift to this week’s teaching. He shared how the past teachings of Rwanda Challenge have changed his life and ministry. Although he lives and leads a church in the South Province of Rwanda, he is from the DR Congo. He has been asked to share the things he has learned with many of the local churches where he lives. But he has been wondering how he could share this with church leaders in the Congo.

As Desire shared about the dreams God is placing on his heart, I was reminded of the vision of Rwanda Challenge.

…local church leaders throughout Rwanda                                                                                           who have the capacity to lead the Rwandan Church                                                                            and become missionaries to neighboring countries.

God is amazing! He is already putting in the hearts of these church leaders the burden of sharing His truth with “neighboring countries.”

So, Desire expressed, as he thought about the teaching and what it has meant to him, he wanted a way to say thank you. He came up with an idea and shared it with an artist friend of his. Combining Desire’s idea and the art of his friend, they created a picture on the “rock” to say, “Thank you.”

And I am thankful for this special gift. But I am even more thankful that God is allowing me to share His truth with these wonderful leaders in Rwanda.

Greetings again from Rwanda.  The week is going well, and the spiritual enthusiasm I see here is exciting.  The Sunday worship at the Zarephath Church was filled with praise and celebration.  I received a blessing from my brothers and sisters there.  I just pray that my preaching served as a blessing and encouragement for them.

On Monday I began teaching an Old Testament Survey course.  The hunger of these church leaders for the word of God makes teaching so fulfilling.  When you ask for questions, you can be sure that you will get questions – and good questions at that.  We focused on the concept of God as the maker of covenants and demonstrated how the covenants all lead to Christ and the final covenant in him.  

Today (Tuesday) Frank took over teaching responsibilities, teaching from the opening chapter of Genesis.  After talking about the entrance of sin into the world, he shared the hope we have in Christ and how sin is erased through Christ.  He drove home the point of our now being free in Christ with no condemnation.  Suddenly a time of praise broke out in the middle of class.   There was singing, shouting, dancing, and praying all taking place.  The harmony of voices was beautiful, the tears genuine, and the prayers heartfelt.

This enthusiasm for Christ is what I feel God expects from his people.  I often become concerned about the spiritual health and vitality of Christians and churches in my homeland.  My prayer is that God will send a revival and a fresh wind of his Spirit to my brothers and sisters in America.  I include myself in this prayer.

Thanks to you for your prayers for us on this trip.  God is truly answering those prayers.

Gene


Gene Andrews teaching church leaders in Kimironko

Gene and I arrived on Tuesday and left for the South Province on Wednesday, five hours later than planned. Wednesday morning Gene visited the Genocide Memorial in Kigali while Theophile and I gathered our final supplies for the trip south. What was supposed to be simple became complicated with multiple issues. Finally, when we thought we were ready to leave Kigali, we discovered a low tire. Once we repaired the tire it was almost dark (we were hoping to arrive in the South Province during the daylight). Desire, our driver, was doing fine, until we were almost at our destination in Gikongoro. One of the log bridges had lost some logs. Now, it is 10 PM and we cannot reach the other side without bridge builders. The Rwandan “engineers” were there. They repositioned logs until the bridge was passable.

Wednesday morning we began “Three Lessons on the Holy Spirit” for thirty-six church leaders from various denominations. They expressed that, “the churches in Rwanda are very confused about the Holy Spirit, but the teaching of Rwanda Challenge is very clear and they understand very well now.” These leaders were in agreement that the RC teaching is what the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit. Previously, many believed they needed to pray, and pray, and pray to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes the church leader would shake them and pray for a long time so they could receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now, they understand that every follower of Jesus is given the gift as promised by Peter in Acts 2:38. Even some of these church leaders had doubts whether they had this gift. We became a bridge between their experience and God’s truth.

On Thursday and Friday nights we were able to show The Passion of the Christ for the people in that village. In the two nights I would guess a hundred people expressed a desire to follow Jesus with their lives. Theophile instructed them to find a local church leader and express their desire to be immersed into Christ. I am reminded that Jesus is the Bridge Builder between us and God.

This morning we left Gikongoro. A large group of Rwandans were preparing a more permanent remedy to the bridge that needed repair. Working together as a community they offered a bridge so we could cross over to the other side.

Now I am reminded that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have worked together in community so we can cross over into an eternal relationship with them.

Thankful for God’s Bridge,

Frank

 

Where does one begin to relate an experience like this?  There are so many new experiences, so many new people, a different diet, a new way to bathe, and an outhouse which are all unfamiliar to me. 
A friend back home asked me a few weeks ago if going to Rwanda was going to be stepping outside of my comfort zone.  My answer – yes. 

In a later in a conversation with another friend about my comfort zone, I told him that I had to take time to get out of my comfort zone. The problem with my comfort zone is that it is mine.  It is all about me.  I should take more time getting out of my comfort zone within my own culture.  How can I expect to challenge others to step out of their comfort zone if I am not willing to do so myself?

Though ‘out of my comfort zone,’ I am really most comfortable here.  There are people here hungry for teaching from the word of God. They are open to the teaching and are filled with excitement about being taught from the Bible and the Bible alone.  And I love teaching, so this makes me comfortable. 

The people here are loving and welcoming, and though I can’t understand what they are saying, nor they what I am saying without our interpreter Theophile, we do communicate a common bond of concern for one another.  This makes me comfortable. 

They laugh when I talk (and not because of my southern accent), stare at my white skin, and probably wonder why I don’t take a big helping of some of the food I am served.  But the pursuit of Christ and his word we share in common, and this is all it takes to make me comfortable.  As the words to the old chorus say:  ‘We have joined our spirits with the Spirit of God, we are one in the bond of love.’

That’s a comfortable place to be.


Gene Andrews

Gene Andrews and I made it to Kigali just fine (actually early). After our Dulles to Brussels flight (5:55 PM –1:15 AM EST) we were dreading our next eight hour flight that was departing in 3 hours and 30 minutes. But God blessed us with extra seats on the Kigali flight from Brussels. I had three seats and Gene had four. It was a special gift to stretch out and sleep. 

We arrived in Kigali reasonably refreshed. Theophile, Miriam, and Desire greeted us at the airport. There is a special joy in being welcomed by dear brothers and sisters in Christ. 


Desire, Miriam, and Theophile help Gene move into his first night's accomadations. Tomorrow we travel to the South Province to teach our first group of church leaders.