A one year old church plant in Rusororo.

Tonight, Neal and I get on the plane to leave Kigali. That gives us a little time to just rest and reflect. Reflections on the past two days are significant reminders of the poverty which the majority of Rwandans face daily. And yet their contentment in life seems far superior to that of the typical American.

In Matthew 5:5, Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” But in Luke 6:20 He said, “Blessed are you who are poor…” Sometimes I think I understand what He meant and at other times I have to wonder.

On Sunday we worshipped with the church in Rusororo just east of Kigali. One woman gave thanks to God that she was able to donate one plastic chair for the church building.

Today we visited Bruce Southerland’s team in the East Province. We were also able to visit the homes of two of the church leaders we have been able to teach. One has eight children and lives in a two room mud brick home with a dirt floor and tarps for a roof.

They seemed to be very thankful for us to be there.

In my reflections about Rwanda, I have to wonder why Jesus never said, “Blessed are the rich.”

I will get on a plane tonight, but my thoughts are with the “blessed people” of Rwanda.

Frank

                                The home of a church leader in the East Province.

Rebekah leads the singing.
Zachariah and Polycarpe lead the dancing.

February 23, 2012

I have interviewed 17 pastors and I leave Rwanda in a few hours. Here are a few things that have stuck out to me from their stories. Isaac was a Muslim until he was 27. Denis lives and pastors a church in a Refugee Camp. Etienne has 45 adults and 100 children in his church. Jacques has taken in 2 orphans. Aimee serves a local church and her husband works at a trauma counseling center for genocide victims. Nicodeme’s church building fell down in an earthquake a few years ago and they have not been able to rebuild.

I love that we all have our own story. I loved finding out about these peoples past, their current situation, and what they hope for in the future.

Most of the time, as humans, we live from one moment to the next, focused on the minutia. For me, it is always helpful to take a step back and look at the macro. What is my purpose here on earth? It is to live everyday loving God, and loving other people. How do I accomplish this? Most of the time the answer is to slow down and be present in every moment, inviting God to be apart, and focusing on the person in front of me. Doing this takes away my worries and leaves me feeling free and full of joy. I am loved by my Creator and He will continue to take care of me.

Most of these church leaders make little to no money. They struggle with feeding their kids and sending them to school. They have lost family members in the genocide. They have many widows and orphans in their communities. But they have spent the past three weeks studying the bible and they are full of excitement. They greet me with big smiles. We sing and we dance together. (Above is a picture of me leading them in a song I learned this week from Pastor Theophile’s wife).

Today I leave Rwanda. But I leave with joy because God has allowed me the opportunity to know in a deeper way some of His servants in Rwanda.

Rebekah

While God has blessed us in many ways, Monday and Tuesday brought many new insights. I have been “knocking on doors” in Kigali to introduce myself to some of the ministries that are already here and to learn from their experience. Three ministries spent significant time sharing their history, mission, and lessons learned.

My first meeting was with Cameron, the chairman of Good News Jail and Prison Ministries. His view was that the chaplains knew the Bible, but they are not able to teach the Bible. Next, Theophile, Rebekah, and I meet with Gary, who has been in Rwanda since 1979. His ministry, New Creation Ministries, is one of the few I have discovered that is focused on equipping church leaders. Gary’s experience is that many church leaders in Rwanda not only lack Bible knowledge, they do not know the basic gospel message of Jesus.

Rebekah and I were able to spend yesterday morning sharing with Dave and Bryan who serve with Rwanda Outreach and Community Partners. Their experience is that most church leaders and Christians in Rwanda are strong in singing and dancing, but they do not know the Bible.

In each meeting there were cautions and lessons learned, but each ministry confirmed that the vision of Rwanda Challenge has great value in the Rwandan church.

The vision is great. The model is right. The challenge is huge!

Walking by faith,

Frank

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   Sunday was a day of dedication and celebration. The Hermon Church in Kigali had grown in attendance to six hundred before they lost their rented facilities. They had to move to a school room which was difficult for most people who walked to services. The congregation declined to less than 50. Neal and I preached there last February for about twenty people.

Psalm 30: 11-12 You changed my sorrow into dancing. You took away my clothes of sadness, and clothed me in happiness. I will sing to you and not be silent. Lord, my God, I will praise you forever. New Century Version

Neal was able to raise the support to purchase a tent that can assist not only the Herman Church, but can be passed on to other churches needing a temporary facility. Today was dedication day. Neal and I both preached for the service. Also, many of the fifty-five church leaders we have been teaching were able to attend. The day was filled with singing, preaching, and dancing as the difficult journey of the Hermon Church was turned to joy.

It was a privilege to be part of this special day.

Frank

God’s Love in a World of Evil

I was able to interview five pastors on Friday. It was inspiring and somewhat overwhelming to hear about their troubles, but also the hope that carries them forward. Who would have thought that I would get the privilege to talk with these men who lived through the genocide?

Today we went to the Nyamata Memorial; a church where 2,000 people were killed inside, 8,000 outside, and 40,000 were buried in mass graves. The benches in the church were stacked with the clothing of those that died inside the building. Skulls and bones were displayed. You could see the bullet holes, machete slashes, and chunks of bone missing from the use of clubs. Blood was still visible on the ceiling, on the altar, and on the wall. A pastor that lives nearby came with us to tell his story. He sent his wife and 4 children to the church for safety. He was unable to get past the killers to be with them so he fled to the forest. His family was killed.

What words can be said? How can we understand the nightmare that occurred? I can picture bodies lying in the streets, in the trenches, and in the river. Complete hell. But my new friends, the pastors I have met this week, they see how God has blessed them. They look into the future. They have hope in Jesus. The genocide has affected them deeply, but it has not paralyzed them. God is using them as a literal example of love, forgiveness, and reconciliation.

I am humbled to share in their lives.

Rebekah

Beautiful Umuzungu Stops the Class

Rebekah arrived on Tuesday night. We let her sleep-in on Wednesday. Dad and Rebekah walked into class late morning. Neal had to stop teaching because all the students were looking at the beautiful white girl.

Before classes begin each day, during lunch, and after class, Rebekah is interviewing sixteen of the fifty-six church leaders involved with the training. Each story is an amazing testimony of God’s love lived out in ordinary people all over the world. These church leaders have experienced an horrendous genocide, have no Bible resources with little to no training, and little to no pay, yet they faithfully serve God’s Church here in Rwanda to the best of their ability.

It brings me great joy to have my beautiful “umuzungu” daughter assist me in equipping “local church leaders throughout Rwanda who have the capacity to lead the Rwandan church and become missionaries to neighboring countries.”

God is good!

Frank

   I stepped off the plane into the Rwandan air and a familiar smell hit me, with memories quickly following. What a wonderful place! My dad, Pastor Theophile, and his wife Miriam were waiting for me with flowers. I can’t say I didn’t get something special on Valentine’s day! I missed seeing Bob Paddock by 30 minutes or so; very sad but my dad says I am the sweet part of that bittersweet airport trip.

Last time I came to Rwanda I was with a large group of people and usually sat in the very back of the bus. On this trip Pastor Theo had me sit in the front seat. So it was my first time witnessing up close the crazy traffic patterns, at one point there were vehicles coming from every direction, all within a few feet of each other, everyone honking for the others to get out of their way. We arrived at the house and I met Neal and the house boy, Pascal. Dad gave me a tour. I have my own room and bathroom!

This morning I had bread, pineapple and coffee for breakfast. I took a shower and then we left the house to meet up with Neal who had already started teaching the Rwandan pastors. Today they went over chapters 4 and 5 of Ephesians. There were questions about what Paul meant by “do not grieve the Holy Spirit” and about getting drunk on wine. After the wives and husbands section, Neal asked if there were questions, one pastor stood up and said I do not have a question, but after learning about Gods picture of marriage (which is a picture of Christ’s relationship with the Church) I feel we all should get down on our knees and repent!

After lunch I interviewed my first pastor. His name is Joshua, he has 7 kids, all of them still live together. When I asked him if he made any money, he said no. When I asked him how he was able to take care of his family he said “by the grace of God”.

I did a second interview after the days lessons were over. Please pray that the pastors will continue to understand what is being taught to them through the interpreters and that it would move from their heads to their hearts; also that they would be responsive during my time with them and willing to share about their lives.

It’s 8:54pm here and we are waiting for dinner. Neal bet it would be ready between 8:30 and 9. Dad bet it would be after. Looks like dads going to win this one!

Rebekah

The Week begins with Dancing

Bob is coming to the end of his time in Rwanda. God has blessed him with many great experiences and new insights and into the Great Commission. But before he leaves there must be dancing. On Sunday I preached for the church in Kinyinya and Bob danced before the Lord.

Now a new week begins. Neal Davidson and I will teach a larger group of church leaders over the next two weeks. Bob will fly home and Rebekah (my daughter) will join us here for a special Rwanda Challenge project.

God has been very good to us.

Frank

    God's sense of humor is certainly witnessed in the creation of animals. We saw this Giraffe in Akagera Safari Park. This park is vast and beautiful with many great herds of Impalas, Water Buffalo and Zebras grazing the great savannah.The roads were rough giving many bumpy thrills, our driver "Baja Joe" called this rough ride the African Message. This blessing was a great way to round out our trip. But we still have one more Church service to share in and two more weeks of teaching a large group of 55 Rwanda preachers. I will only observe and assist on Monday and Tuesday, but Frank and Neil Davidson will continue team teaching lessons on Ephesians and Homiletics. 

Five days of intense study on the Holy Spirit were completed and the pastor /students received their diplomas. I received my Rwanda name from the preachers: "Byiringiro" which means hope. What a blessing to share God's word with others. We asked the men and one woman what they were in need of, here's some of what they listed: training in leadership, help with the departments of young adults, men, women, youth and children, training on computers, training in speaking English, marriage, and more Bible. According to one lead minister of Rwanda this is the first organized effort to bring the preachers together for organized training in the Bible. Other groups have come to share other things, but the leaders of the local church need first to know the Bible.