Today we completed three days of teaching at Rusororo church about 35 minutes outside Kigali. We taught Three Lessons on the Holy Spirit to a group of 20 ministry leaders from 5 different congregations from various traditions. Theophile has shared with Frank and me the confusion about this topic that many Rwandan Christians experience. The lessons contain three main ideas: the Holy Spirit lives in every Christian; the Holy Spirit gives gifts to every Christian for building up the church; and the Holy Spirit produces fruit in the life of every Christian who keeps in step with the Spirit. As we began Monday it was evident that confusion does in fact exist and that the participants were somewhat uncertain about whether what we were teaching was in fact true. But over the following two days, after showing them what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit, you could see the positive reactions grow. As we concluded, there were many thanks from the group expressing how helpful they found the lessons. Several expressed to our interpreter that they had never heard these teachings before and were glad we had come to share with them. Thinking about that, I wondered how it was that they had not heard this before. These folks had their own Bibles in their own language that they took turns reading out loud from throughout our time together. How could they be confused about the gift, gifts and fruit of the Spirit? But in Acts 8, Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch had much the same experience. "'Do you understand what you are reading?' Philip asked. 'How can I,' he said, 'unless someone explains it to me?'" (8:30-31)
There are many differences between American society and Rwandan society. Some are obvious and some are more subtle. But I think for Christians in both countries, here is where we have one thing in common. Why do we believe what we believe about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, faith or the church? Are our beliefs based on what seems right to us? Are they based on what we heard someone else say or what we assume is acceptable to others? God has given us His Word so we can know Him and become more like His Son. He has given us the church as a place we can come and find the answers to our questions together. Are you reading God's Word? Do you understand what you are reading? If you don't understand, are you seeking answers to your questions? If you do understand, are you putting what you know into practice? While it is true that I've made this journey to teach God's Word to Rwandans, I increasingly find there are lessons being taught to me as well. May God grant us all a spirit of humility and unity as we discover what His will is for our lives in the pages of His Word.
There are many differences between American society and Rwandan society. Some are obvious and some are more subtle. But I think for Christians in both countries, here is where we have one thing in common. Why do we believe what we believe about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, faith or the church? Are our beliefs based on what seems right to us? Are they based on what we heard someone else say or what we assume is acceptable to others? God has given us His Word so we can know Him and become more like His Son. He has given us the church as a place we can come and find the answers to our questions together. Are you reading God's Word? Do you understand what you are reading? If you don't understand, are you seeking answers to your questions? If you do understand, are you putting what you know into practice? While it is true that I've made this journey to teach God's Word to Rwandans, I increasingly find there are lessons being taught to me as well. May God grant us all a spirit of humility and unity as we discover what His will is for our lives in the pages of His Word.
Ministry Leaders from the Rusororo area
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