Ministry Update, Rwanda (Oct-Dec 2010)

A preacher shares the gospel during the Huye Mission for Jesus.

The year 2010 for African Evangelistic Enterprise (AEE) Rwanda was a year of harvesting many souls for Jesus Christ since thousands of people were transformed by the gospel. We praise God for the wonderful power of the gospel we experienced during the last term of the year. After the “Huye Mission for Jesus” (August), a mission carried out in collaboration with Mission Africa, that reached more 50,000 people in the city of Huye out of whom 10,035 gave their lives to Jesus Christ; another mission showed up: “Gicumbi Arise and Shine Mission” was extremely significant to the churches and the lives of people living in that area.

We are very grateful for the power of God which changed the hearts of people during "Gicumbi Arise and Shine Mission" in November. We have seen emerging leaders recommitting themselves to the Lord and expressing keen determination to become world changers for the kingdom of God during their time.

With other ministry involvement in various areas of our society, we were exceptionally excited about God’s dealings with the youth especially those in schools. When our young people receive the Gospel, they are encouraged to build a culture of peace and harmony amongst themselves and others. In addition, they are also led to ponder about leadership principles and individual commitments they can apply constructively to build a hopeful future. Their personal interest and active involvement in life-transforming initiatives are highly emphasised.

Ezra Generation Conference 2010, Rwanda - Testimony

Student Elizabeth Yambabariye was strongly challenged by the conference.

Elizabeth Yambabariye, a fourth year student of Geography/Environment at National University of Rwanda gave this testimony after attending the Ezra Generation Conference in Rwanda late last year:

"I thank the Lord for the opportunity to attend Ezra Generation Conference. Before coming to this conference, I was satisfied with my knowledge about God because I’ve been saved since 1997 and I have always been a choir member in my church. Indeed I had had other learning opportunities before, but this conference has strongly challenged me. I actually feel like I have been kept too busy in choir practices and other things without taking much time to fellowship with my God and read the Word of God. In fact I thought that if God wants to tell me something He will use prophets. I didn’t know that the Bible contains all things about God and my life. I even used to read one verse without considering the context. Briefly I was blind and naïve in matters related to hearing the voice of God, but now I am convinced that the Word of God, the Bible is life and I have to tell others that amazing Word even though I may suffer for it, or incur people’s opposition. After this conference I have set some principles:

• Developing my fellowship with God especially setting up a quiet time praying and reading the Word of God on a daily basis
• Applying or using Manuscript Bible Study and Inductive Bible Study in order to know what God says
• As a future graduate, taking my profession as a mission and using my life to serve God• Wisely changing what is not biblical that people had built up as stronghold, e.g.: Relying on prophesy rather than the Word of God.
• Introducing the Bible study in my community where I can have influence like in my choir where I sing."

Rwanda Holiday Camps 2010 - Testimony

Holiday camp attendee Fred Kayitare is helping his parents forgive.

Holiday camps were organised for students in primary schools in Gatsibo, Nyamagabe and Nyamata districts and brought together 800 students. The training topics included:

1. To promote the culture of peace and objective judgement
2. The rights of the child in the Rwandan society
3. The plan of God for young children
4. To help students to attain their dreams for tomorrow (building a tree of hope)

The students appreciated the training they received and they all made a deliberate decision to continue to be agents of reconciliation in the community. The main message from the training was to promote the culture of peace wherever they are and to avoid conflicts and by all possible means try to attain their vision for the future.

The following testimony comes from Fred Kayitare, a student at Nyamagabe primary school in level 5:

“I have a very dear friend of mine, but my parents have always tried to stop me from relating with him. My mother told me that his parents are killers and commanded me to put an end to my friendship with their son. That was so sad for me to hear and I told my mother that the boy was not responsible for the mistakes of his parents, given that he was not even born when the genocide took place. Unfortunately, my mother did not want to listen and instead she decided to keep beating me up every time she found me with my friend. I was so lucky to be together at the holiday camp since we got ample time to share more about our problem. I assured him that I’m committed to continuing our friendship, because in my judgement I didn’t see any reason for us not being friends. He too assured me that he would continue to be my friend. Since our parents were not among the parents' representatives that were trained on reconciliation, we decided that we would request one of our trained teachers who is also a parent to help us facilitate the reunification of our families. We trust that through these efforts and the efforts of the parents who have started reaching other parents with the training on reconciliation and healing, our families will eventually be unified.”

Lausanne World Congress 2010: Michael Cassidy Report, Pt. 3

AE Founder Michael Cassidy welcomes Lausanne to Africa.

While many people addressed this issue I want to share with you basically at this moment from the paper by Dr. Paul Eshleman which you could also look up on the Lausanne website (www.lausanne.org). It was entitled World Evangelisation in the 21st Century. To me it was a very important utterance, so I share some of it with you. May the Lord help you and your home church to embrace, absorb and respond to some of this as the Spirit leads you.

Says Dr. Eshelman:

· “Throughout the world today, pastors, mission leaders and lay people are working towards the day when every person on earth will have access to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There are movements to reach every people group, to finish the task of world evangelization, to complete the Great Commission and to work toward the worship of our God by every people throughout the world. Various researchers, organizations and confessions define these terms differently, but they all revolve around our Lord’s command to ‘make disciples of all nations.’ At the first Lausanne Congress in 1974, Dr. Ralph Winter clarified for us that the scriptural references to nations actually refer to the ‘panta ta ethne’ (Greek) or people groups. He and others began to speak of the idea of missiological ‘closure’ among these people groups. This simply refers to finishing. Their idea was that the irreducible, essential mission task of making disciples in every people group was a completable task. In fact, it was one of the only tasks given to God’s people that have a completable dimension to it.”

· “It is difficult to keep track of the evangelization of every person, since day-by-day hundreds of thousands of children are born. However, the idea of ‘making disciples of every people’ or raising up a church within every people is one possible approximation of what the Great Commission may mean. More and more mission leaders speak not only of evangelism, but the biblical imperative of making disciples and seeing Christ worshipped and obeyed within every people group of the world. As leaders in the Church, we need to know where the command of the Great Commission is not being fulfilled. While being obedient to our individual callings, we can still serve the whole Body of Christ by helping to reach those people groups that have been neglected since the first century. Most important on an individual basis is that it would be said of each of us, as of David, that he ‘served God’s purpose for his own generation’ (Acts 13:36).”

Lausanne World Congress 2010: Michael Cassidy Report, Pt. 2

Addressing closing gathering.

I can’t stand the way time flies, or else maybe time stands still, or just ticks over, and it is we who fly! Anyway, it does feel as if the year is racing to a conclusion and time is constrained as so many little things rush in, some of them apparently urgent, so that they can distract us from the important. In fact the Urgent is an almost perennial enemy of the Important. Even so I try to register Alvin Toffler’s dictum which I have on the front page of my daily diary which says: “You have got to think about Big Things while you are doing small things, so that all the small things go in the Right Direction.”

Anyway, before November slips through my fingers I want you to have my report Number Two on the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelisation held in Cape Town from October 16th to 24th.

This Congress was, as I said in my last letter, a First Order experience which none of us who attended will ever forget. But part of the problem was that such a Mount Everest volume of material and happenings came at us that it is exceedingly difficult to do more than just pick up the headlines in a report like this and then leave interested people to chase down the details via the internet and via the Congress website which is www.lausanne.org. Or if you are wanting to get the content of the major papers as submitted in advance of the Congress itself, then you can also google ‘Lausanne Cape Town 2010 Papers’, and select ‘Advance Papers/The Lausanne Global Conversation.’ There you will see quite an overwhelming array of material, some of which undoubtedly will capture your attention and be worthy of your study, scrutiny and application. You will see there many of the different subjects treated during the Congress and you can single out those of special interest to you or your church. All the Congress material is also at AE Leadership Training Centre and can be obtained by emailing Marius, Verna or Noeline at: registrar@ae.org.za or phone 033 3477050.

Now let’s get on with this report.

***

Juba For Jesus Mission Follow-up: He Sets The Captives Free

Jaba prison inmate Charles Olili Philip

Below are a couple of testimonies from the Juba mission. Praise the Lord for what He did in these men’s lives, and let’s keep the follow-up process in our prayers.

Tomorrow, 9th November, marks the two month countdown to the 9th January 2011 referendum which will determine the status of Jaba's proposed independence from the north. Intensity is increasing in Sudan, and they desperately need the prayers of the worldwide church at this time.

***

I met Charles and Sadic after interviewing a handful of prisoners who mainly wanted to protest about the conditions in the Juba prison. They had been selected by the prison colonel, who very kindly stood with us in the inexpressibly sweltering sun in the middle of the prison compound, providing some sort of security through his presence. Crowds of white clad prisoners sat tightly pressed against the wall seeking the small ribbons of shade, and watched curiously from around the perimeter.

Understandable though their complaints were, we wanted to hear about the impact of Stephen Lungu and his team who had visited the prison a week earlier. They had returned to the mission base excited, certain that the Lord had worked in many hearts. Through the prison colonel, we asked the on looking prisoners whether any of them wanted to share how they had found the AE “Juba for Jesus Mission.”

There was unsteady confusion as a large crowd prisoners approached, and encircled us completely. It could have been an intimidating experience, but strangely the vibe was more that of a school yard of inquisitive students – something had affected these men. Charles had been first to attract our attention, standing immediately and waving to us, and he stood in front of the others, most of whom were only there to listen.

Charles was 32 years old, and was married with 5 children. He shared that he had been baptised as a young child, and had been taken to church by his father. Despite being a church goer, he had never really understood the gospel or the bible well, and when he eventually joined the military at fourteen years old, he wasn’t interested in hearing from the Lord or reading His word.

Charles had been a driver for the army and during that time, he had started growing and taking drugs. One day he was caught under the influence and in possession of drugs, and was subsequently sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. He had been in prison for 2 years when Stephen Lungu and the young AE Foxfire evangelists visited.

Fellow Jaba inmate Sadic Taban.

Charles was struck by Stephen’s testimony – someone who had been abandoned as a child and who had lived on the streets, and slept under the bridge, and yet God had helped him. Charles reflected upon his own life, and realized that he had sinned, just as others had. But he told us earnestly that “the love of God is there in Jesus Christ, who forgives sin”…, and he had dedicated his life to be a new Christian.

He was genuinely excited as he told us about how this moment had impacted his life. His enthusiasm, in light of another 8 years in prison, was telling. Charles had started to read his bible again and wanted to start a church. He had started sharing with his fellow prisoners that life in Christ is a good life, translating for them from English to Arabic. He also expressed a concern to reach “those outside” (of prison) with the good news about Christ. He knew that if he was in trouble he could call on the Lord who would help him.

His remorse was obvious. Charles said that the he and the prisoners all needed forgiveness because they broke the law, and he freely apologized to the government for contributing to disorder in Sudan.

Charles was accompanied by Sadic, a young man of 26 years. He was also married, and had two young sons. His story was heart wrenching and I was struck by the joy and lack of resentment with which he told it. He had been sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty (possibly unjustly) of murdering a man in a motorbike accident. Although he protested his innocence of the crime which brought him to prison, he openly admitted that he had never gone to church because he preferred to go places which were more consistent with his promiscuous lifestyle.

Sadic explained how he had given his life to Christ after Stephen Lungu’s message, and had been saved from “the way of death”. He now enjoyed reading the bible, and had joined the prison prayer group. He went on to explain that registration for the prayer group had increased significantly after the Juba for Jesus mission event because of the number of men who had been saved during that time.

Charles and Sadic had found freedom despite imprisonment, and new meaning despite seemingly hopeless futures. They were so thankful that African Enterprise had brought the gospel to the prison, and had shared hope in Christ with those who were suffering. They encouraged those supporting the ministry to continue, because they were greatly blessing others. We ended our time with Charles and Sadic in prayer, heads bowed, in the sweltering heat and surrounded by hundreds of imprisoned men who also, we pray, will hear about the grace of God through them.

*** 

Lausanne World Congress 2010: Michael Cassidy Report, Pt. 1

Welcoming the Lausanne delegates to Africa.

Very Dear Praying Friends in South Africa, across Africa, and in the Global Church,

This is the first installment of my report on the recent Lausanne Congress:

I. Overall Summary

Well, the third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelisation has been, come and gone. Did I say gone? I did, but I don’t really mean that. No, not really gone, but certainly GONE FORTH! Because from 2010 Cape Town people from almost every country in the world have gone forth with new zeal, energy, determination, motivation, and biblical conviction to take the Gospel afresh to every corner of the globe and to be witnesses as per Acts 1:8 in our Jerusalems (i.e. where we immediately are), our Judeas (the areas round about where we reside), our Samarias (the people with whom we normally have no dealings) and to the ends of the earth. And to do it recognizing that it can only be done in the power of the Holy Spirit and in faithfulness to God’s Word.

A closing press release described the Congress as “Perhaps the widest and most diverse gathering of Christians ever held in the history of the Christian Church.” 4,200 delegates (the 250 Chinese delegates never made it) from 198 countries were present. The Congress connected also to 650 global sites in 91 countries. Then there were 100,000 more participants, from 185 countries, visiting the Congress website. So the participation went well beyond those in Cape Town.

We were thankful that in spite of malicious attacks bringing down the Congress website in the first 48 hours, the battle in cyberspace was won by Congress IT boffins who got it all going again.

Incidentally there were also observers there from the Vatican, The World Council of Churches as well as Eastern Orthodox Churches.

The closing press statement also contained the following statements:

“’Our vision and hope was firstly for a ringing affirmation of the uniqueness of Christ and the truth of the biblical gospel; and a clear statement on evangelism and the mission of the church – all rooted in Scripture’, said Lindsay Brown, Lausanne Movement International Director, in his closing address. ‘The evangelical church has rightly put an emphasis on bringing the gospel of Jesus Christ to every people group, but we have perhaps been a little weaker in our attempts to apply biblical principles to every area of society, and to public policy: to the media, to business, to government. We need to engage deeply with all human endeavour – and with the ideas which shape it.’ The Congress included an Executive Leadership Forum and a Think Tank for leaders in Government, Business and Academia. ‘There is a groundswell of conviction’, said Mr Brown, ‘that greater concerted effort is needed to apply biblical truth in these arenas.’”

*** ***