Rwanda is one of the countries that African Enterprise (AE) has a presence in. AE Rwanda runs missions and programs to share the hope-filled news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this country that bears many deep scars.
Kicukiro District is one of three districts in the Rwandan city of Kigali. In July 2023, it was the site of an African Enterprise mission that saw over 850,000 people reached and 2000 people turn to Jesus.
Pastor Jonathan is a parish leader in the Kicukiro District of Rwanda, which includes five sectors. Before the mission, churches in his area were facing limitations and challenges from the authorities and some were worried about how people were going to hear the gospel because of this. For example, Jonathan explains, “Our churches were not using amplified instruments due to government regulations regarding sound levels in the church.”
Jonathan and others were initially concerned that the inability to make their presence known in their churches was going to stop people from coming.
“But in such a time,” Jonathan says, “God brought AE and we did missions together.”
African Enterprise helped pastors like Jonathan and other local Christians see the need to get out of their churches and reach people, instead of relying on broadcasting loudly from within the church. And that’s exactly what they did: in a huge program of mission activities, much of which took place in areas where many Christians would never think to go.
After the mission, Jonathan said, “We have seen God doing wonders in our district and we have learnt that sinners and non-believers need us to find them where they are, not waiting for them to come to us.”
Pastor Jonathan also explains that AE helped the church before the mission began with training and prayer sessions in Kicukiro for churches from all denominations. “All this has come to show us that in Christ there are no divisions based on a certain affiliation,” he says.
“In my experience as a pastor, I see that this can be a trigger to the fight against divisions in churches and conflicts based on different church affiliations. We ask that you might help us even in the process of follow up and discipleship because we have a multitude of people who gave their lives to Christ,” he shares.
Praise the Lord for the work of AE and Pastor Jonathan in the Kicukiro District and pray for continued unity between churches as they seek to overcome government limitations, share the gospel and follow up new believers.
Today, Benoite’s life is all about Jesus, but she says that until recently, her life was characterised by conflict, alcohol and neglect.
The Rwandan lady admits that she was living without hope and without God. Her alcoholism was controlling her whole life, and her relationships with her four children, her husband, and her neighbours were damaged.
“I just spent almost the whole day only spreading rumours about my neighbours, and in most cases such rumours were influenced by jealousy and characterised by jealous words.” Benoite says. “I started realising that I was in conflict with my husband because of the big gap created at my home.”
“Not only has that lifestyle affected me, but also my children since I hardly spent any time with them. Neither could I take the time to prepare balanced food for them, nor take care of their sanitation and their cleanliness, nor did I consider their education to be of any importance,” she confesses.
Around Easter 2023, African Enterprise held an evangelistic campaign titled ‘Jesus All About Life’ (JAAL) in Rwanda. This campaign, run in partnership with the Bible Society and modelled on a campaign first run in Australia over 10 years ago, was designed to help communities to hear about the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus for our sins through his death and resurrection during the Easter period.
In Rwanda, the JAAL campaign reached half a million people in schools, universities, public spaces, churches, sports evangelism, radio and television. In just two months, 10,000 Rwandans committed to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord!
Some JAAL events were held near Benoite’s home in the Rusizi District. Benoite decided to go along to an event, and heard the gospel preached.
She says, “The preaching based on John 14:1-6 seemed to be focusing on my life! I decided to commit my life to Jesus Christ as the master of my life as a decision to change. I repented and asked for forgiveness from God, and the preacher prayed for me.”
After Benoite received Christ, her life changed. She shares, “Since then, I have been experiencing more peace than I have ever had before, I have regained my hope”. Benoite has also started to work with her family towards economic stability and relational harmony as a fruit of salvation in Jesus Christ.
Benoite said, “Today, my children, my husband, and my neighbours are living at peace, and they enjoy family life. My children enjoy going to school, and I now ensure that at home I spend more time with them”.
Benoite now spends her time praying, reading the Bible, and goes to church with her children. She also ensures she has time to look after her home and is working to give her family a better life. Now that her life is all about Jesus, she has found a more peaceful, hopeful and meaningful life.
COVID-19 shook pastoral ministry in Rwanda following frequent lockdowns and different restrictions that limited religious gatherings and fellowships. During this time of the uncertainty and ambiguity, Pastor Deogratias Rwabuyonza was privileged to undergo training on Home Based Evangelism (HBE) facilitated by AE- Rwanda. He recounts that it was a great time to figure out the new way of continuing the ministry in new environment and circumstances.
After the training, Pastor Deogratias, 55, decided to do ministry in his family – with his wife and 6 children. This was a dynamic transition for the pastor who serves with Pentecostal Assemblies of God, Rwanda.
“I have been in ministry for the last 25 years. I have been an interdenominational pastor as a coordinator of local churches in Kabarondo for 15 years now,” he says.
In the family ministry, Pastor Deogratias used to have fellowships on daily basis at home with his wife and children.
“We enjoyed moments of fellowship together as a family, where we used to have time for the word, sharing testimonies, thanksgiving and we got time of open confession to each other. My wife and I as parents were free and open to our children and they were open to us. We experienced brokenness in our midst,” the pastor said.
The family took time to build each other by encouraging each one to keep up on the areas they were doing well and also highlighting areas that each one needed to improve in. They came up with a plan of evaluating every one’s development; and the outcome of the family fellowship was confessing to and forgiving each other.
In the fellowship, the members of the family used to give offerings for helping the needy outside the family. The family also decided to do evangelism through humanitarian activities.
“We managed to help 6 children who were underserved and 2 of them came to faith in Jesus Christ. The 6 are still coming to our church and we are trusting God, the other 4 will come to the faith as well,” Deogratias recounted.
As the pastor, Deogratias continually helped the 6 children by buying them books, paying money for shaving their hair, hosting them at his home and sharing meals. The family is now looking forward to do hospital ministry where they will cook food for the needy patients and pay medical insurance for the poor.
“In the spirit of Home Based Evangelism, I have tried to reach 3 street children, where I give emotional care by bringing them home to share meals. My target is to bring them back to their homes so that they can be helped to continue with their studies,”
Pastor Deogratias remarked.
It is wonderful to see the progress of Community Transformational Groups (CTGs) across Africa. The Rwanda model has been such a success that AE is now looking to incorporate it across all 11 national teams.
Members generally come from some of the most impoverished and vulnerable communities in the country. Many are women who have escaped a life of prostitution to gain new skills and earn an income. They are given an opportunity to start a new life in groups that are learning to make cleaning products and develop sewing skills.
CTG’s engage with beneficiaries to emphasize both the value of economic goals, as well as social and spiritual empowerment. These groups build a sense of worth in members by helping them to act and realise their God-given potential. The conditions in severely impoverished communities have always been a barrier to the poor in developing necessary life skills.
CTG’s aim to change this by giving people hope. They often build on existing programs so that graduates have support to build their own businesses. This support is vital in achieving the attitudinal change needed for people to take action on their own behalf.
Most teams are using current programs to form new CTGs. The recent focus has been on providing vocational training aimed at empowering women. South Sudan has also had some success in partnering CTGs with churches (pictured), who are embracing the concept of being a part of transforming communities.
CTG’s do so much more than build financial independence. They promote a sense of belonging, and teach people to work together for the greater good. The benefits are shared throughout the entire community and bring people a much-needed sense of purpose. Through your generous support, people living in poverty are finding their way towards hope and building a sustainable future.
AEE-Rwanda implements a healing and reconciliation program targeting both students and out of school youth. The program also targets the key community groups that have greater influence on youth. The key ones being parents, teachers, grassroots leaders, and pastors.
The youth are the nation. More than 50% of Rwanda’s population is under the age of 18. Preparing the youth to become responsible citizens will break the cycle of violence. Parents probably have the greatest influence in molding the character of their children.
Parents were educated to impart messages of repentance, forgiveness, and peaceful coexistence with other groups.
Pastor Come Rwasibo one of the 14 pastors trained on healing and reconciliation tells his story. Come is the Senior Pastor of Rwanda Christian Revival Church (RCRC), He resides in Mwurire Sector, Ntunga cell, Cyimbazi village in Rwamagana District.
Come shared how he had experienced healing because of the training that helped him to understand that forgiving those who wounded him is the only way to experience healing and completely get rid of wounds of trauma that resulted from the loss of his beloved family members in 1994 Genocide Against Tutsi and the betrayal from fellow pastors in the ministry 10 years ago.
“Being healed of wounds of trauma is a result of discovering personal inner strengths and accepting help from others-willing people. When I was listened to during the training, I felt respected by people who gave me their time in listening to me. I felt safe which gave me the courage to share my past painful and hurting experiences with group members. In the 1994 I lost my beloved relatives who were innocently killed. This wounded my heart, I always found it hard to forgive those who killed my relatives. Ten years ago, I was also hurt by fellow pastors in the ministry. Colleagues unlawfully sued me and broke away with three-quarters of the churches I had facilitated to start in the ministry”, With sobbing eyes, Come narrates his painful story.
“For all this time, I felt bitter and inhabiting unforgiveness despite being a Senior Pastor, but I am now free, my heart is clean. I have understood that many wounded people resent God and hate people which continues to limit their development both economically and spiritually. From the time I made the decision to forgive those who hurt me, I have begun to experience inner peace and I feel restful. From now onwards, I will purposefully listen to people and help them to get healed of their wounds of trauma. Like it has been to me, many wounded people do not want to be approached or share their painful experiences and get healed” said Pastor Come.
The Mombasa West Mission in Kenya is the first one to be conducted in the year 2021. The mission is scheduled for 1st to 11th July. The mobilization of missioners and preservation facilitators took place in the month of May. The AEE Kenya team intends to host 300 visiting missioners in 9 zones. The rest of the missioners will come from within Mombasa. This month, there has been a series of continued mobilization and trainings.
The Kayonza Mission in Rwanda was scheduled for 20th – 27th June but following the Volcanic eruption in the neighboring DRC, the mission was postponed to 15th – 22nd August. Preparations for the same are ongoing. At least 127 homes are targeted to be trained to conduct Home Based Evangelism (HBE). Though this is an ongoing activity, 42 households were reached in May this year using HBE and 9 people accepted to follow Christ.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), preparations for the Mont-Amba Mission, which is set for 16th to 24th October, are ongoing. Mont-Amba is located South East Kinshasa in DRC. AE DRC Team conducted School of evangelism in the targeted location of the Matete, Ngaba, Kisenso and Lemba districts and a total of 276 participants from 99 local churches were trained. Currently, the team is mobilizing for prayer and funds for the mission. Earlier, 19 different local churches were equipped for further church members’ mobilization in the target area.
AEE Tanzania is set to have its mission between 22nd and 29th August in the capital city, Dar es Salaam. The team has been meeting the Pastors, equipping them through trainings towards the mission and conducting prayer for the 2021 Mission. Mobilization of evangelists and partners to participate in Dar Back-to-God Mission has as well been ongoing. In the month of May, a group of intercessors from different Churches gathered to purposely pray for the mission preparation and all programs at AEE-Tanzania.
In September, AE Uganda will have a mission in Jinja from 19th to 26th. The AE Team conducted a Vision Casting seminar for the mission where 52 leaders from Jinja City attended. This meeting brought together both the Anglican church leaders and Pentecostal church leaders in one house for the same purpose bridging the gap and dealing with misunderstandings that have always been there. Mobilization teams have been established and tasked to draft their strategies to aid achieving the mission targets. An overall steering committee with 18 members was constituted in May to help oversee the preparations. AE Uganda facilitated a training held in Entebbe for 120 evangelists by our partners in ministry who are planning a citywide mission in that city. The training was organized by the Joint Pastors Network in Entebbe city.
AE Southern Africa Region (AESAR) which is comprised of the Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe teams is set to hold a mission from 19th – 25th September in Zomba, Malawi. AE Malawi held three training sessions in Zomba ahead of the mission where 85 people were trained. The second phase of training the same group was set for the month of June. In April this year, task team leaders for the Zomba Leadership Mission were successfully appointed and a meeting with Church leaders in Zomba to review mission plans was held.
The AE Zambia team continues to go through the AE Manuals to adequately prepare for both the Kitwe and Lusaka mission scheduled for this year and next year respectively. The AE Zambia team visited Kitwe at the invitation of the Maranatha Pentecostal Assemblies of God church to help with the mobilization of the church for evangelism. Close to about 100 church members turned out for the evangelism outreach in Kalulushi.
In Ghana, the AE team is preparing to have a mission in Lome, Togo from the 15th to the 25th of October. An online meeting with the leaders in Togo was held earlier to aid preparations. The leaders were also able to meet the working committees in person. A HBE online training is scheduled for 30th June.
Preparation is ongoing for AE Ethiopia’s mission scheduled for 22nd – 26th December in Kotebe, North East of Addis Ababa. Last month, the AE team held a Home Based Evangelism training as part of the preparations steps for the mission.
