Back in Rwanda [David’s 1st Blog from East Africa]

17 Feb

Back in Rwanda [David’s 1st Blog from East Africa]


Very thankful pastor and church planter David Shirambere, with his bicycle from Heaven’s Family

I’m back in Rwanda, this time with seven other Heaven’s Family staff members, who will all be scattering to different locations in East Africa over the next few days. Some will be heading to D.R. Congo, some to Uganda, and some to Kenya. We’ll be checking up on projects that benefit widows, refugees, victims of sexual violence, the very poor, Christians with disabilities, church planters, struggling farmers and more. I’ll be telling you some of their stories over the next few days.

Today I was blessed to visit three special saints who each borrowed $300 from our Micro-Loan Fund in order to start small businesses. All have prospered as a result, and all have repaid their loans. Best of all, all are church planters, and between the three of them, they’ve planted 41 house churches! What a privilege to serve saints like them!

Pictured above is one of them, David Shirambere, who has planted 11 churches due in part to a bicycle he received from Heaven’s Family that has enabled him to travel further. He also uses his bicycle as a taxi (notice the passenger seat in the above photo) to supplement his income.


Two cuties I met today

Our primary partner here in Rwanda, pastor Justin Nkundabagenzi, was introduced to the concept of making and multiplying disciples through house churches a few years ago when he read parts of The Disciple-Making Minister on our ShepherdServe.org website. Justin told me that during his first 9 years of pastoring, he won 40 people to the Lord. Since he changed his strategy four years ago, however, to making disciples who make disciples, 4,150 people have come to the Lord through his ministry and the ministry of those whom he has discipled, and they meet in a total of 242 house churches in Rwanda and Burundi! That number of 242 churches does not include 127 Discovery Bible Studies that are currently meeting in the homes of nonbelievers who are exploring biblical themes!


Pastor Justin Nkundabagenzi, with his wife, Ann Marie, and their sons, King David and Jonathan

Justin also uses biosand water filters, provided through our Safe Water Fund (as well as from funding from other ministries) as tools for evangelism in Rwandan villages. Free biosand filters open hearts to God’s greatest gift, and house churches are being planted.

Finally, I’m very thankful that the Kinyarwanda translation (that’s the language most commonly spoken here) of The Disciple-Making Minister has recently been completed. We will be printing 1,000 copies soon, to be distributed to strategic Christian leaders here, in order to multiply the number of Justin Nkundabagenzis in Rwanda!


David

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