Rwanda Blog: The Power of God

Blessed are those who consider the poor!    --Psalm 41: 1

Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow  put into small copper coins.  And he said, “Truly, I tell you this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

I had a special privilege of witnessing the power of God’s Word in Psalm 41: 1 and Luke 21: 1-4 on Saturday and Sunday at COTA Church of Gikomero.  Our brothers and sisters, living in severe poverty, are giving out of their poverty to rebuild their new church which fell down.  

Saturday we saw the new strong foundation.  Pastor Alfred shared he is giving the funds received for his greatly needed motorbike to the construction of Gikomero’s new church.  Sunday a collection was received for the rebuilding of the new church.  A member brought forward a bag of vegetables, this was all they had to offer.  These were sold and funds used for the church.  One of our Interpreters was so moved by the love for Christ church, he promised to donate five 50 lb. bags of cement.  The congregation was thrilled with this precious gift!  

God desires us to love others as He loves us with a love we do not deserve!  Pastor Alfred and our brothers and sisters of Gikomero are loving others well!  They are sacrificing all they have for the sake of the gospel through the reconstruction of their new church and sharing the gospel within their community.  I am challenged to be more attentive and eager in seeking God’s will as He speaks to my heart in regard to making sacrifices to further His kingdom.

God gave me a beautiful gift on Tuesday as we toured the Shyogwe Diocese projects.  As we entered the Mother’s Union Vocational Sewing Class, I heard a young girl call my name as she jumped out of her seat and ran into my arms.  I looked into her face, and saw Belise, our Compassion child!  We sat together holding hands during the team’s visit.  My heart was overflowing with love for Belise and praise to God for this wonderful, wonderful surprise!  What a blessing it was to tell her I would visit with her on Thursday at the Compassion Project!  Claudine, director of the Mother’s Union, told me Belise is a very good student and will graduate in October.  I am very proud of Belise and grateful to the Mother’s Union for educating the young girls with the skill of sewing.  The Diocese’s desire is to have the opportunity to give each girl a sewing machine at the time of their Graduation, so they are able to work at home and help provide an income.  Currently the funds for these sewing machines aren’t available.  I pray the funds will become available.  As our brothers and sisters say, “God will provide.”

H.S. Mission to Ohio: Great First Day

Hello Parents and Church Family: 

We had a great first day yesterday! We are working in 3 separate groups and are doing a variety of activities -- building a wheelchair ramp, building a shed, and re roofing a house! Yesterday morning, we were able to do a "scavenger hunt" around the city where we are working. Many of us loved that -- it was such a neat opportunity to learn more about the community where we are serving! 

We are the only church group here this week, and I think we all agree that we love that! We have space to spread out and we are able to spend lots of time with the 10-person staff that is spending the summer here. Also the food is fantastic; they cook for us every morning and evening! We have had grilled corn on the cob and grilled chicken -- and homemade pancakes for breakfast! 

We are about to head out to our worksites for the day but I wanted to send you all an e-mail update. Please pray for good nights of sleep, as we all want to feel our best at our worksites. I am so proud of these students -- they make me love this job so deeply. Chris feels the same and just told me to tell all of you hello.

Have a great week! I will send another update soon! Thanks for letting us spend this week with your students. God is so good!  

--Kara Smith

Rwanda Blog: Living Water

Today we were given a full tour of the Gikomero campus – the original church, the foundations for the new church, the clinic, the new HIV and lab building, the school rooms, the cow stables, and Pastor Alfred’s home.  People were everywhere – getting vaccinations, newborn babies and moms, recovering malaria patients, and school children.

My special memorable moment today was when we were driven a mile or more down a really rutted curvy road to the well pump station that is part of the water project Apostles helped provide.  We inspected the pump station and met the pump operator and then went back uphill to the new water tank on the Gikomero campus.  We were all invited to climb a wooden ladder to the top of the tank and Pastor Alfred opened the hatch on top of the tank and we could watch the clean water filling the tank.  Until this project was completed all the water for the campus and clinic had to be carried in.  We all stood together on the tank and prayed a prayer of thanksgiving for this water system and a prayer of blessing for how this water will allow Gikomero church to meet the needs of the clinic and the community.

The church plans that other locations in the area will also receive water from this tank as soon as more connecting pipes can be constructed. Pastor Alfred called this water “living water” that was bringing new life to the Gikomero church and clinic.  This “living water” will be part of the “spiritual living water” that the Gikomero church is spreading through Pastor Alfred and the ministry of Gikomero parish.

--John Wilson

Rwanda Blog: On the Ground Ready to Go

After 12 hours across the ocean on a very large plane, we touched down in the small Middle Eastern country of Qatar. Felt like 135 degrees on the tarmac, and it was immediately clear, we weren’t in Kansas.

 Our eyes met travelers from Arabic, Asian, African and probably a hundred other nations. Beautiful people, all made by God. But very different from a stroll through North Hills. 

And we weren’t there yet.

Several hours more, and our eyes finally met the bright-faced, mild-mannered people of our host nation. Getting our passports checked, the Team began butchering and blundering some basic Kinyarwanda vocab. That produced some smiles from the otherwise stoic passport screening officials. 

Then finally, familiar faces! Eugenie. Celestine. Claudine. And many more familiar faces appeared, eager to greet us and welcome us. We sat down in the room where we’ll share meals this week, and enjoyed fresh crepes, fresh fruit and hot tea while the mellow sun sank beyond the rolling hills outside the window. 

As I type, most of the Team is playing Bananagrams in the dark because power is out. Something that happens almost nightly. We’re tired but looking forward to what’s ahead.

And what’s ahead is more faces of people made by God, loved by God. We will lock eyes with old friends and new friends in Gikomero tomorrow. We will sing, maybe dance and definitely seek the Lord with them in worship Sunday. And the week will continue from there.

Our aim is to pray with people. Sounds thoroughly unproductive in some ways. And yet, the point of our journey, the point of being linked with these folks is relationship. And there aren’t many more things that link you closer than praying with someone. So, our hope is to pray. To pray a lot.

Pray with the Shyogwe diocesan staff. With Pastor Alfred, who is Gikomero’s new pastor, and his family. With the mothers of the Healthy Mums Project. With the Health Center staff and patients. And hopefully with some families of the church. 

And the Lord only knows what will happen as he hears and answers these prayers we pray with our brothers and sisters. But hopefully we will walk away closer to them, and them to us. 

We’re on our way. Pray for us!

-Eric Bolash

Apostles-Redeemer Team Leaves for Rwanda

The Rwanda Team left Raleigh very early this morning (July 16) to travel to Gikomero, Rwanda. They will return July 28. The goal for the team is to share love and encouragement with our brothers and sisters of Shyogwe Diocese. 

Please remember them in prayer. The team verse is "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation and who say to Zion "Your God reigns!"  - Isaiah 52:7.  Pray that they would have safe travel, that they would be a blessing to Gikomero and the community, and be blessed in the deepening relationship with our brothers and sisters in Rwanda.

We will track their progress here in The Ebenezer, the Blog of the Apostles. If you haven't already signed up to receive e-mail updates, you may do so to the right.

'Because Prayer Matters': Raleigh Fellows Attend IJM Global Prayer Gathering

“Because Prayer Matters”

A couple of months ago, the Raleigh Fellows had the incredible opportunity to travel up to National Harbor, Md., to attend the International Justice Mission’s (IJM) Global Prayer Gathering.  For those of you who have never heard of the International Justice Mission, IJM is a global organization that fights to protect the poor from violence and slavery in the developing world. They do this by “rescuing victims, restoring survivors, bringing criminals to justice, and by strengthening justice systems,” to quote from their mission statement  Their concern is primarily centered on those who are victims of slavery, sex trafficking, sexual violence, police brutality, property grabbing, and citizen rights abuse. 

“Jesus, I pray for a miracle.”

The Global Prayer Gathering gave us the opportunity to step into the lives of the field directors and their teams as they return from places like Mumbai, Rwanda, Phnom Penh, and Guatemala (just to name a few) to be prayed over, and to share in how the Lord is changing lives and judicial systems in these third world countries.  We were asked to take this time to rejoice for the miraculous work God is doing, and to lament over those who are still amidst terrible suffering.  Our days were spent deep in prayer as we would begin in the large group where we would worship with singer/songwriter, Sara Groves, and would listen to keynote speakers.  From there, we would break up into groups and visit various rooms that were focused in on one area of the world, like Rwanda, where we would listen to the prayer request, and go into a powerful time of intercession. 

“Jesus, make loud the voice of those who seek justice for those who have no voice.”

The overarching statement of the weekend was, “Because prayer matters.”  From a personal standpoint, I have always known that prayer is a pivotal part of my relationship with God.  The idea that we have the ability to speak directly to the Maker of heaven and earth has always astonished me.  However, this prayer gathering gave me a new and powerful perspective on prayer, and reminded me of God’s strong desire for us to come to Him with ALL of our needs.  Isaiah 58:9 says, “Then you will call and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.”  With this in mind we entered into those hours of coming before the throne of God and praying on our knees for those suffering thousands of miles away. 

“Jesus, bring deliverance to the widows in Kampala, Uganda, who are experiencing violence and devastation to their land.”

On Saturday morning, we took our seats in the large group room which held a little over a thousand people.  We began with worship, announcements, and then jumped into listening to a key speaker from Mumbai.  I was already feeling emotion from the prayer time, and then as I listened to the story of six young ladies who had been captured into the sex slave industry in India, my heart dropped even lower.  The speaker then described his team’s decision to go into the brothel to free these girls who were daily objectified and broken.   We were so captivated by his steadiness and the excitement in his voice as he went deeper into the account.  Several times his team and the police raided the brothel in search of the girls—each time failing to find them.  The police became more irritated with each failed attempt when finally, late one night, they raided once more, and began to knock on the panels and floors to listen to any hollow sounds.  One policeman finally knocked once on a wall in the kitchen.  He began to break the wall down and found a small hole.  They wiggled their way down the long passage and found a small room.  There were the six young girls who had been forced to wait the raid out.  I felt big tears roll down my cheek as I listened in disbelief to the success of freeing these slaves.  We began to clap as he wrapped the story up, and then finally the clapping stopped when he announced, “Now we are going to go live to Mumbai to talk to three of the girls who were rescued.”  I looked at the other Fellows faces and we were visibly shocked.  It was one of the most powerful moments of the weekend.  Each girl took a moment to talk and then shared various prayer requests.  I will never forget their beautiful faces as they attested to the power of God, and for the deliverance out of the pit.  My favorite part was when it was finally revealed to them who they were speaking to as the camera showed the crowd and we rose to applaud them.  They laughed and looked at each other.  It must have lasted for a few minutes. 

“You will be called the Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets to dwell in.”

All in all, the weekend was like drinking from a rushing fire hydrant.  We felt full with the Spirit as we buckled to leave for Raleigh.  All of us agreed, there is power in prayer, and we serve a God who is passionate about justice, and using His creation to bring that forward. 

My Last Year at VBS

For a long time, I've been in Vacation Bible School.  But, this year was different.  I am now 10 years old and a rising 5th grader.  Since this was my last year, I cherished every moment of it.  From the top quality morning lesson, crazy science with creative Mr. Lee, imaginative storytelling with the entertaining Pastor Curt, inspiring Bible challenge with my superb Mother, then the exciting part...the games!  In VBS, I was reminded of God’s vast love for me and how I should humbly share it with others, as well as how He gives me wisdom, courage and faith. 

Finally, thank you to all the kind-hearted Christ Followers who generously helped out this year.  I look forward to next year when I can contribute to the leaders as they are teaching children about Christ Jesus.  I just have to say that everything this year was AWWWWWWESOME !!!!!!

----By Gabe Noel, age 10