Rwanda Mission Partnership

In exactly 3 months time I will be in Kampala with John Mihigo for the Amahoro Africa conference, a gathering with an emerging/missional focus on mission partnerships between developing central African ministries and western followers of Jesus.

In today’s mailout by the Amahoro guys there was an interesting article by a Kenyan pastor, Edward Simiyu. It is worth a read as I think it aptly describes the way short term mission should look in the 21st Century. The days of western teams going in and taking control of projects are over.

I hope you enjoy Edward’s message.

The ministry of Presence- Say nothing, do nothing; just show up!

Recently I heard an American pastor friend lament that his African pastor friend had not replied to his e- mails for a long time. He said “why can’t he check the browser to make sure his inbox is working well?” You can bet that this happens only in American! The rest of the world’s ¾ hardly know what a browser is! They don’t read or write they just know one way of communication: Talking and as simple as it may sound, it is loaded. The cellular telecommunication industry is now the most profitable and fastest growing business in Africa because it is giving Africa a treat to what she does best-Talk! However, talking among the oral cultured people now carries more than mere words.

We are an oral culture in Africa. This calls for face to face contact. We talk much, not write. People cannot still read or write. Less than 2 % of people aged 60 and above can read or write. Our generation received teachings and moral lessons at the fireplace with parents and then grandparents telling us stories that carried moral teachings. In fact we would look forward with excitement when visits to grandparents would be announced! I sense the same craving in my nine year old daughter when she pleads that I tell her stories while on her bed waiting to sleep. The values of our cultures and society were passed on that way. In the final analysis, our formative years were not so much shaped by what we read or acquired in the well staked libraries full journals, books and magazines but by what we heard from our elders. That is why we say in Africa that when an elder dies, a whole library is buried with him! We passed on and still do pass on things from one generation to another by Word of mouth. Understandably the physical presence of one in order to communicate face to face quickly took a new dimension. It was not long before we all understood that ones attendance to a funeral for example, without even saying a word signalled an expression or show of sympathy and solidarity with the bereaved. This spread to all spheres of the African social and spiritual life. Now, presence has acquired such a great value so much that when one doesn’t show up in gatherings like weddings, funerals, and Sunday services people get very worried or even offended!

The church around the world would benefit immensely if she realised that while it is good and very important to send the much needed gifts and donations to support their brothers and sisters in Africa; that is only one side of the story, their physical presence through visits will minister even more powerfully! The visits don’t have to be the high sounding mass crusade type events, just show up and “hang out” on low key visits! You may say well that is pretty expensive to do, but guess what? That’s what I call the ministry of Presence!

Here are a couple of photos sent to me by my friend and colleague in Rwanda, John Mihigo. They are of the new 10,000 litre rainwater tank that is currently being installed on Mt Kigali. This is the second tank purchased by the CUF-Day 4 Rwanda Mission Partnership.

The first, a single 5000 litre tank was installed when I was last in Rwanda in 2004. This tank will solve a couple of problems. The fellowship building is the largest building on the mountain - it is prominently visible from many parts of Kigali and even from Google Earth! - and has a fairly substantial roof area. During the 9 rainy months the rainwater runs off the roof and down the mountain, doing damage to the dirt access road and to mud brick housing - the main form of building material on the mountain. So the rainwater tank will collect a substantial amount of this run-off, improving the relationship the fellowship has with the surrounding community.

Secondly it will supply fresh, clean water to a large number of households. There is currently no infrastructure on this part of the mountain - no electricity and no running water. Fresh water is bought at a government standpipe several kilometres down the mountain and carried in 20 litre jerry-cans, mostly by children. So the new tank will diminish the need for the kids to spend their days trekking up and down the mountain and providing an easily accessible source of fresh, clean drinking water for at least 9 months of the year. In fact, being rain water, it will be even fresher than the scheme water from the government standpipe which still requires boiling because of pathogens.

We are still collecting (actually we are always collecting) for the partnership. We are heading back in May with a team and have a fair amount of aid airfreight to get to Rwanda. If you would like to contribute please contact me, either via blog or by emailing me - ahrigg AT gmail DOT com.

This article was also posted on Moved Mountains.

I would like to take this opportunity to pray for an awesome Christmas and New year’s Season for all who read this and support the work being undertaken by the CUF. Please tell all your family, fellow church members, colleagues, friends and indeed as many Australians as you can contact, of our love and gratitude from Rwanda.

Since we met Andrew in 2003, he has not stopped being a great encouragement to the people of CUF particularly, and for Rwanda in general. This mission partnership has made a difference in our situations.

I acknowledge the support with gratitude. We are so thankful for all those hundreds of Kinyarwanda bibles and hymn books given to all church members and the community on Mt. Kigali. That was in 2004. In addition to that, the team was such a blessing to my community because they supplied us with a big plastic water reservoir, where over twenty households in our community fetch water from, during the rainy season.

What a mighty blessing! During such times, these people do not have to walk down this steep mountain for a distance of over 4 Km (to and fro) to the water grid, near the tarmac to access badly needed water. Once again thank you so much, Andrew. While there is great need for more plastic water tanks, we can not fail to profusely thank you for what you accomplished for us. ‘A friend in need is a friend indeed’.

More to that, solar electricity was provided — the only available electricity in our neighbourhood. Neighbours charge their cellphones at our place. This is the only place with any lighting at all, at night, thanks to this solar power. It goes without saying that this solar panel is limited, but it makes such a difference. It can run a computer such that emails can be prepared and sent, albeit for a limited period, before the solar power is exhausted. During the rainy season the solar power is so limited due to limited sunshine, yet solar battery charging is a function of the amount of sunlight. Again, thanks for this solar power you provided for our church, Christian Unity Fellowship.

Click to view larger image

Thanks for the lots of Christian literature you brought us then. It is indispensable in our Christian discipleship. Many pastors, lay people, Christians and others have benefited from this literature. In fact, we distributed some of these to prisons, universities and secondary schools in our capital, Kigali, with substantial impact. Praise be to God. Thanks for being a channel of his love.

The telescope you gave us then was quite a phenomenon in our community. How exciting! No one here had ever seen Jupiter, Saturn (the beauty queen in the sky), Mars, the moon and others in their stark enormity at night, or early in the morning. This makes everybody appreciate God and his creation more. We even dream of starting a Sky watching/Telescope centre someday! Please pray about this with us. It will be the first of its kind in Rwanda and probably Central Africa, though I am not sure. They say there is nothing new under the sun, that is why I have my reservations about the statement, but there is none other that I know of.

Concerning the blessings you brought us in 2004, I cannot forget to add the leadership seminar you organised for the pastors of Kigali, mainly those who attend KIGALI PASTOR’S FELLOWSHIP, to which I am chairman. The seed you planted has grown and is still producing fruit, in the area of unity and Christian discipleship. WE are also on the look-out against foreign influences and religionists that would want to infiltrate our society and erode from its foundation. All the pastors still appreciate this. Your words were prophetic, since today we see a surge of deadly religions that want to rape our society. They will not stop at any crude ways and means to achieve their objective.

Well, these are only a few of the things we have seen achieved through our partnership. Our relationship continues today and it has been getting stronger. Next time I will add on what your team accomplished in 2004, and will continue on from there.

Things are progressing quickly and time is getting away from us! With the likelihood of the 2007 trip taking place in May rather than June/July, to coincide with the Amahoro Africa gathering in Uganda, the need to fundraise has taken on a new urgency.

We have set up a new credit card processing facility and so are now able to accept credit card donations.

To make a donation - just click on the “Donate Now” link. This will take you to the completely secure transaction site powered by Paymate.

Of course you can still donate by sending us a cheque, made out to Day 4 Ministries, by Western Union money order or by Australia Post postal orders. 100% of all donations recieved go to Rwanda. No management fees, wages or levy’s are drawn for our Australian ministry. A 2.2% transaction fee does apply to credit card payments. This fee is charged by the payment gateway and not by Day 4.

Fundraising Requests

• Sponsorship for the Amahoro Africa conference. Funds are required to help cover the cost of sending John and Andrew to this conference in May 2007.
• Solar Panels - Three solar panels and associated equipment is needed for the CUF church building on Mt Kigali making it possible to run electrical appliances (such as a TV and DVD, computer etc) for use in the CUF ministry.
• School Building fund - We are also raising funds to go towards the building of a separate school building for Unity Academy on Mt Kigali. The school currently meets in the church building but is under pressure from the government to move into its own buildings. The cost of building 2 classrooms and fitting out is approximately $13,000.00 US.
• Laptop computer for church use, record keeping, communications etc. - Approximately $1480.00 US.
• Kinyarwanda Bibles and Hymn books - Bibles in the local language of Kinyarwanda for church people.
• The Book Fund - a fund established to purchase educational books and materials as required for use by school children and church leadership.
• Vehicle fund - to fund the purchase of a mini-bus (approx. $5000.00 US) for the use of the church, school and as a sustainable fundraising project during the week.

If you have any questions about any of these projects or have ideas for a project that you think may be beneficial for the Mt Kigali community (particularly financially self-sustaining projects) please let us know!

Hi, my name is Dani and I was a part of the last Day 4 team that went to Rwanda. When I first heard about the 2004 trip I was keen but a little apprehensive as I’d never been out of Australia before (actually make that Western Australia…) And being a young gal of 18 I wasn’t quite sure what I would face or how I would be treated when I got there. But after arriving at Kigali airport and being greeted by a whole host of smiling faces, I just knew that we were going to be well looked after! And the hospitality of the Rwandan people is really what touched me the most during the time that I was there.

We went to the house of a child sponsored by one of the team members through Compassion, and little Solange’s family was so happy to see us! They brought out a huge tray of soft drink bottles which I know would have caused them much sacrifice to buy but they lavished their hospitality upon us and treated our visit like a huge celebration! I feel so privileged to be able to sponsor a child myself in Rwanda - his name is Crispe and I cannot wait to see him and give him an enormous hug when we’re back there next year!

While in 1994 the world was oblivious to the things happening in Rwanda, today it is a different story.  Many people have done their part over the past 10 years to ensure the legacy of the Rwandan Genocide is positive and that it never happens again.

Here are some links to websites that provide details of the events of 1994, captured on video, in photographs and in the written word.

• A Time Line of Events
• Ghosts of Rwanda - Video, Photo’s and Articles about the Genocide
• Traditional Justice - the Gacaca or village courts

For more stories of Rwanda and news from Rwanda as it is today - stay tuned to this site!

I recently found out about a conference coming up in Uganda in May next year (2007) aimed at equipping local church leaders and connecting locals with western partners in mission. It is geared towards developing the emerging/missional church movement in the African context and informing the western church on ways to partner with African churches in culturally acceptable ways (not the traditional colonial approach).

I was particularly interested in this as it seemed many of the ideals Amahoro Africa - the name of the organisation and the conference - were promoting where also those John and I were trying to work with.

It looks like John will be attending the gathering and I am hoping that I will also be able to get along as the organisers have since shown interest in the CUF-Day 4 partnership and feel we might have something to add to the gathering.

You can read more about Amahoro Africa here. They have a blog which you can view here and there is specific information relating to the gathering here.

The Mission Partnership was formed in 2003 when John Mihigo, pastor of the Christian Unity Fellowship in Rwanda made contact with Andrew Rigg, founder of Day 4, in Australia. This led to the establishment of an ongoing partnership between the two organisations, culminating with a mission team from Australia visiting Rwanda in 2004.

The partnership has continued from that time with Day 4 involved in fundraising and supporting the ongoing work of CUF in Kigali and elsewhere in Rwanda. This includes community development projects, such as the installation of rain-water tanks on Mt Kigali, payment of a stipend for school teachers in the CUF community school (Unity Academy) and the purchase of land for a church plant in rural Rwanda.
Another team from Australia will be visiting Rwanda in June 2007.

This is just a brief overview of the many things we have achieved through our partnership over the past 4 years. For more information send us an email or join in a discussion on this blogsite.

My (John Mihigo’s) addition:

Thank you Andrew for this blog. In recognition of the things you wrote up here, I want to thank you on behalf of Christian Unity Fellowship, my community on Mt. Kigali, and country as whole for our indispensable partnership that is obviously God-ordained. Once more we are praying for the upcoming trip next year. We look forward to it, and we think it will even be more fruitful than that of last year. I know you must be doing the same. It is never too early to plan for, and pray for such projects. I therefore ask that you mobilize as much prayer as you can, from your end, so that God will be honoured by this trip much more.

Keep up the good work. ‘Your labour in the Lord is not in vain’.

Well - after more than 2 years - Day 4 are taking another team to Rwanda. I am suffering from Rwanda withdrawal and can hardly wait to get back to Kigali and to see my Rwandan “family” again. John has told me that Gladys is still referring to me as her brother-in-law!

A lot of things have happened since we were last there. The church building is almost finished now. We were able to fundraise for roofing, seating, doors and windows and, I think, plastering (John will be able to tell you more). It will be a different place from the last time we were there.

One of my favourite projects is also up and running - I’ll get John to tell you more about this too - it’s the AIDS outreach. Last I heard it was being run by John’s nephew, Fred and involves educating the Mt Kigali locals about AIDS, how it’s transmitted and how to prevent it (abstinence model). The program is based around cultural plays and other interactive methods of delivery.

It looks like there will only be one other Rwanda 04 veteran going with us this time - that’s Dani. Dani was 18 the last time we went and the youngest member of the team. Now’s she’s 21 and still going to be the youngest team member.

The 2007 team consists of:

John Korn from Binningup Beach Christian Fellowship
Colin Rigg from Harvey Church of Christ
Sue Knight from Harvey Church of Christ
Ron Georgie from Harvey Church of Christ
Dani Faed from Mt Hawthorn Baptist Church
Kylie Flemming from Bunbury Church of Christ
and
Me, Andrew Rigg from Binningup Beach Christian Fellowship.