My team and I have been in Rwanda for a week and we’re already in love. We were welcomed to our new little home for the month by the sweetest family. Dad Africa, Mom Africa, and their 3 sons are some of the sweetest, funniest, and most hospitable people ever. We’ve loved living in their home, playing cards with the boys, and eating some of the most delicious cabbages and potatoes around their dinner table.
Dad and Mom Africa are the pastors of the church we’re serving with this month. Day in and day out they faithfully serve their community by preaching on the radio and TV, having church services every day of the week to disciple new believers, and by starting a primary school for children in the slums who will likely never get to attend school due to finances. This month we have the privilege of teaching in the school and getting to preach and teach their congregation.
Every morning we wake up, eat breakfast, and head to the school. We walk 20 minutes to the bus park, where we find the right bus. We take the bus for about 15 minutes to another bus stop where we walk for a little over 20 minutes to the church and school that the family is renting. It’s quite the journey to get to church every day and can take upwards of an hour depending on the buses. The sweet family we are with and many of their church members take this journey every day.
However, that was not always the case. The church originally meet in a small church building right near their home in one of the “less fortunate” areas in Kigali. The church was located in an ideal part of town for poorer families. Yet, in the fall of 2017, hundreds of Rwandan churches were shut down as a result of the nation’s goal to make the country look “cleaner”. Sadly, their church was one of the many that had to be closed down due to the conditions of the church. In the last year the family has worked hard to improve the conditions of the church. Now, all the church needs if a new roof in order to re-open their doors.
The current building the church is residing in is beautiful and spacious, but sadly many of the church members are no longer to attend church because of the distance of the church and the money that it cost to take public transportation. The family has said since the church was forced to close their doors they have seen a difference in the community and the effect it has on this neighborhood when the church is having services and people are not able to hear the Gospel.
This, my friends, is one of the challenges of the World Race. This story is one of many that we hear and have heard of people who are in need of financial help. Often, the stories are not shared with us in hopes that we can give financially, but at the core of each of the women on my team we are torn on what to do when we hear these stories. Obviously, we cannot give to everyone. We cannot meet all the needs we are presented with and truthfully, we should not. There is certainly a healthy balance as to when to give and when not to give.
There are times where giving is important and has opened the door to share the Gospel with others and when those times present themselves, I often take them. There are also times when giving present itself with the opportunity to enable local people to further the Kingdom and advance the Gospel far beyond our reach. & this is one of those chances.
We love Rwanda. We love the people here. We love the church here. & there is a lot of need in Rwanda. There are a lot of hurting people, a lot of lost people, and a lot of people in desperate need of hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our team of 6 cannot possible reach everyone in the month that we are here. But, we can work together and pull from our resources to help pay for a roof on the building of a church that can make a difference in this community for years to come. & that my friends, is what we are going to do.
Together, my team and I are praying big prayers and believing that God is going to do big things in this community and in Rwanda, one of which is putting a roof on the church building, so that the church can re-open their doors for a community in desperate need of the presence of the Lord.
& I’d love to invite you to be a part of what God is doing here in Rwanda and joining us in helping re-open the church in this community. The cost of the roof is $1,200 and we’re trusting that God will provide the money this month to have the roof paid in full before we leave! If you’d like to come alongside of us and give to the building project, we’d be so grateful!
The easiest ways to give would via Venmo (@Aleesa-Byrne) with a memo “Rwandan Roof”. If you do not have a Venmo, but would still like to give, don’t hesitate to reach out to me via email at [email protected] and I can share with you additional ways to give to the church. Your support in this would not only mean the world to me, but also the church in Rwanda and Dad and Mom Africa!
We are so excited and expectant to see what God is going to do here in Rwanda and in our next few weeks here and I hope that you’ll prayerfully consider being a part of it all!
Much love,
Aleesa Byrne(& team fresh!)
