Rwanda May 2009
6 June 2009
We're back from another wonderful time in Rwanda. The visit had three purposes: to introduce the Way of the Spirit to pastors and leaders of churches who had begun to see the benefits of it in churches where it is already being used; to visit and encourage the Christian Union at Butare University (the main place of higher education in Rwanda) and to meet with the core teams from Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda to encourage the work around the Great Lakes region of East Africa.
We saw God's hand on things even before taking off from Heathrow. Charles, our man in Kigali, had asked that we bring out any spare musical instruments we were able to get hold of. Juliet, of prayer chain fame, put an advert in her church magazine and we ended up with a trumpet, trombone, glockenspiel, suitcase full of percussion and two guitars! We were not sure how we'd get these past the lady (or gentleman) at the airport and onto the plane -- with already full suitcases ourselves, clothing and many books and material to take out to them there. When Vic H rang the airline the day before we were due to fly to enquire how to pack them he was informed our flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi had been cancelled. Several frantic calls later we were diverted to London and onto a Kenyan Airways flight. It just so happens that the baggage allowance for KA is twice that of KLM and we easily booked all the bags including every instrument onto the flight.!
We eventually arrived in Kigali and drove in Charles' vehicle (purchased for him two years earlier by The Way of the Spirit) to Butare, half way to Cyangugu where we went on our first trip. Wherever we go in Rwanda it is hard to put the terrible genocide out of mind for long -- in 1994 the whole nation became a bloodbath as neighbour rose against neighbour, teacher against student and even priest and pastor against congregation. Over 850,000 men women and children were massacred in only 100 days, most commonly by machete.
Conference in Butare
In Butare we stayed in a comfortable guest house (comfortable, yet always African... sometimes there would be water in our bathrooms, other times not. When there was water, it might be hot or cold, and might run out at any time). One evening we saw hundreds of flying insects and I watched in amazement as these four-winged creatures (like big flying ants I guess) landed, shed each wing and walked off. In the morning we came down to what must have been hundreds if not thousands of wings all over the patio! Charles informed me they eat these insects in Uganda -- raw. Mmnn...
During the three days of the conference we watched pastors and leaders melt under the word of God and the moving of the Holy Spirit. Their faces, demeanours and focus changed before our eyes. At one point a response was required from them in relation to how they were leading their churches, and after an agonizingly long time one dear man stood in repentance at having led by his own opinions rather than the revelation of God's word. Many more followed him. It is not easy to ask pastors to stand in this way before each other -- especially in a culture where position was so easily mixed with pride -- and it was a measure of what God was doing that they reached this place so quickly.
Richard demonstrating the trumpet and a The Way of the spirit group on the lawn
They worked in groups together in the grounds of the convent where we met, and got to sample what The Way of the Spirit is. Charles was thrilled and is now working with these people in their churches and ministries. Three of the group were invited onto his core team to develop the work of WOS in the nation.
Butare University
This was a real privilege -- this university was where the intellectual origins of the genocide were conceived. Now, there is an active, large and serious Christian Union there who are determined that revival not genocide will emerge from that place (I suppose genocide is the devil's revival: an orgy of death and destruction compared with a revival of things of God which is rather an orgy of life, love, creativity and everything he intended for the world when he created it).
I spoke there three times. After the first they invited us back not just the following day but also the Sunday morning. They were open, wanting to hear about God's kingdom and the reality of the gospel. At the second meeting we were outside in a stadium at the side of the football pitch and we had a great time enjoying really good worship and the strong presence of God. There were a couple of hundred there and the following morning, Sunday, there were over 2,000. God moved and many responded to the message. We left materials for them to use and they invited us back to teach them more about what we were preaching. I found myself saying we may go back next February -- I don't know where that came from!
Back in Kigali
We were back in the capital city for the final part of the mission, another three-day conference, this time with teams having travelled from Uganda and Burundi where we have ministered previously and where The Way of the Spirit is being established.
It was lovely catching up with the teams from other nations, and with the rest of Charles' team, now supplemented by three more who had been in Butare, and despite a last minute change of venue everything ran smoothly. The teams from the three different countries mixed really well and it was a feature of the time that relationships were established and strengthened between them.
We taught -- at their request -- on leadership, really building now on what God had already done over many missions. We heard from the different teams, and vision was refreshed.
One afternoon, which I shall particularly remember from this trip, God called me aside to be with him so he could 'show me something'. He told me about the word I would preach that evening assuring me it would arrive on time. He told me it would be from Ezekiel. As I sat in his presence, reading Ezekiel 1 and then excitedly reading Isaiah 6, and portions of Revelation, I knew he was speaking something important. When I taught that evening I knew that something special as happening -- something more than the usual was being released -- something prophetic and nation changing. Many were impacted and something changed during that session. The prayer chain texted through 'Ezekiel 1' shortly after the meeting concluded.
The effectiveness of the prayer chain back in the UK was another feature of the whole trip. We lost count of the number of times that what they sent us by text fitted precisely what we preached or what God did during the sessions. Cheryl heads up this aspect of the work and it was good that she was with us this time to see first hand how it all worked.
The rest of the team was Vic Ford (it wouldn't be the same without him along!) and Victor and Jean Hardwick from the full-time course and church here in Norwich.
Jean with some pastors from Rwanda, and a group studying hard!
Each of the national teams were stirred and mutually encouraged. People were physically healed and vision was strengthened.
The UK team, together with the pray-ers in the UK, worked really well together, everyone played their part and God used everybody.
Thank you so much all who gave in any way to the mission: financially, in prayer and in other supportive ways. I believe the work in East Africa will grow. It is already significant, changing lives, churches and nations.
Richard George, June 2009
