UPDATES

IMPACT NATIONS:

As many of you know I am involved in Discipleship Training School (DTS), communication, and preparing for School of Reconciliation and Justice (SORJ) which will begin in a month.  Here in YWAM Rwanda I have been very busy with these things in addition to working with church staff in the area of communication.  This month I, also, worked with Play For Hope Rwanda.  I want to update you in all that I am doing because  your prayers and support make my work possible:

 

   

DTS:  We have 17 students from four nations: Burundi, Uganda, Canada and Rwanda.  God has been doing great things among the students and staff for the last 1.5 months of their lecture phase.  Some of the students said, ” This was like a new childhood that built a strong foundation for our lives  because we discovered that what we went through as children affected us in a negative way.”  I love hearing things like this and seeing someone’s life change from darkness to light. Some of the topics which were highlighted to the students included: Relationship with God, Hearing God’s Voice, Father Heart of God, Forgiveness and many others. For this June DTS is going to Buruindi ( Yeeee!!!).  I am very happy about this because it’s my heart that whatever will bless Rwanda will also bless Burundi.  It’s my prayer that YWAM will start in Burundi as soon as possible.

SORJ:  For many years YWAM Rwanda wanted to have the School of Reconciliation and Justice but there were many hindrances.  When I went to do this school in England I strongly felt that the school needed to come to Rwanda. Many of the school leaders had the same heart to bring the school down to Rwanda.   The preparation for this school is going well, but still a lot to be done!  The leadership agreed and confirmed  that the first mini school will take place at YWAM Rwanda in October.  This mini school will accept anyone who is a Christian  and  has a heart for reconciliation and justice. This school will have many international speakers who have been working in this area for many years and students who have done the school.  If you want more details about this school, please contact me or see more details about how it is happening in England at: http://www.ywamharpenden.org/training/sorj/. We would greatly appreciate it if you would keep us in your prayers.

BURUNDI: I really thank God for how much He has put Burundi in my heart.  Since my first time in Burundi in 2005, my heart fell in love with the Burundians.  Since then I have been taking teams there to minister and visiting my friends. When I was in England one of my friends who works with PLAY FOR HOPE RWANDA (http://playforhope.org/)  asked me if I would consider helping them film the ministries they planned to do there (coaching  and sharing the gospel  with Burundians).  I decided to help and so I spent last week working with PLAY FOR HOPE RWANDA as a part of the LOVE BURUNDI FESTIVAL with ANDREW PALAU.

It was a great experience and was very fun for me to film their work. Play For Hope took 14 coaches to work with

 60 Burundian volunteers for one week.  During that time they worked with over 3200 kids in their sports clinics.  These guys have been a huge blessing to Burundi because of their energy, passion, commitment, and joy for the children. I learned a lot from them. Part of the team coached football and the other part coached basketball.  Many coaches who have been coaching in Burundi said that Play For Hope brought new ideas to them which they will continue to use. When I interviewed Andrew Palau, he said that he appreciated what Play For Hope did in Burundi because they were touching lives on the grassroot level and encouraging people in the villages to come to the festival on Saturday and Sunday.

Another highlight was the time we hard together with all the people who were involved in this festival to pray together.  Play For Hope asked me to lead them in the song call Bambolela (Zulu) which wasn’t easy for me, because I’ve never lead a song even in my church.  But I did it and many people said that our songs were one of their highlights.  NICOLE.C.MULLEN and DAVE Lubben and other many leaders were there to hear it and when Brian (Play For Hope Founder) told me that they appreciated the songs I said YES Praise The Lord!

Saturday was the big, special day for all of us because that’s when the festival kicked off in Bujumbura. In the morning there were many people already there.  It was not easy to coach kids in the morning, but Play For Hope did a great job coaching them.   The kids were so happy to kick the balls. My job was to make sure that I captured the important parts of what was going on and  interviewing the coaches, volunteers and players.  Saturday I filmed the festival which included great singers from Burundi, Dave and Nicole.  All of their singing made many people so happy especially for those who knew their songs. Enjoy some of the  pictures below: