Standing: Evelyn Ables, Bill Ables, Emmanuel Sitaki, Greg English,Dan Person, Josh Patterson
Seated: Krysti Emerson, Vicki Barram, Marilyn Vancil, Arlene Tatum,
Jeannie Flesch, Debbie Dougall (not pictured: Debra Hudson)
This is a timely mission so exciting for so many reasons!
Pastor Emmanuel Sitaki, a seminary student at the Grace Seminary of the Northwest, has blessed our church with sharing his vision for helping the Rwandanese. He is a survivor of the infamous 1994 genocide in Rwanda. He writes of that time in his and his country's life:
Thirty-five of my close relatives were killed during the genocide, but through a miracle God protected my mother and I. I was attending school in the Congo and returned to Rwanda in April 1996 to find only my mother and 9 orphans left alive. I found out that during the genocide my relatives had been buried alive in a mass grave, I had to make the arrangements to have them reburied officially. But God has given me a forgiving heart; I have forgiven those who killed my relatives, as I am an evangelist preaching the good news of salvation and repentance.
"In 1996 Sitaki began to rescue family members that were abandoned after the killings. From that humble beginning, the vision for Evangelical Revival Ministries has grown with an international community of partners joining the team in Rwanda in supporting orphans and widows, spreading the gospel through evangelism and church leadership training, micro finance programs, and the long term goal of a 'Hope for The City' center in Kigali." {1}
During time spent in interchange I most notably see he is burdened for putting together grieving mothers and orphaned children. Isn't this amazing?
On Sept. 15, 2008 Pastor Greg English and the team of congregants from Salem Evangelical Church and Salem First Baptist Church are joining with Pastor Sitaki in a short-term mission to Rwanda. In the two and a half weeks they will be very busy, with teaching women how to sew in order to begin a micro-business, a prison fellowship ministry, a women's leadership and women's equipping seminars, a pastors' conference, two Good News Clubs, and widow and orphan care. {2}
Pastor English reports of SFB's raising support on Sept. 2:
PRAISE! All 25 women got sponsored for the sewing team.
PRAISE! Not one of the auction items remained unsold.
PRAISE! Five orphans got sponsored through ERM.
PRAISE! Emmanuel was warmly received by our church family and had a wonderful opportunity to speak in both services.
PRAISE! An army of 75 persons have volunteered to pray for us 24 hours a day for three straight weeks!
PRAISE! The Lord blessed the team with $4,483.95 in offerings. More is anticipated to stream in over the next week.
At this writing, I am pleased to inform you Team Rwanda's ground mission expense is fully funded, and we are able to accomplish all that we have trusted God for by His bountiful supply. A couple of our team members are lacking full support, but very close to reaching their goal as well. I have complete confidence in our Lord that He will supply exceedingly abundantly beyond what we can ask or think!
For Rwanda-
Greg
"Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." (James 1:27)
The women of this mission trip will largely be involved giving away the 25 sewing machines donated, and training the women who receive them. The goal is for these Rwandan women to create their own business so they might support themselves.
Meanwhile, Pastor English will be teaching, and Pastor Sitaki translating, the fundamentals of hermeneutics and of the faith to 150 Rwandan pastors. They had an overwhelming interest from evangelical churches for this training; some 300 wanted to come, but, the costs involved in transportation has lowered the number to 150 who can attend. The country is largely Roman Catholic in heritage. The Assemblies of God denomination has done much in this country to spread the good news of Jesus Christ, but, those with the gift to preach have had no training. According to some discussions with Pastor English, during their church services, the pastors open up any passage of scripture and just read it to the people. They do not have any study aids, not even a concordance in their translations. Pastor English is anticipating a hunger so deep on the part of these men that they just won't let him go, they just want him to keep teaching. It will be difficult when this mission inevitably comes to an end.
Pastor English will be teaching eight hours through the work-week, and giving invitations to faith on the weekends both before and after. He asks for prayer that he won't lose his voice. Moreover, there has been no structure established for children's evangelism in Rwanda. There will also be training in this for Rwandanese from around the country.
It is exciting to think of the good news of God's freely given grace being received in this land. It brings to recollection the report that came after Dr. Bing and Dr. Taliaferro presented this same message out of Romans to some 600 pastors in India. When they finished, the whole room rose and applauded. "We have never heard this before," was the response, with much gratitude and excitement.
Could this mission be "another India"? The team departs on Monday. Please keep Rwanda in your prayers in the next three weeks....
Updates will be coming at this location: Rwanda 2008 Mission Blog
{1} Evangelical Revival Ministries, accessed Sept. 13, 2008
{2} Salem First Baptist Church short term missions, accessed Sept. 13, 2008
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