2010 will be a great time for you to help transform the lives of spiritually need people in other countries. Your gift now will bring hope and blessings to people in Africa and South America! Give now

Mission Redemption Rwamagana
December 2009

In This Issue:
Mission Accomplished  Glasses, Goats, and the Gospel  Festival Perceptions
Team Testimonies  A Personal Note from Dan  Photo Gallery

Mission Accomplished by Dan Owens

There was a sense of joy at the grounds as the love of God was proclaimed!

It was a very special Sunday for Sayid as people gathered around to embrace him and welcome him into their church. Just the night before, this Muslim man had wandered onto the Festival grounds and heard the message of the cross. The Holy Spirit came upon him as he joined with 29 other Muslims and surrendered his life to follow Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit also came upon hundreds and hundreds of others as they, too, opened their hearts to Jesus Christ during our weeklong Festival – Mission Redemption. The results of the Festival were the culmination of hard work and much prayer. On the very last day, Pastor Dany Sengorore, the President of the Pastors Forum and chairman of the organizing committee, said with a beaming smile, “We are very, very happy. The results are worth all the work”. The committee worked very hard indeed and their unity was something to behold. Pastor Fostin said that as they began to work together that they did not know they would have such unity, but “we have come to know each other very well”.

God was honored as this unified committee joined with our unified team from the States to share God’s love in a variety of ways. Each day, our team of 25 joined forces with the church leadership of Rwamagana to bless people in need and to share God’s salvation story. From hospitals and orphanages to eyeglass clinics and prisons, people responded to the love that was shown to them. One Muslim exclaimed, “The Americans are so wonderful and different from what we’ve been made to think about Americans. They didn’t come with empty words but did what they said they were going to do”.

If I could say anything about the team that went with us to Rwanda I would say that they were people of compassion. Everywhere they went they displayed a love for the people. Whether they were giving out glasses, goats, or food, our team had smiles on their faces and truly communicated God’s love. I appreciated them so much. When they prayed for those coming forward for prayer each night, they did so with passion and heart. When Pastor Dale Gustafson taught at the pastor’s conference, he did so with a heart of love that was so felt by the pastors. Now they would like him to return because they felt that Dale was one of them. They truly felt loved.

It was not just our love that was on display but your love, as well. You helped us deliver sugar, salt, rice, and beans to people in need of food. You helped us provide 4,000 pairs of reading glasses to people who wanted to be able to read and do tasks up close. You provided 120 goats to families that will now have a chance to be less dependent on others. You helped share the Gospel to thousands and thousands of people. It was Mayor Valens Ntezirembo who said, “All the nation knows of this Festival and has seen glasses and the goats”.

The reality is that so much was done in Rwamagana through your faithful giving and prayers that Mission Redemption became a news item! Yes, we were a bit surprised to have the national news station come and document our unified effort. They reported in great detail what Eternity Minded Ministries and the Pastors Forum were accomplishing in the District of Rwamagana. The reporter asked me why we brought a team from America and what we wanted to see happen. My response to him was that we, along with our friends in the States, wanted to bless the people of Rwanda both physically and spiritually. When he asked how we planned on doing that I was able to share not only about our humanitarian work, but also more importantly about the Good News of Jesus Christ – which they aired!

Pastor Lordguard expressed it so well to Mayor Ntezirembo at our final celebration dinner when he said, “We are no longer poor people as the Word of God has removed our spiritual poverty. But the gifts from America has also helped remove our financial poverty by using our hotels, our cars, our gas, our banks, and by providing goats to every parish in the district and giving our people the ability to see through the eye glass clinics”. The Mayor reached over to shake my hand once again to thank EMM for all that had been done to help them.

On the last afternoon of the Festival over 12,000 people gathered at the grounds. The sun was beaming and the people were happy to be there. Rwandans love music and they were given plenty of it during the Festival. As hundreds came forward during the invitation, I could not help but think of all the prayers that had gone up before the Lord on behalf of this event. In the end, it was the prayers of many believers that made the difference. Rain had been predicted and the committee was in fear that we would be rained out. Yes, it did rain and at times it was so loud that you could hardly carry on a conversation; but it never impacted anything that we did. Each day when it came time to preach the Gospel the skies gave us sunshine and not rain. Your prayers made a difference!

Almost 2,000 people made a decision for the Lord through our various ministries! Many of those people were already in church on the final day of our Festival, just like Sayid. Those that came to the Lord received materials that we had printed to help them understand their decision and to help them go forward in their new relationship with Christ. The hard work done by Pastor Dany’s committee, in conjunction with Gary Losey our Festival Director and Ben Owens our Team Coordinator, allows me to report with joy: Mission Redemption Accomplished! To God be the glory.

Now our goal is to return after the first of the year to give Bibles to the new believers and more goats to those in need. Yes, we will continue our friendship and partnership with the people of Rwamagana. We pray that you will continue your partnership with Eternity Minded Ministries into the new year!

Dan Owens

More articles in this issue:

Mission Accomplished   Glasses, Goats, and the Gospel   Festival Perceptions   Team Testimonies

A Personal Note from Dan   Photo Gallery