Loots & Nancy Lambrechts from Dundonald Church, Wimbledon are working at the Preach the Word training course in Kigali, Rwanda. Here they talk about the need and vision for Bible training…
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God’s word for Rwanda
Rwanda is a religious society, with churches on almost every street corner and where most people profess a Christian faith. However there are questions that need to be asked about the depth and conviction of the Christianity in a country that recently experienced one of the worst genocides in modern history. In 1994 nearly 1000,000 Tutsi were killed at the hands of Hutu militia.
Loots visited Rwanda in 2008 on a short-term mission trip with his father-in-law. During this trip he saw for himself the country’s great spiritual need. Despite the great number of churches, most pastors are not trained or shown how to read and teach the Bible. A Bible teaching church, that has the true gospel of Jesus Christ as its foundation is rare in Kigali and Rwanda as a whole. What has resulted is a lethal combination of Catholicism, legalism, traditional religion, and the prosperity gospel. There are many true believers within Rwanda but they are not fed on a diet of solid food or built up in the gospel and these believers are hungry for real food, for Biblical teaching.
Meet Innocent…
My name is Innocent Manirafasha and I am a graduate of the Preach the Word training course (PTW). I joined PTW because I knew I needed a place to spend time ‘just with this book’.
During my time at PTW I was taught a Bible overview which helped my study of the Bible to flourish. The study of Exodus was a door to enter the Old Testament. Paul’s letter to the Romans explained the gospel to me and the book of Revelation was ‘demystified’.
At PTW, I was caught by the profoundness of the Bible and the shallowness of ‘the church’ in Rwanda. I realized that if we want to send missionaries from Rwanda to reach the nations we first need gospel churches in Rwanda.
I am currently studying at George Whitefield College In Cape Town. My hope is to return to Rwanda and plant a gospel church together with like-minded brothers from PTW.
Preach the Word
Preach the Word (PTW) is a Bible training course situated in Kigali. It has arisen out of this great need and also through a friendship between Loots Lambrechts (AIM mission partner) and Determine Dusabumuremyi (Rwandan Minister). The conviction at PTW is that God will use his word as written in the Bible for his purposes in Rwanda. PTW is a practical course helping those involved in Christian ministry to correctly and faithfully handle God’s word. The ultimate hope is that God would use PTW students to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to their own people and even go beyond their borders to other nations, as well as to encourage and build up the church in Rwanda through faithful Bible exposition and application. In order to accomplish this the Bible is studied as a whole unit, focusing on key Bible books and the application of those books into Rwandan life. PTW is both training in God’s word and discipleship. It is a family, where there is a strong emphasis on living life together and applying biblical truth into each other’s lives.
