Muraho again! Yesterday, the Rwanda team departed from Nyagatare,
visited Bishop Alexis in Gahini, and safely arrived at the As We
Forgive house in Kigali. Our brothers and sisters in Nyagatare sent
us off with monster hugs and greetings to everyone. It is going to be
difficult to describe the intensity and impact of these newfound
relationships with words, so we hope everyone will be able to see it
on our faces and hear it in our voices when we return. We also had a
great time with the amazingly adorable children of Nyagatare, as we
were able to play football and dance with them, visit their schools,
and receive informal lessons in Kinyarwanda (the native language,
although many speak very good English).

Many of you will also be happy to know that the Rwandan prayers for
marriage and children in our church have been fervently renewed by
Pastor Emmanuel and several members of their Development Committee
(our Rwanda Group’s counterparts).

Bishop Alexis and, today, Archbishop Kolini were incredibly grateful
to have us and shared wonderful advice and prayers in encouraging our
ministry here in Rwanda and especially back home.

We got a real sense of the (material) poverty and desolation resulting
from the genocide yesterday, yesterday visiting Jon’s friends Aisha
and Gloria, whose entire families were killed, and today visiting
Kininya, a reconciliation housing association in which victims and
killers are living and working together. As Blake said, in the Bible
people went up mountains to meet with God. And as we were there in
Kininya, we met Him as well. Friends, He is here and moving mightily.

Today we also attended a screening of As We Forgive at a local prison
housing 5,200 inmates, over half of whom are there for genocide
crimes. The message of repentance and forgiveness was powerful and
opened some wonderful doors for conversation.

We give thanks for the work that the Lord has done already, and for
the favor and protection He has shown us. We miss everyone from home
but are grateful for your prayers and the opportunity to be sent out
on behalf of our churches. Please continue to pray for our health and
safety, as well as the As We Forgive church leaders’ conference that
we’ll be attending the next couple of days.

Grace and peace from our Almighty God,

The Rwanda Team

Starting Sep. 15, Essentials is a 6-week interactive course.  It is a great introduction to the DNA of our church, and it is the best way into our community if you are relatively new to Rez.  The course has been significantly reworked over the summer, so it would also be a great refresher even if you’ve been through Essentials before.   Attending the course is also an essential step for anyone wanting to become a church member.   To sign up, contact Matthew Mason: mmason[AT]rezchurch(DOT)org.

FPU consists of a 13-week DVD curriculum taught by financial expert Dave Ramsey that incorporates small-group discussions to encourage accountability and discipleship.   The course has a proven track record of helping people pay off debt, start saving money, and develop healthy habits of financial stewardship and investment.  FPU will run on Monday evenings, 7:30-9:30pm at Christ our Shepherd Church, Sep. 13-Dec. 6.  For more information, see the website, http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/home/, and contact Tom Scriven: tgscriven[AT]yahoo(DOT)com.

Muraho! The Rwanda team from Church of the Rez, Advent and Ascension made it safely to Rwanda on Friday, August 27 and has spent the past few days in Nyagatare (the location of our sister church), meeting the new pastor and his family. We also attended church services with the sister church and played football (soccer) with lots of children from the community. After church yesterday we had a screening of “As We Forgive,” followed by discussion. We also met with local university students and they are interested in connecting with university students in D.C.

Today we visited four schools where we sponsor 120 children from the church. The students at all the schools were very excited to see us.

We are thankful for all of your prayers. God has been very gracious to us. Please continue to pray as we leave for Kigali tomorrow where we will be for the remainder of the trip.

Grace & peace,

The Rwanda Team

Please join us this and every first Sunday at 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM for our monthly Women’s Prayer Breakfasts.  A tropical breakfast will be provided.  For more information, please contact Grace-Ann Lewis at hellograceann[AT]yahoo(DOT)com.

Dan Claire preached a sermon entitled “Gaining the Whole World” based on Luke 9:1-27 on August 22, 2010.  You can listen or download here.

For those who prefer the convenience of online giving, this option is now available via a link on the Rez website. To get started, click on the e-Give button on the right panel of the Rez website (www.rezchurch.org) and follow the prompts to create an account with e-Give, a third-party processor of donations.

Once an account is created, you can make a one-time gift or set up recurring gifts, which
will be withdrawn from your checking account by a secure ACH transaction. If you wish to designate how a gift is to be used (e.g., Urban Missions Council, International Missions Council), this option is available on the “Giving Designations” page (Step 4 in the checkout process). Gifts not designated for a particular fund will be treated as contributions to the general offering. Online gifts will be included in year-end charitable giving statements.

Matthew Mason preached a sermon entitled “Faith That Saves” based on Luke 8:40-56 on August 15, 2010.  You can listen or download here.

This fall, Urban Bridge Builders (UBB)(a school-based community development organization) is launching a mentoring program for parents who are expecting a new child in the Hopkins and Potomac Gardens Housing communities.  Last summer, several Rezzers worked with UBB and Hopkins residents to build a new playground.  On Thursday, August 12,there will be an information session at the home of Emilie Kao, 1209 Potomac Ave. SE at 7pm.  Alvin Chu, President of Urban Bridge Builders and Claire Koroma will be there to introduce their vision for the program and to answer questions.  Alvin will also be available after the service tonight to answer questions.  UBB is looking for volunteers to help mentor the expectant parents and babysit children.

A group for Church of the Resurrection will be traveling to Rwanda in late August to visit or sister church in Nyagatare and to work with the As We Forgive Rwanda Initiative.   We have two opportunities to support them as they make their final fund-raising push. If you’d like to make a general donation to the trip, you can do that by writing a check to ‘Church of the Resurrection’, including ‘Rwanda Trip’ in the memo line and dropping it in the offering basket on Sunday.

The group is holding a ‘Groovin’ For Rwanda’ fundraiser on Friday, August 20th – please mark your calendars and plan to attend!    You may buy tickets ahead of time by using the Paypal button below. See the embedded flyer for all the details.