Congo and Rwanda
A report by Dave Palmer, elder of
Tavistock Community Church

Dave Palmer from Tavistock Community Church and Bishop Sadiki of the Family of God churches. Dave and Sadiki spent a week working together in Rwanda and the Congo this Easter.

he border is closed for three days!"

Those were the words I heard as I sat in a crowded minibus-taxi in Kigali, Rwanda on my way to DR Congo. It was the voice of the person sitting next to my friend Sadiki Zacharie. Sadiki is a Rwandan Bishop with whom I was travelling to the neighbouring country to do a three-day church conference. We had been planning this conference for some weeks earlier, believing that God was directing us to go at this time and help establish churches strong in faith in Jesus and able to stand before the opposition and uncertainty of civil war. The neighbour had been talking on his mobile to someone who lived there. At that moment it all looked as though my main reason for coming to Africa had fallen apart. Nevertheless Sadiki and I decided we would go on by faith, not accepting that God had called us to give up.

ive hours later in the pouring rain we arrived at the border crossing with Congo, only to find that no-one was crossing over! After making enquiries at the customs office, I discovered not only that Rwandans such as Sadiki could not cross while Europeans could, but also that there were all kinds of rumours about what lay on the other side. Rwanda was remembering its 10th memorial of the genocide, and the Congo is still suffering from forces opposing the government. There are still tensions between the two countries and they view Europeans especially with suspicion. So, after a quick prayer for courage, I crossed alone hoping that all would be well. I waited at the customs for a friend who was to pick me up. He was late in arriving and I was eyed suspiciously by the Congolese officials. Eventually he arrived, we sorted the official administration and he took me to stay with his family. Everything seemed normal but there were rumours of soldiers around the town. Sadiki, who had booked a room in a hotel and was soon fast asleep, was woken up with a message for him to go to the border. When he did, he was given special permission to cross. Hallelujah! We met up again and in the next three days the conference went ahead.

Dave preaching at the Bukavu pastors' conference

It was a great opportunity to meet and see again fellow Christians who had seen tremendous growth in their churches in two years. What were two churches two years ago are now thirty-six churches, all needing help and support from us. Our aim was to set in a good foundation on Jesus as owner and builder of the church and to encourage them to trust in Him and follow the teaching of the Bible and become a spiritual force in the nation for good. We did begin to do this with much appreciation from the Pastors whom we met.

After that I visited a school in Kabarore, Rwanda where we are supporting a church-based project for a primary school and eventually, we hope, a secondary school in the east of the country. The Headmaster of the school, whose name is Emmanuel, is also the leader of the growing number of churches in the South East of Rwanda. Here we brought some financial help and encouragement to the Christians. The school particularly needed help because owing to some opposition they had not been able to pay the three teachers and the Headmistress for four months!

mmanuel is a short stocky quiet man with a round face and a great sense of fun. As we sat over a meal in his small house he told us of how he had on two occasions nearly been killed in motor accidents when the taxi he was in overturned and on both occasions spent time in hospital recovering from broken ribs. Worse to follow was the death a few months ago of his youngest son through illness. But his faith and vision for his country and the Lord of his country is undiminished. He said God is good, and pointed up at the ceiling where a light bulb dangled. A few weeks ago electricity arrived in his village for the first time. A friend of his, an Anglican priest then came up to him and said, "It is not right for a pastor with such a large church and school responsibilities to live in a house with no light." The friend said God had told him to pay for the installation, the wiring, the switches and even the light bulbs so that Emmanuel could have light in the evenings. And as the light comes on in his house, so the spiritual light of the gospel of Jesus is beginning to light up Rwanda.

The nation has changed greatly in the last ten years. It is beginning to look outwards and find healing, with many plans for tourist parks and investment. The infrastructure is better than I have ever seen, with even a high road being built to western standards to connect the countries of East and Central Africa. As it says in the Bible, where sin abounds, God’s grace abounds more!

(Above) Dave with members of team in Bukavu

Dave (far right), at the end of his stay in Africa, with (L-R) Colin, Sadiki, Evelyn and John Bosco at John Bosco's Nairobi church.