Preparations are well underway for AE’s first mission of 2018, which will operate in the Rwandan capital city of Kigali.
The ‘Kigali, West Mission for Jesus 2018’ will run from the 10th to the 17th of June, and will focus on the Nyarugenge District, which is one of the three major areas in Kigali.
Our team in Rwanda are working to partner with 50 local churches in the targeted area and are aiming to reach over 56,000 people with the good news of Christ.
The team’s preparations include training around 520 people from local churches with basic evangelism skills, in order to see as many people as possible come to know Jesus. The team are hoping to see approximately 7,000 conversions to Christ through your prayers and support.
Nyarugenge is in the Western part of the city and is home to most of the city’s government and financial institutions.
While many of the country’s wealthiest business people live in this region, there is large income disparity between the rich and the poor. A large exodus from rural areas has resulted in the district having the highest population density in the country, which has also led to widespread unemployment among younger people.
Nyarugenge is also home to the Islamic Cultural Centre. Recently, young people have been converting to Islam in great numbers, which further presses the need for evangelism in the area.
The region also has the University of Rwanda and as well as a campus of Mount Kenya University. There is a high potential for outreach amongst the region’s large student population.
Large evangelistic meetings have already been planned for the Kigali city centre, large colleges such as the Kigali Health Institute, and even some of the local prisons.
The prostitution trade is also quite common in the area, but the team are working on strategies with local churches to effectively minister to people in this industry. The team are looking to provide training in areas such as tailoring and catering so people in the trade can eventually run their own businesses. Food supplies will also be provided to households in desperate need of support.
There’s still a great deal of work to be done before the mission launches in June, but we’re excited to see how the Gospel will transform the local community.
Please keep the AE team in Rwanda and the local churches in Nyarugenge in your prayers over the coming months.