THE RWANDAN EXPERIENCE

100,135 people were baptized A record breaking into Seventh-day Adventist Church as a result of an evangelistic series that took place throughout the country from May 13 – May 28, in Rwanda. This the largest of its kind in the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church

Over 100,000 people became disciples of Jesus in Rwanda.

Amazingly, a total of 2,200 people volunteered— both young and old alike, male and female, with and without prior experience—all who were willing to be used by God. And they were welcomed in Rwanda with open arms.

The volunteer preachers were asked to do just that… preach.

The local churches took care of everything else— preparatory Bible studies, visitation and invitations, nurturing, health and community events, and a myriad of other duties. Outdoor tents were rented, camp-meeting style, and the people came every night to watch the “Jesus Movie” and the presentations.

Each site was given an average goal of 45 baptisms.

The slogan for the programme was “EACH ONE REACH ONE LOSE NONE DISCIPLE ALL”

THE RWANDAN STRATEGY

1. Plan ahead. Strategize and decide on a date for the outreach.

2. Ask your church’s prayer warriors to organize a prayer chain for the event.

3. Invite church members to sign up for specific duties—from preachers to greeters to Bible workers to parking lot attendants. Make sure there is something for everyone. TMI should be all-inclusive.

4. Divide the members into teams One team per preaching site.

5. Invite other churches in your city or conference to join in blanketing your area with their own simultaneous events.

6. Plan community outreach programs leading up to the meetings free health classes, music lessons, cooking classes. Be creative—anything that interests the community will be well received.

7. Advertise Post the free classes in local papers, online, whatsapp pages, facebook and on grocery store bulletin boards.

8. Pray, pray, pray. The prayer for souls is always answered. It is not a “Thy will be done,” but a “we claim your promise” prayer.

9. Be enthusiastic. Enthusiasm is contagious 9. Be enthusiastic. Enthusiasm is contagious. If there is one thing the team experienced in Rwanda, it was joyous, welcoming enthusiasm. It felt like all of Rwanda was on fire for Jesus. Never underestimate the power of Spirit-filled enthusiasm.

10. Rejoice in what God will do 10. Rejoice in what God will do. He gave each participant in Rwanda a testimony to share, and He will do the same for you.

OTHER TERMS OF TMI Health Expo/Mega Clinic ADRA Projects

RESOURCES TMI Prayer Cards Bible Study Groups GLOW Tracts

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT Students and Pathfinders were heavily involved with bands and marches promoting TMI in Rwanda.

Women’s ministries outreach played a major role in community projects, inviting friends and family

RETENTION STRATEGIES The percentage of new converts who are still actively engaged in the church is more than 95% because of the strategies the church in Rwanda put in place to maintain them.

To help educate new converts, Adventist Churches in Rwanda assigned elders to teach them Biblical doctrines and to help model Christian living.

Current Challenge The biggest challenge now is physically accommodating the membership growth. Currently some are worshipping under trees, others in rented houses and others under temporary shelters.

If God can use a sister African country to accomplish such a task then He can similarly use Ghana to repeat the task in Africa in these last days

“The work of God in this earth can never be finished until the men and women comprising our church membership rally to the work and unite their effort with those of ministers and church officers.” Testimonies for the Church, 9:116.