Skip to main content

#SHINE21GlobalMIssionChallenge- Blog 1

So I am calling this the SHINE "21" challenge. A 21-day global impact mission involving 21 people, preceded by 21 days of fasting and prayer, and chronicled in 21 blog posts. Yes, I hope to publish one blog per day over the next 21- days of our global efforts here in Rwanda and then next in Kinshasa. 


The challenge's hoped for outcome is a powerful manifestation of God's glory during two of our SHINE ministry's 2014 summer festivals in Rwanda and in the Democratic Republic of Congo.


The challenge is already half way through.  The first half was a 21-day fast I engaged in from July 7 to July 27.  During those days, like the prophet Daniel in Daniel 10, I ate no meat, ate no bread, and I abstained from all caffeinated drinks, drinking only water and occasional grape juice and eating vegetable based foods. 


It also involved the recruitment and training of additional people to our SHINE staff to make a total of 21 people that form the team for this high impact two-nation mission. 


For the Rwanda portion, in addition to the four SHINE staff (Stanton, Ceallaigh, Shug, and I), God gave us 14 additional participants from two Twin Cities based churches: Westwood Community Church, Chanhassen, MN and Renovation Church, Blaine, MN. 


For the next portion, I have two pastors joining me in Kinshasa; Pastor Gary Brothers of Cape First Family Church, Cape Girardeau, MO and Pastor McNay Nkashama of Global Impact Center, Minneapolis.  Along with my wife we constitute 21 people.


Today, our Rwanda team arrived here in Kigali, Rwanda and so begins the second phase of the challenge.  By God's grace we travelled safely from Minneapolis to Amsterdam to Nairobi and eventually to Kigali arriving a few hours ago.


We checked in at Kigali Serena Hotel at 1 AM. In a few minutes we will be checking out and heading to the Kigali genocide memorial.  It so happens that mid last month, Rwanda marked 20 years since the end of the genocide that killed one million people in a mere 100 days.  God forbid that that should ever happen again.


After the memorial visit, we will take the one hour drive to Muhanga which will be the epicenter of our week-long evangelistic mission. 


Today also marks the end of three-days of fasting and prayer by three-hundred Rwandan intercessors from all across Rwanda over the city of Muhanga ahead of the mission week.  They had congregated in Muhanga praying day and night and eating nothing. What a powerful thing for the church of Rwanda.  And now, let the harvest begin!


Lord, do it again!  May you be greatly famous through your servants as we reach out with your love to thousands this week here in Rwanda. Follow us on Facebook for pictures!


     

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

No Room in the Inn...21st Century Version

It is the Christmas season 2009.  Like Joseph and Mary 2000 years ago, a young couple are on the virge of the birth of their first baby boy.  Although they are doing everything to prepare for the big day, it still catches them by surprise.  Instead of the regular 40 weeks, the baby is arriving six weeks early. Because they are not expecting it this early, their bags are not packed nor is the nursery fully furnished.  Safe for an early morning warning in a dream to the father to prepare to be in a delivery room and with assurance (from the Lord) that it would be o.k, the day started off as any other day. At 6:00 AM, the couple prays together for about 40 minutes in their home in Victoria.  They take showers.  At about 7:30 AM, the husband goes to work briefly from his home office while the wife prepares something for their breakfast together. Within a couple hours they will have a routine prenatal doctor's appointment.  Later in the evening the wife's sister and her two beau

The Other Frontline in the Battle for Souls- By Suzanne Wanyonyi

I've learned quite a bit while Sammy's been away in India. Other wives have told me over the years, that when their husbands are gone for ministry for extended periods of time, the enemy tries to attack during the husband's absence by causing the garage door to break, or the toilets to break or the hot water heater to go out. So, from the very beginning of our marriage I anticipated those things and shared my concern about them with Sammy. He understood. We've always had a plan in case something breaks around the house while he's away. Well, none of those things have ever happened. Other things have happened.  During this latest mission, while nearly 80,000 people were being won to Christ, the attack came in a way I wasn't expecting: The kids. There were more than a few nights where I had about 2 hours of sleep because the kids kept waking up. With Malaika it's not so uncommon, but Junior has slept from 8-8 for as long as I can remember. He'

Malawi Day 6- Breakthrough At Last as Hundreds Respond in Lilongwe!

Sammy Wanyonyi gives the evangelistic message in Lilongwe, Malawi on Sunday evening. Finally, God crowned our efforts with breakthrough as several thousands of people flocked onto the local soccer field in Area 25 of Malawi's Capital Lilongwe, to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ. Several hundreds responded to the call of Salvation. Now we are praying and looking forward to a great harvest of souls on the closing night of the Festival here tomorrow, Wednesday night.  Until then, it had been a tough week, to say the least.  On the openning night of the events last Wednesday September 1st, it felt frustrating.  The rally was scheduled to start too late in the night.  The sun sets by 6:00 PM here.  But the events started around 7:30 PM.  In a country where power is unreliable, it was not surprising that half-way through the program we lost power.  The few hundred people that had gathered began to scatter in the dark.  By the time my friend Nick Hall got up to speak, we barely ha