Thursday 20 December 2007

Brendan lending a hand

Brendan spent this morning peeling potatoes and serving a meal to 150 orphans at a local AIDS widows and orphan ministry run by our friend Chrissy. Afterwards all the children were given a box of treats and a sweater to bring home. Brendan was very pleased to be able to serve.

Wishing you all a Joyful Christmas Season and Blessed New Year

We would like to wish all our family and friends a joyful Christmas holiday and a New Year filled with God's blessings. We will put out a newsletter in the New Year and let you know how our Christmas in Rwanda has been. Many thanks again for the wonderful support and encouragement we have received this past year.

In Christ,           

Patrick, Valerie, Joel and Brendan

 

Friday 14 December 2007

Welcome

A warm welcome to all the folks who joined our Google Groups to get regular updates about what is happening with the Vineyard in Rwanda. We hope to keep you all well informed with developments in and around our small community. We greatly appreciate your interest and support and hope you will visit us regularly on our website. Seasons greetings and God's blessing be with each one of you.



Instant message from any web browser! Try the new Yahoo! Canada Messenger for the Web BETA

Wednesday 12 December 2007

Rwandan baskets

Esperance has recently completed a course in basket weaving. This is a sample of some of her work. We want to help her get set up with her own business in the New Year. The basket with the lid is woven from very fine Aloe Vera fiber, takes about a week to make and sells for $10 here in Rwanda. Esperance is supporting her 4 children while her husband is doing community service.  



Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr!

Tuesday 11 December 2007

Rwandan Waterfall

Rwanda is such a beautiful country and I have a real soft spot for waterfalls. We found this one on a trip to Kibuye a few weeks ago. Kibuye is on the shores of Lake Kivu in Rwanda's Western Province.


2 Candidates for the Teaching Literacy Class

Here are 2 ladies from our church getting ready to go to an orientation class to learn to teach literacy. The classes are organized by a missionary friend who allowed us to plug in some of our people. We hope to have a few more ladies join the first teacher's class in March. There are many adults in the church who want to learn to read and write. Meanwhile the local authorities have asked if they can use our building to start their own literacy classes. We are more than happy to oblige as so many in the community will benefit.

Friday 2 November 2007

Thanks to all our friends

 
THANKS
 
A word of thanks to all the people who have written letters, postcards and sent small packages to us here in Rwanda. We really do appreciate the correspondence and wish we could respond to each one personally. As this would take so much time we wanted to say a great big thanks to all of you via this web page. Blessings and fond regards from all of us.
Pat, Val, Joel, and Brendan


Be smarter than spam. See how smart SpamGuard is at giving junk email the boot with the All-new Yahoo! Mail

Friday 26 October 2007

Wednesday groups FGW project

Our Wednesday group had a collection among themselves to the rent some land and plant a cash crop of tomatoes using the Farming God's Way project. After a few weeks some of the plants are already producing fruits. Please pray that the harvest will be plentiful.


Be smarter than spam. See how smart SpamGuard is at giving junk email the boot with the All-new Yahoo! Mail

Wednesday group

The Wednesday group after their meeting outside our ministry center. Antoine and Innocent are 3rd and 4th from the right. Some of the men have recently been set free from alcohol addiction and many in this group suffer from AIDS.


All new Yahoo! Mail -
Get a sneak peak at messages with a handy reading pane.

New meeting in the mountain

Innocent and Pat went to the mountain to help start a new small group. Many locals showed up and 2 guys asked for prayer to come back to the Lord. One drunken man asked for prayer to be freed from addiction to alcohol. His wife who is a Christian prayed for him also. Innocent taught from Matthew 3 and we had a good time of worship together.


Be smarter than spam. See how smart SpamGuard is at giving junk email the boot with the All-new Yahoo! Mail

Sunday 14 October 2007

Baptisms


On Saturday September 22 we baptized 15 new believers. We gathered at 10 a.m. at the ‘Friends Church’ where they have an outdoor tank. Innocent and Hakiza led worship and Pat did the baptisms in Kinyarwanda. A fun time was had by all. Afterwards a celebration was held at our church building and we catered for 200 family and friends of the ones who got baptized. The new extension was full of guests and provided much needed shade for all.

On Sunday morning we had 10 people give their testimonies and it was a powerful time of sharing. Many talked of being set free from alcohol and drug abuse. One man said that after years of being known as ‘drunkard’ he is now known as ‘born again one’ after 1 year of being dry. Another man said that he was made to feel important by Antoine who visited him in his home and ministered to him. He had never found this personal interest in him from a Christian before and after many months of being free of alcohol and drug abuse has now built a house on a plot of land he owned. Another told us of the criminal activities he was involved in and on September 22, 2005 was sent to jail. While in jail his wife became a Christian through our church and began a home group in her house. He began to seek God in prison and was released early on September 22, 2006. When he arrived home and found that his wife had become a Christian and was hosting a small group in their house, he saw this as a confirmation from God that He was really reaching out to him. On September 22, 2007 he and his wife were baptized and the joy of the Lord just flows out of them. There were many other testimonies and great applauds and shouts of joy were heard. It was like Psalm126 come to life.

When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed.

Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.

Then it was said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them."

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev.

Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.

He, who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy,

Carrying sheaves with him.

Already classes have begun again with 5 candidates for the next baptism ceremony which will take place in December.