The Africa Bible College students - leaders chosen by their respective conferences - finished their two final classes in person for a week in Rwanda in December. The final classes were Biblical Leadership and Introduction to Missions. Each weekday was spent in classes reviewing material and learning new materials. One of the most exciting things was our project at the end of the Missions Class. After learning about God's heart for all peoples and the number of people groups that still don't have access to the gospel, we had a country-specific project. Each student or group from the same country sat down with joshuaproject.net and identified all the UPGs in their own country. Then, they looked through the list and identified any UPGs that were culturally or geographically close to them. All but one country represented could quickly identify a UPG they could easily see a way to begin reaching out to. In fact, one of the students is from a UPG and has already started to minister among these people! We discussed realistic initial steps that can be taken to start mobilizing their conferences and churches for ministry to these people. For a few years the board has been talking about UPGs and praying for ways that we can engage them. We are beginning to see how God can specifically use the Missionary Society and its partners to fulfill this task. Praise the Lord!
The week concluded with a joyous graduation celebration. Our gracious hosts, the Rwanda SDB Conference, had arranged a brass band to lead the instructors and students through the main streets of the city, dancing and celebrating the graduation. Local officials were invited, and a large crowd gathered to see what was going on. All the students were proud to have made it through the two-year course. The seventeen students who graduated represent 8 countries - Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. We are excited to continue to see how God will use these leaders and Conferences for His kingdom building. We were also able to have discussions around what it might look like for the next cohort of ABC students. Some of the graduates will become instructors, supported by current instructors. Eventually, we intend for Africans to completely assume the leadership and operation of the ABC.
Please see the March edition of the Sabbath Recorder for a more detailed article.
Questions? Call us at 401-596-4326 or email info@sdbmissions.org.