2020 Rwanda Conference News The Rwanda conference is a miracle story. God can do amazing things if we have faith. A few years ago, I decided to start an online mentorship project on the internet (www.jesusdust.org). Soon we had over 10,000 visits to our website, and requests for training started coming in. The sceptics said: you cannot build relationships over the internet and saw the project as a waste of time. God works when we persevere in sowing seed. Richard, a young student in Kigali, Rwanda, joined a local campus discipleship group, wanted more and searched the internet. He found J e s u s D u s t ' s website and enrolled in our m e n t o r s h i p p r o g r a m , “ E l e m e n t a r y Teachings.” At JesusDust, we don’t just teach; we train students into practice. Richard, impressed with the mentorship he received, attempted to get his previous campus discipleship group leader involved, Mpore Jean d’Amour. Mpore, a professional and busy man, was reluctant to get involved, but Richard kept on persuading him over six months. He somehow knew that the mentorship he received is the type of thing that Mpore would be interested in. After six months of persuasion, Mpore contacted JesusDust but he was still sceptical and reluctant at this stage. Mpore had seen many Christian organizations, teachings, and training courses. He saw JesusDust as just another one of many. Eventually, he agreed to an introduction session. The introduction offer got his attention after learning what the program was all about. He progressed with the mentorship program for seven months. He was so impressed with the mentorship and course content that he requested that JesusDust host a conference in Riwanda. Mpore, a leader of several g r o u p s , saw how this could help him in his ministry. The best was yet to come. A f t e r m a n y prayers we accepted his invitation and scheduled a trip for February 2020. This was to be a trip to a place I had never seen, an area in Africa with one of the worst reputations in the world, Rwanda, known for genocide. I was on my way to people I didn’t know. I had to trust God! My mother said; don’t go; they are going to cut your liver and kidneys and sell it on the internet. We won’t see you again. Others questioned and discouraged me. Even Christian leaders showed no interest in supporting the project, but where God works, there will always be sceptics and persecution. We were excited. JesusDust was going to host their first conference in Nyamata, Rwanda, during February 2020. I arrived and learned that Nyamata was one of the villages from where the 1994 genocide spread. The priests from the Nyamata’s Catholic Church locked Tutsi’s villagers seeking protection inside their church building and slew them there. A shocking and unthinkable truth. The government forced the parish to close and declared it a memorial. Today the Rwandan government and churches have a strained relationship. It was a sign that churches, ministers, and members have lost the authenticity of the gospel. But when I walked the streets, I saw ordinary people like us, everyone and everything looked normal. Mpore, my host, is part of the genocide generation and shared many heart-wrenching stories. His family fled Rwanda a long time ago and only returned two months after the 1994 genocide. Many of their friends were slaughtered in the genocide. But my mission was to integrate with the ordinary people, so I lived with Mpore’s family (Luke 10:7). Ester, Mpore’s wife, hosted me during my stay and offered me the best hospitality. Most of all, I received their love and service during my stay. I was treated like a family member! The living was simple, without all the western luxuries, such as toilets, showers, kitchens, and the like. The means of transport was just as different, bicycle taxi service, regulated by the government but great things were on their way. Paul, from Congo, and Mpore assisted me in training the attendees. We were there to provide a biblical but practical approach to revive and restore Jesus’ church. Trainers should train trainers to restore the truth. We provide this to both ordinary believers and pastors so that they can become the next generation of teachers and trainers. We work side by side to start new groups, restore churches, equip and train pastors. Once the trainers are trained, we leave them and trust the Holy Spirit, so that we don’t become another institution. Institutionalising Christianity restrains the power of the Holy Spirit and puts men in control. We set our students free and then support them. We wish to implement a sustainable model for discipleship (practical discipleship). Afterward, we continue to provide support and further training to those that are now trainers. We provide further training to people, leaders and organizations on Jesus’ servant leadership model, and serve the communities’ needs where we work. We are not building a religious empire for ourselves, but we are restoring believers to the truth to evangelize the world, as Jesus commanded. We believe that all believers should be priests (1Pet 2:9) and equipped (Heb 5:12) to do the good work. That is our mission. We praise God for the outcome of the conference in Rwanda! We provided training for a total of nine days. We trained the gospel truth and equipped believers and leaders with “on to maturity teachings.” We covered “Four Fields,” “Elementary Teachings,” “Prayer,” and “Discipleship and Accountability.” Approximately fifty people attended the conference, an average of 25 people during weekdays, but on weekends we had around 38 people attending. The attendees included 12 pastors from five churches. We were also invited to preach and teach at two churches. As a result, three churches and three small groups asked us to equip them to become multiplication movements. We also received invitations to other countries in Africa. A church in Burundi invited us to train fifteen of their pastors. People and pastors attending the conference brought their spouses and other visitors. We were able to equip many people with a “Train the Trainer” method and many new students were enrolled. We gained an approximate total of one hundred new Rwandan Elementary Teachings students. They consist of ordinary people, group leaders and pastors. Maybe the highlight of the conference was changed hearts and new understanding and admiration of many of the Cross of Christ. Isaiah, a local church leader with a master’s degree in theology, commented: “I am amazed about what I have learned after so many years in ministry and at my age.” Mpore himself said: “This conference has opened my eyes about many things.” I believe that the impact of changed hearts cannot be underestimated. Many youths were so touched that they now want to go into full-time ministry. The conference has pointed many to Jesus and started equipping them for the work ahead. Our expectation has been exceeded, and God worked far beyond what we thought would happen. We aimed to create a sustainable ministry (multiplication and care) rather than a quick conversion ministry. We hope to establish new small churches everywhere and transform current groups. We expect many people will become disciples because of the newly trained disciples. Mpore and I are so excited that we struggle to sleep at night! And I cannot hide my excitement about what God has done as I arrive back in Perth. Praise God! Glory to God! We have a lot of work ahead of us! Special thanks to Mpore, Paul, Kim and everyone else that contributed! Thanks to my wife, George, “NoPlaceLeft,” all other content creators, as well as the churches that equipped me as a disciple! Going forward, we hope to grow and build JesusDust ministry to impact Africa or wherever God may send us. Our short-term aim in Rwanda is to equip three ministry leaders, train 50 believers to trainer level, and implement a ministry of growth and accountability. We also aim to start five new churches in smaller villages and commence training. We are in the process of setting up a JesusDust office in Rwanda to forward our mission in Africa, equipping believers, transforming groups and serving communities' needs. We are very excited about what God is doing!