In the early hours of the 15th June, 2022, I was on my way to Rwanda, after a gap of nearly two and a half years. It’s true what they say about absence making the heart grow fonder.

My connection with Rwanda

It wasn’t my first visit. In 2007 I had paid a visit to a church in Hull that the Lord had blessed with testimonies of physical healing. Whilst there, I received a prophetic word about being sent to the nations. Within three weeks of this event three different and unconnected people came and spoke to me about Rwanda. Essentially, the Lord ambushed me and the following year (2008) my journey began. Rwanda has been strongly on my heart ever since, and I have visited the country numerous times.

I was so looking forward to seeing my dear brothers and sisters in Christ again. I found myself genuinely echoing what the apostle Paul wrote. “For I long to visit so I can bring you some spiritual gift that will help you grow strong in the Lord. When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.” (Rom 1:11-12)

Bishop Paul and I had kept in touch by WhatsApp throughout the pandemic, but it was so good to be back on Rwandan soil with a dear friend with whom I have shared a particular faith journey over the past 12 years or so. God has given me an adoptive heart for Rwanda and its people, in particular his church there.

I am regularly witnessing lives being transformed through the healing and reconciliation work being undertaken by churches and Christian agencies.

In stark contrast to the horrors of the preceding genocide, I am regularly witnessing lives being transformed through the healing and reconciliation work being undertaken by churches and Christian agencies. My friend is both an advocate of, and a practitioner in, this ministry, where the impossible is made possible by the grace of God and the work of the Cross.

A thirsty people

I hit the ground running, with a hectic schedule for the first half of my visit in particular. We spent a few days ministering in Kigali (the capital) where I had a number of opportunities for teaching and Holy Spirit ministry. In particular, I had the privilege of ministering to a group of senior leaders who had significant influence across the city. I shared a specific prophetic word I had for them about continuing to dream.

Then I met with some local pastors, encouraging them to lean into what God had for them now, rather than looking back. I had an unexpected opportunity to do some work with married couples, which resulted in a spontaneous desire to create more time and space for marriages to flourish.

After a few days we headed north, to work with the group of pastors that Paul has oversight of (around 20 churches). Over six days we visited different locations in outlying areas. The Lord had given me specific messages to share prior to leaving Scotland, and with the exception of one, all were discharged. The people were thirsty for more and were very responsive to both the teaching and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Encouraging testimoniesThe church in Nyagashanga. After I spoke here people who had fallen out with each other were reconciled.

After the wilderness of the pandemic, many people had either strayed or become cold towards God and I was thrilled to see and hear that many had been restored to a vital connection with the Father during and following our visit. A few people who had been in my meetings came to faith and were later baptised.

I will share one story to illustrate how God was moving at times. At a place called Ryabega (where my own fellowship had contributed to the building work of the church), I led a men’s meeting. At the end of our initial worship time, I offered a prophetic word, the primary nature of which was an encouragement to all the leaders gathered from elsewhere to actively support this newly formed church.

After teaching, and further worship, different leaders spontaneously shouted out (one after another) to pledge a set number of bags of concrete that would mean the church flooring could be completed. One man in the meeting, who was a stonemason, even offered two days of his labour free of charge. This from churches who have precious few resources themselves!

It's the quickest I have ever seen a prophetic word – at least from my lips – beginning to be fulfilled! No one had highlighted the floor of the church, nobody made an appeal, and the presenting need was provided for within fifteen minutes!

Learning and sharing

Another highlight of the trip was the privilege of praying for children who were about to sit their final exams at primary school. Churches in Rwanda run schools of their own, in line with the national curriculum. These exams may determine what path they might take. The Holy Spirit enabled me to declare prophetic words over their lives, and Paul and I laid hands on them as each pupil passed between us.

It’s not been easy for easy for some of the pastors. We have been helping some of the poorest pastors through micro finance initiatives, but some of these have been significantly affected through the pandemic and other factors – principally drought and disease.

It's the quickest I have ever seen a prophetic word – at least from my lips – beginning to be fulfilled!

We will be looking to see what we can learn together, and to reinvest, as is appropriate in each case. Some of the projects are flourishing and providing, not only for the pastors’ families, but also enough to meet emergency needs in their congregation. (Pastors do not have any other income).

Encouraging signs

I want to finish up by sharing some final thoughts that may help put this trip in context.

At a National level, Rwanda, although the smallest of African nations, has become a focal point for significant gatherings in recent days. When I was there, it hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government conference, where 52 nations came together.

Since I returned, Bishop Paul’s own church in Kigali was host to a gathering of the Pan African Missional Alliance, a key organisation for spreading the gospel across the continent. This is a far cry from its darkest days of hatred and division, where other nations were desperate to leave the country and abandon the people to their fate.

There is the beginning of an arousal and awakening taking place in Rwanda and it is modelling what can happen when there is a genuine heart for healing and reconciliation and a desperate hunger for God.

Jorolene, one of the last survivors of the East Africa revival in the 1930s.Over the past year or so, I have been looking to discern what the Father might be doing in our day among us as his body. I will just say it as I see it, and you can weigh it up for yourself. I saw it in Rwanda and I am longing to see it here: I think we are being awakened as if from a sleep, and that it is happening in stages – arousal, awakening, arising and aligning. In one sense we cannot accelerate this process but perhaps we can inadvertently delay it.

I say all of this, whilst acknowledging that there are some green shoots already busting forth in differing parts of the world. There is the beginning of an arousal and awakening taking place in Rwanda and it is modelling what can happen when there is a genuine heart for healing and reconciliation and a desperate hunger for God. I, for one, take great encouragement from that.

A native of Edinburgh, Bill spent many years working in banking and social care. Latterly, he served on the pastoral team of a large church, a main role being developing a ministry among men. Bill’s heart is fathering men in the faith, which is also the theme of his book, ‘Heart of a Father’, recently reviewed in Prophecy Today.