Zurich. Late afternoon on July 18, Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider arrived in Kigali, Rwanda. It was his first visit to Rwanda as Chief Apostle.
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Children welcome the Chief Apostle
Photo: NAC Canada
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Chief Apostle Schneider in Rwanda
Photo: NAC Canada
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Invited guests for the service (Photos: NAC Canada)
Photo: NAC Canada
Invited guests for this visit were District Apostle Michael Deppner(DRC East); District Apostle Tshitshi Tshisekedi(DRC West); District Apostle Helper Robert Nsamba(Zambia) and well as all the Apostles in the Canada District Africa and the Bishops of Rwanda. The host District Apostle Mark Woll (Canada), District Apostle Helper John Sobottka (Canada) and well as Bishop’s Neil Jansen and Gary Trautmann, both also from Canada and guests stayed at the Nyungwe Forest Lodge situated in the Gisakura tea plantation on the edge of the Nyungwe National Park. They took a small plane to arrive at the lodge located in Kamembe, approximately 250 km from Kigali. The central African Nyungwe National Park is one the largest remaining tracts of mountain forest on the continent reaching a height of 2950 metres.
Meetings and service in Kamembe
Here the Chief Apostle conducted an Apostle and Bishop meeting; held a ministers and wives service for Evangelist’s and up with local youth in nearby Nyamasheke on the Saturday and the highlight was an outdoor divine service in Kirambo on Sunday, July 20th. Invited were all members of the country. Many came from as far away as Kigali, the national capital, a 5-6 hour bus ride. A total of 1,623 attended this divine service held by Chief Apostle Schneider.
God is a God of love
The bible word for this service was from Psalms 9:10… “And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord have not forsaken those who seek you.” Chief Apostle Schneider expounded on this word such that the coming of Lord is compared to a harvest day – when the Lord returns he will come for those souls that are ready. He used a natural example of mangos – you would not pick this fruit until it is ripe. Spiritually, for those that are ready does not mean being perfect. Just as not every mango is perfect, some have spots – nevertheless still ripe and good to eat. No individual is perfect! God is full of love, He will not abandon those that trust in him.
Immediately after this divine service the Chief Apostle and the invited guests began their journey home.