They will glorify God for your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with others through the proof provided by this service. I Corinthians 9:12-13
You’ve heard of sponsoring a child, but have you ever considered sponsoring a church?
Love Alive in Rwanda is rolling out a new ministry opportunity. Through befriending a local church here in Rwanda, you will have the opportunity to partner in the ministry of the gospel in a rural African village, while still able to rem ain in your home and work in your home country.
Assisting Churches Through Stewardship
Throughout the book of Acts, we see that the New Testament church was one of harmony, unity, generosity, and prayer. We see an evident spirit of giving to the kingdom of God, and esteeming His church and His people above themselves.
Many of Paul’s letters further address the need of supporting pastors, evangelist and missionaries (I Cor 9:4-11). Paul expressed here, If we have sown a spiritual seed, is it not ok to reap a material harvest? We know that the church of Philippi supported Paul’s missionary endeavors in Macedonia (Phil 4:15).In Galatians, Paul instructs to provide for those who share the Gospel.
Here in Rwanda, we are privileged to befriend and partner with many local churches. Often, the churches we are working alongside, are new church plants, very poor village churches, and churches whose members have very little or nothing to give in the way of finances. In many village churches, I have had the opportunity to witness the offering time in which, those in the church bring the “first fruits of their labors,” a few avocados, some corn or beans, a bunch of bananas. That is what they are able to bring. Now the pastor must try to resell these items in order to obtain some small coins for the church.
The standard here is to allow pastors to accept 20% of the offering to meet the needs of themselves and their families, and the rest to be designated for the church. This may come to no more than a dollar per week.
As we continue to work alongside these churches, the needs of the churches in purchasing land, building, purchasing benches to sit on, or providing a small stipend for the pastor are very evident.
Love Alive has selected 5 church plants that we would like to begin with in the ministry of ACTS Assisting Churches Through Stewardship. Each of these churches is known to be actively growing and seeing souls saved and spiritual growth in the members. The pastors are known to be godly leaders, actively serving the Lord, and having a vision to expand the work He has given them for the Kingdom.
We have requested each of these pastors to provide written information concerning themselves, their church history, and their vision for their church, and to provide photos.
My desire is that individuals or churches would choose to connect with these Rwandan church plants in stewarding them and praying for them. This will not only encourage the local pastors to know that they have a friend in another country praying for them and interceding for them, but also provide an avenue of growth and expansion that they may see more souls brought to Christ.
How much would it cost?
There is no one set amount. We are simply looking for fellow churches or individuals who wish to befriend one of the 5 churches, correspond with them, hear about their vision, and their heart, and to stand with them. While $100 a month could help tremendously, $50 and even $25 can help these churches with minor costs such as electricity, or paying for a watchman for the property.
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. Hebrews 6:10
The ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many acts of thanksgiving to God.
To become a partner of our ACTS ministry and support a village church, you may do so here:
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