The crowds pressed in on the team. It
was their last open air meeting of the day. As the
sun began to sink in the West, they had set up their
gear in a dusty marketplace.
The gear included a beat up compact pickup truck. It
was converted into a stage with the help of a
plywood board laid across the bed. Portable speakers
were raised up on aluminum poles and connected to a
small sound system.
The open air meeting began. Praise songs drew the
crowd around the truck, and then a team member began
to share the Gospel. After the Gospel presentation
was complete, African pastors, their wives, and
American team members dispersed through the crowd,
sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with those who
showed interest.
One team member placed a digital camera in their
waist pack, forgetting to zip it shut. Darkness
began to fall, and it was time to return for the
day. As he walked to the bus, the team member
checked his pack. The camera was gone. With the help
of an African pastor, they began to ask around with
the hope that somebody had seen who took the camera
from the pack. They came to a group of boys who
claimed to know who stole it.
It was quickly getting dark and the team had to
leave. A few of the African pastors offered to stay
behind and see if they could find the young thief.
Following the boys’ lead, they went to a small house
in one of the many poverty stricken ghettos in
Africa’s most densely populated city. The thief was
a boy of thirteen, and he was being raised by a
single mother.
The boy was not there, but his older brother, who
was a Muslim, asked the pastors to wait for his
return.
When he finally came home, the men did not threaten
the thirteen year old boy, but instead asked if
there was any way they could buy the camera back
from him. Disarmed by the loving attitude of the
pastors, he left the home and returned minutes later
with the camera. Before leaving, one of the pastors
began to share the Gospel with the child. Having
experienced the uncommon love of the pastors, he
knelt and accepted the greater love of Christ.
This young boy was one of 11,283 people who came to
Christ during the Kigali, Rwanda Project. 275
pastors and 82 pastors’ wives were trained in
evangelism and Christian leadership. 97 churches
were planted in and around the city of Kigali. The
investment of people like you into Reaching Souls
impacted thousands, and it led to an eternal change
in the life of a thirteen year old boy.
