27 October 2003

Dear Friends:

The last few months have been very important in the history of Rwanda. The country adopted a new constitution early in the summer, and there was a presidential election two months ago and an election for the national parliament about one month ago. These were the first elections the country has had since the 1994 genocide. They cannot be fairly described as genuinely open and free elections. Foreign observers noted many irregularities and pointed to the 95 percent of the vote garnered by Paul Kagame for the presidency as indications that all was not well. There were also quite a few things that the observers did not note but that we who live here heard about as we discussed the elections with friends and acquaintances in the community. Nevertheless, these entirely peaceful events were a major step forward on the road to stability and eventual democracy in Rwanda. They are something for which most people—certainly most people in Rwanda—are very thankful.

Although the genocide took place nine years ago, it continues to affect the country, as might be expected. The churches have responded in numerous ways, not least by stressing Christian ecumenism and acceptance of others.

In the 1980s Rwanda’s churches were estimated to have had the following proportions among the population: Catholics 52 percent, Protestants 21 percent, and Adventists 6 percent. Also about .8 percent of the population was Muslim. There are no reliable statistics today that I am aware of. However, most agree that since 1994 a large number of new denominations have entered Rwanda. One Christian organization estimated that there were 22 new churches by 1998. But now, five years later, this number could easily be doubled or even tripled.

These new churches are mostly Pentecostal and have very traditional views about the place of women in church and society. Some of them—perhaps many of them—hold at least some heretical views. For example the Eglise Neo-Apostolique accepts polygamy. The Eglise de Dieu du Nouveau Testament rejects the trinity. The Temoins de Jehavah (the Jehovah’s Witnesses) deny the divinity of Jesus and see the Holy Spirit as a force rather than a person. Also, the Muslim population has grown rapidly, by some estimates reaching 6 percent of the population. These trends, in part at least, are part of larger trends across sub-Saharan Africa. However, the explosion of new churches and mosques appearing since 1994 in Rwanda suggests that the mainline churches in the country (especially the Catholic and Episcopalian churches) were discredited in many people’s eyes by their response to the genocide. Fortunately, the Eglise Presbytérienne au Rwanda (EPR) was not implicated in that tragedy.

The Christian college where I work, the Faculté de Théologie Protestante de Butare, was also affected by the genocide and the events of the war in that year. The college was attacked by mobs, students were killed, and the library and other buildings were ransacked. The college program was suspended for a while, and because of the dearth of ministers in the country, a special two-year program was later instituted to produce pastors that would meet the immediate need for church leaders in the country. These pastors returned last year to complete the normal four-year program. Referred to as mise à niveau, a special program was begun for them, and at the beginning of this academic year they have been integrated with the regular third-year students. At the moment we have 67 students in years one, two and three. Next year, we will add a fourth year, completing the classes for the four-year program. The college, it seems, is coping well. And I’m coping well too. At the moment, I’m teaching history courses for each of the three classes and a New Testament Greek reading class for the third-year students. All instruction is in French, which certainly keeps me on my toes.

The college is located in Butare, a small town in which only a few streets are paved. Being an equatorial country between four- and five-thousand feet in elevation, Rwanda does not have the traditional four seasons. Rather, it alternates between two rainy and dry seasons each year. At the moment we’re in the rainy season, but there has been little rain this year. Fortunately when it does rain, storms usually come in the late afternoons, which is convenient, as I can plan my day accordingly. Unfortunately, as most of the roads are not paved, the city sometimes becomes a muddy mess.

Please continue to pray for our students as they struggle on very little money to complete their education and prepare themselves for leadership in their churches and local communities. Also pray for the Faculté, as administrators and professors plan for ways in which to expand the college to meet the growing need for educated pastors, teachers, and church workers in all the Protestant churches of Jesus Christ in Rwanda.

Que Dieu vous benisse – God bless you,

Michael Parker

The 2003 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, page 35