Rwanda Team reports to Kiski

At its November meeting, Kiskiminetas Presbytery will hear a report from its Rwanda Partnership Team, which recently returned from its 2011 visit to the central African country.

Two pastors and five women made this year’s trip. They led Bible studies, introduced their Rwandan brothers and sisters to water filtration/purification systems and spent most of their time in worship and fellowship with Rwandan Presbyterian congregations.

“One of the most surprising discoveries was that each parish, consisting of a central congregation and several smaller congregations in the countryside, were involved in building income-producing projects,” says the Rev. Wayne Yost, general presbyter for Kiskiminetas and a team member. “This is necessary so the parish can be self-sustaining, because the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda can no longer provide subsistence income to the parishes to help them afford a pastor.

Yost said projects ranged from hostels and guest houses to a community market where merchants can rent space in a building rather than set up open-air stands.