Rwanda: Caught between the market and the mosque

After discovering a shortage of KinyaRwanda Bibles I decided not to leave any stone unturned to find Bibles for hungry churches ….. desperately crying for just one Bible even if it meant sharing a Bible between 70 people. I followed my new found friend Dusana to an overcrowded market (aren’t they always) on the other side of Kigali. After finding an illegal parking we walked an hour to find the hidden shop at the back of the market. I had to smile when I found an old shack with the words boldly written: BIBLE WORLD. Dusane smiled even broader and proudly presented his shop: “This is it Francois …. this is it! Today we will change Rwanda.” True, I thought if I could only get the Bibles in my hands. And there it was …… 4 boxes of pure gold. God’s Word …… at last those crying would be able to go to bed today ……. knowing Bibles are on the way.

After paying for the rather expensive cargo we set out to deliver some of the Bibles immediately. I had a lot of other business to take care of …. but the Bible distribution got priority. Most of the Bibles went to newly planted churches and to prisons in the area. All Bibles were personally delivered to trusted men of God and believers who would truly use it.

On the way to the market – Kigali, Rwanda

An amazing servant of God – using his own money to buy up Bibles and store it. With very little KinyaRwanda Bibles in Rwanda left due to groups destroying it – Dusana took the job to make sure it will always be available.

Dusane was at the right place at the right time ….. great to have made friends!

On our way, before we could make a drop off …… the old trusted Noah (The Bishop’s holy chariot) broke down …… and as we pulled into a parking I realized we got stuck right in front of the local mosque in the middle of Kigali – capital of Rwanda. The Bishop knows the ups and downs of trying to survive with a Korean vehicle and had the personal phone number of his personal mechanic. While we waited for the mechanic we realized we are in front of the mosque – right at the moment Friday prayers were about to start. The Imam of the mosque saw us struggling with the vehicle and came over to investigate. Before he could get to us he must have seen the boxes of Bibles on the back seat as he was seriously inquiring on where did we get our Holy Books from. I was caught off-guard for a moment and didn’t want to lie. “In Rwanda”, I replied …. the Bishop had his eyes fixed on the broken engin …. not making eye contact. “Oh … so you are Christians”, the Imam replied. He had a very impressive grey beard and his cleanly washed attire seemed to make him even more holier. “Well … just followers of Jesus Christ – Son of the Living God ……. Have you met Him!”, I replied. “YES ….. we know about the prophet” – and before I could replied he glanced over at the Bibles and returned to the mosque without a word.

God is truly great. Although very difficult and expensive we could hand over Bibles to our newly planted churches and even the jails rejoiced. Thank you to everyone who made this possible.