The SDB General Conference of the United States and Canada is a founding member of the SDB World Federation, a international fellowship of Seventh Day Baptist conferences. SDBs in the North America work together with conferences on five continents to share fellowship, encouragement, and ministry through the Federation. At the Federation’s recent sessions in September 2023, the delegates heard reports about the status of SDB work all around the world, including impressive work all over the African continent. The February 2024 edition of the Sabbath Recorder has a wonderful summary of those sessions.
Struggles in Rwanda
Since our sessions last year, our sister conference in Rwanda has run into significant difficulties in the form of new and restrictive government regulations. 5,600 churches have closed across Rwanda as a result of these new and stringent regulations. Among these are 13 of our SDB churches. Additionally, 10 churches that were previously closed due to COVID-19 restrictions are still awaiting reopening. In the midst of these challenges, the leadership of our Conference in Rwanda have demonstrated incredible resilience and resourcefulness as they plan to meet the new requirements. Despite their hard work, needs remain. Your support is needed for reopening Rwanda’s SDB churches!
Assistant General Secretary of the World Federation, Rev. Andrew Samuels, lays out the needs in the video below:
Our Opportunity to Respond:
This coming Sabbath, October 5th, SDBs around the world will take up special offerings to aid our brothers and sisters in Rwanda. These collections will continue throughout the month of October as we aid our brothers and sisters to reopen their meetinghouses for public worship. We encourage you to join in the work of the World Federation in partnership with us as we have in North America for 60+ years! Everyone can contribute their prayers, and in addition, we hope many of you will join with us financially. The SDB Missionary Society and World Federation are working together to collect gifts to deliver them to Rwanda in an organized way. Your support is needed for reopening Rwanda’s SDB churches!
Donation Methods:
To contribute online, please visit this link: SDB Missionary Society Donation Page (https://bit.ly/3XirIuz).
Send checks to: SDB Missions, 1031 33rd St, Denver, CO 80205, USA
Congregations should use the QR code below in slides or other methods of communication to facilitate easy giving!
Thank you all for your prayers and support of our brothers and sisters in Rwanda!
Use this QR code with your smart phone’s camera to support Rwanda!
