News

Our work to build a better Rwanda is ongoing and we will be posting news of progress here.

RWANDA SHINES STAR SCHOOL 2020 REPORT SUMMARY

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Lord for this far HE has brought us. We have had one very challenging year and yet at the same time, seen Gods hand at work in many ways. With the COVID19 pandemic paralyzing most of our work, we have still been able to achieve much albeit the challenges we have faced from the lockdown, to most of our people losing their jobs etc. Yet despite all this, we have seen growth and maturity in our children, loyalty from the staff, powerful support from our well-wishers, Gods hand of protection and so much more.

Click Here for Full Report 

UPDATE - february 8, 2021

A very happy new year with blessings to you and your loved ones. May you continue to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Our continued prayer this year is that we shall have a break from the virus and allow God to use us for HIS glory.

Rwanda is going through an internal semi lockdown as a nation with a third of its population working from home and the curfew hours increased. The deaths in the month of December alone have almost been double the total number of deaths in the nation. This is cause for concern and your prayers are requested for.

Our children are doing well in school. They were not given a Christmas nor New Year break to avoid the possibility of catching the covid19 virus. While this was a challenge, the children handled it with such maturity. They accepted this government decision without complaint as they too desired to continue with school. The school provided them with a lovely meal (change in usual diet) and a movie to watch. The school continues to keep the children focused on school and the extra-curricular activities. All is well with the children.

We are happy to report that the lower classes shall resume on the 18th of this month. This is an exciting opportunity for the children and the school as well. We are currently working at getting more desks, chairs and beds as well as spacing the children in the different available rooms to try and meet the SOPs. 

Please pray for finances and a smooth transition for this process and continued favor from the government on the said matter. Kindly keep the parents of the children in your prayers. It has been an extremely difficult year in terms of parents providing fees for their children.

Star school continues to see God work wonders at the school. The children are safe and healthy, the government has shown us favour thus far, and God continues to provide for our needs at such a ridiculously impossible time.

With the current semi lockdown, we do not have access to the widows’ village as the Government has restricted movement between districts but news from them is that all is well. Their only fear being the effect of this lockdown on sustainability for families.

You are continuously lifted up  in our prayers. Know that we are thankful for each and every one of you. May God richly bless you!

Blessings

UPDATE - NoVEMBER 23, 2020

Greetings in Christ Jesus. We thank God for your prayers, health, for life and for your kindness. It never ceases to amaze us.

We have 411 active cases as a nation with a 0.8% death rate bringing our current country's total number of deaths to 46. We continue to follow what is going on in your nation and we are praying for you. We are trusting that God will in HIS own time make all things beautiful and bring us all healing on all fronts (political, spiritual, physical and mentally).

The candidate students are all doing well in school and have settled in by now. We have 226 students in the candidate classes which means that all our candidate students are back plus seven new enrolments. God has been truly faithful. The return of these students has been such smooth sailing we can only attribute it to God. The rest of the children return today the 23rd.

62 children from seniors 1 and 2 turned up yesterday for the boarding program. We are trusting that the rest shall show up in the next few days.

Management has been very busy preparing for the return of the entire school but are looking forward to this with mixed feelings. 

1. We cannot wait for the children to start school and we are excited about this,

2. We have not cut the desks as had been suggested and this poses three threats

   • The government asking us to close the school until the SOPs have been met

   • The children passing on the infection (if any) due to close proximity.

   • A high increase in our costs/budget because the SOPs mean new classes, new furniture, more teachers etc.

We are happy to report that we now have a new walkway being constructed at the secondary yard, all the way to the kitchen. We thank God for our well-wishers who chose to help us beautify and organize our school compound.

Do pray with us about the entire school return. We would like for the following to happen:

1. Housing for Teachers. They shall be displaced and will need urgent help

2. Government to continue to permit us use our space as is

3. For the children, teachers and the administration to remain safe and virus free

You are in our prayers. Be truly blessed!!!!!

Blessings

UPDATE - NOVEMBER 12, 2020

Love from green, wet and rainy Rwanda in Jesus name.
- The Covid-19 law is that each kid has to sit alone, kids have to sit separately to observe social distances while they used to sit 3 kids per desk.
- We have been using bank beds in our dormitories, now one kid have to have a separate bed and observe social distances.
- We are also going to do facelift of our dining hall and re-paint it with a freshly outlook and finishing the walkways that we began working last year.
You will be impressed by how the improvements we made in 2019 have improved the school’s outlook especially by planting trees and making walkways around the star School.

UPDATE - NOVEMBER 1, 2020

Greetings, love and prayers from us all. We are doing well as individuals and as a nation. We continue to see God at work in our lives. Life is getting back to normal and for this we are thankful.

We have had 331 new cases this past week who we pray will get better soon. We have only had one death in the week and we continue to lift the families of the departed before the Lord.

The Ministry of Education sent delegates to inspect the school and they did not disapprove of the lack of cutting of the beds and tables. They were impressed with the progress and the clinic and were happy that we met the requirements/standards set so school reopening was approved.

I am pleased to report that 48 children showed up at school for the boarding section – 24 boys and 24 girls in total. As I type this, the day scholars are walking in but total numbers of returning candidates will be determined at the end of day. It is too early to know how many will turn up for class today.

The teachers are back at school and well. They were all covid19 virus free. This is another testimony of God's kindness to us. They are excited to be back and are already on the premises ready to start teaching.

Our prayer points still stand. While the spaces are currently enough for the classes that have been brought in, the story could be different come November 23rd when the majority of the school returns. 

We therefore ask that you continue to pray for:

1. Housing for Teachers

2. Government to allow us not to cut the desks and beds

3. For the children, teachers and the administration to remain safe and virus free

All is well with us. We are praying for you all. Thank you so much for standing with us always. May God richly bless you all.

Blessings!

SCHOOLS ARE REOPENING

The reopening of the schools has created a buzz around the country. Everyone is busy making every effort to get the school ready for the reopening. Management has been busy with setting up the following according to the guidelines from the Ministry;

1. Washing stations have been set up at all gate points and other strategic areas.

2. Thermometers  have been put in place around the school

3. Sanitizers set up in strategic places

4. The Teachers are back from Uganda and are currently in quarantine. We want to report that they do not have the virus and neither do any of our children

5. The Library and dormitories have been repainted

6. The kitchen roof was leaking and in need of a replacement so that has been sorted.

7. Painting of gates and strengthening/replacing the trenches

8. Seats and tables have been spaced according to the social distancing plan. Beds too.

We do not have a complete idea on how many children shall be coming in as the numbers are yet to be confirmed but new students have applied to join the school. We believe that the turn out will be great since Star School is a loved school for its standard of education and the cost of studying at Star School is decent in comparison with other schools.

On top of this being a prayer point, hereunder are a few others we need your prayers for:

1. The teachers who were living in Uganda came back only to find that their homes had been rented out and the other homes close to the school are pricey so they are currently being housed on the school premises as we try to find a more permanent solution. This will have to be soon because the next groups of children come in on the 23rd of November.

2. We are not allowed to exceed 23 children per class so more classrooms may need to be built. The same goes for the dormitories. This is a big threat because each class may eventually need about 3-4 streams built.

3. We will need a lot of prayers for the children when they return to school that they and the staff will all stay safe from the virus.

4. That the financial hole we have had to go into will be filled as we continue to serve the Lord through the children.

THREE NEW CHURCHES are BEING BUILT

These three churches no has less than 1760 people each, meaning over 5000 all together will have nice well built churches.

RUBANA PARISH CHURCH

NTUNGA PARISH CHURCH

NKANGA PARISH CHURCH



Bishop NATHAN & PASTOR BONNIE HEAD TO THE U.S.

We are so excited to have Bishop Nathan back visiting the U.S. and this time with an incredible man of God and colleague, Pastor Bonnie Lakony. Bonnie is a pastor in the Kigali Diocese where Bishop Nathan serves. Bishop Nathan and Pastor Bonnie have been serving together for years, primarily in the Cyangugu Diocese where Bishop Nathan served prior to being reappointed to the the Kigali Diocese. We are absolutely thrilled and honored to have both gentleman preaching at various churches detailed below during their visit:

March 1 - Bishop Nathan & Pastor Bonnie at Church of The Holy Spirit, Richmond, Virginia

March 8 - Bishop Nathan at University United Methodist Church, San Antonio, TX

March 8 - Pastor Bonnie at First United Methodist Church, Gonzalez, TX

March 14 - Pastor Bonnie at First United Methodist Church Waco - Downtown Campus, Waco, TX

March 15 - Bishop Nathan at First United Methodist Church Waco, Waco, TX

March 15 - Pastor Bonnie at First United Methodist Church Waco - Downtown Campus, Waco, TX

March 22 - Bishop Nathan at Munger Place in Downtown Dallas, Dallas, TX

March 29 - Bishop Nathan at The Woodlands UMC, The Woodlands, TX

the hospital beds have arrived! hooray!

earnest hospital structural highlights

Bishop nathan amooti’s enthronement ceremony

Our beloved founder, Bishop Nathan Amooti, was reappointed from the Cyangugu Diocese to the Kigali Diocese on August 18, 2019. With this reappointment comes great responsibility, as Kigali has a population of over 1.2 million people! This opens up an entirely new population to share the word of Jesus with.

From The New Times Rwanda, Hudson Kuteesa

“The newly ordained Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Kigali, Rev. Nathan Amooti Rusengo, has said that he will put emphasis on the use of digital platforms in evangelism as he sets sight on endearing the gospel towards the urban youth.  

Officially ordained yesterday by fellow bishops, Rusengo replaces the long-serving, Louis Muvunyi, who has been Bishop of Kigali for about nine years.

Muvunyi relinquished his position following a request from fellow bishops who requested him to pursue a PhD after which he will head a new theology school that the church plans to set up in about four years.

Rusengo has been serving as the bishop of Cyangugu Diocese. He is not new to the Kigali Diocese having served as a pastor as well as a secretary in the Diocese before he moved to Cyangugu.

The enthronement ceremony involved prayers for the new bishop by Christians, as well as vows from him that he will serve in reverence of The Lord.

Speaking after his enthronement, Rusengo highlighted the need to stream the gospel through various digital platforms to be able to reach different urban audiences.

“I will pay attention to urban evangelism. You see Kigali is changing, and not Kigali alone but Rwanda as a country. Things change one by one, little by little,” he said. “Roads are changing, houses are changing and (the use of) technology has increased which means that the way we used to approach people with the gospel needs to change. We need to learn to speak to people via WhatsApp and YouTube. We need to think for a way how we can change evangelism to reach these urban populations.”

The bishop echoed the need for positive changes in the church’s infrastructure,

“There are some church facilities that don’t glorify God. We need to upgrade them. If you (Christians) have upgraded your own houses, why don’t we upgrade the house of God?”

Rusengo also stressed that he will work on the education of pastors.

Outgoing Bishop Louis Muvunyi thanked Christians and pastors of Kigali Diocese for standing with him and his family for the time of his service.

“When I became a pastor, I didn’t know that I would be a bishop but God made me one in a surprising and pleasing way,” he said.

Kigali Diocese is one of the 11 Dioceses of Anglican Church of Rwanda. It has six Archdeaconries with 41 parishes, 192 local churches.

The Diocese operates in three districts of Kigali city—Nyarugenge, Kicukiro and Gasabo as well as two districts of Eastern Province—Rwamagana, Bugesera. This is in addition to Rulindo and Gakenke districts in the Northern Province.”

the star school

The students in our sponsorship program enjoyed having their pictures taken and striking a pose!

Waco HospITAL DONATES BEDS TO RWANDA SHINES

From KCEN-TV News Channel 6, Jasmin Caldwell

“WACO, Texas — Ascension Providence, which describes itself as a "faith-based healthcare organization,"  partnered with a Waco church to send its used beds to Rwanda after it bought new medical beds for its facilities. 

First Methodist Waco volunteers assisted in shipping the beds from Waco to the Cyangugu and Kigali regions of Rwanda, where they will be used. The volunteers loaded the beds onto four semi-trucks Friday.

"We value our partnership with First Methodist Waco, as both organizations have a shared mission to improve the health of individuals and communities," Philip Patterson, president of Ascension Providence, said.

First Methodist Waco's lead pastor, Rev. Ryan Barnett, is on the board of directors for Rwanda Shines, a San Antonio-based nonprofit focused on helping the people of the East African country. 

Barnett announced the church's commitment to shipping the beds from Ascension Providence to Rwanda.

"First Methodist Waco has a close relationship with the people of Rwanda," Barnett said. "Our church sponsored the construction of an entire church complex and primary school in Cyangugu and many of our members sponsor Rwandan children to attend the Star School in Kigali."

Rwanda Shines partners with Rwandan leaders to help find people who can help overcome the genocide the country experienced in 1994, when more than 800,000 people died in just 100 days.

The nonprofit focuses on access to healthcare, education and church building.

Barnett said the donation of medical beds is greatly needed.

“Health care in Rwanda remains a critical need," Barnett said. "We have seen multiple people sharing a single hospital bed. This gift from Ascension Providence will dramatically improve the quality of care for people who have endured great suffering.”

Barnett said he estimates the total cost for shipping the beds will be around $75,000. Those funds are being raised through the Rwanda Shines donor network.

Rwanda Shines estimates the value of the in-kind contribution to be nearly $850,000, making it one of the largest contributions the non-profit has seen.”

Bishop Nathan Travels Back To The United States

We welcomed Bishop Nathan back to the United States after the opening of the cathedral in January.

Bishop Nathan Amooti's visited:

Thomasville United Methodist Church, Thomasville, GA

First Methodist Waco, Waco, TX

United Methodist Church, San Antonio, TX

Cyangugu Cathedral is Complete!

After two years of prayer and construction, the incredible cathedral it officially opened! The official ribbon cutting took place on January 20, 2019 and was inaugurated by our very own Bishop Nathan Amooti! Take a look at these wonderful pictures!

South Texas Welcomes Reverend Nathan Amooti

Rwanda Shines welcomes Bishop Nathan Amooti back to Texas with a spring tour through Waco, San Antonio, Gonzales and Kerrville. Please make plans to join us at one of these great services. 

Bishop Nathan Amooti is supported by:
First Methodist Church of Waco, University United Methodist Church, First Methodist Church Gonzales, and First United Methodist Church of Kerrville.

November 2017 Reverend Nathan Amooti Visits The Woodlands, Texas and Waco, Texas

Rwanda Shines welcomes Bishop Nathan Amooti to The Woodlands and Waco for the first time! He will be here between November 7th and November 19th. This trip he will be introduced to two new cities and will have the opportunity to share his testimony at each location. 

Bishop Nathan Amooti Schedule - ALL ARE INVITED

Sunday 11/12 /17 
The Woodlands UMC
2200 Lake Woodlands Dr, The Woodlands, TX 77380
Harvest Evening Service - 5:30pm 

Saturday 11/18/17 
First UMC, Waco
4901 Cobbs Dr, Waco, TX 76710
Saturday Night Service - 5:30pm 

Sunday 11/19/17 
First UMC, Waco
4901 Cobbs Dr, Waco, TX 76710
Morning Services - 8:15, 9:30, and 10:50am

January 2017 Cyangugu Cathedral Reaches for the Sky

The building is taking shape. As Bishop Nathan shared with us recently, "the roof is starting in February". Here are some of the recent photos of the construction. God's blessings in action. 

January 2017 Hospital in Nyakabuye and Bugarama get their Footing

Here are some of the photos from the foundation day at the hospital in Nyakabuye and Bugarama. The Mayor joined Reverend Nathan Amooti and the Deputy Minister of Local Government, who was visiting from Kigali, watched the workers. Cyangugu is grateful for all the support in prayer and financial gifts from Rwanda Shines.

November 2016 Cyangugu Diocese Builds New Cathedral with Rwanda Shines Support

Great progress is being made on the new cathedral building. Bishop Nathan updated us recently with these photos and words, "You will be impressed by how many people that are working. At the cathedral building there is not one single machine, people are doing everything by their own hands. This means that all these people get paid at the end of each day. Therefore, money filters in the community and helps raise family income thus boasting the country's economy."

As well precautions are made in the earthquake prone area to build safe structures. More pilings are needed and springs are used to give the building room to flex during the prolonged aftershocks of a major earthquake. 

July 2016 New Hospital gets Shot in the Arm 

A true gift from the heart. Reverend Ryan Barnett shares the news that Philip Earnest, owner of Earnest Roofing in Kerrville, Texas, is donating the profits from the roof replacement job recently completed at Rev. Ryan's church to the new hospital project in Rwanda. Mr. Earnest heard the story of our work in Rwanda last year when Bishop Nathan was in Kerrville explaining the mission and impact of the Rwanda Shines work in the Changugu Diocese.  This chance meeting has blossomed into a tremendous gift that help fund a  medical facility in the area. Here are some of the progress photos.