Africa Mission Report: Missionaries Expelled from Rwanda

Rwanda- A short-term mission team from Teen Missions International has been expelled from Rwanda. Teen Missions' Steve Peterson says 20 team members from Kenya, Uganda and Sudan were expelled because of mistaken identity. "When the team came in some people looked and saw the luggage, the cooking equipment, and started to spread rumors that perhaps the team might be part of a military group and eventually there was pressure put to bear on the team to leave the country. They were surrounded by armed soldiers and told to leave the country. All of their belongings were searched thoroughly at the border and they were sent out." Peterson believes that though the hearts of the nation are open to the Gospel, another fear of genocide lingers through the nation. "It's a barrier that anyone wishing to take the Gospel into Rwanda has to overcome. It's just the distrust and the fear that is still gripping people's hearts. We need to pray that even as the Lord has opened people's hearts to the Gospel that there will be enough stability in the country that outreach will be able to continue."

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Rwandan workers pass in front of cement covered mass grave at the Gisozi genocide memorial in Kigali April 2, 2004. Rwanda expressed regrets and resignation that Western leaders were conspicuously absent from a list of foreign dignitaries scheduled to attend memorial ceremonies in Kigali next week marking the tenth anniversary of Rwanda's 1994 genocide. REUTERS/Radu Sigheti
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By Pauline C.