Today, the Rwandan Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) church community will be celebrating a hundred years of existence in Rwanda. In what is expected to be a mass gathering, the church members are expected to convene at the Remera Amahoro National Stadium. Alongside the church members, the ceremony will be graced by the president of the General conference, Seventh Day Adventist church, Pr. Ted Wilson who is in Rwanda since Thursday together with Rwanda’s church President, Hesron R. Byilingiro. Wilson has made several visits to Rwanda, among which several projects were initiated, in 2012, 2015, and 2017 being his most recent. His visits saw many developments according to Onesphore Yadusoneye, the director of communications for Rwanda’s Union Mission for Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Among these include the nine-storey building in the city centre that accommodates Rwanda’s Seventh–Day Adventist headquarters and the multi-million dollar Adventist University of Central Africa Science and Technology Centre – Gishushu Campus. “On Monday, he is expected to inaugurate the just concluded Adventist Regional Medical School in Masoro, Gasabo district”, a project that he flagged off in 2015 Onesphore said. Statistics from last week indicate that the denomination had gained over 962,766, regular church members in 2500 Adventist churches. 100 years down the road, the church has been pivotal in different sectors like education, health community work among others. In which different secondary Adventist schools have been constructed and equipped with material, primary schools to foster quality education in young children, and the Mugonero Adventist hospital, with 9 clinics and health centres. Speaking on behalf of the church, Yadusoneye said that the celebration will be a thanksgiving ceremony, to thank the Lord for the milestones that have been achieved over 100 years of existence. Pointing out that, different evolutions have taken place in the SDA community, ranging from membership, administration to infrastructure that have been organised by the church. “The first baptism that took place in Rwanda saw only 6 people giving their lives to Christ, but over 100,000 thousand people gave their lives to Jesus during the previous baptism that took place all over the country,” He said. All church members will be meeting from 8:00 am for a normal church service, ranging from the Sabbath school ministry to the divine hour. On Sunday, Wilson will join the Rwandan Adventist family in the community work- Umuganda that will take place in Kimihurura Sector, Gasabo District, besides Rugando Primary School. On the same day, he will also inaugurate Doctor’s Plaza, a facility that will convene health experts from foreign countries to create awareness about chronic diseases, Yadusoneye pointed out. Onesphore also said that Adventist church members are called out to love one another, and embrace the fruits of prophecy as the Holy Scriptures put it. Adding that “If we (Rwandans) can love God and abide by his rules, then it will be automatic to love each other, hence no threat to the social welfare of any friend, this in the long run keeping the country’s security” he reiterated. editor@newtimesrwanda.com
