Dear Prayer Partners,
I asked the event coordinator, Emmy, if he had received any general feedback after the first day,
which included two lectures and two extended Q&A sessions. He said the general feedback has
been, “This is exactly what we need and two days isn’t long enough.” That was encouraging to
hear and is what I had hoped to hear.
A NIGHT TO FORGET
I am at the main campus of Rwanda University. It is in the southern district of Huye, close to
Burundi. But my day didn’t start as I had expected it to start. It started right after midnight when
I developed a serious stomach issue. I have theories as to what caused it but doesn’t matter.
It took about 90 minutes of discomfort and stomach agonies for my body to remove what was
upsetting it. I’ll leave it at that.
I didn’t sleep much and when I got up this morning there were a few lingering effects from the
early morning episode. I took some Imodium, just to be sure, and I was on my way. I felt strong
all day. To God be the glory!
PT, MT, CT, ET, AT
(PT=Pacific time; MT=Mountain time; CT=Central time; ET=Eastern time; AT? Yep, Africa
time.) Then we were hit by the epidemic known as Africa-time-itis. Emmy, an apparent optimist,
had the welcome at 8am and the first lecture at 8:30am. He went early and found that nothing
had been set up. He came back to pick me up and I got there at about 9:15. They had a video
projector with no cable to hook it to my laptop. So, Emmy had to go back to the hotel (not too
far). By the time it was all set up it was 10am and time for the tea break. We tweaked and fudged
the schedule all day and got in two lectures and two good Q&A sessions.
TODAY’S LECTURES
Lecture 1 was on “Worldview Matters” and challenges each attendee to consider whether it is the
Bible or culture or tradition or community or social media that is shaping their view of the world
and forming their answers to “where did everything come from?”, “what is a human being?”,
“who determines what is right and wrong?”, “where does one find meaning and purpose for their
life?”, and “where is history heading?” I walk them through the Biblical Christian Worldview,
followed by Deism, Naturalism, Postmodernism, and Scientism
The second is “Finding Answers From God’s Story,” and we talk about God’s Story of Creation,
Fall, Redemption, and New Creation, and how life’s hard questions can be answer well when one
considers the question through the lens of God’s Story.
QUALITY Q&A
Questions were broad: How should we think about family planning? What does God say about
divorce? Should we give up looking at social media because of its way of distorting our
worldview? Why do Christians suffer? What do I do when I try to share the truth of Scripture
with someone and they tell us they don’t accept what the Bible says? You said apologetics is
done best through having a conversation. How do you get around to giving evidence for the truth
of Christianity? What has happened to America? How did it happen? On a personal note, Why
are you doing what you are doing (i.e. apologetics in Africa)? What is your history, how and
when did you start this ministry? When someone asks how we know the Bible is reliable, how do
we answer?
WESTERN INFLUENCE
All day long I was sharing what is happening in American culture and warning them to be aware
because it will come here. I was told later by Emmy, it is already here just not as advanced as
they are in the US.
I asked Emmy is there were any general comments about the day. He said yes, they are telling
him, “This is exactly what we need. These things apply to what we see on the campuses. In
needs to be more than two days.” They realize that professors for the most part are secular. I told
Emmy that in the US, things have changed. Universities used to teach students HOW to think but
now they are teaching them WHAT to think. Emmy responded, “Exactly.”
OOPS
Unfortunately, Emmy’s optimistic number of 100 Evangelical Campus Leaders turned out being
only about 45-50. And SUPER-MEGA-unfortunately, the evening session of between 1000 and
1500 students was cancelled. It was a Campus Crusade event and the university had an “in
house” need needing the auditorium and no new venue was found.
WEDNESDAY
Tomorrow we will have two more sessions. I hope to finish right after lunch because I need to
get back to Kigali (the 90 mile trip that took 3.5 hours yesterday) to spend the night near the
airport and catch the first of 3 flights taking me home. I’ll spend Thursday night in Nairobi then
Friday night, leave late and arrive home Saturday around noon.
At this point in my life and ministry, this is what I want to be doing. And as these events grow
and other contacts hear about these, I am praying the opportunities will spread and grow.
Please pray for a strong finish Wednesday. And for no relapse of whatever got ahold of my
stomach last night.
By His grace,
Steve