EPR President Rev. Dr. Pascal Bataringaya recently shared news from Rwanda:
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
The Grace and Peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
It is my honor to share the current situation in Rwanda with you. The three main areas of concern are currently church evangelism and mission, the COVID pandemic, and inflation.
Read MoreCasting the Nets into Deep Waters: Story of the Fishermen
A group from First Presbyterian Church Nashville, TN led by Outreach Program and Project Coordinator Ebralie Mwizerwa, traveled to Rwanda in early March to visit the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda (EPR). Luke 5:1-11 was the theme of the trip. Other team members were Sara DeVries, Parish DeVries, Erika Shapiro, Ada Shapiro, Kendall Posey, Tinsley Sheppard, and Dr. Jennifer Ellis from FPC Clarksville, TN.
Sara DeVries described her first moments in Rwanda: “We stepped out of the airplane into the fresh, thick Rwandan air, the night sky was clear, and the lights twinkled in the distance. We were greeted by EPR Vice-President Rev. Julie Kandema, Kigali Presbytery Vice-President Rev. Julius Ngendahayo, Kanombe congregation pastor Rev. Denys Niyonsenga, and many youths…
Read MoreThe “Centre Presbytérien d’Amour des Jeunes” (CPAJ) is a faith based non-profit organization working under the authority of the Presbyterian Church in Rwanda. CPAJ is responsible for the rehabilitation, re-education and reintegration of street children into their families. This requires effective training and an appropriate plan for the children and their families. This is one of the reasons it was important to have a building where the CPAJ children could gather with their parents and CPAJ staff. Due to our good partnership with The Outreach Foundation, we received funding that helped us build such a facility, the multipurpose hall. This hall is being used to accomplish this goal as well as for many other needs of the children and the community in general.
The main objective of the new multipurpose hall is to improve our rehabilitation capacity by promoting recreational and educational activities for the children and providing knowledge to the parents through conferences and other educational tools.
Read MoreThe “Centre Presbytérien d’Amour des Jeunes” (CPAJ) is a faith based non-profit organization working under the authority of the Presbyterian Church in Rwanda. Started in 1998, CPAJ has a vision of reducing the social-economic vulnerability of children and their families/guardians. CPAJ focuses mainly on improving the well-being and developing life skills of children and youth from the most disadvantaged groups in Rwanda through mainstream education and skills (vocational) training.
The Current Situation of CPAJ
In 2016, 51 street children came through CPAJ – 46 have been reintegrated either with their families or with foster families. CPAJ now has 36 children in residence,
