We have been hugely encouraged to receive recent news about our discipleship programmes Rooted in Jesus and The God Who is There from Southern Africa and Burundi. A full report is on our blog, but here is a snapshot:
The latest newsletter from Growing the Church in Cape Town proclaims: Discipleship takes off in the Anglican Province of Southern Africa! It carries a report on recent training conferences in the Diocese of Natal and the Diocese of Lesotho, facilitated by a team which included members from the Diocese of Free State, where RinJ was introduced last year. Bishop Martin Breytenbach has recently conducted a video interview with Bishop Dintoe Letloeyane, who tells of the impact of the programme in his own diocese of Free State. Watch it on youtube here or by clicking on the image.
Other testimonies include:
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“I am totally humbled as I reflect on the weekend—words will never be enough to express what the Lord has done here! It was a wow experience. As Isaiah 43:18 says, “God is doing a new thing.” Several participants heard the gospel for the first time and committed their lives to Jesus. Thank God for Revd Trevor who preached boldly about salvation and gently challenged the people to consider inviting Jesus in their lives.” Joseph Morenammele (Lesotho)
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“Each course will be rotating around the diocese over a period of 15 months. We are, with our Bishop’s support, assisting and enabling parishes to evangelize and make disciples. God is good! Three new Rooted in Jesus Adult groups, one new Rooted in Jesus Junior group, three new Alpha Groups and one new J-Life group have been formed at Parish Level.” Bruce Woolley (Natal)
Meanwhile we were delighted to hear from Elisha Acadamy in Burundi that Rooted in Jesus continues to be an effective tool for discipleship in the Diocese of Muyinga. He reports that: “Kiremba village is going to become a new parish as a result of the Rooted in Jesus ministry; in Cibare one group has completed the course and 2 new groups are now starting; the church in Danzuko has expanded through RinJ; many have surrendered to Jesus and given up idol worship in Jarama; a new church is being planted in Mukoni as a result of Rooted in Jesus.” He concludes, “the Diocese began when they had almost 25 parishes. But now after using Rooted in Jesus, more than 5 parishes have been inaugurated. This is a result of the Rooted in Jesus mission. This place is a good place for doing this ministry because many people need to hear about Jesus.” Elisha (below) is currently part of the RinJ team to the Diocese of East Ruwenzori in Uganda.
The Mathetes Trust 