M I R N E Ministries
PASTOR'S WALK WITH THE LORD
I was born again in 1983. Before getting saved, in my teens, I began wondering what was the meaning of life. I struggled with existentialism question such as: Where do human beings go after death? Where do we come from? Is there any meaning to life if there is nothing after death?
I decided to become a monk expecting to find the truth, and I joined a catholic monk’s congregation of the order of Joseph. I spent a whole year in that congregation being prepared to become a monk. In spite of my openness, I couldn’t find peace in my heart. When I saw that deep questions of my heart were not answered, I left the congregation and embraced existentialism. The more I completely immersed myself in that philosophy, the more I became pessimistic and depressed. It is in that period of my life, I call the valley of the shadow of death, that Christ found me.
I received Jesus and He forgave me all my sins. All my questions were answered, and I found peace in my heart. I was so excited that I began telling other young people about Jesus who had saved me and had given me peace. The Sprit of Christ helped me to bring many young people to Jesus . Those young people joined different churches many of them are now serving the Lord. I served the Lord in Evangelism in the countries of the Great Lakes region.
In 1992, the Lord led me to establish a church of revival in the city of Bujumbura ( Burundi ). I began with 5 members and after three years, the congregation had grown to more than 500. In 1993 the Lord sent me to a missionary school in France to have a pastoral training for one year. This training helped me in the continuation of my ministry as a church leader.
Born in Burundi but having a Rwandan nationality, I came and witnessed as my home country had just faced the most horrible and most atrocious genocide that humanity ever knew. This genocide which began in April 1994 and ended in July 1994, killed more than one million people. It is at that moment when the Lord told me to return to my country and contribute to the restoration of my Nation, which was nothing at the time, but ruin and desolation. I returned with my spouse and my four children in August 1994 after having appointed other responsible for the work of God I had just started in Burundi.
The spectacle of death which was offered to our eyes when we arrived in Rwanda was sufficient to plunge us into depression. Consequently, the beginning of this work of restoration was not easy. On the one hand, there were survivors of this genocide who were traumatised by the horrors they had faced, and on the other hand, there were their executioners. Humanly speaking, this moment was a dead-lock situation. This is a picture of the situation of Rwanda we were living in at that moment. We had to believe that the Lord would bring back life and hope in this nation where the power of darkness was felt and seen everywhere.
In this work of restoration, the power of the Holy Spirit was more than required in order to preach forgiveness and reconciliation in a nation where ethnic hatred was still fresh in the hearts. Moreover, this situation was made worse by the testimony of certain church people who actively took part in this genocide. The glorious message of God’s love was destroyed by those who were supposed to proclaim and live it.
The Lord led me to establish an outreach ministry called MIRNE which is a French acronym "Mission Internationale pour la Restauration des Nations par l'Evangile". That means International Mission for the Restoration of the Nations by the Gospel, which began in 1995. Naturally, I am the person in charge being also the Legal Representative of MIRNE. Through this ministry, we have contributed substantially to the reconciliation of Rwanda by preaching, teaching and facilitating unity, reconciliation and peace.
We have been teaching forgiveness and repentance throughout the country, and also by bringing assistance and help to the widows and orphans left by the genocide with the small means we had. We have organized several reconciliation conferences throughout the Nation. We bless the Lord because He accompanied us through this work which was not on a human scale. Today, Rwanda is rising and back to life.
In 1998, I was led by the Lord to establish a revival Church which embodied reconciliation, forgiveness, brotherhood and unity. People were encouraged to come and worship the Lord regardless of their ethnic background. A space was created for Hutus and Tutsis to come in the presence of God, and worship Him in oneness of mind and spirit, as a nation redeemed by Him. Today this Church which is named BETHEL Church counts more than 2000 members and the Lord continues to add to it those who are saved.
Rev. François NKURUNZIZA
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Pastor's Contact: frnkurunziza@mirne.net
Office Address:
P.O Box 1859 KIGALI
REMERA
KIGALI
RWANDA
250