Circuit overseer's visit

Yes, I know, it has been awhile since I last posted. I had a great time in California for two months visiting my family, but now it is back to work in Rwanda.

No sooner did I get back here than I set about to reconnect with Bible students and prepare for the circuit overseer's visit—locals call it "special week." Daniel and Karen Hanau are Canadians and have been serving in Rwanda for 14 years. His circuit consists of Kinyarwanda congregations but they also serve our English congregation. In fact, this is their first actual visit since I have been here, because for the two previous scheduled visits we had substitutes.

The Hanaus

This was an opportunity, from our end, to provide an update on how the Chinese pre-group (formed in March) is doing and what we can do in the near future. Brother Hanau has been a strong proponent of starting something in the Chinese field—in fact, he and his wife said that before last year they had been praying about the matter—so it is a pleasure to work with him in what we would call an "uncharted area."

At the meetings for field service during the week, Brother Hanau said that since the direction of Jehovah's organization, based on Acts chapter two, is that we teach people the truth in their mother tongue, since this is their 'heart' language, Rwandans for the most part should study the Bible in Kinyarwanda. Since we are the English congregation, we should be looking for native English speakers, who will not generally be from Rwanda, but from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, the U.K., etc.

He emphasized the need to thoroughly cover our assigned territory—since English is considered a foreign language here—by doing "search work." This means going from house to house and looking for native English speakers. The best way to accomplish this is not by telling people, "We're looking for people who speak English." What happens is that all Rwandans, even those who know only a little English, will say "I speak English," because they don't want to appear uneducated. Or they will often say "I can try." A better opening line is, "We are Jehovah's Witnesses, and we are looking for those who do not know Kinyarwanda well." (Turi Abahamya ba Yehova. Turashaka abantu abatazi ikinyarwanda neza.) Yes, for me, this is going to require some practice!

Many of the 125 Bible studies in our congregation are with Rwandans, a few of whom speak no English whatsoever. So it is going to be a major shift in our mindset to follow the direction, even if it requires the turning over of Bible studies to the appropriate Kinyarwanda congregations.

So this week we got permission from the Kacyiru (Kinyarwanda) Congregation to do search work in their territory. The results were very gratifying. We found many native English speakers in this area, and kept detailed records for the purpose of calling back. Eventually, we can get around to the entire city using this method.

Additionally, the publishers will be making sure to note any Chinese people they encounter while doing search work. So the territory for our Chinese pre-group will continue to expand!

Finally, after the program on Sunday, Brother Hanau met in the back room of the Kingdom Hall with those of us in the Chinese pre-group, as well as any who had an interest in learning Chinese, to give us a pep talk, encouraging us in our efforts to preach in this language territory. Our next goal: arrange for a Chinese meeting!