Many families at Ambrose have stepped forward in the past to provide for a child halfway around the globe. This month, Africa Bright Future Ministries is asking for 100 more.
Many families in Rwanda cannot afford to send their children to school. $35 a month provides tuition at Bright Future School, health care, school supplies, school uniform, sanitary supplies, and food. The children in Rwanda have a difficult time obtaining an education because there are few schools and the children must pay to attend them.
If you would like to know more about sponsoring a student, please contact Gayle Martinez at ABFM, or visit their website.
“We do what we can do, and then God will do what we cannot do.” – Pastor Patrick
Who is Pastor Patrick?
Pastor Patrick is the founder and president of Africa Bright Future Ministries (ABFM) in the U.S. and it’s affiliate organization, Africa Harvest Mission in Rwanda. He is an evangelist and the senior pastor of Calvary Temple Church in Kigali, and the overseer of thirteen village churches.
Pastor Patrick’s story begins with his parents who grew up in Rwanda but had to flee to the neighboring country of Uganda during the 1959 Rwandan Genocide. They met and married while living in a refugee camp. This is where Pastor Patrick was born and raised the eldest of ten children. Living conditions were deplorable in the camp which caused the death of four of his siblings from a treatable, mosquito-born disease called malaria. This situation led Pastor Patrick to believe at the time that he may not survive his childhood which led him to seek how he might go to heaven if he were to die. One day when Pastor Patrick was fourteen years old, an evangelical group came and began a church in the camp. Pastor Patrick was invited to the church meeting where he gave his life to Christ. For the first time in his life, he experienced a joy and peace that he had never experienced before. Pastor Patrick became a devoted follower of Christ amidst persecution from his family and friends. He began to help at the local church and within a few years was ordained a pastor himself.
In 1994, Pastor Patrick had his own church in Uganda when the next terrible Rwandan Genocide occurred. This genocide lasted 100 days and during that time over a million people were killed. Since Pastor Patrick was established in Uganda, he was not planning to return to Rwanda like so many displaced Rwandans were doing. But soon, his family called for him, he too went to Rwanda in July of 1994, the last month of the genocide. When he arrived there, God spoke to him and told him that he was to stay in Rwanda and help to bring reconciliation to this devastated country. At this time, the country was completely destroyed spiritually, emotionally, politically and economically. There were dead bodies lying in the streets and people cowering in back rooms in fear, either of retribution or persecution. Pastor Patrick asked the Lord what he could do to help and God gave him a message of reconciliation. With Jesus as our example of forgiveness, Pastor Patrick was able to bring people out of their bondage to fear and help them to live again. This led to the establishment of thirteen village churches and eventually God brought Pastor Patrick to Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda to establish a church and a radio ministry that reaches half of the country of Rwanda.
In 2007 Pastor Patrick found himself in Boise where he met a group of people that later became his U.S. base of operations to begin this ministry. In 2011, the school-to-school partnership between The Ambrose School and Bright Future School was begun. It is an opportunity for both schools to learn about each other and become involved in each others’ lives. Bright Future School is a Christian school, established by ABFM-Rwanda, a non-denominational, indigenous Christian organization with a mandate to raise godly leaders for tomorrow. It is a village school with many needs. Among them is a need for more teachers, student sponsorships, more classrooms, a staff room, a library, school supplies, desks, and electricity.
One of our goals at The Ambrose School is to show our students how to put their faith into practice in practical and compassionate ways. So far, we have collected and donated monies, helped provide desks, and sent Christmas gifts. Pastor Patrick has visited and shared much with our students about the way of life of the students in BFS. A team from Ambrose will be traveling to Rwanda this summer to further develop our relationship. We invite other schools to come alongside to give hope to the hopeless children and their families in Rwanda.
