On May 24, I said goodbye to my very best friend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Buhendwa, more popularly known as Fred, is a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who came to Australia in 2007. I met Fred just a few months after he arrived and involved him in a Reboot disciple training group (our first not-Australian group) and his life has been in high gear ever since. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fred has led over 60 people to the Lord, started numerous groups (including a church in his home), trained countless believers, and participated in mission trips in Tasmania and on mainland Australia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2011, Fred was granted Australian citizenship. He immediately travelled to Africa where he trained 78 disciples in Rwanda and helped to form 26 disciple training groups. Fred left again in May of this year for a 6-week trip to Africa once again. He left just a few weeks shy of my move to London, meaning that May 24 was the last time I would see him. It was sad but exciting to see him go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fred\u2019s second trip to his home continent enabled him to care for his sister and her children who have been suffering many problems in the refugee camp. However, Fred\u2019s focus was not his family, but on the work of the Kingdom. He began in Burundi, a tiny country adjacent to DRC, taking many opportunities to share the gospel. He met Adijah, a M. lady that he led to the Lord. She immediately changed her name to Naomi and began to follow Jesus. Her husband was an atheist and very resistant to Fred\u2019s witness at first, but within a week\u2019s time he gave his life to the Lord. Using TFT, Fred began training them and three other people in a group that meets on Fridays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fred met another man named Augustine, led him to the Lord, and began a TFT group with 4 other believers. Augustine is very keen to learn and to share his faith with others. Fred also met Ansee, a believer he began training, and this man has also started a group. Fred said he will continue training and coaching these people by phone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Across the border into DRC, Fred went to his hometown, Bukavu. He began witnessing there, but his work was interrupted by an eruption of fighting. Many places in Africa are unstable, and DRC is a hotbed of warfare in recent days. But it takes a lot to stop a man like Fred. He went to a church of 200 people and cast vision to the pastor, who immediately gave him 2 days to train people of his congregation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis church had so many people wanting to learn,\u201d Fred reported, \u201cso I divided them into groups of 5 people each and taught them how to reach people and make disciples.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The main problem in this particular church is the lack of Bibles in their language\u2014only 7 copies of Scripture for a congregation of 200 people. Fred\u2019s training exacerbated the problem because these believers began to see the need to digest and obey the word of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fred\u2019s home church, The Way Christian Church, was his next stop. He has been training the pastor, D\u00e9sir\u00e9, for the past 2 years by email and phone, but with his congregation of 180 people, he didn\u2019t have the time or energy to apply what he was learning. Arriving in person, Fred led a training session and sent all the people out to witness. This was the stimulus that D\u00e9sir\u00e9 needed, for this pastor is leading his church to witness and make disciples. Greater still, he has also gone across the border into Burundi and started 36 new disciple training groups with people that he knows there. Training D\u00e9sir\u00e9 was like lighting the fuse of a bomb just waiting to explode. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The final point of call for Fred was Rwanda, where he visited pastor Kamanzi and the groups that he started 18 months earlier. Naturally, they were overjoyed to see him again and to sharpen their skills in multiplying disciples. Fred heard that one man he trained has gone across the Uganda border to start a group there. The main problem in Rwanda is the same as that of DRC: a lack of Bibles in their language. They have access to Swahili Bibles, but their national language is Kinya-Rwanda. Fred passed on a gift to pastor Kamanzi\u2014a laptop that had belonged to my daughter, Joy. We offered this to him so we can keep in touch through Skype calls to train and coach him further. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fred is not a very tall man, but there is a lot of power in that little package. Back in Tasmania now, he is witnessing, training disciples, and sending people out to do the same. He is a great inspiration to everyone he meets and is a vital part of the legacy we leave behind on that wonderful island. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am so happy, because this training helps me to reach many people,\u201d he says with heartfelt passion. \u201cWe must work hard for Jesus because one day we will be with Him in Heaven. But we have much work to do before then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh, how I will miss you, Fred.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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