Rwanda

For a time Delhove took charge of some Protestant missions, stations that had been abandoned during the war. When the Protestant missionaries returned, Delhove looked for a site on which to erect his own station.

He was given a 125-acre (50-hectare) plot 11 miles (18 kilometers) north of the town of Nyanza, on a low ridge known as the Hill of the Skulls, a spot the natives looked upon with superstitious dread, since it had allegedly once been cursed by the Rwandan king. Here the foundations were laid for Gitwe Mission. Being on an elevation of 5,643 feet (1,720 meters) above sea level, the climate is healthful.

In 1920 H. Monnier, of Switzerland, opened the Buganza Mission near Lake Muhazi. When the Great North Road was laid through the mission site, a new site was found near
Ruhengeri at an elevation of 7,643 feet (2,330 meters) above sea level, to which in April
1921 Monnier and A. Matter moved the mission.

While on overseas furlough Matter took a course in tropical medicine. Upon his return in April 1923, he and his sister, Maria Matter, started the Rwankeri dispensary. Mrs. A. Matter served as midwife.

The first baptism here took place in 1924, with two candidates: Yohana Ruvugihomvu and Petero Lukangalajunga. In 1925 the first woman, Maria Nyirabigwagwa, was baptized. A school was opened in 1925, headed by H. Monnier, with the following teachers: Yohana Ruvugihomvu, Paulo Rwangezeho, Petero Lukangalajunga, Gideon Gakindi, and Filipo Kurujyibgami. In this same year, four outschools were organized: Rubaka, Kaziba, Hesha, and Bihinga.

These were taught by Africans who had learned reading, writing, and arithmetic while working for Monnier. Of these teachers Yohana and Paulo were ordained as ministers in 1934.

Monnier remained at Rwankeri from 1921 to 1940. This long stay and his thorough acquaintance with the people and their language qualified him to translate from the Bible large portions, which were accepted by the British and Foreign Bible Society and have been incorporated into the present Runyarwanda Bible.

He also wrote a popular Runyarwanda grammar for English-speaking missionaries.
Early Organization and Growth—Ngoma Mission. At first the mission work was under the East African Union. In 1928 the territory was transferred to the African Division, and the East Congo Union was organized to include the territories of Ruanda, Urundi, and Kivu District of the Belgian Congo, with headquarters at Gitwe. C. W. Bozarth was the first superintendent and secretary-treasurer of the new union.

Later M. Duplouy, from France, who had been working at the newly opened mission at Buganda in Urundi, became secretary-treasurer. In 1931 A. Matter and Dr. J. H. Sturges went to open the Ngoma Mission and Hospital. The station is situated 18 miles (29 kilometers) south of Kibuye, high on the eastern rim of Lake Kivu, at an elevation of 5,905 feet (1,800 meters).

The first school at Ngoma was opened in October 1931, with Petero Lukangalajunga and Barnabas Bisomimbga as teachers. Petero, who had come from Rwankeri Mission with A. Matter, was later drowned in Lake Kivu when the boat in which he was traveling capsized.

The first four candidates were baptized at Ngoma on Dec. 20, 1933.
Union Merger. In 1930 the East Congo Union became known as the Central African
Union, and in 1932 this union was merged with the Congo Union. In 1947 Ruanda-Urundi was organized into a field, with A. L. Davy as its first president and H. J. Bennett as secretary-treasurer, and with headquarters at Gitwe.

More Recent Developments. In 1954 Rwankeri Station became part of the Northeast
Congo Field, leaving the Ruanda-Urundi Field with Gitwe, Ngoma, and Ndora (in Urundi).
In 1956 Rwankeri Station became the headquarters for the East Congo Mission, which included Kirundu and Masisi of the Congo. A. L. Davy was president.

By 1960 the Congo Union had become the largest in the division. Since the greatest concentration of membership lay in the two countries, Rwanda and Burundi, these were organized in 1961 to form the new Central African Union, with W. R. Vail as president. In view of the political developments that took place during the next two years in these two countries, as well as in the republic of the Congo, this proved to be a wise move. The headquarters were set up in Bujumbura, the capital and principal town of Burundi.

At the same time the stations in the Ruanda-Urundi area had become so large that they had to be organized into mission fields. Gitwe was made the South Rwanda Mission, with I. E. Schultz as president. Ngoma was called West Rwanda, with J. C. Mattingly the first president.

Rwankeri became the North Rwanda Field, with H. Kotz as president.
The South and North Rwanda fields were separated in 1965 into districts, forming the new East Rwanda Field. The remaining portion of the South Rwanda Field grew so rapidly that it was again divided in 1973. A new South Rwanda Field was formed, with headquarters at Butare. The former South Rwanda Field (Gitwe) was renamed Central Rwanda Field. In the past few years all fields in Rwanda have come under the direction of African field presidents.

At the beginning of 1984 the Central African Union, composed of Rwanda and Burundi, was divided to form the Rwanda Union Mission and the Burundi Association, which was attached to the division. Meanwhile, some administrative changes were wrought for financial reasons: the five fields were reduced to three with the integration of the Central and West fields into the East, North, and South.

Although a comparatively small country, Rwanda contains a large concentration of Seventh-day Adventist membership in southern Africa. Annual camp meetings have played an important part in bringing the people together. Nowhere in the world has attendance at camp meetings by Seventh-day Adventists been larger than at Rwankeri, where as many as 20,000 have been present by actual count. The activities of lay evangelists have played an important part in building up the membership throughout the field.
In mid-1994 a terrible civil war between Hutus and Tutsis resulted in the closing of the college and the disruption of the work in Rwanda. Some 500,000 people, including many Seventh-day Adventists, lost their lives at that time; as many as 2 million fled the country because of the conflict.