Preparing Rwandan children to grow in wisdom and stature

The church in Rwanda has embarked on promoting the spiritual nature of children. The move started last year when a covenant that was facilitated by World Vision Rwanda brought together 7 umbrella church bodies for the first time, and they agreed on areas that would foster their unity.

Out of this covenant, the body of Christ agreed to have the Sunday of the Rwandan Child on the first Sunday of August and Children for Christ Summit in the first week of August, bringing together children from the entire country of Rwanda. 

“This is a great opportunity for us as children to come together in big numbers to learn Christian values and to talk about the challenges that affect us and our communities. It feels good when adults listen to us because we are sure that our ideas can also be useful in the development of the country,” says Victoria Mutesi, 11, one of the participants in the Children for Christ Summit that took place from August 6-8, 2014 at petit stadium in Kigali.

She says that being one of the participants in the summit was a blessing and promised to share whatever she learnt with her friends and family, as soon as she goes back home.

The summit with the theme “Helping children to grow in wisdom and stature, in favor of God and man,’’comes three days after the Sunday of the Rwandan Child held on 3 August, where children across the country played a leading role in church services, including sharing the word from the Bible, songs, poems and dances.

The services and summit aim to instill Christian values and strong leadership in children, which is vital for Rwanda’s continual development. The 350 children selected from all Rwandan districts gathered in the first summit of its kind.

“This is a very special day, to see hundreds of Rwandan Children gathered in one place like this for nothing else but to experience love, spiritual formation and wisdom impartation from the adults through spiritual nurture,” said George Gitau, World Vision Rwanda National Director, during the opening ceremony of the summit.

“We want to see children who understand their rights and who understand why God created them – children who understand their role in the development of the country,” he said.

Smaragde Mbonyintege, a Catholic Bishop and the chairperson of the Rwanda Church Umbrella, said that one of the challenges affecting children in Rwanda was separation of parents. He said that in addition to the children’s summits, there was a need to educate parents on child rights and Christian values, since one of the components of development is a strong family unit. He said that the church was ready to follow up on these children to ensure that they grow in wisdom and statureand in favor with God and the people, as Jesus did according to Luke 2:52.

Zaina Nyiramatama the chairperson of the National Commission for Children (NCC) thanked World Vision and members of the Church Umbrella for organising the summit, which she said was in line with Government priorities.

The Rwandan five-year strategic plan for the integrated child policy, which will expire in 2016, encourages national and international children’s summits where children can freely discuss issues affecting them with adults and leaders.

“The government of Rwanda is lucky to have partners as World Vision and Christian churches. Most of the challenges affecting children across the county can now easily be identified with support from our partners and then sit together to find solutions to such challenges,” said Zaina.

During the summit, children participated in various competitions including Bible quizzing, drawing and poetry. The best three from each category were awarded.