Rwanda

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My dear brothers and sisters in Rwanda finally have a bible in their native language! I cannot even begin to imagine how happy they are. They can finally read God's word in their native language. And the best thing: they can bring to Bible's message of a wonderful hope for the future in that country's native language. :)

From page 250 and 251 of the 2011 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses

ANOTHER MILESTONE FOR RWANDA

At the 2009 “Keep on the Watch!” District Convention, the brothers in Rwanda were thrilled to learn about the release of the new songbook and to hear a selection of the new songs sung in Kinyarwanda. Not only was the new songbook translated into Kinyarwanda promptly but the congregations also received their copies in time to start singing the new songs at the meetings with the rest of the worldwide brotherhood in January 2010.

Understandably, after the release of the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures in Kinyarwanda in 2007, everyone wondered when the complete Bible would be translated into Kinyarwanda. As the time for the 2010 district conventions approached, it was announced that Guy Pierce, a member of the Governing Body, would be visiting Rwanda at the time of the convention for Kigali in August. The convention would be held in the sports stadium just across the road from the branch. Excitement was in the air, and how wonderful it was when Brother Pierce announced the release of the complete New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures in Kinyarwanda! Each of the 7,149 people present on Friday morning received a personal copy of the new Bible. On Sunday, brothers from other districts of Rwanda swelled the attendance to 11,355. During the convention, soldiers who had been marching outside requested copies of the new Bible, and 180 were distributed to them. The mayor of Kigali, the chief of police, and authorities from the Ministry of Sports also gratefully accepted copies.



The work of preaching the good news in Rwanda started in 1970 with three publishers. Now there are some 20,000 publishers in the country. They conduct about 50,000 Bible studies each month. In April 2011, 87,010 people attended the Memorial. The brothers in Rwanda have a history of and a reputation for zealous activity. With about 25 percent of the publishers in some formof full-time service and the remaining publishers averaging 20 hours a month, our brothers are busy working alongside “the Master of the harvest” in this fertile field, with no intention of slowing down. As Jehovah continues to bless the work, we wait with anticipation to see how many more people will stream to Jehovah’s mountain of true worship in this Land of a Thousand Hills.—Matt. 9:38; Mic. 4:1, 2.

I am surprised the Belgians, during their long colonial rule in the area, did not translate the Bible into Kinyarwanda.