In 2008, BCC entered into a relationship with Pastor Straton Gataha and Eglise Vivante de Jesus Christ (The LIving Church of Jesus Christ). BCC leaders visited Rwanda in October 2008 to investigate avenues to support Pastor Straton and the work of his church. Four opportunities arose from our initial visit but one stands out among the rest.

Eric, Eglise Vivante’s young administrator, served as our guide and interpreter, but more importantly he demonstrated the power of God’s love in spite of life events that we can scarcely imagine. After losing his entire family during the genocide, surviving several years of civil and domestic turmoil that followed the war, and completing his secondary education in six different schools and two nations, he earned a bachelor’s degree with high marks from a university in Kigali, Rwanda and began serving full-time in the church. One of his life-goals has been a post-graduate education in the US for the express purpose being a more effective servant to the people of Rwanda.

BCC committed to support Eric’s education in the US and thus began a roller-coaster string of events (mostly disappointments) spanning nearly two years. When all avenues had been explored to the extent humanly possible and hope had all but faded, God, at the very last minute, answered prayers in ways that were unmistakably His handiwork.

In August 2010, Eric moved from Kigali to Maryville. He lives with a BCC family and attends The University of Tennessee where he is earning top scores as he works on a Master of Science degree in Agricultural and Resource Economics. Upon his return to Rwanda, Eric will be the only Agricultural Economist among a nation of 10 million farmers. No one really knows what that means for Eric, the church, or Rwanda but based on experience, we fully expect God to surprise us with something beyond our imagination.

If you would like to pray for Eric and BCC’s engagement with him, here are a few suggestions. Pray for (1) language comprehension as Eric studies in his third language, (2) continued adjustment to a culture very different from his own, (3) professors and advisors that will guide his graduate studies, (4) a research topic that will become a meaningful tool for his life’s work and ministry in Rwanda, and (5) BCC, that we will learn all we can from Eric while he is with us—he is strong in the spirit and really special in the most delightful ways.