Twelve Thousand Come to Christ on the Hills of Rubavu, Rwanda. 78000 Attend.



Sammy Wanyonyi leads a crowd in repentence prayer

They came from all walks of life, strutting across the gentle hills of Rubavu, to attend the SWIM Ministry Festival of Hope events that lasted for a week. These same hills, that not long ago hosted thousands fleeing for their lives from the genocide and ethnic gangs bent on revenge, became places of gatherings of hope, forgiveness and reconciliation.





Often, they withstood the elements, rain, wind, slippery hillsides, in order to listen to the Good News of Jesus Christ.



250 Women leaders attend the conference facilitated by
SWIM team members Kimberly Wolf and Judy Chase. 

Each night, our ministry team proclaimed the love of God to several thousands. Each time, hundreds of people responded to the invitation to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. By the closing of the festival on the 7th day, 11,980 people out of the 78,000 that attended the meetings, had prayed with us to receive Christ.

Ingabire found hope through Christ.

One such individual was a young woman named Ingabire (pictured) who was on her way to commit suicide by drowning herself and her baby girl in the nearby Lake Kivu when she stopped by the festival long enough to hear Sammy proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.



Each night hundreds responded to the invitation to receive
Christ at festival events all across the city.



Standing precariously on a precipice overlooking the lake with her baby strapped on her back, Ingabire listened intently and learned that God loved her. She heard of how God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die in our place so that none of us should perish if we believe. She understood that God is able to restore hope where we feel hopeless and to help us where we feel helpless and vulnerable.



Blair Carlson, Laussane Movement
Associate Director prays with a
local evangelist attending the
School of Evangelism. 300 local
evangelists participated in the School.



As Sammy concluded the message and gave invitation to those present to invite Jesus Christ into their lives, she responded among throngs of others that night. Tearfully she prayed repenting of all her sin and shame.



Hundreds respond to receive Christ at closing event.

Moments later, she met with a festival counselor. Crying for God’s mercy and forgiveness, she reported her earlier mission to drown herself and her baby in the nearby lake. Now, she realized that God cared and God was there to help her. God’s mercy had prevailed over her sin and shame to rescue her both from self-destruction and from eternal condemnation. Our team was able to connect her to local resources where she is receiving on-going counseling.

SWIM team with a team of local

evangelists from Africa Enterprise

Rwanda who assisted with the Festivals



Besides the evangelistic events, our team trained and empowered 620 local pastors, evangelists, women leaders, high profile political and business community leaders as well as helped the local community rebuild seven homes for genocide victim families. These leaders continue to extend the impact of the ministry in the region.



300 pastors and evangelists participated

in the SWIM School of Evangelism.




Over the last three weeks since end of Festival,

399 are reported by 9 congregations to have been baptized. 

Another 1000 are in process.  Thousands more are in other
churches that haven't sent in their reports as yet. 
To God be the glory!



Local evangelists and pastors
at the SWIM School of Evangelism
engage with each other.



In the last three weeks since the end of the Festival, nine churches in Rubavu out of the seventy-five that participated with SWIM in the outreach have reported baptizing a total of 399 individuals that came to Christ at the Festival. They also report about 1000 other people currently going through the discipleship process in their churches. Hundreds more are doing the same with 66 other congregations in the city of Rubavu. We give God the glory!



This Fall- Bringing the Message of Christ to Mankato, MN


As we enter the Fall season, we are excited for the opportunity to partner with ministries and churches to bring the message of Christ stateside to the city of Mankato, MN. On November 4th and 5th, SWIM ministry will host our second Mid-West Festival event on the University Campus of Minnesota State University Mankato.

Among other activities, the events will feature national Hip-Hop Artist Flame, Heart of the City Worship Band, and a message of hope from evangelist Sammy among others. Please pray with us for a great harvest of souls especially among the 14,000 University student population.