Upcoming Events
Sammy will be ministering at the following events in the coming weeks:
October 11-14th Vine and Branches Retreat, Westwood Community Church
October 12th, Transforming Church Conference, Bethel University Seminary St. Paul, Minnesota
October 15th, Oak Hills Christian College, Bemidji, MN. Speaking in Chapel and delivering Perspectives talk.
October 21st: Crossroads Church, Prior Lake, MN. Guest speaker in Sunday services
October 28th: Calvary Church, White Bear Lake, MN. Will speak at the Mission's banquet in the evening.
November 15th: City of St. Paul Businessman's Prayer Breakfast: Will be keynote speaker for the event.
100,000 to attend Festival of Hope in DR Congo
It is time for a new chapter to be written for Africa's second largest country, the DR Congo. That is what 400 churches and Para church organizations, the Mayor of Bukavu, the Governor of DR Congo's South Kivu province believe. After several years of a civil war, the country held successful elections in November 2006. An estimated 4 1/2 million people had lost their lives and millions more spiritually, economically, and socially deprived. But Jesus Christ has been working among them to heal and restore hope. This August, SWIM is partnering with more than 400 churches in the province to hold "Arise And Shine Congo, Festival of Hope" in the city of Bukavu. An estimated 100,000 people will directly participate in the Festival as we proclaim the saving and healing message of Jesus Christ.
Can These Dry Bones Live? (Ezekiel 37)
Standing in the genocide memorial in Kigali, Rwanda, last November, I was tempted to answer "No!" to this question. It wasn't a vision. It was real. The dry bones were those of children and parents smashed by machettes. Now encased as a memorial, they spoke of the consequences of a past of failed leadership. Torn garments that once covered their bodies still bore blood stains. Like Ezekiel who was confronted by Israel's devastation, I was confronted with the realities of Rwanda's recent past. Was I supposed to cry? Was I supposed to despair all together? Could these dry bones live? What did that question mean to Ezekiel? What did it mean to me?
Well, after struggling to maintain calm, I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me to answer differently. To reflect on the greatness of God and, therefore, affirm God's power and desire to change the destiny of the East and Central Africa region through transformed leadership. I was prompted to speak to leadership issues and encourage good governance. God was promising a different future for Rwanda and for Africa in general.
This summer, SWIM will hold the 2nd Great Lakes Regional Conference on Leadership and Governance in Rwanda's capital, Kigali. The church is persuaded of God's power and of the resilience of God's people to confront the challenges of the past, recover the present, and shape a new future for Africa's Great Lakes region and beyond. On August 6th and 7th, SWIM will host more than 250 leaders representing 8 nations in the Africa Great Lakes region for this very purpose.
Speakers include SWIM Executive Director Sammy Wanyonyi, Cargill Executive from Minneapolis Dan Dye, Senior Pastor of Life Church in Maple Groves and former advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon Ron Roberts and Steve Wareham, director of the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, the 15th largest Airport in the world. Others are SWIM director Rob Staddler, a Harvad and MIT graduate and Senior Principle Scientist for Medtronic, Minneapolis, Minessota. To meet all our team members, visit Sammy's blog.
Speakers from the region include Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, Burundi's First Lady Denise Ngurunziza, Rwanda's First Lady Janet Kagame, Burundi's Minister for Good Governance, and Rwanda's Minister for Good Governance and Community Development Protais Musoni among others. Participants include cabinet ministers, members of parliament, Business and Religious leaders from Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Somalia, and Sudan.
Complete list of SWIM team members traveling:
1. Dan Dye, Cargill Executive, Minneapolis, MN
2. Steve Wareham, Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport Director
3. Rev. Ron Roberts, Senior Pastor of Life Church, Maple Groves, MN
4. Ebony Hatch, MDiv. Student, Bethel University, St. Paul, MN
5. Grace Fragoso, Missionary from Brazil, Orphanos Foundation, Memphis, TN
6. Mike Galbraith, Undergraduate Student, Bethel University, St. Paul, MN
7. Robert Stadler, PhD, Senior Principal Scientist, Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN
8. Randy Galbraith, Businessman, Marshall, MN,
Please pray for these nations represented a the conference and especiall that God will do great and awesome things in both Rwanda & DR Congo.
Building Pastors in Malawi, Southern Africa, August 17-24th 2007
Following a request from Westwood Community Church, Minneapolis, MN, and World Relief Malawi, Sammy will be traveling to Malawi, Southern Africa, to conduct a pastors Conference in the town of Chitipa. About 300 pastors will benefit from this time of training and renewal. Please pray that these leaders will be inspired and empowered in their continued ministry to the people of Malawi.
December 2006 End Year Message From Pastor Sammy
Looking back at the end of our first year of ministry, it has been a year of a great leap of faith and extravagant grace from God. How else can we explain the results we have seen in just 12 months as nearly 3000 people have embraced the message of salvation through Jesus Christ in the United States and around the world? How could we have managed to conduct a Festival of Hope attended by 50,000 people of Rwanda in the city of Butare? How could we have hosted a Christ-centered leadership conference in the capital Kigali that brought together 200 government officials, members of Parliament, church leaders, and the Rwandan business community that captured the national imagination? How could we have ministered to 300 pastors from the countries of DR Congo, Burundi, and Uganda in the central Africa region? It took your love, support, and partnership for the ministry to accomplish these objectives.
After we launched Sammy Wanyonyi International Ministries (SWIM) in November 2005, the ministry was faced with many opportunities and challenges. We received invitations to take Good News Festivals and Leadership Conferences to eight different countries that included Rwanda, Botswana, India, Kenya, the Philippines, Pakistan, Malawi, and around the United States. However, our financial and personnel resources were limited. With our staff, board members, pastoral advisors, a number of churches, and individual supporters around the United States like you, we set out to seek God’s direction through prayer. By April, we felt confirmation to prepare to set sail for Rwanda in addition to continuing ministry within the United States. Assessing all the invitations, it represented the greatest potential to influence the African continent. Its neighboring country DR Congo was still engaged in a civil war that has killed over four million people. Rwanda’s own wounds were still fresh following the genocide twelve years ago. The community of multi-denominational churches that had extended the invitation had no financial back-up for the events. They were totally relying on faith, theirs and ours, as they insisted without wavering that through prayer, God had shown them that He would minister to their community through SWIM.
As we contemplated the invitation in light of biblical revelation, we found their strong faith to be most appealing. The whole scenario brought to the fore of reminiscence two biblical events. One is the story of Jesus’ own birth. Although He is God and eventually His message would affect Rome’s and the world’s highest offices, He elected to be born in a Jewish shepherd’s manger and not in a Roman palace (Luke 2). Was it possible He was calling SWIM to continue His mission of reaching the world? The second story spoke well of the faith of the Rwandan Churches; that of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8). Could it be that God was going to honor their faith by providing the more than U.S. $ 60,000 they needed to cover the expenses for the Festival of Hope and Leadership Conferences through SWIM’s friends like you? Indeed, the answer to both these questions was “Yes!” When we reached out to you, by God’s grace you answered the call through your prayers and financial support, enabling SWIM to send seven team members to conduct these high-impact events.
November 3rd-15th, the message of Hope was nationally proclaimed to the Rwandan society through the Festival of Hope. During the Festival 2000 people gave their lives to Jesus Christ. The national leaders’ conference enhanced collaboration between the State and the Church as they seek lasting solutions. 2007 has a number of opportunities to offer. We are considering an invitation to take a Festival of Hope to the country of DR Congo where 400 churches are collaborating and estimate that 100,000 people will attend the Festival and thousands will embrace the message of salvation. Also, the Rwandan and Burundian government and Christian leaders have invited SWIM to hold two leadership conferences in their respective countries. Both promise to equip political, religious, and business leaders from eight different nations in East and Central Africa. Even the Presidents of the two nations are indicating they will attend.
Thank you for being part of the tremendous change in the lives of the Rwandan people through your love, faith, and generosity. Please pray with us as we continue to reach out to the nations with the Gospel in 2007. I invite you in this season of generosity to consider partnering with SWIM through an end-year tax deductible gift.
Happy and Fulfilling 2007!
Arise And Shine, Rwanda Festival of Hope
By Shamilla Amulega
In the heartland of Central East Africa lies the nation of Rwanda, a country significantly well known for its beautiful grasslands in the countryside; farms extending over rolling hills and a collection of rugged mountains. Many of us were overwhelmed by events that occurred in the 1994 genocide, spurred by historical slander between the Hutu and Tutsi communities that left over one million people dead and five million displaced. Since February this year, over 200 churches from the Forum for Evangelical Churches of Rwanda are collaborating with Sammy Wanyonyi International Ministries (SWIM) to host a three-day “Arise & Shine Rwanda Festival of Hope” November 10th-12th to be held at Huye Stadium and the “Great Lakes Regional Conference” in the regional capital city of Butare on November 7th-9th. The events are meant to cater for over 60,000 people and 300 pastors respectively from across Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The SWIM team will also hold a one-day national leaders' seminar in the Capital City of Kigali on November 7th. Several political, religious and business leaders will attend this conference on leadership that will be openned by Rwanda's Minister of local administration, good governance, community development and social affairs.
As part of the mission outreach, the SWIM team will minister the message of peace and reconciliation to 10,000 prisoners in Rwanda. When asked why a mission to Rwanda, international evangelist Sammy Wanyonyi comments, “Rwanda has the potential to positively influence and change the face of Africa from being bad news to Good News. The Rwandan people feel this is possible through Jesus Christ. ” As part of the gospel outreach efforts, SWIM will broadcast the opening and closing night’s “Festival of Hope” on both Rwandan Radio and Television Broadcasts. In response to the media, Rwandan Pastor Dennis Ruhorimbere who is actively directing the festival explains, “As the Church at large, we have an enormous responsibility to shoulder pain, encourage peace and reconciliation efforts among the people of this nation. The Festival of Hope is one way to bring together the Church around a common cause and the community around a common message.”
In collaboration with a Minnesota charity “Feed My Starving Children” the SWIM team will also set up a food distribution network to begin feed needy communities, particularly those affected by the Aids epidemic and genocide. As a result of the war local churches in Rwanda are struggling financially, thus SWIM will have to cover the entire cost (U.S $60,000) of the outreach operations. We believe that God is investing in and transforming the lives of Rwandan people one individual at a time through the Festival of hope and affirming the ministry of Christian leaders through the Great Lakes Regional conference.
Posted September 15th 2006
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SWIM Launches With a Big Bang!
Minneapolis, MN
On Monday night, November 14th 2005, Sammy Wanyonyi International Ministries (SWIM) was officially launched at the Chanhassen Dinner Theaters here in Minneapolis. About 120 invited guests from all across the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin attended this special inauguration of our world-wide teaching and evangelistic ministry. Among other things, the evening featured great fellowship over a sumptuous meal, heart grapping worship led by Dan Adler and Heart of the City Worship Ministries, outstanding speakers who included Tim Robnett, International Crusade Director for the Luis Palau Evangelistic Association and Director of the Next Generation Alliance (NGA), Joel Johnson, Senior Pastor of Westwood Community Church, Excelsior/Chanhassen, MN, and Sammy Wanyonyi, Founder and President of SWIM. There was a powerful presence of the Holy Spirit during the prayer of commissioning for Sammy and SWIM ministries led by Leland Eliason, Provost of Bethel University Seminary, Ron Roberts, pastor of Life Church of Maple Groves, MN, and Darin Poli, Pastor of Southbridge Community Church of Shakopee, MN. Special Piano music was provided by Herb Johnson of North Central University.
Operation Outreach Dinner...A SMASHING success!
The evening, christened Operation Outreach Dinner, was also designed to serve as a fundraising occasion for seed funds to assist SWIM's Operations in this launch phase. By the grace of God, we raised good seed funds in cash and pledges. To God be all the glory!
To order Sammy's book, Scenes from Under the Sky Cathedral: In Passionate Pursuit of God, contact SWIM ministries by calling 612-220-7999 or by e-mail: samsimo@msn.com. The cost is U.S. $ 12.00 with shipping and handling within the United States.
Partnering with two local Churches to bring the message of Jesus Christ to a troubled Phillips neighborhood of South Minneapolis...Sept 11th!
On September 11th I will be giving an evangelistic message at an outdoor service hosted by two congregations in the Phillips Neighborhood of South Minneapolis; Immanuel Baptist, a daughter congregation of Bethlehem Baptist and Harvest Praise Invasion Church.
"For 15 years, Immanuel Baptist Church has held an outdoor evangelistic event called "Jubilee Sunday" as a way to 'go public' with our joy in Jesus Christ," says senior Pastor of Emmanuel Baptist, Brent Nelson. "We offer music, food, fun and an invitation to meet our Savior, the LORD Jesus Christ."
The Phillips neighborhood of South Minneapolis is acknowledged as one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the United States, teeming with recent immigrants, and sometimes dangerous drug gangs. But Pastor Brent Nelson and his congregation are determined through their passion for the Kingdom of God to see continuing change. This evangelistic service is a small way of expressing their faith and confidence in the transforming power of the Cross of Jesus Christ. "We desire to make the good news of His love known to the many nations who dwell in our midst," he said to me in a recent conversation.
At Sammy Wanyonyi Int'l Ministries we are grateful for the opportunity to partner with Immanuel Baptist and Harvest Praise Invasion Churches to bring the message of Salvation through Jesus Christ on September 11th to the residents of South Minneapolis.
How you can help
1. Fast and pray for changed lives in this Minneapolis neighborhood
2. Come and be part of the service on September 11th, help counsel those responding to the message of salvation.
3. If you are a pastor of your congregation, remember to pray for us with your congregation on the 11th
4. Pray, pray, pray!
Thank you for your continued partnership in our journey and passion to make Jesus Christ famous. It is our desire and privilege to serve you and your community in any way we can. Contact us with prayer requests or spiritual questions.
Greeted by cold, gunshots, and teargas but inspired by the vibrant faith of believers...
Nairobi-Kenya
July 17th-August 1st - following our two-week India campaign where we had prayed with some 1200 people to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, my friend Nick Hall and I headed straight from Chennai (Madras) to Nairobi, Kenya, aboard United Arab Emirates, while the rest of our team from Bethel University returned to Minnesota. Besides going to strengthen believers across several congregations in the capital city of Nairobi, we hoped to build more relationships with churches across several cities and denominations and with government leaders as we trust God for future evangelistic festivals in the country.
On arrival, Nairobi was in the middle of winter and the weather quickly got to us. My friend Nick got a cold and was coughing so hard. On the other hand, I had been unable to keep food down while in India and I felt extremely weakened and cold as a result. It didn't help that we had to adjust to new time zones again which meant being short on sleep. I got concerned for Nick as were our great hosts, Rev. Boniface Adoyo and his wife Addah, Bishop of Christ is the Answer Ministries and national chairman of the Evangelical Fellowship of Kenya. There was, however, little that we could do other than pray and take medications that we had brought with us. Our ministry went on unhindered as we ministered to the thousands of believers across the city.
A few days later, we met with Kenya's Minister for Environment and presidential hopeful Hon. Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka, who had priro to his current cabinet position had served as Minister for Foreign Affairs, during which time he steered the Sudanese peace process along with former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. He updated us on the prayer concerns for the East African region. We then flew into the coastal city of Mombasa to meet with city pastors as we plan a youth focused evangelistic festival in their city.
On arrival, however, we were greeted by gunshots and teargas being hurled at our car before we had reached our hotel. A band of about 20 riot police officers in street clothes were trying to break up a public protest and we were not aware nor was our driver until we were on the front-end of the AK-47 totting and teargas-firing officers. Barely ten minutes old in this ancient resort city on the Indian Ocean, we were shaken momentarily in the pandemonium as teargas was aimed at us. We found ourselves blocked in the rare and on the sides by other fleeing cars as the guns were pointed in our direction. Thankfully we got out of the pandemonium unharmed as much as we were contemplating getting out of the car to get away on foot.
In spite these life-threatening distractions, we were not to be detoured, turned back, or delayed from our mission. Jesus had sent us and we were set to stay the course until we had delivered his message. Overall we spoke to some 10,000 believers and prayed with about 100 people to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior as we criss-crossed the country from West to East.
We have pledged our lives to the Cross of Christ and you can do us no greater kindness than to pray for us. The legions of hell are great; but the legions of heaven are greater! The devil is mighty; but God is Almighty! The stakes are high. The price and prize of preaching the Gospel are great! That is why you can do us no greater kindness than pray for us!
India Cracks Under the Gospel July 3rd-17th 2005
Heyderabad, India
We sat Sandwiching one well-educated Hindu gentleman between us on our flight from Amsterdam to Bombay. If our conversation with him was to be an indication of things to come as we entered India, then my accompanying evangelist Nick Hall and I were in for some interesting but great times of ministry together. We tag-teamed as we shared with the gentleman the Good News of Salvation through Jesus Christ. As I reflected on Scripture, it made perfect sense that when Jesus sent out the disciples, he sent them two by two (Luke 10:1).
Eventually the gentleman turned down our invitation to receive Salvation citing his Hindu up-bringing. I wondered whether we would encounter the same response across India during our preaching in the two weeks to come. Even though I have many Indian friends in the United States, I had never been to India before. Would we succeed in leading anyone to Jesus Christ in this country with the second largest population in the world? We silently prayed that the seed we had planted in the gentleman’s heart would one day sprout when he realizes that he too can be saved.
As we changed flights in Bombay to head to Hyderabad where our ministry proper would start, Indian people around us were genuinely excited that we were visiting their country. Some even paused with us for pictures as though we were some celebrity figures. One gentleman kept coming around taking pictures with his cell-phone and asking me for different pauses some with my race-car hat on and others without. A couple Goan gentlemen suggested that if we really wanted to enjoy India then next time we should plan to include Goa in our itinerary as Goans are Catholic.
Upon arrival in Hyderabad, our exhausted team of five got some emotional boost when we found out that for our first night we were booked in a nice hotel with cheap rates since it was transitioning from being a three star to a five star. This helped reduce transitional stress and allowed us to gradually adjust to the culture by at least getting a descent shower, bed and breakfast. The next day we visited a couple Universities in the city and spoke to students at Wesley Degree College before boarding another flight to the city of Vijayawada where we were to spend several days ministering in village churches to culminate with a youth festival. Sam our guide, who also directs the affairs of our host organization in the absence of the president, was prompt in picking us up to the airport. When we arrived in Vijayawada, there was a van ready to take us to our place of aboard for the next several days as we ministered to the residents of this buzzing city, medium size to Indian standards.
From a slow start, our unadvertised meetings built up and by the time the youth festival arrived, 1200 young people packed the arena where we held the festival in spite heavy rains that grounded the public transportation system. Day after day Nick Hall and I preached the message of Jesus Christ faithfully three or four times, tag-teaming. Day after day dozens responded to the invitation to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and savior. Our entire team prayed with hundreds of people from village to village. By the end of our ministry in India, an estimated 1200 had prayed with us to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. To the glory of our Lord, India was cracking under the message of the Cross. Its beautiful people were looking even more beautiful as they embraced the call to follow Jesus Christ.
As we headed to the city of Pontecherri in Tamil Nadu to visit with tsunami victims following our meetings in Vijayawada, we stopped by Chennai’s large beach-front. Our host pastors were suggesting that the beach-front would be a perfect place to hold a city-wide evangelistic festival. That is when it dawned on us that our doubt as to whether we could lead any Indian to Christ had vanished. It had been replaced by a vision that in the coming days we will be preaching to one hundred thousand Hindu’s gathered on the beautiful beach-front and will see tens of thousands respond to the call of Salvation through Jesus Christ. Jesus has placed a big dream in our hearts in addition to our expanding ministry in the United States and Africa to return to India soon and we are daring to believe that India shall indeed be saved. For “Not by might nor by power but by my Spirit,” says the Lord of hosts. ‘Who are you, O Great India? Before my servant evangelist you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of “Grace, grace to India!”” (Paraphrase of Zech 4:6-7)
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Shine in the World Int'l Ministries (SWIM)
1130 Grove Circle
Victoria, MN 55386, USA
Tel: 612-220-7999
Fax: 952-224-7301
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