Reformed churches partnership fund

Pastors get on their bikes

Motor bikes are cheaper and more effective than cars for pastors in the Church of Pakistan who work with Christian communities scattered in hundreds of villages over a vast area. One of their goals is to create awareness and job opportunities in the communities. The long-term goal of the diocese of Sialkot is to make its pastoral and evangelistic work self-supporting through income-generating projects, eg, English-medium schools. The Geneva-based Fondation pour l'aide au protestantisme (FAP) supported the purchase of six motor-bikes in 1995, but by now the bikes had to be replaced and our partnership fund helped the church to buy ten new motorbikes.

Theological education by extension in Rwanda

After the 1994 genocide, the Église presbytérienne au Rwanda created a centre for basic theological education to help replace the large numbers of pastors and other church personnel who had either been killed or had fled. As its name suggests, the Centre oecuménique de recherche et de vulgarisation théologique (CORVT) is run ecumenically, in cooperation with the Baptist, Episcopal and Free Methodist churches. It offers extension courses to lay people and pastors in Bible studies, homiletics, healing and reconciliation (still a pressing need), and human rights. The aim is to develop the individual to become a true servant of God, and women's participation is strongly emphasized.

CORVT facilitators at a training seminar