'IHope For Africa' gears for another Christmas treat to E. African children

Rev. Darius Twagirayesu (right), founder of the I Hope for Africa, during the 2010 Annual Christmas outreach to orphaned children in Kigali, Rwanda.With him is an interpreter. Pic courtesy of I Hope for Africa file

By Ajabu Africa, posted December 18, 2011

BOSTON, Mass.,_For 12 straight years, orphaned children in some parts of Africa (Rwanda) have always had a reason to smile and hope for the best  as Christmas holiday rolls in.

The children’s dreams have never failed, thanks to the Annual Christmas Outreach in Rwanda by Rev. Darius and Mwaka Twagirayesu of the International Hope for Africa( website), and All Nations House of Prayer Church based in Dallas.

In association with Fresh Aroma Ministries International, that is also part of their ministries, the couple has always taken up the burden to bring joy to hundreds of these children who lost their parents either to the menacing HIV AIDS scourge or the devastating Rwanda genocide back in 1994. 

 Due to the increasing positive response for the unique Christmas program, the couple has over the recent years added several areas of Kenya and Uganda to their itinerary for distribution of gifts and food during the much coveted holiday in Africa.

 “Every year, we bring gifts to the children like clothes, books, crayons, hair accessories and toys to last them for a year till the next Christmas. We also serve them with an exclusive hot meals cooked from some of the five star hotels in Kigali, Nairobi,” said Apostle Twagirayesu during an interview with Ajabu Africa.  

While in Boston recently to host the 3rd Annual Prophetic Conference organized by Fresh Aroma Ministries at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Woburn on October 20- 23rd, 2011 , Twagirayesu said that last year’s trip to Africa was a massive success where over 2,000 children , aged between 4 years and 15 years received Christmas treats.
 
“We visited children in various orphanages located in Kigali Rwanda, Kampala in Uganda and Nairobi in Kenya. We gave out gifts and hot meals and prayed for them. We want to do it again this year” he said.

The conference that attracted a host of other African community faithful was hosted by Twagirayesu in conjunction with Bishop Joseph and Pastor Catherine Warui from the United Kingdom as the keynote speakers.

As part of the 3 day conferences that the couple introduced in their ministry, a breakfast meeting is usually held as a way to raise funds to support the Christmas Outreach program for the orphans of Africa.

 This year however, the breakfast meeting did not take place due to logistical challenges that included too many fund raisings and events in the African community on that particular day of October 22nd.

Despite that, Apostle Twagirayesu said that the Christmas mission to Africa will still take place and appealed for funds from friends, faithful and well wishers in the community to make it happen.

Rev.Twagirayesu was born in Rwanda and migrated to Uganda as a child to escape the instability in his home country. He then moved to Kenya to escape further instability in Uganda under the rule of Idi Amin.

   While pursuing a BA degree in Divinity at the Pan African Bible College Kenya, Rev. Twagirayesu met his future wife, Mwaka who was attending the Loreto Msongari high school while her family lived in Kenya working for United Nations.

 However, before they married, Rev.Twagirayesu immigrated to US in 1988 to pursue a masters of Arts degree in Theology in Omaha, Nebraska while Mwaka left for the London School of Law in the UK.

 The couple later reconnected and got married in Zambia in 1992 after which they relocated to Boston the same year.

  In 1993, the couple became the first African immigrants to start a church in the region, the All Nations Christian Center that was located in Cambridge.

 The church later became the launching pad to many new African immigrants in the region providing them with guidance on navigating life in the new land.   
 
“Surely we have come a long way that’s why I don’t need an invitation to come to this region it will always be my home”, Rev. Twagirayesu told Ajabu Africa.    

 Among other events that the couple has been holding in the region includes the popular Valentine’s Banquet held during the Valentine’s season.

  However, according to Apostle Twagirayesu, the annual Christmas mission to Africa is one of the highlights of the growing ministry.

 “We like making the children feel loved during the Christmas time which can become very lonely and depressing without parents or relatives to share with,” said Rev. Twagirayesu.

 I Hope for Africa runs a feeding center that sits on 40 acres of land in Kigali Rwanda managed by 2 staff, where children come daily for feeding and lessons on the Bible.

 The organization also helps pay for tuition for orphans unable to meet primary school tuition fees as well as secondary school.

 Several local churches in Rwanda provide help on logistics and mobilizing of orphans while a few partnering companies in the USA donate some of the Christmas gifts needed.

Rev. Twagirayesu added that the special attachment with the children was also a way for him and his wife to thank God for blessing them with children as they had initially gone for long with no children of their own.

“It was after a lot of prayers by Evangelist Teresiah Wairimu of Kenya that he lord finally blessed us with 3 boys,” he said.

In what the couple views as further blessings for the work they have been doing for orphaned children, they were surprised to learn recently that they were going to new parents for new set of twins, a boy and a girl.

“It was a complete surprise for us to learn that even at our age we will is still having more babies,” Twagirayesu told worshippers during the recent prophetic conference.

 His wife did not attend the event due to the late stage of her pregnancy.

However, the twins were eventually delivered and welcomed into this world, November 2, 2011.

 Apostle Darius thanked God for the miracle of the 5 children that now make up his family and also thanked Evangelist Wairimu and many others who prayed for them. 

 He added that  I Hope for Africa was  looking forward to an exciting  2011 Christmas trip to Africa and appealed to well wishers to lend a helping hand to  make the Christmas a special time for the orphaned children.

 Well wishers can send their donations to:
Bank of America USA:
Checking Account #: 002-248-011000-1380046086130
or call   the couple at: 469-288-4232
Email: Darius.Twagirayesu@daystar.com

On the net: http://www.ihopeforrwanda.com/

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