Under the theme of "Journey Of Truth," the 23 sisters of the Kigali church saw 126 women gather for this year's women's day on the 12th of December 2004. In a week where there had been rain and unpredictable lengthy electricity blackouts, the weather held and the electricity supplied was totally uninterrupted throughout the afternoon. God worked in great ways through the Kigali sisters, faithfully led by Judy Awino.

Immaculee Munganga and Aretha Mutumwinka opened up the occasion with prayer and handed over to the hosts for the afternoon, Joseline Kayitesi and Daniele Mbesherubusa.

Personal sharing began with Françoise Murakatete, who talked about how in her journey of truth, she spent 15 years of religiosity but never heard that the Word will judge us (John 12:47,48). "I had never heard any preacher using this scripture in all the churches where I had been" Françoise shared. While it was her dream to study theology, during the period that she studied the bible to become a disciple she one day came across John 6:45 that says that God Himself will teach us.

Helping the women gathered to understand that the bible must be the source for their faith and decisions, Françoise, who has helped many to become Christians, concluded by declaring with gratitude, "I am now capable of teaching the Bible and yet have not studied."

Rita Mutabazi shared next. "Everyone is looking for God," she said, "but they do so in different ways. When I studied the bible, what I saw was that seeking and needing God is an everyday thing. While friends will be present to help you, the bible must always be the basis for your convictions and decisions."

Sharing from her experience in leaving the faith and then returning, Rosine Mukamwiza said that she left because she was not willing to talk about sin, but once back in the world realized that she had been happier in the church. "I made a decision to return to the kingdom regardless how people might look at me, and I would do whatever God would ask me to do." She concluded, encouraging the women not to lose hope, with the declaration that "it is never too late to turn to God."

The guest speaker was Georgeanne Rayola, from Nairobi, who together with her husband, Rayola, planted the Kigali church in 1997. She shared principally from the account in Acts 8 of the Ethiopian eunuch, who was on a spiritual journey. "It is normally true that there is safety in numbers," she shared, but when it comes to the truth and following God, "you must be ready to take the narrow road and not the wide one that has many people on it."

Georgeanne's outline was: 1. Believing Is Just The Beginning, 2. Salvation Is The Destination, and 3. Conviction Is Crucial For Completion. She called women to garner the humility required to follow the roadmap of the bible and rise above religious backgrounds and feelings in order to find and follow the truth in the journey of life in which we all find ourselves.

Didi Havyarimana, who leads the women's ministry in Burundi, closed out the evening with brief sharing.

The musical and dance performances were electric, from a Rwandese-language rendition of "Awesome God," by the choir to Rosine's singing of "Redeemer" that was punctuated by several outbursts of spontaneous applause from the audience and came to an end with a rousing standing ovation. After presenting a traditional Rwandan dance, the preteens staged a contemporay one, which was the climax of the afternoon's presentations and a fittingly exciting and upbeat conclusion to a colourful and inspiring evening.

Many visitors expressed what the day meant to them. Mercy felt that "women lack for such as this one to hear from and learn from each other, and so this has been very encouraging." Emilienne was emphatic, saying, "it was very good, interesting and sharing was constructive - very helpful." Bernadette said, "I see how true it is that that I need to choose God."

Joseline's mother, a former Miss Uganda, was among those at the Women's Day. Joseline says, "My mother said that from now on she will be attending church here always." This comes barely two months after a brother of Joseline's was baptized.

We pray that the women's day event proves to be in many lives what it was designed to be - not a destination, but a refueling stop on the great journey, where women are revived and re-directed so that the truth may set them free.