John Samvura, Regional Director of GCC East Africa, joins a conversation with GCC's Director of International Ministries Corey Schmatjen. This episode of Launch is another audio track from an interview done in February 2022. 

Link to John Samvura interiew in Vimeo.

Episode Transcript

Marty Duren:               
Welcome to Launch, The GCC Podcast. I'm your host, Marty Duren, director of communications for the Great Commission Collective. We're a global network of churches partnering together to plant churches and strengthen leaders. On today's episode of Launch, you're going to hear GCC's director of International Ministries, Corey Schmatjen in conversation with John Samvura from Africa. John Samvura is a church planter. He is originally from Congo, but he is currently living in Rwanda. In addition to being a church planter, he is GCC's regional director in East Africa. This conversation was recorded via video at the lead conference in February, 2022. This is the audio track from that video, which you can see on our Vimeo channel. It will be linked in the show notes today.

Corey:                         
Well, welcome. My name is Corey Schmatjen and I serve with the Great Commission Collective as the director of International Ministries. And today I have with me, John Samvura. John is a church planter and our regional director of the Great Commission Collective in East Africa. John is from the Congo, but lives in Rwanda. And John, it is such a joy to have you here today.

John:                           
Thank you so much. .

Corey:                         
I was just reminiscing about our time together when we first met over one year ago in Rwanda providentially, got COVID, you know the story well? But yet God allowed us to really get to know one another over that time, get to know you, your wife Zawadi, your son, Jayden. And it was such a joy. And during that time, got to know you on more personal level and realize that, wow, the church planting runs the family. There is a legacy there, and maybe you start off just sharing a little bit about your history, particularly the legacy of your father in church planting in East Africa.

John:                           
Thank you so much, Corey. As you said, I was born in the Congo, raised in Rwanda, several other countries, and I'm Rwandan actually. I'm from Rwanda. That's where I am a Rwanda national. I live in Rwanda and work in East Africa, as you've said. My father Andres Samvura, was a pastor and a church planter in Rwanda, in Congo, and I grew up seeing him work, and by God's grace, he began the movement of the Church of the Nazarene. So wherever you see the Churches of the Nazarenes in Rwanda and influenced the churches of the Nazarenes in Congo, the Eastern part of Congo as well. And then now, a lot of churches that were well planted during his time, they're still there and they're still growing. And...

Corey:                         
How many churches? Cause, I mean, I know it's a lot.

John:                           
Yeah, it is a lot. Now they will get to about 300 churches like local churches, if you were to count local churches. But I have seen many of those churches actually begun in our living room. And as a child, we would move, plan the church, my father was involved in a training assessment and in making sure that things are happening and I saw the hand of God in doing that. And I really believe that God loves the church and the transformation of the world. God works through the church. I have high value for the church and I've seen the church being used to transform real lives and real communities over my lifetime.

Corey:                         
Now I remember hearing your story that you didn't necessarily want to be a church planter, but God moved on your heart and changed your heart to follow in the footsteps. So to speak of your father.

John:                           
Actually, I would say, God really grabbed me. I grew up trying not to be not only a church planter, but also not to be a pastor. In where I come from, you are likely going to do what your parents do. I tried not to because one of the reasons is we were moving a lot. And the more I made friends, we move. Whenever I had... I wanted to have my kids have real friends stay in a place. I don't mind moving, but I didn't mind moving even that time. I didn't want to be a pastor at that time because I thought I could do something else. I wanted to do much better.

My brother who is actually one of our pastors as well in our network was to be the pastor. He went to do theology, I chose to do business information technology. I didn't want to be a pastor. I tried not, but God grabbed me and you can't run away from God, Corey. You really can't run away from God on my ordination service, I said, "I didn't want to be a pastor," and many people like, "How didn't you want to be a..." But because many of the pastors knew me, they knew how God really brought me and used different...

Even as I was trying to run away, He was pursuing me. And He shaping me to this day. Now, I don't think I need something more than what I'm doing. I am so passionate about serving the church and seeing churches planted, not just any church, but Christ centered churches, Bible preaching churches. I am going to do this for as long as I'm still alive and breathing, I want to see to be part of what God is doing. This is God's doing. And I believe that this gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the entire world as the testimony to the nations. And then the end will come. I am pursuing this, Corey.

Corey:                         
Wait, your heart is evident for church planting. I went to the States for some training. You surrendered to God, His call upon your life. Got some training, came back planted Harvest Mahoko. But your vision, as you mentioned, is so much greater than just planting a single church. You are helping facilitate and lead a church planting network in indigenous church planting network in East Africa. With that said, what would you say to the person who would say, "But John, there are so many churches in Africa. Sub-Sahara Africa, hasn't Africa been evangelized. Why do we need more churches?"

John:                           
You know what Corey, I am passionate about church planting. And we are not pursuing just any church. We are... As I told you, I am from Rwanda. And Rwanda is known for the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. And statistically, that country was over 80% Christian, but that was more of a movement. It lacked depth. It lacked personal convictions. It goes back to the history where the king became a Catholic and proclaimed the whole country as a Christian nation. And so what says the king, everybody goes. So it lacked the personal change, the personal transformation that a Christian life should be all about. And so we are pursuing making disciples and disciples who are Christ-like, who will walk with Christ, who will seek to glorify Him in all areas of life.

By God's grace, we are planting and revitalizing churches in Rwanda. We have a Harvest Mahoko, as you said. It's growing really well. We have Kabare we have in several places in Rwanda, the churches that are really doing well. Now we also have ministries happening in Congo. We have churches in Masisi and Rutshuru, and we already have ready core groups in the city of Goma. And this city of Goma is a very influential city. That is where we have over 20,000 UN staff, and we want to be part of what God is doing. God is calling a people to Himself. Now, Uganda, we have Ernest Hategeka there with Christian Life Bible Church. And there, we are seeing God happen, doing amazing things in Uganda. And we have churches there and we want to plant more and revitalize the existing churches so they can be all about Christ and about His word.

When you go to Kenya, we have core groups ready with Andy Ogeto in Kikuyu, we have Ken, we have a Muturi in Nyeri, I can't wait to see what God is going to do in East Africa. And you know what? Burundi as well. And I'm looking at getting to South Sudan because with all this region is known for a lot of, the Great Lakes region with a lot of wars and conflicts. And I believe Christ came so He can reconcile as to Himself and to His father, but also to one another. And we can have a family of Christ. I believe this is the right time for church planting, for church revitalization, not only Rwanda, in Africa alone, but throughout all the nations as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come.

Corey:                         
I love what you said, "You know our mission, well, planting churches and strengthening leaders." So what I hear is, we want to plant healthy local churches with strong leadership and strong elders and pluralities that can multiply and churches could be formed that are gospel centered and strong and have depth. And I know that is your heart, you're doing that. In just a recap. I mean, all these countries. So Rwanda, Congo, Uganda, Kenya, also Tanzania as well, Burundi. Yeah.

John:                           
Yeah, yes, and Burundi as well. In the Dar es Salaam, we have a very ready core group with the Florian Camara leading it. And we have visited different parts of Tanzania. The land is ready for Harvest and I can't wait to just be part of what God is doing because God has been working in those countries and He will continue to work. And we just want to be part of that. And it is His mission. We will do the great commission and we want to do it within the Spirit of the great Commandment. Yeah.

Corey:                         
Well, John, as you look at forming and growing this church planting network in the Great Lakes, East Africa region, what are some of the greatest challenges that you face? And number two, how can we pray for you in that endeavor?

John:                           
Yeah. We are praying, first of all, that you stand with us in prayers so that God will raise men who are committed and ready to move and to be used by God, and God is raising them, and thank you for praying. And we want to come to pray. The Bible says that the harvest is plentiful, but they harvest as a few that we asked the Lord of the harvest to bring more harvesters to His field. And we are praying and standing and looking and we want to steward out very well those opportunities. And also we are praying that we will get churches, individuals to stand with us. Many of these churches, they just need resourcing to be able to get their leaders trained and equipped well, and also resource to have places of worship to begin with, and we are planting strategically.

We want to resource the churches that will multiply and be able to grow on their own. So we are looking at people to stand with us so we can be able to bring together these pastors at least once a year, so we can bring them together for more retraining, strategizing together, praying together, and also being more sharpened and equipped. We are praying that God will help bring people who will stand with us in these countries. In Rwanda, we want to build the churches lands available, and we are looking at resources to put up the buildings. In Uganda as well. Tanzania, Dar es Salaam is ready. The land is available. The core group is ready. We are praying that God will bring forth people to stand with us. So we can launch those churches in Kenya as well.

Andy Ogeto in Kikuyu, Ken and Muturi. We are praying that God will bring forth a people who want to go out and with our resources to go and be part of what is God is doing. You may not be able to go physically as Corey, you are coming, but people can stand with us and resource us to go on the field. And we are looking at great harvest and God is in this. And it is His church. It is His mission and ours is to glorify Him and just be part of what He is doing.

Corey:                         
Well thank you John. Having been in an Africa, I do believe God is on the move and using you in significant ways. It is an honor to have you here with us. We'll be praying for you, and can't wait to see how God grows our partnership with you in the years to come. So thank you so much.

John:                           
You're most welcome, Corey. Thank you so much.

Corey:                         
Well, for more information about the Great Commission Collective, you can see gccollective.org, all that we are doing both North America and abroad and fulfilling the Great Commission.

Marty Duren:               
Thank you for listening to Launch to GCC podcast. If you haven't subscribed already, why not take a moment to do that in your favorite podcast app. Also, rate and review the podcast. When you get a moment that helps us with search results and recommend us to your friends, maybe other pastors that you know, who benefit from the content from this podcast. Also, don't forget to check out our website, if you haven't done that already, it's gccollective.org. That's gccollective.org, and there is a lot of helpful information. There is articles. That is how you can join the GCC, whether a church planter or an existing church, and plenty of other content that will help you grow spiritually and encourage you in your leadership journey.