Rema Ministries
Following recurrent civil wars that occurred in Burundi over the last 33 years, there has been an increase in the number of people fleeing this country to the neighboring countries. Those who remained in the country are languishing in poverty and insecurity either in camps for displaced people or in their homes. Today, we count more than half a million Burundian refugees living in East Africa, the majority of them being in Tanzania . Nearly half of them have been living in Tanzania for the last 35 years while the other half escaped 15 years ago. Rema became involved with the refugee ministry because of a lack of engagement from Christian organisation
REMA is a Kirundi word which means "to uplift, encourage, strengthen, console, comfort, build up, support, give hope, and recreate people who have been hit by misfortunes, catastrophes, such as deaths, civil wars, HIV/AIDS, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, etc." Thus Rema is a Christian NGO, which identifies itself with refugees and other disadvantaged people from/in Burundi.
Our Vision is of an integrated, harmonious, dynamic, informed and vigilant community living in a conducive environment and which upholds the attributes of the kingdom of God.Our Mission is to sensitise and mobilise members of the community and especially leaders about the ills harming the community, work with the community to eradicate those ills, to prevent and protect from foreseen attacks/dangers both on human and environment.
Objectives and Activities
1. Mission and Evangelism
Rema is driven by the love to bring people to Jesus through evangelism and discipleship and by training church leaders to carry on this task. Timothy 2:2
Rema tries to organise refugees so that they may have true and meaningful worship in their context as we fulfill God’s Great Commission. God is alive even among the refugees.
On the social side, refugees are hungry and thirsty. They need support to meet all their needs. The Lord is faithful and compassionate to them because he provides for their needs and he gives them enough strength to keep moving. God makes a way where there seems to be no way.2. HIV/AIDS Education and Care
In the department of HIV/AIDS, we concentrate our work on education and care. We thus started Community Based Education among refugees in Tanzania and among returnees and other disadvantaged people in Burundi. We have also started an Orphan Care Training Program for the year 2006 both in Nairobi and in the Tanzanian camps.3. Peace Building and Reconciliation
Refugees have an endless craving towards their homeland but they realise that it is difficult to live again with those who remained in the country because there is prejudice on both sides. One of the things that Rema has been trying to do is to prepare refugees for repatriation, help them talk over these issues with those in Burundi as we do peace building, forgiveness and reconciliation, reconstruction and trauma healing.Contact:
E-mail: remaministries@yahoo.com