Due to the pandemic, the 22nd edition of Africa Arise and Shine Conference, an event known as Africa Haguruka, slated from 11 to 18 July 2021, will be held virtually and people will follow all the revival conferences and teachings online. Launched in August 2000 in Kigali, the annual Christian gathering is organised by Authentic Word Ministries and Zion Temple celebration centres, and will this time around be held under the theme “Africa Embrace the Wind of Change”, which is inspired by the scriptures from Ezekiel 37:1-10. This year’s conference will discuss the need for Africans to embrace the positive wind of change for its socio-economic and spiritual transformation. According to Apostle Dr Paul Gitwaza, all the activities, teachings, discussions and sermons of the Africa Haguruka conference aim at aligning the mindsets of Africans to God’s transformative agenda and to bring holistic development to more than 1.2 billion people who live on the African continent. “We always expect this Christian gathering to awaken Africans on the continent and the diaspora to arise and live Christ-centered lives and play their pivotal roles in the transformation of this beautiful continent,” says Apostle Gitwaza. “In this period where the world was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, we believe that through this initiative and many more, God is willing to bloom us from the dust,” he adds. The uniqueness of this year’s virtual Africa Haguruka, Gitwaza says, is to ‘speak life’ again. “As Ezekiel was commanded to speak life into the dry bones, God is raising change-makers in Africa who will not only have the ability to become a blessing to many but those sons and daughters of Africa will also be empowered by the power of God that will sustain their mission,” he explains. Gitwaza says that the vision of Africa Haguruka started in Rwanda because “God wanted this country to become an incubator of the rebirth for a new and transformed Africa”. This year’s conference will focus on teachings about family, leadership, education, business, and the youth. The conference will also feature revival preaching sessions as well as praise and worship songs. Several seasoned speakers from different parts of the world will share their insights on how to embrace the wind of change this season and make sense of any mess that may have resulted from the pandemic. To allow more people to follow it, the conference will be broadcast on different radio and TV stations including Authentic Radio and TV will and it will be live-streamed on YouTube and other social media platforms.
