The Christian Recorder
THECHRISTIANRECORDER.COM
JULY 2022
PAGE | 41
Impacto de Vida AME Church: Building History Presiding Elder Abraham Rodriguez, 16th Episcopal District
Take a few minutes and join me in the next few lines. I want to share with you the story that God wrote for Impacto de Vida and the community that surrounds us. Impacto de Vida is an AME Church in La Romana, Dominican Republic where God has fixed his eyes and has allowed us to understand that pastoring an African Methodist Episcopal church is more than just organizing a local church, more than preparing a sermon every Sunday and even more than reporting to each annual conference. Pastoring is loving God and his people, it is calling, vocation, purpose, and an extraordinary vision of the future. In 1989, I was ordained as a minister and I received the vision of expanding the Kingdom of God wherever I was sent and convinced that the best way is to build a story that strengthens faith and convinces everyone who knows this story of the power that the God whom I serve for more than 40 years has. So, since then I consider myself a bearer of purpose, change, vision, growth, and progress to wherever God places me, and despite constant opposition, we remain on the warpath and increasingly entrenched in the history that God wrote in the heart of this man. In 1995, Mr. Victor Milton Peterson, an American, walked through the doors of our church, leaving in his wake the promise to build a temple to Jehovah, the largest in the entire city. It didn’t take long for the doubts to arrive, however, the yearning of my heart was becoming more and more latent. Never expect a large temple, but rather a platform that serves as an educational medium and a source of employment for the community and the church; our gaze has always been on the future of the church, children. Even though this story began in the mind of God and our physical eyes can only see reality, God’s truth will always prevail. In 2002, our new building was inaugurated. In 2004, we started working on the education program, now known as ESCUELA HOGAR EMAUS. Since then, we are not only responsible for the education of these children, but our building has served as a home for the food supply of hundreds of families whose testimonies are impressive. Thanks to a support network that over time extends around the world, we have been able to continue operating despite the challenges, challenges and economic scarcity, which makes us praise God with more and more conviction because we know that the work carried out over the years has been due to his good, pleasant, and perfect will so
that we can move forward…Building a history! A story that is a legacy for this community. A story that impacts more lives and extends to as many generations as possible. A story that tells the world about the true God. A story that educates, and promotes biblical values and principles, and that, in turn, is a story of growth and professional development for our community. It is the vision we have received; build the building that allows us to cover more families. We have acquired the land with the fund created with effort, abstinence, and good administration and on May 14, 2022, we held the consecration
ceremony and began to build the first four classrooms to expand this vision because our community needs it and our children continue being our priority. We believe that God will continue to provide the resources to support this project until it becomes the most significant legacy of the city of La Romana and the AME Church in the Dominican Republic. Persons who are interested in learning more about the project can visit: educaemaus.com or email educaemaus04@gmail.com; IG @educaemaus / Facebook: Escuela Hogar Emaus. ❏ ❏ ❏
Transitions REV. COSMAS SITONGWA WAKUNGUMA (1956-2022) The Rev. Cosmas Sitongwa Wakunguma was born on 1 January 1956 in Nandiya Lumbe, Senanga. He did his primary education at Mulwani Primary School in Livingstone and later completed his secondary education at Linda Secondary School. He later pursued his tertiary education and joined the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation in the Stores Department in Livingstone. He was later transferred to Kafue. In 1992 he joined National Heritage Conservation Commission at the HQ in Livingstone, where he rose through the ranks until his retirement as a procurement specialist and a member of the Zambia Institute of Purchasing and Supply. He was multi-skilled and an admirable administrator with extensive experience in store management, logistics, procurement systems, and insurance. He spent most of his life serving the church as a senior steward, as they were known then in Livingstone at the then Dambwa African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. He was very instrumental in the leadership of the church and served as a local president of the Lay Organisation. He worked very hard in the Livingstone District and supported several projects. In 1998, the Rev. Cosmas Wakunguma was ordained as an itinerant deacon and later was elected and ordained as an itinerant elder under the leadership of Bishop T. Larry Kirkland. He diligently served as the pastor in charge of Mt. Olives, Beautiful Gates, and was later appointed as the presiding ...continued on p42
