EAST AFRICAN REVIVAL MUSEUM

THEME:        YESU NAMARA (JESUS SATISFIES)

VISION:         Preaching the Gospel through history, archeology and current affairs

MISSION STATEMENT:

Enriching the archives and accountability of ministry to the young and old Church fraternity of God through: historic artifacts, documentaries, sites and research

TARGET GROUPS:  Global and local Evangelists, Theologians, Religious leaders, Researchers of both theological and secular academia, believers and all non-believers as stratified among the three popular groups of youths, women and men.

OBJECTIVES

1.      Provide a historic evidence that will richly and deeply be inculcated in the hearts and minds of the believers and young persons who base on experiment and evidence to believe.

2.      Establish a source of income for mission through tourism and entertainment.

3.      Provide a historic evidence for the generations to come.

4.      Promote Christian unity among many Christian denominations that profess to the apostolic doctrine and those that treasure the protestant evangelical tradition

 

East Africa Revival Museum built in 1918, former Bishop's residence

 

The fruits of the East African Revival that spread in Ankole on 11^th January 1936 further concretized the CMS gospel and is responsible for the moral trans­formation and enlightenment in the Ankole region. HH Osborn in his book “Pioneers in East African Revival “describes Revival as an event or a series of events in which a number of people, in the same geographical locality and at the same time, experience an extraordinary powerful and unmistakable sense of the reality and presence of God, accompanied by an overwhelming conviction of biblical truth especially as it relates to the relationship between them and God.

When the Revival Spirit broke out in Gahini, the next destination was Kigezi then Ruharo in Ankole. The East African Revival, an Evangelical movement that has become synonymous with the Anglican Church  of Uganda, simply described as “Okulokoka”,(luganda for getting saved), was birthed in Gahini Rwanda around late 1920s, spread to Kigezi in 1935, and in Ankole in 1936.

The Revival movement spread like bush fire and Anglicans confessed and repented their sins, they walked in the light, preaching the word, restitution among others. Christians shunned sin and preached the word of God so as to win souls for Christ.

Although the revival was pioneered by the laity and initially resisted by the clergy, it has now become tradition of the Church of Uganda, especially the dioceses of the Ankole region. It is also true that Ankole region is over age in spiritual, social and economic transformation among other regions.  East African Revival is undoubtedly the basis of all this transformation, it is because of the Revival values such as honesty, sexual purity, love for all irrespective of background, an abhorrence of alcohol and smoking, healthy and unhygienic lifestyles, and shunning of witchcraft and ancestor worship, even by non-Balokole. Most of the people that embraced these values transformed their families and it is evident in the current prominent families in politics, business and other fields of human endeavor.

The harbingers of this new spiritual dispensation included William Nagenda, father of John Nagenda, Simeon Nsibambi, father of former Prime minister, Prof. Apollo Nsibambi and Blasio Kigozi.  

 One of the few surviving Balokole of 1936 is the 95 year old Zabulon Kabaza who edits the Runyankore daily bible guide- Kishumurizo.

It is a result of the Bishop of Ankole, Rt. Rev. Dr. Fred Sheldon Mwesigwa’s research in 2013 that found out that most of the old people in Ankole Diocese who had lived to a ripe old age, including about 200 couples who celebrated golden jubilee in marriage, that the phenomenon of East African Revival gained prominence. Due to this enriched history of the East African Revival, and Ankole being the center of East African Revival activities, it was considered vital to start up an East African revival museum where such great history is conserved. 

Official opening of the Museum witnessed by the President

The museum project started on the 11^th September 2016 and it was launched by the President of Uganda, His Excellence Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. Due to the East African Revival that took place during the late 1920s and revolutionized the East African region and society, Ankole Diocese found that there was a great concern to start up a historical place where such great treasure can be preserved for the present and future generations. The project is now in operation though it lacks certain items due to limited income but besides, it is an operating museum that is well established on Christian grounds.

There is a lot required to be given quality appearance and touch including the compound, the reception, the documentary summary in forms of electronic collection whereby the guide would first give the visitors a brief before they roll to view the art pieces, laptops, overhead projectors, cameras, recordings of old Revival members. The need for a  vehicle for easy accessibility cannot be over emphasized.

As annual mission and conferences run all over the Diocese, Revival has penetrated all Church and non-Church founded schools such that there is a Scripture Union(SU) ministry that organizes annual SU conferences and outreaches that are attended by heads of institutions no matter whether they are Anglicans or not.

The museum will become another Centre of attraction so that every school will be sending its SU member and Divinity students to visit the place and confirm that what is being witnessed actually happened and it is the museum that would give that empirical, evidence. This therefore leads to the evidence that the facilitation of the museum is inevitable and indispensable. This cuts across all the schools in East Africa and all the local Anglican Churches in East Africa. 

The East African revival museum is a faith-based tourism that preserves the Christian heritage. It is located in Ankole Diocese in Mbarara district at Ruharo hill. It is housed in a 99 year old house which was built in 1918, that sheltered the five Bishops of Ankole diocese in South Western Uganda.