Our Journey

The Start

With the sweeping influence of the prosperity gospel movement in Burundi and an entrenched theology of works-based salvation, ten young people, coming from various churches, felt the burden to pray and seek God with regards to starting a Gospel-centered church. After the first few meetings, however, the group quickly realized its own need to address its theological divergences first. From 2012 to 2015, they assessed various Christian doctrines and came to a consensus to align with the reformed faith. In October 2015, the now group of 32 officially launched Pilgrims Chapel.

Formation

The five years that followed would prove to be difficult as the church struggled in many areas. There was disunity over undefined yet apparent theological divergences among members. The church life felt disjointed. New members were increasingly poorly discerned. And there was a sense that though the teachings were sound, the accompanying life as a body and individually, was still deeply lacking.

Rebuilding

In response to these issues, the church leaders along with a select group of other men were mandated by the members to commit to a year-long process to meet weekly to prayerfully and discern biblically the best path forward. In August 2024, the church convened to align with the 1689 London Baptist Confession. This helped establish a singular theological understanding, solidify leadership organization and membership selection, and bring clarity in the management of all aspects of the church life.

Now renamed Pilgrims Church, our congregation serves as a Reformed Baptist Church in the neighborhood of Kanyosha, and strives to exalt God and to make disciples of Jesus Christ through the power of the gospel.