Bucyana Yves, who lives in Rwanda, will become a member of Knollwood Heights UMC. Dakotas Conference photos.

"A lot of churches think that they don’t want to or don’t need live stream services anymore. We have connected with so many people, and now we have a new friend in Christ. It is so rewarding.” These are the words of Rev. Sharla McCaskell, who serves Knollwood Heights United Methodist Church in Rapid City, South Dakota. She is quick to point out that many congregations who live-streamed during the pandemic are now stopping, may want to reconsider that decision.

Bucyana Yves lives in Rwanda and worships each week with Knollwood Heights United Methodist Church in Rapid City, South Dakota. He will officially become a member of the congregation this month. 

Jean and Curt Rosenkranz, members of Knollwood Heights UMC, got to know Yves through Compassion International. More than 15 years ago, they felt a nudge from God to sponsor a child.

“There were dozens of profiles, and we chose a boy from Rwanda. I am not sure how he made it to the top of the list as the child we would sponsor,” said Jena Rosenkranz. “We chose Yves, and we wrote letters back and forth. At that time, he was 8-years-old. We were sent pictures of him and got letters. That is how we got to know him.” 

As a young child, Yves was introduced to Compassion International through his brother. People guided him to help write and read the letters of his sponsors.

“I did not understand what Compassion International was all about until I was about 10-years-old,” Bucyana said. “People from Compassion International would help me with reading the letters to me and helping me write the letters to them. After that, I started learning English so I could write and read the letters myself.”

Jean and Curt Rosenkranz, members at Knollwood Heights UMC, fostered a relationship with Yves.

In 2003, Compassion International informed Jean and Curt that scamming was becoming an issue. So Rosenkranzes turned to e-mail.

“I gave Yves an e-mail address that I hardly ever use. He would periodically try to get a hold of me,” said Curt. “We would get in touch with each other periodically by e-mail after we would verify that we were communicating with Yves.  We kept in contact and helped out by providing a computer for him his last years of school.”

The communication has continued, and the relationship has grown. “One year, we sent him some money for Christmas,” shared Curt. “What endured me was that Yves bought one goat, and then he bought another goat. Pretty soon, he had a herd of three. He was an entrepreneur. He built from what he had.”

In 2020, Curt and Jean invited Yves to view the online worship service at Knollwood Heights UMC. 

Knollwood Heights UMC uses Boxcast to live stream services. Pastor Sharla McCaskell sends a link to members of the congregation each week.

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person worship was suspended. Pastor Sharla encouraged congregation members to send the link out to people inviting them to attend online worship. 

Yves started watching the service online. He also watched a few other worship services. Bucyana found he connected with the service at Knollwood Heights.

“I attend weekly. I get the e-mails with the links and other information. I also get things from their website. I am still learning more,” Yves said.

Pastor Sharla McCaskell looks forward to receiving Yves as a new member.

McCaskell shares that the congregation started live-streaming their worship services before the pandemic as a way to connect with home-bound people or people that could not get to church.

“We started livestreaming before COVID. So when COVID hit, we were ready,” said Pastor Sharla. “When COVID hit, we had a lot of people watching. Along the way, we would tell people to invite others. Curt and Jean invited Yves to join us, thousands of miles away, and of course, the time was different.”

Boxcast provides a map of where viewers watching the service are located. A dot consistently showed up in Rwanda. The congregation invited Yves to send a picture of himself to show during worship.

Curt encouraged Yves as he worshipped.  Rosenkranz also invited Yves to think about becoming a member of the congregation after consulting with the pastor.

“We got Yves’ photo and showed that in church,” said McCaskell. “Then he started asking the possibility of joining the congregation as a member. So I checked into that, and we have invited Yves to become an official member of the congregation.”

After years of communicating through letters, for the first time, in October of 2021, the three met each other via Zoom. In addition, Jean and Curt have met with Yves Zoom a few times and experienced real-time communication. 

“After setting up a Zoom call and getting the meeting started, I was sitting at my desk crying. They were seeing each other for the first time live,” said Pastor Sharla. “It was so awesome! It has been such a God thing!”

Learning more English, and reading the Bible, has helped Yves grow in his Christian faith. He is grateful to understand the Bible more. 

“I have felt the love of the people of the church, and I am happy to grow in my faith, said Yves.

The Rosenkranzes live a generosity-filled spirit life that invited someone to be a member at Knollwood Heights. 

“Jean and Curt are some of the most generous people I know,” said Pastor Sharla. “They open their homes and hearts to so many people.”

Knollwood Heights is shipping a couple of hymnals to Yves to sing along with the congregation as he views worship online. He looks forward to receiving them so he can join in singing at worship.

“It is a privilege to have online worship,” said Curt. “Jean and I have enjoyed worship online. We are glad that we can share our relationship with Yves with Pastor Sharla and the congregation.”

View a recent Zoom meeting and interview