Where’re Ya To?

A number of years ago Laura Lee’s father, Don, went on a trip to Newfoundland.  When he came back he happily shared with us one of the favourite phrases he picked up while spending time on “The Rock” – Where’re ya to? [translation:  Where are you going to?]  Since that time, in our family it has become a saying that pops up from time to time.

As we begin 2020 and think about the ministry that is being shared with our Rwandan brothers and sisters (AEBR) this coming year, it is an appropriate time to step back and ask the question “Where’re ya to?”  So we want to take a moment and give you a bird's-eye view about the different ways that CBM and AEBR will be working together in 2020.

Peace and Reconciliation

Given the history of Rwanda, which of course includes the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, there is an ongoing need to promote peace and reconciliation in this country.  Through Peace Clubs in seven churches and six schools, the project is training people to be personally reconciled with others and how to be agents of peace in their schools and communities.  (These groups have “given birth” to 10 other groups in other communities as they try to spread the message of peace.)

 

Francois and Donatha are members of a Peace Club in Bugesera. 
Their family was driven to poverty due to the sickness of one of their children.

The members of the Peace Club in August making bricks for building a house for this
family. Jean Edouard, the Peace & Reconciliation Project Manager, is front right.

In November, the members of the Peace Club helped in building a house for
Francois and Donatha

Theological Education

This project focuses on three different ways to strengthen church leaders and raise up new ones.  The first is supporting the Baptist students who go to the seminary Rwanda Institute of Evangelical Theology (RIET).  The second is covering the costs to bring in guest teachers to the five different Regional Bible Schools found throughout the country.  And the third is called the Emerging Leaders Initiative (ELI).  It is focused on 20 men and women between the ages of 25 and 40, who are demonstrating capabilities as leaders.  ELI is providing them with training in leadership skills and character to help them be in the best place to serve in AEBR leadership in the future.

 

One of Darrell's preaching classes at RIET

Pastor Cyprien teaching students at the Regional Bible School in Ngarama

Andre Sibomana (CBM Africa Team Leader) leading a seminar at the
Emerging Leaders Initiative

Guardians of Hope

Guardians of Hope (GOH) groups have been established in numerous AEBR churches over the years in order to reach out to, support and build capacity in families affected by HIV/AIDS.  As the members learn together, work together, and save money together, their lives have been transformed.  (For more information about these groups, read “Protectors of Hope” in the August 2019 blog post.)

 

Salome learned to sew as a member of a GOH group 

She makes different kinds of bags which she sells to support
her family.  According to Salome, this project has helped
her regain hope and a sense of value.

Church Roofing

With government regulations requiring good quality roofs on public buildings like churches, it became difficult for churches to pay for the metal sheeting used for roofing.  Over the last number of years, as some of the AEBR churches outgrew their current buildings or had to replace aging, leaking roofs, dozens of them benefitted from the church roofing project which provided the metal sheets after the walls and rafters where raised up by the church family.

 

Pastor Abed in front of his church (with a roof!) in Nyagasiga in eastern Rwanda

Literacy and Family Ministry

In 2020, the efforts to increase literacy will take a new approach.  In communities where illiteracy rates are higher (especially among women), churches will establish self-help groups where members are taught skills such as making baskets, sewing, etc. that can be used to generate some income.  But additionally, literacy classes will be offered to any of them who want to join.  It is hoped that this will draw out those who might be shy or embarrassed so that they can learn to read. (To read more, see the April 2018 post "Opening a New World")

 

Laetitia (L), the Literacy Project Manager, with Dorcas, a recent graduate
from the program

A literacy graduating class in the village of Kigarama in western Rwanda

Benefits being passed on, as the Literacy grads try to establish a reading culture
with their children

The family ministry portion of this project is a continuation of an initiative begun two years ago to bring basic training on marriage and parenting to leaders from every AEBR church and chapel.  With the first phase now complete, it has been decided to do another three-year program which will bring the next level of teaching in this area.  The focus will be on: 1) the role of husbands and wives; and 2) caring for your spouse inside and out.

 

Family ministry training with pastors and church leaders in Ngarama

Orphans and Vulnerable Children

There are many children in Rwanda who are orphans or who have a parent who is unable to properly care for them.  The Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) Project will be reaching out to about 200 of these children, not only helping them be able to go to school but also providing support and training through mentors and seminars designed especially for them.

 

David, a member of an OVC group, has a disability
in his legs due to poverty and neglect as a child.

Through the program, he has learned how to make bags. 
When he's not in school, he makes and sells bags to help
himself and others with similar problems.

It’s going to be a busy year.  But through the partnership of CBM and AEBR, many lives will be transformed in 2020!  Each one has a name.  Each one is loved by God.  So it’s exciting for us to think about “Where’re we to?”

Protectors of Hope

What would you do if you received news that radically changed your life for the worst?  How would you respond if you were teetering on the edge of despair, when any hope for the future was reduced to the tiniest flickering flame, ready to go out at any moment?  That was precisely the situation that a woman named Donata found herself in, back in 2005.

Living in the little Rwandan village of Kigusa, when her husband died she discovered that it was due to AIDS.  He had contracted the deadly disease through an amateur dentist, and then had unknowingly passed it on to her.  At that time, HIV/AIDS was not only a death sentence which would slowly destroy a person physically.  It was also a disease which carried with it a terrible stigma, isolating a person from all friendships and relationships.  Even Donata’s doctor at the time advised her against telling anyone!

She felt like her life was over.  And what about her children?  She was terribly fearful that the deadly virus had also been given to her youngest, who was breastfeeding at the time.  What was she to do?  Despite being encouraged to stay silent, she made the decision to talk about it.  She joined a small group being organized by the local Baptist church, fittingly called Guardians of Hope (GOH).  The members were all people who were battling HIV/AIDS.  Donata admits, “It took a lot of courage to join the group and be open.”  But it was the best decision she could have made.  That tiny bit of hope she had been clinging to was safely protected.  She truly experienced the Guardians of Hope.

Visiting Donata and two of her children (R) in their home
with some members of a team from Westview Baptist Church, Calgary.

Before the GOH groups were formed, AEBR (CBM’s Baptist partner in Rwanda) gave training to their pastors about how AIDS works and how to address the needs of those who have been infected, which included treating them as people who are loved and valued by God.  According to Jean Marie, the pastor in Kigusa, when their GOH group started, people in that village with HIV/AIDS were extremely isolated and lonely, suffering both physically and emotionally.  They reached out to those throughout the community who were infected and began bringing them together.  They were provided with health kits and taught how to care for themselves.  They were encouraged not to be ashamed of making use of the medication being provided by the local health clinics.  Training was provided to help them learn skills for generating income.

The GOH group members in a meeting under the trees
- a traditional sight in Rwanda

Today, life is very different in Kigusa for the members of the GOH group.  Their health has improved so much that they have only had two of their 32 members die, and those deaths were not due to AIDS.  What a contrast to the way it had been.  Pastor Jean Marie says, “Without GOH’s help, they would all have been dead by now!”  There has also been a radical change in the way others view them.  For most people, there is now no longer any stigma with the disease.  In fact, there are now people wanting to join their group who don’t even have HIV/AIDS! 

Ildephonse (L), GOH Project Manager for AEBR, speaking to
the group members in their pineapple field

As a group, they currently own about 30 goats.  From that flock, each member has been provided with a goat.  And whenever new people have joined, they also receive a goat.  Their dream is that eventually they can build up to the point where each member will have their own cow!  They have also worked together to buy two pieces of land.  One of the plots is used for growing pineapples.  The money from the crop goes toward helping the members.  On the other piece of land they are building a house.  Once it is finished, they will either sell it for a profit, or they will use it as a location from which to start a business.

The house being built by the GOH group - and their cassava planted next to it.

Group member Concilia:  At first she thought her life was ending and was so scared
of others finding out about her AIDS that she would skip her meds.  But today she is
confident and strong, raising animals and pineapples, helping her children go
to school and even vocational school.

Group member Xavier: Because of the disease and its stigma
he despaired that he would be able to send his children to
school.  But the group supported and challenged him.  They
ended up paying for half the school fees and Xavier, through
skills learned as part of the GOH group, was able to pay the
other half.  He is grateful to the GOH group as well as CBM
which made it possible.

For this group of people, there once was a time when the future looked dark and despairing.  But God’s people chose to extend love to the vulnerable and suffering by starting a Guardians of Hope ministry with the help of CBM.  And today hope is burning brightly in the village of Kigusa!

In front of the Baptist church in Kigusa (L to R): Pastor Japhet, head of
AEBR's Dept. of Evangelism & Church Life; Pastor Dayle & Dawn Medgett 
from Westview Baptist Church; Pastor Jean Marie from Kigusa