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?”

Opening a Whole New World

There is something that you are doing right now, which you are likely not even thinking about.  In fact, you do it so easily, it probably simply feels natural, normal.  It may very well be that you don’t know anyone (apart from small children) who can’t do this activity.  The action that I’m talking about is reading.  It is a skill which we learn while we are still young and it stays with us for our entire lives.  But can you imagine how your world would change if you could not read?

In Rwanda, the government is firmly committed to providing the best education it can to its people, both boys and girls.  However, that wasn’t always the case.  In earlier days, education wasn’t always available.  Nor was it always valued.  As a result, today in Rwanda there are still many adults—mostly women—who are illiterate (approximately 29%).  But the negative impact of illiteracy on their lives goes far beyond the inability to read.  It causes you to struggle greatly with a low self-image.  You may be very clever and wise, but when most of the people around you, maybe including your children, have this skill but you don’t, it can create feelings of being unintelligent, isolated or inadequate.  Others can view you the same way.  Statistics show that domestic violence is higher against the women who find themselves in this situation.  In business, it is easy to be cheated by others since not only can you not read but you also don’t really understand numbers.  Much of life is shaped and shaded by this single issue.

That was the case with Theophile who lives in the little village of Kabatwa in NW Rwanda.  When he was growing up, his family had many cows.  He was the only boy in his family so his father wouldn’t allow him to go to school.  He had to stay home to watch the herd.  And when he tried to go to church, his father would beat him, because it meant he wasn’t tending the cows.

During the genocide in 1994, his father was killed, but thankfully his mother survived.  She gave him permission to start to attend church.  This was a good thing, but it also led to feelings of great shame when he realized that he couldn’t read like most people there.  As time went by, he and his wife Phoibe, who was also unable to read, became increasingly active at church.  However, when the pastor began asking him to become a leader in the church and serve as a deacon, he refused.  The main reason was his illiteracy.  It made him feel so ashamed and he was convinced that he could never fulfill the expectations of being a deacon.

In 2014, the Baptist church in Kabatwa began a Literacy ministry.  This was through the Literacy Project which is sponsored each year by CBM.  Theophile and his wife quickly signed up to join the class.  And now they can both read!  Through this very practical church ministry, a whole new world has opened up for them.  Today Theophile joyfully serves his church as a deacon.  And he was also asked to be the Head of the Literacy Association for their congregation.

Theophile reading the Bible
with Laetitia, the Literacy
Project Manager
(photo by R. Vanderveen)

Theophile and his wife Phoibe

This association now functions independently, being no longer funded through the Literacy Project.  The members work together to save money which can be used to help themselves or others in the church or community.  They grow potatoes and raise bees for honey which are sold in local markets.  The literacy teacher, Samuel, who received training through the project, continues to have a passion to teach others how to read.

 

The Literacy Association in the Kabatwa Baptist Church

Today Rwanda seeks to make schooling (grades 1-12) available to all children, which means that there are schools accessible throughout the country for any child who wants to go.  However, there is still the requirement that school fees must be paid for things like tuition, uniform, and lunches.  As a result, the poorest children are still at risk of missing school if the fees cannot be paid.  Because of the significant negative impact of illiteracy, CBM partners with the Rwandan Baptists (AEBR) in the Women’s Literacy Project.  

Literacy classes in lots of different settings

Literacy teachers are the key to success

Additionally, there are also several other projects which include school fees as part of their focus:  Guardians of Hope (for HIV/AIDS affected families); Orphans & Vulnerable Children; Pastors’ Children Scholarship Project.  And through these efforts it is so exciting to see a whole new world opening up for women, men and children!