Unity and Partnership

 I (Darrell) recently had the opportunity to be part of a Partnership Roundtable.  Through the initiative of the Baptist Union of Denmark (BUD), this conference was held involving our Rwandan Baptist partner (AEBR), BUD and CBM.  As three organizations committed to working together, the Roundtable provided an opportunity to get to know one another better.  BUD and CBM do not have a formal agreement between them, but they are both partnered with AEBR.  So the time together gave us the chance for some good, honest, at times even difficult, conversations, as we seek to be united in heart and mind for our common goals. 

Before we could begin, we all had to get a negative COVID-19 test.  Sound familiar?

I led the opening Bible study which focused on the difference between UNIFORMITY (wanting everyone to look and think the same) and UNITY (wanting everyone to use their uniqueness to accomplish the same purpose).

Each of the organizations had opportunities to share and answer questions.

Rev. Emmanuel speaking for AEBR

Morten presenting on behalf of BUD

Andre Sibomana and I representing CBM

Beyond the main sessions, we naturally had times of eating together…

There were tasks that we worked on as small groups…

We even had a day when we travelled to three different areas to visit some projects happening through AEBR’s partnerships.  One of the visits was connected to the Peace & Reconciliation Project which is funded by Canadian Baptists.   The members of the Peace Club (which is a ministry of the local Baptist church) were repairing and enlarging the dilapidated house of a genocide survivor.  She was simply overwhelmed with gratitude!

Members of the Peace Club hard at work

The owner of the house with two of her children
standing with Jean Edouard (Project Manager)

One of the powerful moments was the spontaneous re-enactment of Exodus 17:10-12 when Aaron and Hur helped Moses continue to hold his tired arms up in the air so that the Israelites could achieve victory.

Demonstrating Exodus 17:10-12 with Rev. Emmanuel
and Jonas (BUD)

Finally, I want to share with you about what I nicknamed the “Unity Tree”.  On the grounds where we were having the Partnership Roundtable I found this very unique tree.

The Unity Tree

To me, it illustrates perfectly the unity we are striving for.  It is not one tree, but several trees coming together.  Each tree doesn’t look exactly alike, but rather interacts closely with the others.  While each tree is unique, they all are growing in the same direction.  And when woven together in this way, they are all stronger.  What a great picture of unity!

The Women of Rwanda

 As we are communicating with supporters, it is not uncommon for people to ask us about the situation faced by the women of Rwanda.  The answer that we give is usually a two-level response.  At the government and organizational level, Rwanda has a strong emphasis on gender equality.  In 2008 Rwanda became 1^st country in the world to have a majority of women in their legislature.  And they continue to lead in this area.  As of Jan 1, 2020, Rwanda is number one in the world with 61.25% of their Members of Parliament as women.  (Senate numbers are lower with 38.46%.)  This emphasis has also been seen in the departments and laws that the Rwandan government has established to battle injustice against women.  So this is very positive.

However, the second level of our response has to do with the grass-roots level.  In the day-to-day lives of many Rwandans, one still finds discriminatory and destructive traditions that affect women.  The way that some are treated at home, at work, and even in the church shows that the job is still not finished.  That is why the Rwandan government is pleased when organizations such as CBM’s partner, the Association of Baptist Churches of Rwanda (AEBR), make efforts that reach out to address these issues.  Our colleague, Laetitia Dusabimana, is the head of AEBR’s Department of Women and Family.  In that role, over the last few years, she has led projects such as “Women’s Empowerment”, “Women’s Literacy”, and “Gender and Family Ministries”.  (I – Darrell - have the privilege of working with Laetitia as a co-teacher of the Family Ministry trainings.)

Laetitia with one of the many literacy classes

With Laetitia and her husband Gatera after she had completed
a course on leadership

Laetitia with some wives during a family ministry training

During our home assignment back in Canada last year, we were supposed to participate in the annual gathering of the Atlantic Baptist Women called “interMISSION" as they celebrated their 150^th anniversary.  Laura Lee was supposed to lead a workshop, and so she prepared by interviewing four Rwandan women and was planning on sharing their stories.  Unfortunately, COVID-19 led to the cancellation of interMISSION, so the workshop never happened.  As an alternative, Laura Lee did a short video in which she shared the stories of those women and then that video was posted on the Atlantic Baptist Women’s Facebook page just prior to Christmas.  We thought we would share it here as well since it is still applicable.  (Even though Christmas is now past, you’ll be glad to know that the Hopeful Gifts for Change Catalogue, which Laura Lee mentions, is still active if that’s of interest to you.)  If you would like to watch the video, just click on the following link:  

https://vimeo.com/502970073.