It has been a while since we checked in with everyone. So we thought it was time to get people caught up with all that has been happening. 2022 has been the year of the suitcase! We began the year in Rwanda, with Darrell making quick trips to Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was wonderful to spend time with long-time partners such as CBCA (Congo) and ACC&S (Kenya), especially after travel had been so limited in 2020 and 2021 with the pandemic. And it was great to meet with the leaders of one of CBM’s newer African partners, the CEBCE in Congo. The COVID-19 Omicron wave caused our expected home assignment to be postponed for a few weeks. But finally, on April Fool’s Day – no kidding – with suitcases in hand, we headed to the airport and boarded the plane for Canada.

The next few months were then spent in Canada, travelling over 14,000 km in five different provinces. It is always a joy to visit with partner churches and individual supporters. During that time, we were able to connect with 29 different churches, ten of which were first-time visits! Some of those were typical Sunday morning services which are wonderful opportunities to see lots of people. But there were other gatherings which tried different approaches: an ice cream social in a home, a Rwanda trivia challenge (we used a game-show format for the presentation), a “Jiggs dinner” (a Newfoundland specialty), a pie social and informal home gatherings. We loved the creativity!

Of course, in just a few months, it is simply not possible to spend time with all the churches that partner with us – even though we would like to! There is a video of our presentation that is still available online if you would be interested in watching it personally or using it with a group. If that is something you would like to do, you can click here for a 20-minute version or here for a 30-minute version. If you do make use of this video, we would love to hear about it from you. How do we capture the many experiences we had during our time in Canada? Perhaps a few pictures will help.

• Join us in giving thanks to God for the meaningful time that we had in Canada.
• Please pray for CBM’s SENT ministry, as short-term teams are once again starting to make plans to serve internationally. And pray for Laura Lee as she works at organizing the logistics for those who will be coming to Rwanda in 2022 and 2023.
• Pray for the CBM Africa Vennture Conference which will be taking place in Rwanda from December 10- 15. Important issues will be discussed, and key decisions could be made about future work together. May there be wisdom in the discussions and joy in the conversations!
• Pray for our African partners: CBCA (Congo), CEBCE (Congo), ACC&S (Kenya), FEBAC (South Sudan) & AEBR (Rwanda). They face many challenges these days, including recovery from the pandemic, political unrest, high cost of living due to the war in Ukraine, etc. At CBM, we ask God to enable us to be good partners, walking with them on this journey.

We continue to value and deeply appreciate each person and each church that financially supports the ministry here in Rwanda and East Africa. Of course, if you are someone who saw our presentation during home assignment and are now interested in joining with us, please contact Barb Keys in the CBM office (bkeys@cbmin.org or 1-905-821-3533).