Hello again, Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Greetings from Rwanda. I hope and pray that you are keeping well and your loved ones. On our side, we have been keeping well as a family, and the children are back at school after summer break together. As a CBM Team, we have been busy with conferences and travels.

In July, all of us, as the CBM team in Africa, had our semi-annual retreat in Mombasa, Kenya. At this gathering, we review our plans from the first half of the year and also share the goals for the second half year. This was our first meeting in person since the pandemic.

At the beginning of October, my colleague Gato and I travelled with the youth Leaders from partners in DR Congo, Rwanda, and Kenya, to join the Youth from the Baptist denomination in South Sudan for a training session about Peace and Reconciliation. The youth leaders took that opportunity to launch the Africa Youth Peace Forum. This is very important because the youth are victims of political and ethnic conflicts in the region. We hope that by creating awareness and equipping them with conflict management skills, they will, instead, serve as catalysts of Peace within their communities.

From October 16-21, CBM hosted the second training session on Integral Mission in the workplace. The 28 church leaders representing the church partners in South Sudan, DR Congo, and Kenya, plus CBM staff gathered in Kigali. These are people who have been selected to be able to train others. They made some plans for 2024 to take the next steps, especially to encourage pastors but also church members serving in the workplace to live out their calling from Monday to Saturday.

Please pray:

• Give thanks to God for the successful training with the Integral Mission in the Workplace curriculum, and pray for the partners as they seek God’s direction in how best to use it.
• Pray for the nations of South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo as they have presidential elections in December. And pray for our partners in those places, that God may use them as beacons of peace and hope at those critical times.
• Pray for our African partners (ACC&S in Kenya; FEBAC in South Sudan; AEBR in Rwanda; CBCA and CEBCE in DR Congo; CBT in Togo; LBMEC in Liberia). We especially remember CEBCE as their General Assembly elects leaders for the next five-year period.
• Remember the SENT team from Calgary as they complete their time in Rwanda and return to Canada. Pray that God will use this experience to make an impact both in Rwanda as well as in their own lives and in their church.
• Pray for Darrell as he teaches in Kenya with the ACC&S.