Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Happy New Year to all of you! We are all grateful for God’s mercy that has brought us through last year. We are equally mindful of all who faced difficulties and those who lost loved ones in 2022.

Ministry/Project Update:

Last year was packed with activities, occasional travels, and meetings. The pandemic gave us the opportunity to invest in online meetings, education, and activities, including finalizing the Organization Peer Capacity assessment Tool. These are questionnaires designated for the denominational leaders to assess themselves or be assessed by peers on how healthy their organizations are in terms of governance, leadership, theological education, gender, and financial management.

For the year 2022, CBM Africa partners under the Gisenyi Covenant, formed Peer Capacity Assessments Teams that were able to visit and assess three denominations: The Africa Christian Churches and Schools (ACC&S) in Kenya; the Association of Baptist Churches in Rwanda (AEBR); and The Faith Evangelical Baptist Church (FEBAC) in South Sudan. Through that honest exercise, the denominations were able to see themselves in a “mirror” to know where they stand in terms of management standards, and also set up priorities on things they need to improve. As outcomes from these findings, CBM and these organizations harmonized priorities, which they will focus on in joint ministries in the next few years.

I was able to visit the new CBM partner in Liberia (Liberian Baptist Mission and Education Convention) to discuss the school rehabilitation project. As well, I negotiated a new partnership with the Togolese Baptist Convention on behalf of CBM. This one will focus on pastors training on integral mission, conservation agriculture and borehole drilling for clean water for those who live in the semi-arid areas of Togo. I also accompanied Rev. John Chan to visit the two Baptist denominations in DR Congo, to stand in solidarity with them as they have been going through turmoil of war and ethnic conflicts.

In December, I was involved in coordinating a regional conference, discussing how to integrate faith and work. This was started during the Pandemic time, as CBM staff, we started taking courses with the Institute of Marketplace Transformation (IMT), in partnership with Regent College in Vancouver.

My colleagues and I on the CBM Africa team were greatly interested in the subject and put together a curriculum to share with the church leaders in Africa. So, the conference was about introducing that curriculum to the leaders from 5 denominations from DR Congo, South Sudan, Kenya, Rwanda and colleagues from CBM both in Africa and Canada. The curriculum was well received, and we are looking to conduct more trainings in response to the partners’ expression of interests.

At the start of 2023, my Team and I completed a 6 month plan. One of the key activities will be putting together more trainings on how to integrate faith and work among the Africa partners. We’ll also negotiate the extension of partnership terms with two church organizations and a possible visit to churches in Canada in the spring.

One of the things I have been meditating about is how partnership is weaved in the very nature of God. Since the beginning, God invited His people to partner with Him in the redemption plan, to restore Shalom among humanity. This invitation was extended to us, the Church, through the Great Commission and Great Commandment. What a privilege we have as followers of Christ to join in the redemption plan of bringing healing, holistic transformation and reconciliation between God and the rest of creation!

Thanks, friends, for embracing that calling and being a church of mission that desires to serve as hands and feet of Jesus in a broken world.

Family Update:

Family wise, we are doing very well. My wife, Therese, is still pastoring a small local church in the sub area of Kigali. Princess, my daughter, graduated from a BA program in computer science. Aaron is now waiting to begin university after completing high school. The other three girls are in different boarding schools.

Prayer Requests:

As we journey together in God’s great mission, I would like to invite you to pray with and for me on the items below:

– Good health and safety as I travel.

– God’s provision to the family for the children’s schooling.

– To have a visa to Canada in April-May for meeting the Regional Team Leaders and visiting churches.

– Peace and security in the region as the war and violence keep escalating in eastern DR Congo and South Sudan.

– Wisdom and careful ears, as I interact with people from different backgrounds.

Closing Greetings:

Thank you for your faithfulness to the Lord’s work by supporting CBM’s field work, both in prayers and finances.

I pray for you as well.

May the Lord grant you peace and good health, may He bless the work of your hands.

Shalom