Hello, brothers and Sisters in Christ. Greetings from Rwanda. I hope and pray that you and your beloved ones are keeping well. Thank you for continuously supporting me and the work we do together through prayers and finances. The world is full of brokenness, and God is calling you with me in our means and capabilities to join in His mission of restoring Shalom. I am very pleased to update you on what has been happening in the field.

Family Updates:

My family is doing well, and the children are growing fast- Princess will graduate from the University in December, while Aaron has just completed high school and is looking to attend university next year. My other three girls are in boarding schools. My wife was appointed to a new local Baptist church in the suburb of Kigali. She is getting used to those new responsibilities.

Many things have been going on in our team and our field, but I am very pleased to update you on our team’s different projects. 

Organization Peer Capacity Assessment: 

We all know that good governance, leadership and sound financial accountability should be behind the church’s success as an institution. The church institution needs equipping, and her capacity increased. This enables the church to be a good steward of the available resources and enhances the delivery and implementation of ministries and projects. The African partner church leaders invited CBM for three years of Africa Leadership Exchange(ALE) training (2017-2019). Upon completion, the leaders of 4 denominations plus CBM agreed to hold one another accountable in the areas of governance, leadership and financial management. They committed to sharing resources and inviting one another to trainings and events, as way of fostering mutual learning. In addition, they decided to do peer capacity assessments to give each organization a chance to be assessed and receive appreciation for their strengths and recommendations on areas that need improvement. 

By the end of this year, 3/5 of those organizations will be evaluated by their Peers. It is an exercise of courage to open up doors, to be honest and vulnerable as an organization, and then accept appreciation and encouragement. The hardest part is taking criticisms that peers give in love and accountability. We hope that the recommendations will help the assessed organization grow in how they function and manage the resources, including the people that God has trusted them to lead. Can you take that challenge as a church? 

The Integration of Faith and Work Training:

With my colleagues in the Africa Team, we have been following a certificate program with the Institute of Marketplace Transformation (IMT), from Regent College. The Books that we have been reading and the materials we have been reading added a new paradigm and understanding of how God is healing and redeeming the broken world through work and business. For several years, we understood that only the clergy are the only ones who have been called and are serving God. We believed that other work was secular and had no meaning for the Kingdom of God.

As we learned together as a team, the Spirit led us, and we understood that everyone in the church who works has been called by God. They have been invited to restore shalom through service delivery or producing items that people need to flourish. This means our daily work e (from Monday to Saturday) and our worship on Sunday morning are all sacred days.

As believers, our workplace is the arena of our spiritual growth, and our work is a full-time ministry in our capacities and giftedness. As the Africa team, we have been putting together an adapted curriculum that we are willing to share with the Leaders of churches in Africa in collaboration with Vennture  (a CBM department that provide training on how to integrate our Faith and our Work). We are planning to host a conference in December in Rwanda that will bring together about 27 participants to hear about and evaluate that curriculum. Thank you for praying for a smooth run of that conference. Are you interested to hear more about this? Please visit https://www.cbmin.org/vennture/

Prayer Requests:

• Pray for peace and stability in the region as the war and conflicts in DR Congo affect innocent people who are being internally displaced.
• Please pray for smallholder farmers. There are increasing concerns of an upcoming food crisis in the East Africa. This season, there hasn’t been enough rain for smallholder farmers who live by their subsistence farming. Please pray for a good amount of rain.
• Pray for our team’s safety and protection as we travel in hostile communities.
• Pray for my family, good health and provision

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. We feel strengthened because you stand beside us as we continue to work together for the Kingdom.