Hosting Harding's HIZ Group

After two months of study in Zambia, Harding University's HIZ (Harding in Zambia) group arrived in Rwanda by bus for a brief visit and survey trip on Tuesday this week. The group consisted of 22 students and 9 faculty sponsors, mentors and staff. They were hosted by five missionary families and two guesthouses in Kigali.

Their visit included an orientation to Rwanda and tours of schools, churches, hospitals, genocide memorials, the national museum and the national university both in Butare. On the return from Butare they visited the traditional king's palace at Nyanza.

For all 31 in the group except one, this was their first visit to Rwanda. Our hope is that from such groups as these, God will call some to serve in Africa to make a difference in ways that will represent the kingdom of God well.

A Great Send-Off for a Rwanda Mission Team

It is with great anticipation that Nancy and I await the arrival of what has been dubbed the Rwanda08 mission team. I was privileged to be present at Richland Hills Church of Christ on a Wednesday night two weeks ago for the presentation of all the RHCC missionaries on furlough or about to enter the field for the first time in long-term missions. They were prayed over by Duane Jenks, the minister of missions.

Ten days later, on Harvest weekend, the missionaries were again prayed over as the congregation gave and pledged toward an overall goal of $1,278,000 for missions in 2009. They reached about 80% of their goal that weekend.

Most of the team expect to arrive in Rwanda in early December, 2008, followed three weeks later by two more missionary families who have been serving in West Africa for about 10 years.

Major Milestone for Africa Transformation Network

One of the main projects we have been working on this year is to register a local non-governmental organization. To obtain a national Certificate of Registration for such an organization is not easy to achieve. But God in his grace, granted this to us yesterday.

This does not mean we have arrived. But it does mean we can begin our service with motivation and with confidence that we are recognized by the government as legal. We are motivated by our desire to serve people but also by the accountability that the Rwandan government expects. What we have been granted is a provisional registration. We will be watched and we will be held accountable for what we committed to do in the objectives and plan of action we submitted.

I have often said lately that of all the nations of Africa I am aware of, only the Rwandan government requires us to do what Jesus commanded us to do and what we have so often failed to do: serve those in need. In Rwanda it is not enough to speak words of truth; we must accompany them with works of compassion ... works that demonstrate the words we say. It is our belief that we will have earned the right to speak when we have offeredserviceto the people of Rwanda.

Please rejoice with us over this major milestone!! And also pray that God will provide the wisdom and human and financial resources needed to stand and deliver what we have committed to do.

District leaders declare ATN officially open!

It was a quiet, low key, celebration yesterday as community leaders and friends, joined the founding members of Africa Transformation Network to officially open our ministry center in Kicukiro district of Kigali, Rwanda. About 45 people listened to a presentation of the purposes and goals of African Transformation Network and then remained for refreshments and a tour of the facility.

The center will house the offices of ATN and Xtra Mile Ministries. A variety of ministries and projects will be based at the center including blessing our community in Jesus' name though projects for marginalized women, youth and sports programs, outreach to orphans in Kigali and in the provinces and English language courses for school teachers in the district. Early in 2009, it is anticipated that computer training will be also be offered.

ATN now a reality

We are very happy to announce that yesterday we received a letter stating that Africa Transformation Network has been recognized and granted provisional registration to operate in Kicukiro District of Rwanda.
We praise God for His guidance in this process so far. Now we are pursuing permission to operate at a national level. Please continue praying for us.

Gratitude for God's Protection

God is been very gracious to me today. Brothers in Togo helped me get a Togo visa extension and a transit visa for Ghana all in one day. They say that is quite rare, but again God intervened to make my trip arrangements work out so that I could get into to Ghana and catch my return flight home tomorrow night.

Then on the way from the Togo border this afternoon on my way toward the Ghana capital of Accra in a little local bus with about 12-15 other passengers, we were passing through a small town at about 60 kilometres an hour when the brakes on the bus failed. The driver, in order avoid hitting a stationary car swerved off the street to the right narrowly missing the car, ran between two large logs just about a car-width apart. The driver maintained controlled of the bus while the front and back right wheels dropped into a drainage ditch. He managed to keep the bus from rolling over and then veered up and out of the ditch. The bus rolled to a halt 150 yards on down the street. No cars, buildings or people were hit and there were no injuries in the bus. It was surreal. Everything happened so fast, no one even screamed. It was as if this was normal driving that happened every day. After repairs were done, we were back on the road in one and half hours.

I cannot remember when I have been this close to being in a car wreck. I was sitting in the right front passenger seat and of course there were no seat-belts in the bus. Thanks be to our merciful God for his protection over what could have been a terrible accident.

Sam

Healers who train healers

God's timing is always amazing! We just finished lunch and Nancy sent me to the store to buy bread and milk for the fellowship we will have in our home later this afternoon. On the way home, I was saying to myself and to the Lord, I need to find and encourage a medical team that has a vision for this part of Africa. Where do I begin?

So ... I get home and three minutes later I sit down and open a message from Sky whom I have met once. Frankly, this is not where I would have begun. Why? 1. Because I didn't know Sky was a premed student. 2. Because I didn't know Sky had Rwanda on his heart. 3. What I do know is that God knows these things. And at the right time, when it is on my heart, God brings this message from Sky to me. That is very encouraging; praise God for his timing. Who knows what God will do with this.

With all of Africa's health issues, what Africa needs now is not more foreigners who will come and 'practice medicine.' With all due respect to a great man, today is not the day for 'the Dr. Albert Schweitzers' in Africa. Today is the day for healers who will train healers, servant-healers who will invest their knowledge and skills in African people and communities and do this in the name and in the spirit of Jesus.

So Sky ... and Louisa and Brian and Luke and Janice and Theron and Jordan ... let's see who God will raise up for such as time as this.

When Men Pray, God Works

When we were told by our district officials in Kigali, that we would not be able to register our mission until we actually began our ministry projects, we were jolted into action, mainly prayer action. According to our logic, we were not allow to begin these ministries until we had at least a provisional registration in our hands. Immediately we began looking for a property and soon had two possibilities to consider. Some of our mission group looked at these options and decided that they were not adequate for what we envisioned.

Last Monday I was to leave for a training workshop in Zambia. Before I left Charles, Caleb and I prayer-walked through our neighborhood asking God to show us the property we could use that would bring Him glory! We also brainstormed a little on what we could do to bless the youth of our community. After sometime, we left Charles to continue the search, while Caleb had an assignment and I needed to go home and pack for my trip.

Hours later I was in the Kigali airport waiting to board my flight when I got a call from Caleb. He said that he and Charles were looking at a property they thought would work for us. I suggested they call Nancy and get a third opinion. By the time I arrived in Zambia the next day, Nancy was urgently trying to get in touch with me to get my approval because two other parties were interested in the property. I said, 'I trust the judgment of you who have seen the property; if you think this is God's answer to our prayers, go ahead and make the necessary decisions.' They immediately put down a deposit.

I was so impressed by God's timing. He confirmed our faith; He answered our prayers the same day; He got me out of the way so others could step in and take responsibility for important decisions. The result: ... we all feel greatly blessed and encouraged!

God's Care in the Little Things

In the last few days we have been reflecting on God's care over His children in the little (and not so little) things. Nancy and I did some traveling stateside in the months of April and May. And we have been counting our blessings of God's protection over our mistakes and misjudgments along the way.

In California we checked into our hotel and then dropped by a local fast food restaurant for a hamburger. Without me knowing it, my wallet containing several hundred dollars and some credit cards fell out of my pocket on to the floor. I didn't miss it until the next morning which was Sunday...church...Bible class...visiting with friends...and then...a race back to the restaurant!! Praise God, the wallet was found; and thank In and Out Burger for its honest employees! Nothing was missing from my wallet!

In Texas, I filled our loaner car with gas...and forgot to replace the gas cap! Duh! We then drove 12-15 miles in city traffic to a friend's house. Guess what...the gas cap was still sitting on the trunk lid of the car!! Now that wasn't my careful driving! Just ask Nancy. No big deal, right? Right. Just His protection in the little things.

In Louisiana we were driving on the freeway on a hot day. We were concerned about our tires that weren't in good condition. On a car just ahead of us we saw a front tire blow out. At freeway speeds this could have caused a major accident, but the driver managed to pull off safely. 30 minutes later we exited the freeway to go to a friend's house and what happens? On a neighborhood street OUR front tire blows out! We are traveling at 20 mph...300 yards from a gas station!!
Praise God for His protection in the little things... that in our life, could have been big things.

Another Step of Faith

Those of us in Rwanda are seeing God's hand at work in ways we never anticipated and we are blessed to be part of God's purposes for this nation. There is obviously growing support for our application for our mission organization. We have been developing good relationships with officials and their input has been extremely helpful, from the mudugudu (zone), cell, sector and district level offices. We are also having to make changes and do rewrites of some of our documentation to fit the requirements of the different departments. We are making good progress however.

One thing we have become convinced of in the last three weeks of pursuing our Africa Transformation Network registration is this: We will not get the registration approved by our local district until we start work, until we have a physical location of an office and work space and until we demonstrate that we are actually doing what we listed in our plan of action. From the beginning we were under the impression that we needed the registration in order to have permission to begin. But in fact, we must begin in order to secure the registration. So... let the work begin ...

One of the major decisions we made last week was to bring Charles Kabeza on board to work with us full-time as an administrative assistant. He will begin his role with us on July 1. Charles graduated from university last year with a degree in economics. He has recently, on his own initiative with encouragement from some of us, begun a ministry to genocide orphans which demonstrates that he is a man of faith and compassion. (See http://www.christianchronicle.org/article2158310~Ministry_to_help_orphans_in_Rwanda ).

A second decision was to find and rent a property to serve as a center from which to work and to house our ATN offices. In addition to what already is being done with Extra Mile ministries, we have the resources to begin two or three of the projects in our plan of action. We need to get those projects up and running as soon as possible.

Personally, I feel both excited and challenged. Decisions that were made in our meeting last week have pushed us to a new level. I believe it is going to take a higher level of commitment and a greater degree of faith for all of us. It is a little like walking on water; we are not sure about the water, but we are sure about the God who called us and is faithful to sustain us.

The budget we formulated and presented to Kicukiro district is for $94,960 in our first year. We only have 30% of the budget raised at present (half of that committed by ATN founding members). But we trust that God will provide the funding that is lacking.