Kristin and I made a trip to Kigali, Rwanda in October. The primary purpose of the trip was to run the SfK MBA for Kigali Diocese of Rwandan Anglican Church. This MBA was the second to be held in Kigali in 2017.
SfK MBA Kigali 2
Sung Soo Kim of Arusha, Tanzania came to attend and also to teach a couple of sessions. That is how he masters what he learned. He did a wonderful job. He also wanted to come to Chiang Mai MBA next year. Great!
Also, Dan Mutiganda led a session about Rwandan Labor Law.
Overall, the MBA program ran very well. The only regret was that the session was cut to only six days, thus limiting the team practice sessions significantly. Oh well...
The participants ranged from pastors responsible for community development and church sustainability programs to non-clergymen congregation members who have diversified experiences, such as agriculture, hospitality, entertainment, public service, construction. I look forward to seeing how the program develops.
Pastor Innocent, who organized the program, wanted to expand the program after all participants meet with the Bishop Louis whom I also met to debrief before my departure. We will see.
In 2018, we agreed to hold SfK MBA again in Kigali, this time hosted by Rwanda Shalom Mission led by Daniel Ryumugabe. The training session continues until God grows and produces harvest.
Alpha Academy
On the day we left Kigali, I had lunch with Bishop Louis and his wife Pastor Winnie, and learned about their private school, Alpha Academy. Apparently, the school is not well managed after they devoted their time and energy to serving churches in their diocese. They wanted to sell the school or outsource the management to a reliable party. We will see what the Lord has in store for the school.
Book Launch - Ocean Palace
KOICA provides a variety of aid to Rwanda. One of the recent projects was a book launch for Ocean Palace. This Korean fairy tale was translated into Kinyarwanda as well as English for Rwandan children. 2&5, a Christian kindergarten and primary school did most of the work and hosted the launch at the school. Children were always precious in any color, any race, any country.
Friends
Any trip offers great opportunity to meet up with friends: old and new. Particularly pleasant was the reunion with the Nanuri Community members. Their project of building a guest house and a medical center faces substantial challenges due to the contractor's failure to perform. Apparently, the principal of the contractor, Cleso, has been put in jail due to poor performance on public works and the company has been blacklisted from any public work. Nanuri's construction has been delayed for several months and still remains uncertain as to when it may be completed. Oh well... It is the time to pull our hands first to pray and also His divine wisdom to make a breakthrough.
Collaboration is always encouraged in God's Kingdom. I organized a meeting for Sang Hoon Lee, Managing Director for Nanuri Ltd. and Daniel Ryumugabe. I hope something good will come out of the introduction.
We stayed at the Happy House, a guest house run by Mrs. Noh, a friend of Kristin's. She has been exceptionally hospitable to us and we stayed there for free. How grateful we are!
We met up with Pansik Shin's couple twice, Pastor Hong's couple, Dr. Namhee Choi, Bohye Kim, Kevin Rudahinduka, Shami Mugisha, Emmanuel Mugandura, Daniel Ryumugabe, Dan Mutiganda, Christine Baingana. It is always joyous to see old friends and catch up in how God is working in their lives. It was saddening to hear that Urwego Bank is going through several challenges to overcome. Dr. Namhee Choi has been able to find an assignment in Ecuador. We talked quite a bit about Ecuador.
We also met some people at the Happy House. A special adviser on behalf of KOICA and a couple of Korean missionaries who serve in 15 + countries.
We worshiped at Agape Korean Church on one Sunday after we worshiped at St. Etiene Cathedral. The church remains vital to many Korean Christians in Rwanda.
Kigali is a beautiful city with almost perfect weather. During our stay, the weather was mild and the air quality was clean. It was a paradise.
On the day we left, several friends came to say good bye. Until we see each other again, adios!
We felt grateful for the continued progress that Rwanda was making and for the opportunity for us to be of service to Rwanda. - Jeffrey
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