Tag: transformation

  • Gifts and Presence

    06.05.11 | Comment?

    by Stephan Bauman, World Relief

    As yet, none of you know Cyprien from our team in Rwanda. He is self-giving, inspiring, and above all, joyful. I asked him once what he believed to be the greatest impact by those who visit from our partner churches. Without hesitation, he said, “presence.” He explained that his people — whether villagers, HIV/AIDs caregivers, microfinance clients, or World Relief staff — are overwhelmed by those that come from across the world to listen to their story, to smile with their children, to work alongside their family, to pray with them. “It’s their presence,” says Cyprien, “that honors them — that humbles them.”

    Soon, I understand, some of you will meet Cyprien as you minister on behalf of Bethany Community Church in Rwanda with the purpose of establishing and building relationships. So, it is with that theme that I wish to write, but not only to those who will travel to Rwanda as relational ambassadors from Bethany Community Church. It is also to the many who will not be there in-country, but who will still benefit by the experiences of those who go on your behalf once they return. You will benefit as you enter into the relationships they bring back and share, as you tap their own levels of transformation, and as you offer your own “presence” through prayer, learning, and financial support.

    Whether you are one of a couple handful who go to Rwanda or one of the couple thousand who remain in Seattle, most importantly, you are ambassadors for Christ (2nd Corinthians 5:21), God-authorized representatives bearing His name. You carry His presence, and the presence of His body, as you give your lives. You are “Spilling Hope” holistically by your presence, your priorities, your sacrifices, gifts, and talents. You make a difference.

    During World War II, Christians in Princeton, New Jersey, held a prayer meeting to intercede for Jews in Germany. Albert Einstein heard about the prayer meeting, left his house at 112 Mercer Street, walked to the meeting, and asked if he could join them. He brought his violin with him, and wondered if he might “pray” with his instrument. He offered his presence during a critical time in history.

    My wife, Belinda, and I were born about 11 hours apart in the same hospital in a small town in Wisconsin. We didn’t meet until age 16, but have celebrated our birthdays together since. One year our two sons, Joshua, age 7, and Caleb, age 5 at that time, woke us by singing “Happy Birthday.” “Now, for the greatest gift,” they said, in unison. . . . “Tada . . . we give you, us!” We all melted together in hugs and kisses and told them they were “the greatest gifts we could ever want!” All of you agree, there is nothing like the unabashed presence of a child, especially your own.

    Agnes Mukashinjo (pictured) fled to the Congo during the genocide after her husband was killed. Sometime later, she returned to Rwanda with only her daughter. In her own words, she was lonely and without hope. Agnes was eventually introduced to a few women from an association of farmers called Twizamura (meaning, “let’s grow together”). Twizamura was founded by World Relief to bring together widows, orphans, and others in order to work and fellowship. The association grows geranium plants that are harvested, distilled into oil, and then sold locally and internationally. Members of Twizamura gave Agnes a few iron sheets and she was able to build a simple house. In time, Agnes was invited to join and, today, Agnes is the president of the association. Each week, she leads the members in scripture reading, worship, and prayer, and, together, they plan for harvest.

    I wonder if the body of Christ is like Twizamura where all of us, orphaned and widowed through the struggles of life, are arm-lifted by the Father into a community of hope, a community where His presence and the presence of our brothers and sisters gives us hope and sustains us.

    Mother Theresa said, “To love, it is necessary to give.”  Ultimately, the greatest gift we offer is our very life. Indeed, Christ asks for nothing less — our life in exchange for His. And then, quite beautifully, he asks us to freely give our lives away — his life in us, a gift for others. You are giving to Rwanda just like those from Twizamura gave to Agnes. I am humbled by your gift, I commend your commitment, and I applaud your humility. On behalf of those you serve in Rwanda — all my brothers and sisters there — thank you.

    (Stephan Bauman is the president and CEO of World Relief — and the former country director of Rwanda.)

  • Transformation = Hope

    06.01.11 | Comment?

    by Greg Olsen

    Before the first Spilling Hope campaign two years ago, I’d led various classes on stewardship and figured I understood what it meant to manage what God gives us. Sure, it’s helpful to study what the Bible says about managing our time, talents, and finances, but what I didn’t realize was that only applying head knowledge to these things was the same as merely practicing a religion – pretty dry, and of little meaning or fulfillment. The Lord used Spilling Hope in conjunction with other events in my life to reveal the gap between my head and my heart, and how relationship with Him translates into meaningful relationships with others, and transformed hearts and lives.

    A main theme in Genesis 12 is that we are “blessed to be a blessing,” able to give back out of our abundance. The message of Spilling Hope underscores that. It’s given stewardship new meaning for me since it’s no longer just about learning facts and figures. It’s been a key conduit to actual names and faces of real people who have desperate need for things I have in abundance and take for granted each day. That aspect prompted me to actually care, and through that the Lord gained access to my walled-in heart and began a transformational work that is still in process today. Getting involved with Spilling Hope was an important way in which the Lord would reveal more of what He was up to in me.

    Through the film night, various pictures, and clean/dirty water displays at drinking fountains and bathroom sinks, I began to realize just how vastly different we have things here in the Pacific Northwest with our abundance of resources. I awoke to a new appreciation for them and was inspired to better-manage them in my own life. As I’ve always believed “each vote counts” when it comes to election time, I took that same stance toward consumption and began to consider ways I could simplify. I figured I’d try some things differently throughout the 50-day period and just see how it went.

    Sure enough, the things I “tried out” back in the first Spilling Hope campaign are things I’ve continued to incorporate in my life today. It’s been great to add to that list each year, trying new ways to simplify, which has led to more learning and revelation, and to new ways to give. Funny how that happens to parallel our walk with God. We submit some new aspect of our lives to Him and He takes that and multiplies it for our good and His glory. Over the years those many little steps add up to significant transformation and growth, which instills hope and gives proof of how the Lord works through us to make the invisible visible. He multiplies what we give, and in doing so we learn more about Him as Jehovah-Jireh, our provider.

    Through this I’ve come to find an increasing hope amidst my own struggles and trials. Just as it will take time for lives to be transformed by the good work many are doing to bring clean water to parts of Uganda and Rwanda, so it will take time for Him to transform my life to become more like His Son Jesus. Spilling Hope has helped me come to grips with that, so each year I look forward to seeing how the Lord will use it to teach me more about who He is and who I am in Him. I encourage you to be a part of Spilling Hope and to see how the Lord will use it to transform your life and those around you. Transformation through Him is guaranteed. In that, tremendous hope exists!

  • Thoughts on Church Empowerment, from World Relief

    05.25.11 | 1 Comment

    “How Do We Know When a Church Is Empowered?” by Clemence Nkulikiyinka

    Jesus promised that He would build a church that would even resist the gates of Hades (Mathew 16:18). Christ’s church is called to accomplish a holistic mission. That is to evangelize and make people disciples, and serve needs (social, psychological, financial and physical needs). And at the same time the church has to be trustworthy (Acts 6: 1-4).

    At World Relief our mission is to empower churches to serve the most vulnerable. This means partnering with them as they overcome challenges to achieve this calling.

    Together with church leaders we have come up with a list of characteristics to measure if a local church is empowered to accomplish its holistic mission and is equipped to sustain its interventions within its community.

    Each of area of focus is based on the principle of Faith in Christ Lived Out. This is the idea that pastors and congregation members’ faith in Jesus Christ is lived out with commitment and enthusiasm that is demonstrated by practical application of word and deed (James 1:22).  

    We desire to see four characteristics lived out by the church:

    1)    Restorative Relationships: The church members live in peace (shalom) with one another and the broader community. The church advocates for justice and restoration within the community.

    2)    Holistic, Qualitative Service to the Most Vulnerable: The church is actively reaching out to serve the most vulnerable, addressing the social, spiritual, and economic needs both in and outside the Church, in a way that sees God’s transformational work take place in people’s lives.

    3)    Appropriate Organizational Structures and Practices: Financial, organizational, and logistical structures are in place and followed to ensure accountability and transparency in whatever the church is doing.

    4)    Freedom from dependency on outside institutions: Churches understand that God equips them with the resources they need to carry out their ministry. As a result the ministries they carry out are sustainable in nature. Rather than being dependant on outside support to address problems in the community, they are training and equipping other churches to serve the community.

    These four characteristics summarize what it means for a church to be empowered to serve the most vulnerable. The list is not exhaustive, as it represents the needs and translates to the mission of the local church in the Rwandan context. There are measureable indicators to each characteristic to mark a milestone for progress made towards the desired empowerment of local churches.

    As churches grow in these areas, the impact they have in the community grows as well.

    (Clemence Nkulikiyinka serves as the integration support and monitoring & evaluation manager at World Relief Rwanda.) 

    ~~~

    “Why Does the Church Need to be Empowered to Serve Children?” by Louise Uwineza

    Whoever receives a child in my name receives me. ~ Matthew 18:5

    Jesus gave the church a mandate to serve children. When the church serves children this way, children are loved, valued, and equipped for the future, and the church is blessed in the process. When a church is served, the future leaders of Rwanda are trained in the way they should go and when they are old they will never turn from it (Proverbs 22:6).

    Unfortunately, many churches in Rwanda don’t understand their calling to serve children, or they are poorly equipped to minister to the needs of children.

    In some cases children are viewed as a burden. On Sundays, many churches are often worried about keeping children quiet so that they don’t disturb adults. So the children get sent out for Sunday schools that are not well structured or equipped to teach children.

    The church needs to be empowered to be able to notice that children have a great ability, and the potential to improve the lives of their families and others in the community.

    In the community of Masaka, Rwanda, local churches partnering with World Relief have been equipped to start new children’s ministries on Sundays and throughout the week. One approach is the use of after-school clubs called “care groups.” In these groups, volunteers from the church are teaching children lessons on health and hygiene, social skills, and from the Bible.

    These groups are effective. People see this change happening every day. Not just in the lives of children, but in their homes, schools, and among their friends. The church has received many requests from parents to let their children participate in care groups.

    For example, two care groups of children from an empowered church have collected money and food for vulnerable families. So far they have supported 14 families (almost 70 people). This is an inspiration to the church and the whole community. People throughout the community are seeing children in church as role models to other children who are not attending churches. Children grow in the Holy Spirit and share compassion.

    When the church is empowered, there is lasting value because the church is a sustainable, trusted institution of the community. Many more churches in Rwanda need to be empowered to be to deliver service to children in order to build their future.

    As part of the Church Empowerment Zone being started in Musanze, Rwanda, with the partnership of Bethany Community Church, we are excited to see more churches empowered to value and teach children to be part of Christ’s kingdom and act as agents of transformation of the world.

    (Louise Uwineza is the manager of child focused programs at World Relief Rwanda.)

  • Trusting God for Transformation

    05.22.11 | Comment?

    by Jessica Isakson

    Here’s what happens to me psychologically during the Spilling Hope campaign. First I hear about the need and I feel empathy, an emotional response to what I perceive to be the distress of brothers and sisters in Africa. Following empathy I feel a strong desire to help and to pray. And following that I give money and trust God. But what happens between giving money and building a well, and how does a well transform a community? In other words, for what, exactly, am I trusting God?

    To be honest, I can’t answer those questions entirely; I only know a few more things this year than I did last year. Nonetheless, I’d like to share with you what I’ve learned. This is what I’m trusting God for:

    In prior years, all the money raised during the Spilling Hope campaign was donated to Living Water international. Bethany has partnered with Living Water International to provide clean drinking water to a specific group of communities in need of better water in Ntungamo District, Uganda. To me it’s amazing that all our saving, praying, and generosity is focused on this one small part of the world. We are praying for this specific place, these people. It sounds silly, but I kind of thought that they were just digging wells all over the continent, wherever the need was greatest. I’m trusting God to transform lives in the Ntungamo District.

    This year I saw photos of the previous water sources in each of these communities. I had suspected that whoever was choosing photos to share had picked the dirtiest looking “previous water source” photos, and that’s why I had only seen a few. But in fact, all the photos look the same. I’m not exaggerating; they look like the same four water sources shot over a few years and in different seasons. They are all dirty, and in every community where Living Water International goes, people are suffering from preventable diseases.

    I had heard how children without clean water are often not healthy enough to learn, or simply don’t have the time to go to school because they’re fetching water, but I never realized that the sites chosen for clean water for an entire community are near schools. All the wells that we have funded are near schools. The students and school staff have access to the clean water when they need it. This improves both the attendance and health of the students. Clean water gives the children in these towns a chance to learn.

    I also didn’t know what happens besides LWI driving up, digging a well, and leaving. LWI also provides health and hygiene training to the community. The LWI staff share the gospel with people in the community. Additionally, each community assembles a water committee to oversee the management and maintenance of the well, and they’re provided with a LWI contact in case the well is ever broken or stolen. Apparently it’s possible to steal a well, which I also never knew.

    I wrote that in previous years all the money raised during the Spilling Hope campaign had gone to Living Water International because this year we will also be partnering with World Relief to fund church empowerment in Rwanda, just across the border from where LWI has been doing work. World Relief seeks to pick up where LWI tapers off. They train leaders in churches to make a difference in their communities. Their mission is to empower the local church to serve the most vulnerable. This an exciting addition to the Spilling Hope campaign, and I trust that just as God continues to transform lives in Uganda through the work of LWI, he will likewise further his kingdom in Rwanda through the work of World Relief.