On the Road Week One: Karibu!

Karibu (Welcome) to ATS!

Sitting at 6400 feet above sea level, at the base of Mt. Elgon, Kitale is a beautiful city.  The internet says that the population is 250,000, although I am told by residents that no-one actually knows the real population, as the results of the census taken ten years ago has not yet been released; to them the number is much lower.  It has a small town feel to it, with the mixture of nicely developed areas, densely populated sections, and also a rural area, with cows on the road, dirt roads, and room to breathe.  In short, after living in Accra (metropolitan population of 5 million) and close to Monrovia (population of 1.3 million), it feels just perfect for me. 

A portion of the breadbasket

This portion of the country is also known as the breadbasket of Kenya, due to the concentration of agricultural work going on here that provides much of the food for the country.   The weather is cool…at least to me.  It would reach approximately 75 F by noon, but rained every day by about 2 pm, dropping the temperature ten degrees.  The temperature rose again some days in the 70s again by evening, or would stay in the 60s, depending on how long the rains lasted.  They say that these rains are normally over by the beginning of September, so it is unusual to still have rain this late in the year.  [The team found it continually amusing that I was so cold.  I don’t know how long it will take this West African blood in me to adjust to cooler weather!  The good news is that I will be fine if I pack my winter clothes.]  Bob would have absolutely loved this weather. 

The Africa Theological Seminary (ATS) is on the outskirts of Kitale, on approximately ten acres of land, with an additional ten acres adjacent for future development; the land is currently being leased by farmers and used for growing maize and bananas.  ATS hosts approximately 300 students, all of whom are in ministry at the same time as working on their various degrees. 

 

Part of the ATS campus, including the house where I will stay.

The ATS (ICM-Kenya) team, along with Sheryl 
from the ICM-USA team.

The International Christian Ministry team was delightful.  There were actually two teams that I met – the ICM-USA team and the ICM-Kenya team.   I met some very kindred spirits on the ICM-USA team.  This is a very gifted group of leaders, deeply grounded in serving the Lord with their lives.  I know that I will learn a lot from them.

Part of the beautiful campus of ATS

The ICM-Kenya team was very welcoming and affirming of seeing the need to add Business as Mission as a course for their church leaders.  This is a young team of very educated and capable leaders, working with church leaders who are making a difference in the many villages and cities around Kenya and beyond.  While I was there, they hosted a two day alumni conference, focused on teaching Orality and the art of teaching the Bible through story-telling.  I had a chance to meet a number of pastors and church leaders, all of whom acknowledged that they are not doing anything to empower and equip their business members for the Marketplace, all of whom acknowledged that they tend to see their business members only in terms of donors, and all of whom extended an invitation for me to start the pilot project at their church!  There was great excitement about this concept, with many church leaders mentioning that they had never even considered this as a concept. I thank God for this affirmation.

The only disappointment in the whole trip to Kitale was learning that they don’t eat their food very spicy and plantains are not part of the regular diet, even though bananas are grown here.  However, I think I can deal with that!  Hot sauce will remedy the one, and I can definitely learn to live without plantains!

Road in front of the ATS Seminary...look familiar?

I plan to move to Kitale in mid-January and will start teaching at the beginning of February.  By mid-to-late February, I will travel out to start the pilot project.  At this time it looks like it may be to Busia, which is right on the Kenya/Uganda border, although it is very early to tell.  The Bishop of the Church in Busia, who is an alumni of ATS, is the head of sixteen churches, and is recommended highly by the ICM-Kenya team as a church leader who knows how to mobilize and support his people.  

Masai Mara

When I left Kitale, I was informed that our plane was late and that we would have to make a detour, delaying our arrival in Nairobi by about four hours.  I was delighted to then hear that our detour was to the Masai Mara, the large game reserve in south-western Kenya!  We flew in a small ten seat plane, and stopped twice in the Masai Mara, allowing me to see elephant, giraffe, ostrich, zebra, wildebeest (migrating to Tanzania), baboons, and impala!  What a treat!  Being able to fly low over the game reserve allowed me to see so much and I thank God for the free, albeit brief, safari experience!

As you receive this blog, I have left Kenya and am in Ghana.  I hope to report on week two next week. 

Elephants!

The beautiful countryside of Kenya

Update from West Africa

Tonight I am leaving for five weeks in five countries in Africa:  Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, and Liberia. It will be a pretty intense trip but I am very much looking forward to getting back.  Dana Boals, the Director of Global Partnerships from Partners Worldwide, will be joining me for the last three countries.  Here is a brief update of some of what has been going on over the past weeks.

The week before last was filled with Regional Facilitator meetings for Partners Worldwide.  In the picture (back row, left to right), we have Rudy (North America), me (West Africa), Martin (East Africa), Michael (Asia); front row, Tinashe (Southern Africa), Dave (Caribbean), and Bob (Latin America).  This is a very fun, thoughtful, and creative group and it has been fun to work with them!

Ghana:

The late president, John Atta-Mills

On July 24, President John Atta Mills of Ghana suddenly passed away.  The country mourned the loss of his leadership.  This is an election year for Ghana and President Mills was going to run for his second term.  Leadership smoothly passed to his vice-president, John Dramani Mahama who will also run in the election on December 7.  There have been some interesting challenges that have taken place in the country recently:  electricity, which was always unstable - going off usually once per day, sometimes for ten minutes, sometimes for ten hours - has gotten worse.  Additionally, a new policy came out that the banks are no longer to give US dollars, even if you have a US dollar account.  This puts a hardship on business members who travel and need US dollars to do business, forcing them to exchange their money to the Ghana cedi, and then exchange it back at a ForEx Bureau for US dollars, causing them a loss in the exchange. 

Hopeline Institute was approved for a Global Fund loan from Partners Worldwide in the amount of $150,000 USD for their high-impact entrepreneurs.  This is very exciting!  As the truly efficient team that they are, they received the funds on August 24 and had them all disbursed by August 31!  We thank God for this opportunity for business people in Accra to have a loan at a much more affordable rate and pray that God will bless these business owners.   Hopeline has also recently completed an intensive training for mushroom farmers and hopes to invest in those farmers who are baggers (seed developers), growers, and retailers.  As a lover of mushrooms, I'm very happy about this!  Both of the interns have left Ghana.  Emily Daher finished her year of service and returned to the States last week.  We thank God for her hard work and excellent service, and wish her God's blessings on her next endeavor!  Kim VandenAkker also returned to be with her boyfriend, Patrick, as it was recently discovered that he has bone cancer.  She hopes to return to Ghana to finish her internship, but we ask for your prayers for healing for Patrick.

LEAD, Liberia:  LEAD continues to do well and make progress on their goals.  The research farm has now been able to give out pig loans to farmers - nineteen piglets to nine farmers.  I will be traveling to Liberia at the end of October with Malcolm DeKryger, a pig farmer from Indiana, who will be advising and training LEAD farmers on best practices in pig raising.  Todd DeKryger, the integrated pest management expert who traveled with us last year to Liberia, will be joining us as well, and will be addressing crop farmers on raising feed for the pigs.  We are producing a high quality maize, moringa, and are starting to process palm nuts for pig feed.  In June, LEAD was able to give out $45,000 US in loans to about 150 farmers, who are in 15 cooperatives.  This is really exciting as we begin to see Liberia produce more and more of its own food!  We are still looking to build a training center on the research farm to be able to research new crops for Liberia and train farmers in best practices.  [If you missed the summer mailing that we did for that and still want to help out, please go to www.leadinliberia.net, and click on the link for the Farmer Field School.  We still have a long way to go to satisfy that need and keep farmers moving forward!]

ACLCP, Côte d'Ivoire:  The last time I wrote, I shared that Dea Lieu, the Director of ACLCP was able to return home after a successful kidney transplant in the US.  He has been hard at work, reconnecting with family, church, and friends, and is re-establishing the work of ACLCP after his nearly two year absence.  I will be joining them in mid-October to do some board training and address some organizational development issues.  However, as there have been conflicts between border towns of Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire, the border is currently closed to people (goods can pass through).  Since I usually drive from Monrovia to Danané, this presents a problem.  Please pray with me for favor from the embassy and those at the border to let us through!

PCEN, Nigeria:  I will also be spending several days in Nigeria, doing a training of trainers on our business training material. We will be going to the East Kambari Area (EKA) in order to see the work of Water Wins, one of our partners involved in well drilling, business development, and community development.  We are thankful that Jos reports quiet for the past couple of weeks and pray that the peace continues. We learned that the largest Nigerian airline (on which we booked our tickets) was grounded this past week, so we pray that we can make it in!

The blog may be quiet for a bit but I will update when I can!

Bliss

Last week was a stressful week.  The announcement that I was leaving Partners Worldwide and going to a new organization and a new part of Africa became very real for me, as well as for people who know and care about me.  I spent three days in regional planning meetings following the announcement, which felt surreal at best.

Bob's tree

By the time Sunday came, I had reached my limit of stress and needed to get away.  So, I decided to go spend some time with a loved one who is so very missed at this time.  I drove up to Bliss, MI (near Mackinaw City - right by Wilderness State Park) to be with Bob - or at least his remains.  We planted a red maple tree where we buried his ashes, so I spread out my blanket and lay beside that tree for a couple of hours.  (At this point, it is still "beside" the tree instead of "under" as it's not that big yet!)

And we talked.  Well, I talked.  And talked.  He did what he is good at - he listened.  At least, the wind listened.  I miss his wisdom.  I miss his discernment.  I miss his decisiveness.  I miss his intensity.  I miss his faith.  I miss his faith in me.  I miss his intense brown eyes looking into mine - checking in with how I'm really doing.  I miss holding his hand while we drive.  I miss being in that part of the world with him.  I miss the proximity of having someone nearby to talk about the mundane and the important.  And there have been some pretty important things going on in my life lately.

My view from beside the tree.

Some people have asked me what Bob would think of the house....or about my decision to move to Kenya...or to go to a whole new organization.  I wish I knew.  I can guess.  I can only guess.  I think he would think that the house is plain and like a box...but that it has good potential.  He would have hated all the work that has to be done on the house.  He would have loved to live in Kenya.  He believed in me and my ability to make things happen so I think he would have been okay with the change, but I don't know what he would think about International Christian Ministries or the concept of working with a seminary.

One thing about Bob is that he believed in me and what God is doing in and through me.  And he also reminded me often that there was very few things in his life that he felt called by God to do - God just didn't speak to him that clearly.  But, once he decided to do something, he was to do it as if called by God. 

Sturgeon Bay - one of our favorite beaches.

And that is what I now need to do.  Time has moved on.  This week it will be 2.5 years since Bob's death.  Both kids are in college and on their own.  I decided to buy this house.  I decided to move to a new ministry with a new position.  And now I must trust that God will work out for good the decisions that this child made, following prayer and consultation.

It's Kitale, Kenya!

(title written in the style of our last move:  see www.reedsinliberia.blogspot.com)

Last week I referred to changes and mentioned that there would be a follow up with more changes in this week's blog post.  In addition to buying a home and moving, as well as adjusting to an empty nest, I decided to also change my employment and accept a position on the other side of Africa.  It's definitely a new day!

After much prayer and consultation, I have decided to formally leave Partners Worldwide at the end of this year and begin working with a ministry called International Christian Ministries (www.icmusa.org).   I will be living in Kitale, Kenya, close to the Uganda border, and will be teaching at the Africa Theological Seminary for portions of the year, and then out in the field for other portions of the year, helping churches begin Business as Mission (BAM) groups.

Having been with Partners Worldwide since 2005, this was not an easy decision.  As I had been mentioning in previous blogs, the last eight months have been a pretty intense soul searching and transitional time for me.  My time in Ghana ended in June - where was I to go next?  The ministry that we started in Ghana was a joint ministry with Bob and now I am alone; the kids are happily adjusting to Calvin College - what do I do?  

As I look back over the last year, I can begin to see how God has worked in and through these questions.  Since this blog is a bit like a journal for me, allow me to take some time to write out the highlights:

• During my silent retreat last summer (2011), I spent time with the passage from Ephesians 3:16-21.  The words "in the church" from verses 20-21 began to jump out at me:  "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever! Amen"  (emphasis mine).  I began thinking about the work that I was doing in light of the church.  We were teaching Business as Mission (BAM) and commissioning Marketplace Ministers to reclaim the marketplace for Christ, but what did we know about the actual effect on the church?  What were business people doing following the commissioning?  What type of on-going support and encouragement were they receiving?  Was Jesus getting the glory in the work that we were doing?   Was the church being built? We try to follow up with people, hear great stories, but it is difficult to get a real sense of impact on the church.
• Earlier this year, I began wondering about whether or not this idea of working with small and medium size entrepreneurs (SMEs) was having the "trickle down" effect that we were hoping for in terms job creation and fair wages, or whether the SMEs were increasing their profit for the owner's good.  How do we hold business owners accountable for what they are doing with their increased profit, which was a direct result of our training, mentoring, advocacy, and access to capital?  I remember talking to a colleague from East Africa and stating that this unknown made me want to go back to working with the poorest of the poor - the micro-entrepreneurs.  He reminded of what I already knew - that the SMEs are the foundation of the economy and that real change could best be affected through them.  He stated that what we needed to do was not abandon this group but try to figure out how to hold them accountable, disciple, and encourage them.  As I pondered that over the next few weeks, I realized that the only institution that would be able to do that naturally is the church.  
• In May, I attended a conference in Accra put on by ICM.  [I had been aware of ICM's work for several years, as Rev. Tutu (the head of ICM Ghana) had been commissioning our Marketplace Ministers for several years and was starting ICM in Liberia.]  The conference was called "Structuring for Excellence" and addressed organizational development as well as leadership development.  At the time, I had been considering various opportunities for service in different locations of the world, but nothing was really speaking to me.  I spoke briefly to Dr. Walker after the conference and the words that struck me were his encouragement for me to move toward my passion.  I went home considering those words and wondering about my passion.  Over the next few days, I refined what I was passionate about and I believe God began to reveal to me a new way of doing this work through the church.

Dr. Walker had encouraged me to stay in touch with him following the conference, as they were particularly interested in Business as Mission for the church leaders with whom they work.  Once conversation led to another, and they proposed that I begin to teach Business as Mission, as well as Community Development, at the Africa Theological Seminary (ATS), located in Kitale, Kenya.   They have other branches in Africa (Burundi, Tanzania, DRC) as well, but Kenya would be the best place to start.   

From their website:  ATS is a non-denominational, post-secondary institution of higher learning whose founders and staff are passionately and faithfully committed to train, equip, and empower Christian Leaders already involved in Ministry.  Therefore, ATS train leaders “in ministry” and not “for Ministry”! It is for this reason that all ATS study programs are designed on in-service model around Block Courses to allow our students to continue serving in their primary ministries as they pursue further studies. (http://www.atseminary.ac.ke/) 

The outline of this position would be that I would teach at the seminary for five weeks, and then go out on the field for three months to help roll out BAM groups in various churches.  I will want to continue to partner with Partners Worldwide in some way as I believe the Partners Worldwide model is excellent and can be especially dynamic within the context of a church, whose leaders embrace Marketplace Ministers as the foot soldiers for the church.  I will still be raising my own support with ICM but no longer for a whole region, so that will provide some fundraising relief.

I will be visiting Kitale during the last week of September and from there will go to West Africa for four weeks.  I will then wrap up my work with West Africa during November and December, and make the move to Kitale, Kenya in January.  I appreciate your prayers during these transition times!  I will keep you posted!

ICM exists to equip African Leaders to solve African problems with God's solutions.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

Summer has flown by and so has my leave of absence.  Two months goes by amazingly quick, especially when you pack in visiting family, silent retreat, vacation, dedicated sabbatical time, and, oh yeah, buying a home that needs a ton of work!  I have been so blessed to have this time - time to take care of business with family, myself, with God, and with my kids.  I'm thankful to Partners Worldwide for allowing me to take this leave of absence, to the widow's group who helped me financially (as this time was unpaid and they recognized my need for this time), and for many of you who advised me and prayed for me before and during this time.   There were many changes that took place during these two months, some of which I will discuss this week, and some next week.

The "Before" picture

After...not quite done yet but getting there!

One of the major changes was buying a house.  Some of you  have asked me why I bought a house if I am going back to Africa.  The short answer is that it is time for us to have a permanent home again.  We moved three times in the last three months.  Noah said to me, "Mom, I can't remember a time when we didn't have to be out of a house by a certain date."  The longer answer also includes the fact that both Hannah and Noah are at Calvin, and need a home during Thanksgiving break, Christmas break, Spring break, the summer, and other holidays.  While my sister and brother-in-law have been gracious in opening up their home time and again, it's time for us to have our own space, especially with two Reeds in GR.  Both Hannah and Noah will also have the option to live at home (off-campus) beginning their junior year, which will save them money.  Not to mention the fact that everyone has been telling me that this is the time to buy - despite the fact that it needs a lot of work, we got a good deal on this house (of course, I hear Bob saying, "You get what you pay for:-).  Although when I first bought it, I was focused on it being a home only for the next few years while the kids are in college, that perspective has changed as the house has become a home.  In fact, Hannah said the other day, "Mom, can we stop referring to this house as a temporary home for the next few years and keep it permanently?"  We all need and want a home base.  And when all the work is done, I believe it will be a great home.  (If you look closely, you will see new windows, siding, new driveway, fencing, door and stoop...and that is just the outside!)

Noah being Batman on a jetski!

Another major change has been the empty nest - which, to be honest, just happened a few days ago, and I'm still processing it.  While it's true that being apart is not foreign to us because of our traveling, it's very different when the separation is more permanent.  For me, the idea of not having someone to talk to at the end of the day, or to look forward to seeing in the short-term, definitely takes an adjustment.  I believe that God has been preparing me for this loneliness over the past couple of years, but it doesn't change the impact of the new reality.  [Side note:  Contrary to some people's beliefs, I am not in Grand Rapids to settle down and find a new husband:-).  In fact, I still consider myself married and have NO desire to get into a relationship.  So for those of you who are lovingly praying for me to find a new spouse or subtly introducing me to single persons, please know that this is not on my radar at all.  I would love to write more on this at some time, in terms of the decision making process for this, but that is not for this blog entry.  I will be heading back to Africa permanently again in January.]

Noah giving character awards to camp kids.

Noah is very ready for college and had an amazing summer, working for the Spring Hill Day camp.  They do an excellent job, not only with the youth, but also in developing their counselors as Christian leaders.  He loved the experience and may want to do it again next year, despite the low pay

Hannah helping Noah in his dorm.

Hannah has also moved back into Calvin as she is serving as a "Barnabas" on her floor (something like the floor chaplain).  Both Hannah and Noah are in Noordewier-VanderWerp, where Bob used to be the Resident Director.  Hannah has promised to keep an eye on her little brother.

On Tuesday, I head back to work at Partners Worldwide.  I need to quickly catch up on two months of missed work and then in three short weeks (September 24), I will be leaving for Africa for five weeks, to visit five countries:  Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, and Liberia.  I will be back at the beginning of November, probably accompanied by a number of my West African colleagues who will be traveling to Chicago for the Partners Worldwide conference on November 8 and 9.  

More updates next week!

Sabbatical

Today marks the beginning of my two month leave of absence, which I am calling a sabbatical.  Some of you may be wondering what a sabbatical is; others of you may be wondering why I am taking one.  In the last few months, I have pondered both of those questions myself, as I prepared for this time.  Allow me to share some of my thoughts and findings.

 

The word sabbatical has, at its root, the word sabbath, meaning "cease."  We often think of Sabbath as meaning rest, but my pastor explained it to me that it literally means cease - to stop.  One of the ten commandments given to us is to "remember the sabbath by keeping it holy, six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh is a sabbath to the Lord your God...on it you shall not do any work...for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them but he rested on the seventh day.  Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy (Exodus 20:8-11).  In Leviticus, we are told that the land is to also have a sabbath of rest, every seven years, for a whole year.., so that it can lie fallow and replenish (Leviticus 25: 2-4)

A sabbatical is a time for rest, renewal, and new hope.  A time to stop what you normally do - to stop the normal routine.  It should help us to step off the treadmill long enough to change old habits.  It is a time to lie fallow, a time to receive rather than give, to get input rather than give output, to carefully nurture and cultivate our lives.  It should nourish the soul and rebuild the body.  It is a time to relearn and rehearse the critical capacity to reflect.  A sabbatical is about a pilgrimage with Jesus toward God.  The heart of the sabbatical is time and space for renewal.  A sabbatical is typically recommended to be three-six months.


About a year ago, someone gave me an article on the alarming growth of burn out among pastors and missionaries.  This article acknowledged that churches give both time and funding for sabbaticals for pastors, while mission agencies do not yet provide in the same way.  One missionary organization who is starting to look at providing sabbaticals for their missionaries, says this, 

Missionaries continually face heavy responsibilities and the stressful weight of local and world conditions. Their temptation is to “suck it up” by drawing upon emotional and spiritual reserves with no regular spiritual practices to replenish those reserves.  The result: depleted souls, physical and emotional exhaustion, and often burnout!

Another organization conducted a survey and reported that only 26% of missionaries view their relationship with God as one of their top strengths.  I have felt the drain of my reserves over the years, and specifically in the last two years, since Bob's death.  I need my top strength to be my relationship with God, as with Him I can do all things - without Him, I can do nothing.

So, after seven years of being in West Africa, I am declaring these two months to be my sabbatical - an intentional time of receiving input, lying fallow, and reflecting.  I plan to go on a silent retreat, read a lot of books that will spur reflection, meet with some people who have mentored me over the years, spend time in nature, and write.

Not all of my time will be in Sabbatical mode though.  The other result of being on the field is having to be away from family for many occasions and challenges.  So I will be spending time with Bob's parents, who have had some serious medical challenges in this past year; as well as with my parents - my father is in a nursing home and I've only been able to see him once in the past three years.  I look forward to spending some quality time with them and make up for some lost time.

Making the decision to take a Sabbatical was not easy.  I am very thankful to a group of praying partners who recommended that I do this.  Their encouragement was that this is not only necessary for Renita, but also for the future of any work that God will call me to. On Sunday night I met with this faithful group of prayer partners and advisers who helped me to "kick off" this time and they will hold me accountable to make sure that I use my time wisely.  They have already helped me to course correct in some ways and reminded me of the need to cease, to listen, and to be patient.  I am truly thankful for their input, wisdom, and prayers.

 “I have come to think that the recovery of the Sabbath is the most crucial and most demanding covenant command (spiritual discipline) now to be faced in the technological society.”  Walter Brueggemann.

Part of my sabbatical will also be from this blog and other technology.  So I am signing off and ceasing the blog for two months - over and out until September!

Summer 2012 Update

It's been a busy few weeks since arriving back in the US.  Noah has been in Indiana working at several different day camps with Spring Hill.  I haven't heard much from him, as he is working 12 hour days and is pretty exhausted.  But he is telling me that "God is good," so I believe he is doing well.  Last Saturday, Hannah and I moved to the house where we will be living for the next two months, graciously lent to us by Scott and Linda Naranjo-Huebl.  We stayed here last summer as well, so in some ways it felt like "coming home."  Hannah finished the summer class she was taking at Calvin, in biology, and is now working fulltime at the Calvin Library.  She really enjoys that work, as she is able to listen to audiobooks while she is doing book-binding and other similar tasks, so she is also getting a lot of "reading" (or listening) in.  She is really into Jane Austin and Charlotte Bronte, and loves to talk about the characters, which is fun for me.

Yesterday I was able to visit the Vermeers in Chicago and finally was able to meet Sahil!

As for me, I am trying to get ready for a two month leave of absence from Partners Worldwide.  [There seems to be some confusion about what I am doing at this point, so let me take a few sentences here to clarify:  Essentially, I am viewing these seven months home as home service - something that missionaries typically do after three years on the field.  It gives time to regroup, fund raise, meet with partners churches, donors, family, and friends.  After December, I hope and plan to return to Africa.  Where in Africa is, as of yet, unknown.  And exactly what I will be doing is yet a work in progress, but it will be similar to what I have been doing, although I believe more focused on the church.  God has been revealing a vision of a new program and I hope to spend my leave exploring that further, as well as exploring how and where to roll that out.]

Since there is no-one really stepping in during my two months to take my place, I'm trying to get as much done as I can ahead of time.  Unfortunately, my list is growing longer rather than shorter and I'm starting to compromise on certain aspects of my leave, but I'm trying to make it a clean break.  There are a number of important initiatives that will be taking place during those two months:

Liberia

Todd DeKryger (left) and Malcolm DeKryger (right)

• will be receiving a volunteer CPA/IT consultant for four weeks (from July 17-August 19) to work with the management team at LEAD and help to build capacity; 
• LEAD's capital project campaign for their new office building continues - we are at $195,000 out of the $250,000 needed - almost there!
• Partners Worldwide has approved a new position of a partnership manager for Liberia, to help with some of the work there, so we will be posting that position in the next week or so and collecting resumes while I am on leave
• The LEAD research farm is continuing to grow - we recently had 14 piglets added to the farm; the staff were trained in grasscutter farming (groundhogs) and hope to start that soon; we hope to build a field school at the farm soon, to be able to train farmers right on site - that campaign will kick off in July (more details soon:-); we also hope to start our palm kernel processing at the farm in order to support the feed needs of the pigs
• A new partner with the work of pigs is Malcolm DeKryger from DeMotte Indiana, who oversees multiple farms with a total of 300,000 hogs.  I had a chance to see it and it was pretty amazing.  He is planning a trip to Liberia in October with his brother Todd, who is the Integrated Pest Management specialist who visited Liberia last November.  We are excited about these new subject matter experts who are joining our work! 

Ghana

• It looks very likely that Hopeline Institute will be approved for a significant amount of loan funds for the middle market initiative through Partners Worldwide to give loans to their stronger SMEs.  As our approach with businesses is through four strategic components (training, mentoring, access to capital, and advocacy), the access to capital component has been the weakest for this partnership, so we are very thankful that these businesses will now be able to increase their capacity through loans.
• Emerging Entrepreneurs - Hopeline Institute has identified a gap for business owners who want to expand their micro-business (often a business run to put food on the table) to the SME level (a serious business that seeks to grow and expand), and have started a program to try to bridge that gap.  They are calling it “Emerging Entrepreneurs” and have tailored their training to fit this group, as well as working with current SMEs to mentor these emerging entrepreneurs.
• Prayer partners – We have had an exciting report from our partner affiliate in Canada, who has been working to find prayer partners for every business owner that is going through training with Hopeline.  These prayer partners pray along with each lesson that the business owner is receiving and communicate directly with the business owner for prayer requests via email.  We have begun to hear some pretty amazing stories of blessings emerging from these prayer partners, on both sides of the ocean!  And some of these prayer partners are beginning to be mentors for the business owners in Ghana.

Côte d'Ivoire

• Dea has returned back to his home after a 21 month unexpected absence.  He is rejoicing to be back in his homeland, with his wife and children, and praising God for his life and health.  For more info, please go to his Caring Bridge website:  http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/dealieu
•  Dea now begins the work of reorganizing the organization that he leads in Danané (called ACLCP) after his extended absence.  Loans have continued to go out to members in his absence but there have not been any trainings.  The political violence that occurred in his absence also had an impact on the ministry and the area, so there is some important work to be done.

Nigeria

• Jos continues to be troubled by unrest and violence.  We continue to pray for peace there and for wisdom on the part of the leadership who are working for peace with the Boko Haram
• The work of Water Wins and PCEN (the two affiliates in Nigeria) continue to go well, with business trainings, wells being drilled, and community development.  We continue to pray for Jeremiah Yongo, as he negotiates this work in an area of great stress, where peace is measured in days.

So lots of stuff going on - good stuff...stuff that will be difficult to leave for two months, yet it is important for me to do so.  I'll write more on that in an upcoming blog.  For now, thanks for reading and caring!  

A week in the life of Noah

Noah has had quite a week.  On Monday night, he returned from a great trip to Barcelona, Spain.  On Tuesday, we had his graduation party with all the seniors and parents.  On Thursday morning, there was the award ceremony at AIS and on Thursday afternoon, he graduated.  On Friday, we left Ghana, arriving home on Saturday evening.  On Sunday, we had his open house, and on Monday, he started his new job with Spring Hill Camp.  Quite a week for this young man!

At his graduation, Noah was the salutatorian, as he ranked second in the class.  If you would like to hear his speech, click below.  I thought he did a great job. 

Noah doesn't know when or if he will return to Africa.  He left Grand Rapids at the age of ten and now returns to the US at the age of seventeen. It will be a transition in his mind to think that he is staying in the US indefinitely but he has enough going on that he will be kept busy during this transition. 

Here are some pictures from his trip to Spain and his graduation.  And also attached is the slide show that I put together of his life so far, set to the song Power of a Moment, by Chris Rice.  One thing that Noah knows how to do is enjoy the moment - he did not inherit his mother's tendency of always thinking, "What next", but rather his father's ability to enjoy the present.  I believe these pictures capture that ability, not to mention his love of the moment.  Enjoy!

Sagrata Familia in Barcelona:  This will be one of the largest churches in the world when it is completed.  It was begun in the mid 1800s and is not expected to be completed until 2050. 

The students were involved in a service project while in Spain.  Noah was doing yard work...and apparently acting up:-).

Before the graduation....looking cool and feeling cool!

The graduating class - eight students, seven different nationalities:  Ghana, Japan, South Korea, Benin, South Africa, Ethiopia, and the US.