Roy Campbell writes from Rwanda

Roy + Mac

Hey - Wow!!! What a day....

Today we went shopping in the market and had to bargain for better prices for food for HIV/Aids patients. We were buying 56KG of this and 112 Kg of that. Items we bought were: Sugar, Soap, Red Beans, Rice, Sosamma Powder (makes a porridge like food) and fruit.

Then we came back to the guest house and broke it down into family sized amounts which we then delivered to the Ubuzima group. This group is a support group for people with HIV/Aids. While we were there, we learned how to make beads out of strips of paper. The finished product actually looked pretty good. It was great to share time with these folks and have them teach us something that we can bring home and have some fun with. Giving them the bags of food was also a special treat. In total we had made 80 bags of groceries.

After that we went off to Momma Fabrice's house. Fabrice is a young man who was injured by a land mine many years ago. Currently he is living in Canada. We went to meet his family. We were able to witness their courage and strength after their losses of the past year. On Aug 16 it will be 1 year since Fabrice' father passed away. 1 week before that, Fabrice' uncle had passed away. (2 brothers in 1 week) Suffice to say that this family - that didn't have much before - has less now and was really encouraged by our visit. We were also encouraged by visiting them. They are truly special people.

Ugali Ready to Eat

Tonight we had a low point in the trip. Everyone coming to East Africa needs to try "Ugali" - a flour and water mixture that is a traditional dish for the poor. We went to a restaurant that serves ugali and other foods. We need to find another place to get our ugali. While the ugali was good, most of the other food was not so good. Oh well..... No complaints, just another lesson to learn.

Off to bed..... Tomorrow we shop and then travel to Keziba to visit the refugee camp on Thursday.

Building a new home: Day 4

Day 4: "

Jen Kamari checks in the with Waterloo MB Church Team:

I drove out to Kayonza again today to see the progress the team was making. My goodness! I couldn`t believe it. They have worked hard.

Another incredible sight... Veronic about floating around her property. I have NEVER seen her smile so much. Was a gift for me to see.

Serge discussing with Francois, the builder, on where to put her outdoor kitchen

Some of the team taking a needed break. Their laps don`t stay empty for long!

Alain checking out the progress. Looking good!

Praying for the house at the end of the day

The team and some of the local workers

Next a roof, then some windows and doors, a cement floor and the outdoor kitchen.

Lots done but lots left to do.

"

Great Leadership: Opportunities and People

Always put your best people on your greatest opportunities rather than your biggest problems. This simple but profound leadership lesson comes from Jim Collins and his research team as they distilled this principle from the mountains of data on organizations that took the leap from "Good to Great".

Yes, this principle is simple and profound, yet difficult to apply in real life. I've been working at this for a number of years and here a few of my learnings along the way.

1. Getting people into the right role, with the required resources is largely a matter of discipline. 
2. Therefore, I review regularly, I look for who has "flow" and who is "stuck." It always takes time and this particular job is ongoing.
3. People and problems go together, as do growth and problems. We all do better at tackling the problems when we accept this reality. 
4. One person's problem is another's opportunity. Many times a "problem" in one are is an "opportunity" to improve in another. I try to diagnose if a problem can be addressed somewhere else or by someone else. 
5. I must tackle some of, even many of problems and protect my leader's time, energy and efforts.

I spend a large portion of my time thinking/reflecting on this principle and my people. I'm learning to be a student of the people I work with and particularly those I lead. Each one is a precious resource and worth the effort. Also, I love the opportunity to find that "flow" when personality, passion and skills are deployed on a meaningful opportunity for impact.

Try this principle on for size. See what happens in a week, a month or a quarter.

The results can be amazing and the journey can be fun!

If Anyone Takes Your Sunglasses, Let Them Have your Kit Kat Also

If Anyone Takes Your Sunglasses, Let Them Have your Kit Kat Also:
Su Roland writes ...

"While on a trip to Rome with our dear friends Gary, Joy, Joe and Jan, we were robbed by a band of gypsies while on a Metro train. We might have suspected what was going on, except that the group who crowded into our train car were young women carrying their babies. It seemed strange to have five young moms all get on at once and not talk to one another. Joe graciously offered his seat to one of them, but she ignored him and stood between the two of us. As we jostled through the moms and babies to get off at the next stop, Joe thought he felt a baby's foot pressed against his waistline. It was the mom's hand which successfully fetched cash and train tickets from his money belt and managed to unzip my own pack as well and grab my sunglasses. We realized what was happening before the train doors could close, but there was nothing we could do about it.

As the six of us gathered our wits and assessed the losses, we actually saw that very mom further up the platform! We ran after her and stopped her, asking for our things back. Since she was working in a pack of thieves, I'm sure she had already passed off our cash or glasses to another. She protested her innocence, but made no effort to escape. Joe and I ended up wasting over an hour in a hot, smoky, crowded Metro police office while the rest of our group waited outside the door.

We caught an insider's glimpse of how the Rome Metro police work (0r don't work!). At times we had up to eight officials in the room with us, doing absolutely nothing. One of them spoke English and told us we could not leave until the city police showed. We were literally prisoners in that stuffy, dark room! Meanwhile the gypsy mom continued to insist upon her innocence, vociferously protesting her detention and complaining of the heat.

After an hour or so I was feeling light-headed and asked permission to have Woody buy me a candy bar. Woody knocked at the door and handed me two Kit Kats, telling me to give the second one to the gypsy. I looked at him incredulously. 'Really? Give her one?' Woody gently encouraged me to do it.

At first she sullenly refused the Kit Kat. I kindly looked her in the eyes and insisted. The English-speaking officer told her in Italian, 'Go ahead. Take it! She wants you to have it.'

Thanks to Woody's encouragement, I began to change my perspective towards the gypsy mom. I began to pray for her. I knew that there was no chance we'd retrieve any of our lost possessions. The only way to redeem this lost time in Rome was to see the situation through God's eyes.

Shortly after eating her Kit Kat, she spoke to me through the translator. 'If I had the money, I'd give it back. I really would.' She even told me how many work in their band of thieves, though she still insisted she hadn't stolen from us herself.

When the Rome police finally showed up, they were not particularly friendly or helpful. The best thing they could do for us was to finally release us from that smoky, hot room which felt like our own prison cell by that point. They said they were escorting her out of the subway (where I'm pretty sure they just let her go!). Before leaving, though, I asked if I could share a few words with her through our translator. As a bevy of police stood around, I shared a few inadequate, but heartfelt words. 'God loves you and wants to forgive you. I believe you that you'd give back the money if you could. You need to turn to God to find forgiveness and to have the power to choose a different lifestyle. This is no way for you to live or raise your child. God wants you to turn to Him.'

I know that she is a woman hardened by life's circumstances, but I trust God spoke to her through my paltry words and Woody's prompting to be Christ to her in some small way. As for me, the loss of my sunglasses was worth the spiritual lessons I learned.

The next day I was reading from the book of Proverbs, and verse after verse struck me. Among them:

• If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, give them water to drink. Proverbs 25:21
• Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry. Proverbs 6:30

That day I was also reading from Prayer by Philip Yancey. No one needs our love more than the unlovely. We should stand beside our enemies and plead to God on their behalf. After all, who else will pray for them?

I doubt many people pray for that young gypsy woman. I'm sad that I did not ask her name. Her face, I will not forget. And, even as I write this blog, I am reminded to pray for her, that my inadequate words might be used in some small way to open her heart to the new life God would have for her."

Missions, At Home & Away

ELMIRA, ONTARIO - For many International Teams staff members, the question of whether to serve at home or abroad is a complicated one.

Marcee Groen, an IT Canada staff member, spent several years serving in Bolivia and is currently investigating the possibility of establishing an International Teams program there, or the possibility of returning there herself. Marcee spent four years working at a girls' home in Santa Cruz before returning home in 2009. She says her main focus during her time in Bolivia was to provide pastoral support, mentoring, and accountability for the girls in the home, most of them abused and abandoned and ranging in age from 2-20 years old.

Many of them were behind in their schooling and suffered from behavioural issues in addition to the complicated issues of their sexual identities and the social stigma that surrounded their lives. Marc?e tells the story of one young woman with whom she had what she called a love-hate relationship, saying 'She wanted me to be her mom, to fill that role in her life, but she would frequently mouth off or throw things and tell me she hated me. I had to learn how to show the love of Christ to someone who was so distorted in her own view of herself.'

Marcee returned to Canada and became IT's Co-Director of International Programs in 2009, where she is responsible for providing accountability and support to IT's partners in countries like Sudan, Romania, Rwanda, Ecuador, and others. She became the female supervisor of the Welcome Home refugee house in early 2010, where she lives and focuses on both the practical side of running the house as well as offering support and evangelism to the refugees who live there, hearing their stories bit by bit and looking for opportunities to talk with them about Christ.

She loves her work in Canada but still misses the girls she worked with, and is returning to Santa Cruz for a 5-week trip this spring to investigate the possibility of a new partnership with International Teams. 'I still feel a high sense of responsibility to the girls I worked with. Even though this is not an IT project anymore, they've given me the freedom to wrap up what I started. I'm really hoping to figure out if I still have a place in Bolivia, and mostly to figure out if we can start a new international program there.'

In the meantime, Marcee says she keeps imagining her reunion with them. 'I keep imagining walking in and seeing the girls for the first time in eight months, reuniting with them and reconnecting with them ... I'm really looking forward to being back in the sounds and smells of Bolivia, and finally speaking Spanish again!'

Kim Loney: Celebrating 20+ Years of Service

Many people know Kim Loney, here in Canada and around the world. Kim comes from a “ministry family” and her parents Claude and Marion have been a  positive influence in my life. I remember well hearing the news that Claude had passed suddenly from this life to the presence of the Lord. His funeral, July 1996 was a wonderful tribute to a Godly man, his family and his legacy.

Marion too has made a big impact in my journey! She’s been a personal councilor, a friend, a teacher, a retreat speaker and a person who cares for the people on my team. Like her parents, Kim has made a big impact on me and on IT Canada. She brings experience from life and mission from many countries, along with her studies and research through several institutions. In short, I trust her instincts and decisions.

Many serving in mission will tell the story of being “recruited” by Kim Loney.  And by the way, it was Kim who invited Yvonne and me to “come and see” her work in Europe. That first trip led to new vision, a new set of decisions and 20 years later, we are leading the people of IT together.  

They can Take My Home, But they Can't take my Future!

They can Take My Home, But they Can't take my Future!: " by Jen Kamari

That is the slogan on the banner outside the UNHCR office here in Kigali, commemorating World Refugee Day... which is TODAY!

A day to bring awareness to the world of the plight of over 43 million people who have been forcefully displaced for their home .. as the UNHCR puts it (United Nations High Commission for Refugees)

What is a refugee?

A refugee is a person - man, woman, or child - who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war or violence.

We have been to church this morning, been out for brunch at a local coffee shop when on the way home I saw this banner flying, and decided that I needed to write and do my part to bring awareness - but more so to share about our ministry in the Kiziba Refugee Camp here in Rwanda.

My first trip into the Kiziba refugee camp was in April 2003 and we have been going there ever since. In my first visit I listened to the pastors plead with me, to help them learn the Word of God so that someday when they were able to return to their homeland and villages, they would be more learned and able to better bring people to Christ.

Kiziba is home to 20,000 refugees - mostly Congolese. They have been in this camp for over 10 years now, just waiting, hoping, praying that the unrest in Eastern Congo would 'disappear' so they could return home. They live everyday in hope...

In the meantime, I think some incredible things have happened in the camp which we and International Teams have been privileged to be part of.

We have intentionally trained pastors and key church leaders for the past four years and will continue to. The 15 denominations have come together to form a ministerial to work together in ministry in the camp. A HUGE answer to our prayers ... they have understood that they can do more together than individually! (Me walking with some pastors and key leaders in the camp.)

Because the pastors and key leaders came together, the youth have also come together. About three years ago they came to us, speaking of their passion to evangelize and be Jesus hands and feet in the camp... would we fund their projects. NOPE!... but we trained them to develop small business plans challenging them to think how they could tap into the camp economy. They have done that and it's been SO fun to see them realize they didn't need a hand-out, they needed someone to come alongside them and help them.

(Some key youth leaders in the camp.)

They are charging cell phones! (We / International Teams got them a generator and some power bars) Before they would walk 2 hours ONE WAY to charge their phone!

They opened a haircutting salon... or saloon as they call it :-) (We got them equipment)

They realized that when they went to share the Good News of the Gospel in the camp, the people could not hear them because they were SO hungry... so they planted a garden. From the money they earned from the cell phone charging and the hair salon, they bought THEIR OWN seeds and even hired people to work the land!! SWEET!

We just learned last week that they have harvested 400 kg of cabbage, 300kg onions, 250 kg potatoes - ALOT!! and gave the food to the poorest in the camp.

With the money they make, they also pay the rent, buy fuel for the generator AND they have fixed up a couple very dilapidated homes occupied by widows.

PAST cool I tell you!!!

Last year we learned that the education in the camp has changed drastically. LONG story... but the short of it, if a child doesn't pass the National Exam for Grade 6, the UN is finished to pay for their schooling. A kid could have passed grade 6 in school and just not passed the national exam... they are REALLY hard. Done school at 12 years old! (Pray for Prince, he is preparing to write his in October.)

Serge and I were moved by this. Without education, how can one break the cycle of poverty and destitution that they are in? So, we decided we needed to do something about it.

This is our second year to sponsor 19 students in the Kiziba Refugee camp. Not many when you consider the hundreds that are not sponsored BUT these are 19 of the brightest students in the camp who are not on the streets and hence are not being subject to prostitution, drugs. They have a chance, they have hope...

I feel like what I have written really doesn't capture it all... but trust me, God is at work in the camp and we are blessed to be part of it.

If you want to check out more on what the UN says about refugees in Rwanda, check out this link. http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/page?page=49e45c576

I trust that you are moved to be thankful to God for your home, your family, your future... pray for the refugees in our world today, pray for us as we minister to refugees in Rwanda.

Should you want to give financially towards the ministry in Kiziba Camp, go to http://www.iteams.ca/impact_rwanda.php

"

A Time of Transition for the London Urban Network

A Time of Transition for the London Urban Network: "
LONDON, ONTARIO - The London Urban Network may be undergoing some changes at the end of May but much of the work begun by Dave Henderson and his colleagues will continue in 2010 and beyond..


As Dave and Allie Henderson make plans to move to Vancouver for Allie’s medical school residency, Dave says he is sad to leave the work in London but is also encouraged by what God has done in such a short time. He considers himself privileged to see how Christians all over the city are reaching out to bring Christ’s love to refugees who face loneliness, poverty, and injustice.

“The idea behind this initiative was always that I would work myself out of a job as churches took on the role of community transformation. I don’t think any of us expected the work to last only 2 years and there is still much to be done, but fortunately most of the work that has been started can continue.”

Founded in 2008 as a partnership between North Park Community Church and International Teams Canada, the goal of the Network has been to serve, support, and encourage churches as they reach out to the refugee and low-income communities around them. Many of the activities started in partnership with local churches will continue in 2010, like the unique Huron Street Cultural Market, and the youth soccer and the Wednesday night kids’ program run by Stoney Creek Church and Knollwood Church. A number of churches in the Limberlost area (Gateway, the Meeting House Home Church, and Trinity Presbyterian) hope to continue to work together with the Limberlost Chaplaincy. London will also be a host city for the Ride for Refuge later this year.

Dave initially became more involved in the London community when he started volunteering with youth programs at the Life Resource Centre, and says he is excited to see that work continue to grow and evolve. “My volunteer work gave me something practical to do, and it ended up making a huge difference in my faith. I learned a lot about Jesus and love and judgment through doing this, so I’m excited when I see other people or churches in London catch that and take it on and get excited about it. Often it changes them as much as it changes the refugees.”

What’s next for Dave? He says he will be looking for a job in Vancouver once he and Allie are settled there. It is obviously a bittersweet transition and Dave expects to miss his daily interactions with the diverse group of refugees in London. “I’m going to miss being surrounded by people from all around the globe, being exposed to new people and new cultures. Every day I’ve seen and worked with and talked with people from Congo, Burma, Iraq, Sudan, and all over the world.”

"

Birthdays and Courage

Yvonne and I had a great time with Gerry Fowler, family, friends and Gerry's church community called Bethel Chapel ... all located in beautiful Sault Ste Marie. Gerry is a very capable board chair, friend and all-around travelling buddy. As I joked with his friends, "I've shared a room with Gerry and heard him snore on several continents and in many languages!" Let me dare to say that we make a great team as board chair and CEO and I look forward to more years working together.

Gerry invests in the lives of people, families and his community. His birthday celebration was filled with the love of family and friends, and that was a simple but profound tribute to Gerry's investment strategy. Yvonne and I had some great conversations but none more meaningful than our conversations (over two days) with Debbie and Dave Yule. They have a deep faith and great courage as they face Debbie's cancer along with the barrage of appointments, treatments, life-altering changes and the ever-present fear that Dave could become a single parent!

People question faith when they see us in the normal stuff of life. People doubt the love of God in the midst of tough circumstances on a personal or global scale. But it is difficult to doubt the courage found in faith that you encounter in the presence of Debbie and Dave. To be clear, they do not think of themselves as special, or so-called saints. No, they see themselves as ordinary people who do not seek to stand out in any way. But somewhere along this journey, a local community rallied with prayer and action, and then a larger community joined in. Now they journey together loving, supporting and learning through challenges of life and a life-threatening disease.

From a distance, many of us join this journey by praying. You can too! Check out their Facebook group for updates.  Please Pray for Debbie.