When SALT pArTner and veteran CMS mission partner Meg Guillebaud first read the Five Marks of Mission when they were published in 1988 she thought the first three marks were all that she needed to concern herself with. But over the years her thinking has changed.“When I wrote my book Rwanda – The Land God Forgot?, I had been challenged by the need for Chris-tians to fight injustice,” says Meg – who began to see that missionaries had a role to play in helping to trans-form unjust structures of society. She explains: “Although Rwanda has made a miraculous recovery from the genocide and is probably the most go-ahead of all the coun-tries in Africa, the wealth tends to remain in the towns and people out in the hills are getting poorer as the cost of living rises.”But the last mark of mission – to safeguard the integrity of cre-ation and sustain and renew the

life of the earth – “was still way out of my thinking” until a couple of years ago, she says. Then several things happened to change Meg’s views about envi-ronmental issues in Christian mis-sion – including meeting someone who was involved in the work of the Christian environmental organisa-tion A Rocha. “I learned about the work that had been done, putting Chris-tian principles into action, and how whole areas worldwide had been transformed,” she says. “I read Dave Bookless’ book – Planetwise – and was challenged to be more active in my approach to the environment.”She adds: “What I saw in the Bible fi-

nally convinced me that this was no peripheral issue but should be central to all Christians.”After watching Al Gore’s film, An Inconvenient Truth, Meg says she was frightened by the extent of the damage done to the environment since the Industrial Revolution. A CMS mission partner event in 2008 also convinced her of the need for Christians to be actively involved in environmental issues.Meg has now put all her thoughts about creation and the sustain-ability of the earth into her new book – The Bible and the Envi-ronment, which she has self-pub-lished. She is also embarking on building an eco lodge in the Ru-gezi Wetland of Rwanda (see the article on the next page).Meg sums up: “Following Jesus means that we must look at his world through God’s eyes: to see that he made it beautiful and gave us the responsibility to care for it; to see that God cares for all that he has made, not just us human

beings; to understand that the Bible is the story of God

and the whole of his cre-ation.” The Bible and the Envi-

ronment by Meg Guille-baud (and the other titles

mentioned) are available at the CMS shop: www.

cms-shop.org.uk

Living out the Five Marks of Mission in Rwanda

1. To proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God

2. To teach, baptise and nurture new believers

3. To respond to human need by loving service

4. To seek to transform unjust structures of society

5. To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth

Source: Worldwide Anglican Communion

Meg Guillebaud

2

AGe 67 but with more enthusi-asm and energy than someone half her age, SALT partner Meg Guillebaud, based in Byumba, is embarking on a pioneering envi-ronmental project to create an eco lodge, visitor centre and fish farm in the Rugezi Wetland of Rwanda – an area of extreme poverty.The project aims to reduce poverty and open up another beautiful part of Rwanda to visitors, according to Meg. At the visitor centre people will learn about the importance of preserving the Rugezi Wetland, which goes right up north for 46 kilometres, ends in the Virunga National Park and is one of the head waters of the Nile. Since independence in 1962 these wetlands have been steadily drained to provide agricultural land needed for the increasing population. In 1979 it was decided to drain the lake – where Meg now hopes to build her eco lodge – by

blasting a hole through the rock formation, which formed a natural dam to grow sunflowers commer-cially. But the result, says Meg, was disastrous. She explains: “Lakes Burera and Ruhondo, the source of Rwanda’s hydroelectric scheme, became dangerously low and too much water flowed into the neighbour-ing valley creating problems for

the burgeoning tea industry there. After a few years the hole was again dammed and the wetland started to recover but much land, particu-larly in the north, had been lost to agriculture.”In 2000 the Rwandan Govern-ment started taking active steps to regenerate some of the wetlands in the country. And in 2006, the Ru-gezi Wetland was declared a Ram-sar site, a wetland of international importance as one of the headwa-ters of the Nile. “Terracing on the hillsides proved four times more productive than the reclaimed land from the marshes,” says Meg. “By 2009, women were again harvesting reeds for handcrafts, men were fishing and hunting as before and canoes were taking passengers across the swamps once more. Pa-pyrus has again started growing and rare birds have returned.”In October 2010 a global green

award was given to Rwanda for work on the Rugezi Wetlands.Meg said: “There are high hopes that the beauty of the area will at-tract tourists as the bio-diversity returns – providing needed in-come for the area. A helpful start has been made in reversing the trend of decades and the wetland is once more fulfilling its role in the environment, regulating the

flood-waters, retaining water for times of drought and filtering the water which has been carrying silt out of the area.”Locals will also be able to sell their produce at the site – helping en-courage new business to flourish and an income stream for people. She summed up: “At 67, to start a huge thing like building an eco lodge is a little bit disconcerting This is an exciting project which will demonstrate care for the envi-ronment and also has potential to make real changes for the better in a very poor area. We hope to put a percentage of the profits into a community development trust to provide an ongoing source of fund-ing for the sort of things that I have been involved with up to now. “This would include a scholarship fund for the really poor to enable their children to attend school, a medical fund to help with medi-cal expenses and to help with the Byumba Bible School.”Prayer points: Meg says: “Pray for wisdom in all this, particularly for key personnel: we need a good general manager with financial background. We also need a good lawyer, accountant and a chef. Please pray that we find the right people.”

Meg’s main work is in leadership training for the Anglican Diocese of Byumba. She spends a lot of her time translating Christian books and transferring her teaching notes into book form to benefit other Christians in the country. She also facilitates help for those with illness and disability, and the critically poor in Byumba – as well as connecting families and orphans with the means to pay their school fees. And now the eco-lodge project.

For more information, email mguillebaud@gmail.com

To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth

Meg’s eco-lodge in Rugezi

The view from where we plan to build

By Rev Antoine Rutayisire, KATC principalThe 1994 genocide against the Tutsis affected the Rwandan Church in many ways – not only by tarnishing its reputation but also by depleting its already poor pool of qualified and experienced clergy. Some of the leaders were killed during the genocide, oth-ers were imprisoned, while many others left the country. Rwanda was left with a depressed economy, trauma, high spread of HIV and AIDS and many other dif-ficulties. Now the church faces still more challenges that call for a re-think in church leadership training. First, the Rwandan Government has put education in a high gear with 18 per cent of the national budget and the vision of compul-sory secondary schooling for all children. This calls for a fast re-positioning in church leadership training and education. Research carried out by DAWN ministries and Rwanda Gospel Advance showed that more than 85 per cent of the grassroots church lead-ership in Rwanda has only been educated up to primary level. The risk is that in the near fu-ture, we will witness the ageing of church membership as highly educated young people will not feel attracted to an old, poorly educated clergy. Another challenge for the Rwan-

dan Church is the advance of Is-lam. Although Muslims are still only two per cent of the popu-lation (2002 National General Population Census), they have positioned themselves in a very strategic lane, with a strong em-phasis on education and social ac-tion. The church in Rwanda faces tough competition with better ed-ucated Muslim clerics backed up by generous Islamic governments that provide funds for schools, scholarships and social action. It was against this background that in 2002 the House of Bishops of the Province of the Anglican Church of Rwanda took the deci-sion to open a theological college with the long term mandate of be-coming a Christian university. KATC opened its doors in 2006 with a basic teaching block with six offices for administration, a large hall for the library and six classrooms, one of them serving as a dormitory for the students. The first intake of 12 students comprised pastors from different dioceses. The courses offered are designed to lead to a diploma in theology after three years. Three intakes with 26 students have already completed the diploma programme and are serving the church in different capacities. At the moment, the college has 20 students, 12 in Diploma 2 and eight in Diploma 3; with no stu-

dents in Diploma 1 this year!KATC faces many challenges – the major one is how to relevant-ly respond to the training needs of the churches in the present Rwandan context. As the target population is pastors, there’s an urgent need to develop a curricu-lum and enrolment system that is targeted at the right educational level for pastors in the country. The course must aim to produce leaders competent to handle the challenges of national life – includ-ing reconciliation, poverty, pan-demic diseases and ignorance. We are currently developing a modular and distance learning approach with courses offered in Kinyarwanda to facilitate the integration of pastors who do not qualify for the present require-ments. Those who will follow this stream will also take an intensive English course to allow them to shift to English when they get to degree level. This modular approach will allow us to train more pastors without taking them away from their fami-lies and parishes will reduce tuition fees and offer courses that are tailor made to their requirements. A fully-fledged strategic plan has been written to turn the col-lege into a Christian university by 2015. It’s a long road with the accreditation process, the build-ing of infrastructure and the re-cruitment of competent staff. But every journey starts with the first step and we have taken it. Prayer points: Pray with us that the Lord will provide the student hostel that will allow us to accommodate the different cohorts, the finances for pastors from very poor parishes and competent administra-tive and academic staff.

Kigali Anglican Theological College: past, present and future

To teach baptise and nurture new believers

4

Reconciliation in action By Sally Botteley, member of CMS’s Mid Africa Forum and secretary of REACH for Rwanda.

When I offered phibert Kalisa, a rwandan student, a lift home from the Mid-Africa Conference at Swanwick in 1990 little did either of us know what God had planned, and the part we would play in his reconcilia-tion ministry in Rwanda. Nor back then had we any idea that in July this year we would be celebrating Reconciliation Evan-gelism And Christian Healing (REACH’s) 15 year anniversary – and thanking God for his com-passion, healing and love shown through amazing testimonies of forgiveness, and projects demon-strating reconciliation in action.Philbert Kalisa was born to Rwan-dan parents who were exiled in a Burundian refugee camp. He was ordained in the Anglican Church of Burundi in Gitega in 1989 but it was while subsequently study-ing theology in the UK that he felt called to set up a ministry of reconciliation in Rwanda (see ar-ticle opposite).REACH began following the 1994 genocide in Rwanda to pro-mote forgiveness and reconcilia-tion, working ecumenically and embracing people from different backgrounds and both sides of the conflict. Currently REACH is working in six districts of Rwanda through seminars, trauma healing and counselling, community groups,

income generating co-operatives and restorative justice that re-integrates released prisoners to the community. The seminars bring people to-gether, many of whom didn’t feel able to sit or talk to each other due to the roles they played dur-ing the genocide. Topics include biblical teaching on repentance, forgiveness, root causes of con-flict and the role of believers in bringing about reconciliation.

There is also time set aside for expression of anxieties, pain and sorrow and counselling. As a result of their inner healing, forgiveness and genuine recon-ciliation, groups now sit together, sing, share meals, dance and pray together – and play football.

‘Unity Groups’ are formed where people meet weekly for fellow-ship and support and participate in activities together. The main goal is to build trust and con-tinue to work together towards unity, peace and reconciliation.In Kayonza young people have been supported to form choirs and drumming and dance groups and are now so professional they are performing at many events. Football is as popular, or even more popular, than it is in the UK and the new REACH football pitch and youth centre provide facilities for a football league alongside opportunities for teaching on HIV and AIDS, evangelism and team building. In Kirehe women’s groups are developing income generat-ing projects, making colourful Rwandan baskets. REACH initiated a restorative justice programme that gives op-portunities for genocide offend-ers who have been released from prison to collaborate with survi-vors and build homes for them. So far 38 houses have been built. Looking ahead, REACH hopes to use what has been learnt over the past 15 years to support the development of similar pro-grammes in other places where reconciliation is needed – espe-cially in neighbouring Burundi and DR Congo.

Prayer points: REACH’s leaders – for wisdom

and integrity. Continuing forgive-ness and reconciliation through God’s love. Sustainability of the house building projects.

New initiatives and expansion to meet developing needs.

To respond to human need by loving service

5

The GovernMenT of rwan-da has come from far as it started with so many challenges in the aftermath of the genocide. Rwan-dans worked so hard and were so motivated and committed to rebuilding their country – from almost nothing. The critical issues such as refugees, land, security, education, health, infrastructure and diplomatic relationships have been dealt with. Now the government remains dedicated to a strong and enduring economic climate for the country – focusing on poverty reduction, infrastructure development, pri-vatisation of government-owned assets, expansion of the export base and trade liberalisation. The implementation of VAT at 18 per cent and improved tax collections are having a positive impact on government revenues and thereby on government serv-ices. Banking reform and low cor-ruption are favourable current trends. Agricultural reforms, improved farming methods, and increased use of fertilisers are improving crop yields and national food sup-

ply. Moreover, the government is pursuing educational and health-care programs that bode well for the long-term quality of Rwanda’s human resource skills base. Peo-ple with HIV and AIDS have ac-cess to free medication. The government has also set up a national commission for Unity and Reconciliation and this has worked hard in coordinating other NGOs working for reconciliation and advocating for peace to make sure that they are all focusing on unity among the Rwandans. Elections have been organised and people voted freely for their best candidates – those who they felt would bring positive change for the nation. Community devel-opment projects have increased at the grassroots level and poor peo-ple are being trained, mobilised and encouraged to be involved in co-operatives and other activities which help them in their social economic development growth.However there are still many other challenges remaining. The country is still dependent on sig-nificant foreign aid. Exports con-tinue to lag far behind imports

and affect the health of the economy despite growth of seven per cent every year in the last five years.

The persistent lack of economic diversification beyond the pro-duction of tea, coffee, and miner-als keeps the country vulnerable to market fluctuations.International organisations, like DFID and USAID, play a strong role in helping Rwanda to improve the health and livelihoods of its people and increase economic and political development. Pro-grammes are in place that focus on HIV and AIDS; malaria; fam-ily planning methods; improving maternal and child health; pro-moting rural economic growth through agriculture and eco-tourism; IT in primary schools and promoting democracy.Like the government, the church in Rwanda has been actively involved in bringing healing and reconcilia-tion by supporting the survivors of the genocide, sponsoring orphans and poor children with school fees, organising seminars, building schools and health centres. Churches have been actively preaching the good news to pris-oners and a good number have been converted and even baptised in prison. It is amazing to hear the testimonies of some of those who have now been released, telling how they became new creation and were baptised in prison. But some churches lack resources both human and financial to do more of these programmes. They don’t know how or where to be-gin because of the lack of skilled workers.

Prayer points: Keep the church in Rwanda in

your prayers for their ministries among the Rwandans especial-ly in relation to bringing unity and reconciliation.

To seek to transform unjust structures of society Rebuilding a countryREACH director, Philbert Kalisa, shares his thoughts and observations about life in Rwanda – post-genocide

Part of the celebrations to mark the 15th anniversary of REACH

6

The main hospital building at Gahini has received a fresh lick of paint on its roof and new gutter-ing, thanks to staff members of the South African Embassy who went to Gahini with a contingent of South Africans in Rwanda on Mandela Day. “Some of them also helped to clean and wash the walls and doors of the hostel for the dis-abled school children and enjoyed a game of football with the kids,” re-port Bertha and Wim Schoonbee, CMS mission partners who have been working at Gahini hospital in Rwanda since 2002.

Gahini Secondary School has recently received a big donation of educational equipment for blind students. “Their resource room looks transformed with 10 new

computers, a Braille duplicator, new Braille typewriters and print-er and enough furniture to accom-modate everything,” says Wim Schoonbee. “This is a dream come true for Bertha and the teachers who have struggled many years with inadequate resources.”

Maria, a 12 year-old girl is mak-ing good progress after she hadextensive burns to her face and limbs, reports Wim. “She lost all her fingers on both hands falling into a fire during an epileptic at-tack. She bravely sang hymns dur-ing the first week of dressings but as the wounds heal it gets more pain-ful and she finds it more difficult to sing while under sedation. There is still a long road ahead with multiple skin grafts and plastic surgery to be done. Please pray for her and her mum,” he adds.

Two large water pumps have ar-rived at Cyatokwe waterplant that will supply Gahini hospital and the whole area with water. There is still no water in the pipes as a new com-pany will take over the manage-ment of the water supply, according to Bertha. “We still have to collect water at the lake. Wim still waits for the water to come before starting renovations on the maternity ward and labour room”.

Fabrice, a small two and a half year-old only child of a Christian couple had congenital cataracts in both eyes. His parents had just lost a little baby girl, aged two months, who died of pneumonia a few months ago. Fabrice has received sight saving operations in both eyes and is a great joy to his parents who are still grieving their loss.

The Diocese of Gahini hosted a prayer breakfast on 31 July, invit-ing local leaders. The woman gov-ernor of the Eastern Province, Dr Aisa Kirabo Kacyira, an outspoken Christian, gave a Christian per-spective on good local leadership.

Canon Pheneas ZimulindaWe MArK with great sadness the death of the Rev Canon Pheneas Zimulinda, a CMS Timothy mission partner and director of the Byumba Bible School in Rwanda. He had been making a steady recovery from a recent serious illness, so his death came as a great shock. We pray for his wife Jeanne and his family and friends, including Meg Guillebaud, his close colleague at Byumba. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.

Wim Schoonbee at work in Gahini

To respond to human need by loving serviceNews round-up from the Schoonbees in Rwanda

Fabrice after his cataract operation

Summary of CMS work and links in Rwanda

3 October 7.30 pm: Liverpool conferenceCMS Mid-Africa Region Celebration: ‘Harvest Time!?’ at St Lawrence, Kirkdale, Liverpool L4 1XB Speakers: Ann Moore and Joan Botterill. Email Barbara Williams at: bjw1939@hotmail.co.uk or fredadw@talktalk.net

2-4 December: annual residential conference at High Leigh, Herts. (See the enclosed registration form)Email: ma2011@fanes.co.uk

continued over4

Link with Lyndhurst Deanery

David and Liz Gregory-Smith (SALT)

Wim & Bertha Schoonbee - mission partners

Meg Guillebaud (SALT) Heather Maundrell - short term

7

Jenny’s life-long love of KigemerWAndA holds a special place in Jenny noyelle’s heart. It all began in 1967 when she first went there with Ruanda Mission (CMS) as a teacher. Initially on a short term contract, Jenny ended up staying in Rwanda until 1983. Then after 20 years living in the UK, Jenny felt called back to Rwanda to work in Kigeme Diocese as a secretary to the bishop and TEFL teacher as part of a CMS short term mission programme. Her post was initially for two years, which she renewed for another two. Back in the UK since 2007, Jenny continues to actively support

Rwandan mission through the Lyndhurst Deanery link with Rwanda. She is a regular visitor to Kigeme, which is twinned with her own parish of Brockenhurst, as well as other parts of Rwanda. Jenny says: “Through the deanery link we encourage personal visits and most years one or two different groups go out and visit.”During Jenny’s time working in the diocesan office with the bishop of Kigeme, she helped teach French to catechists who attended Kigeme Bible College. Four or five times a year groups of catechists attend residential training where they learn to study the Bible to enable them to teach, and lead congregations in their own villages. Jenny is excited by new developments in mission in Kigeme. “In recent years, the diocese has encouraged a lot of home Bible study groups to develop,” says Jenny. “This is done in neighbourhood groups and sees church members meeting

regularly in someone’s home with a little syllabus provided by the diocese to teach them to study the Bible.”This approach has also helped the church’s reconciliation work among communities in post-genocide Rwanda. “Neighbours who had feuds with other neighbours, for example, and wouldn’t go and visit them are now forgiving each other. The groups are helping to break down barriers.”Kigeme diocese also works closely with two Kigali-based organisations – both run by Christians – to give practical and spiritual support to the vulnerable. Solace Ministries works with widows and orphans of the genocide. Moucecore is a Rwandan NGO that works to empower the Church in Rwanda to bring spiritual and physical transformation to their communities.

To respond to human need by loving service

CMS is a mission community acknowledged by the Church of England. A company limited by guarantee. Registered in England and Wales, charity number 1131655, company number 6985330, registered office: CMS, Watlington Road, Oxford OX4 6BZ Tel: 01865 787 400 8

Rwanda link organisations

Friends of Byumba TrustContact: The Rt Rev Paul Butler Tel: 01636 812519Web: www.friendsofbyumba.org

Lyndhurst Deanery in Southampton (Winchester Diocese)Contact: jenny.noyelle@littleoaks.net

REACH for RwandaContact: sally.botteley@red41.freeserve.co.uk

BBUC SETS UP camps for intercultural learning and prayer

STudenTS at Bishop Barham university College (BBuC) in Kabale in south-west Uganda are benefiting from peace and reconciliation camps set up by college principal the Rev Prof Manuel Muranga, which aim to eradicate tribal conflicts. Professor Manuel says: “One of the things the Lord led me personally to develop is something I have called ‘Camps for Intercultural Learning and Prayer’ – this evolved out of a personal experience that could have led to my death if I had been a member of a certain tribe in Uganda.”He continues: “It was at the beginning of 1981 and near the Rwenzori mountains in Uganda. There was a conflict between the Batooro and Bakonjo communities. One day I got stopped by one of the two groups and if I had been a member of the other group I am quite sure

I would have been killed. But it shocked me to realise that I could have been killed just because I belonged to a certain tribe.”At the camps, BBUC students from different communities, including Rwandans from different groupings, spend time together. “We take a picnic and spend time together praying and reading the Bible,” says Manuel. “Our motto is from Galatians 3:28, ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’”Manuel adds: “We pray that this effort may bear fruit.”

To teach, baptise and nurture new believers BBUC opens office in KigaliBIShop BArhAM university College (BBuC) has set up a small office in Kigali in a bid to encourage more young Rwandans to apply to attend the Ugandan-based Christian college. The office is run by a former BBUC student who lives in Kigali. BBUC advertises on the radio and other media in Kigali and also in churches. Manuel says: “We would like as many students as possible from Rwanda to join BBUC. Everybody who is academically qualified should have the privilege of a university education and this forms

part of our mission strategy.” Out of a total of 914 students at BBUC in the 2010/2011 academic year, 58 were from Rwanda and 20 are from neighbouring Burundi, but Manuel says he would like to increase those numbers.

Anglican Church of Rwanda leadership changes

ArChBIShop KoLInI retired in 2010 after 12 years service. Archbishop Onesphore Rwaje has replaced him and comes from Byumba Diocese. The new Bishop of Byumba Diocese is Em-manuel Ngendahayo. The diocese of Shyira, with its headquarters in Ruhengeri, has been split into two dioceses – Shyira and a new dio-cese of Kivu with headquarters in Gisenyi. The Bishop of Kivu is the Rt Rev Augustin Ahimana.In November 2010, Dr Laurent Mbanda was enthroned as the new Bishop of Shyira Diocese, replacing the retiring Bishop John Rucyahana, who had been at the helm of the diocese since 1997.

heATher MAundreLL is going to serve as a CMS short termer in the Diocese of Byumba youth department from October 2011.

To seek to transform unjust structures of society

The Rev Prof Manuel Muranga

MA NEWS BRIEFS

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