Genocide Survivor, Orphan, Widow, Mother, HIV+

Xtra Mile Ministries, one of the ministries we are working with in Rwanda, has an Education Program where they find jobs for Genocide Orphans and then help with scholarships so they can study at one of the Universities.

Since our arrival in Rwanda, we’ve had four of these young people working in our home at various times. The first two were Fredrick and Joseph. Fredrick wasn’t able to stay long and had to go back to repeat his last year in secondary school. Bizimana came and replaced Fredrick. Joseph worked with us for a year and then received a full scholarship to attend a brand new government university. Ange (Angel) came after Joseph left. Our love for them grows everyday. Their stories are incredible and their strength of character inspiring.

One day Bizimana (pictured top left) invited us to visit his home village and to meet his surviving sister and two brothers. He especially wanted to show us where he hid during the genocide! On our trip we met his sister Jane (pictured top left with her two children) and his brothers Nsengimana and Kanyarwanda. As they talked about what happened to their family during the genocide we walked to the papyrus swamp in the valley behind their village. There they pointed out the places where they hid from the “killers” as they described them.

Originally there were eight people in their family. Their parents were killed and then two of their older brothers were killed trying to fight off the “killers”. “Here is where my father was killed.” “There is where my mother was killed.” “Here is where my brother and I hid.” Jane was a teenager and Bizimana was five when all of this took place.

Later, I visited their village again and got to know their family a little better. My heart especially went out to Bizimana’s older sister, Jane, as I heard her life’s story in more detail.

When the “killers” came to Jane’s village and killed her two brothers and parents, she was hiding in Kigali. Somehow she survived there and was later married after the genocide ended and had two children, a boy and a girl. Her husband died a few years later of AIDS and then she was also diagnosed as HIV+.

As I sat there my heart was moved deeply in compassion for this family. As disciples of Jesus we’re supposed to take care of the poor, the sick, the hurting, the fatherless and widows. Here sat Jane, genocide survivor, orphan, mother, widow and HIV+ without a way to support herself. All of the struggles that Jesus cares about wrapped up in one person.

“He lifted the needy out of their affliction” Ps. 107:41.

There are 10′s of thousands of Rwandans just like Jane. As we get to know them one by one our heart’s cry and the daily prayer on our lips is “O Lord, lift the needy out of their affliction and restore life to their souls!”

A huge part of the Xtra Mile ministry is forming what they call “Mobile Family” where orphans without families become a family to each other. Through Xtra Miles, Jane, Bizimana, Nsengimana and Kanyarwanda now have a much larger family that will work together to be the Kingdom Community that Jesus established on earth through His love and sacrifice.

Our vision is to form thousands of these Kingdom Communities all over Rwanda that not only help each other with their daily struggles but also transform their nation as their lives are changed by the Life of Jesus!

Join us as we pray for Jane and the thousands of others like her. May their burdens be lifted, their hearts healed and their souls filled with the living water of Jesus!

Pictured above is our dear friend, Charles Kabeza. On this day we were in Gisenyi in the Western Province of Rwanda with a group of friends and family members. Just behind Charles is the place where his brother and sister were killed. When the militias came, his brother ran to the left, his sister was on the right and he jumped over the fence in the back. He was the only one who survived. This day was the first time since 1994 that Charles had revisited this site. He came back with those who loved him to tell his story of what happened. Telling the story helped him to heal. Telling the story helped him to forgive.

Pictured right is another memorial where the bones of genocide victims were gathered for burial.

May we forgive as we remember. May we purge hatred and fear as we remember. May this never happen again. Not in our time. Not on our watch.

Disciple Making Movement principles also focus on rapid reproduction of disciple-makers, people of peace who seek out more people of peace with the focused intention of discipling new communities through the study of God’s Word. New leaders are quickly mentored and trained to begin new DBSs in new communities as the Spirit of God leads them.

This movement is not and will not be foreigner focused. Non-Rwandans will remain in the background from the beginning. There will be no “passing the baton” from foreigner to national. Rwandans are at the forefront of the movement.

ATN-Rwanda is a local, Rwandan Christian NGO dedicated to the spiritual and physical transformation of Rwandan communities through discipleship, partnership, service and development. It’s service focuses on ESL, Literacy, Xtra Mile Communities, Street Kids, Leadership Training, Vocational Training, Sports and Health.

ATN seeks to be the hands and feet of Jesus; serving the poor, reaching out to the marginalized, binding up the broken hearted, and restoring hope were hope has been lost.

For more information please visit the ATN-Rwanda website @ http://atn-rwanda.org

Pictured above is a room full of clothes from over 6,000 people who were killed in a church building in Nyamata in the Southern Province of Rwanda. There are hundreds of sites just like this one scattered all over Rwanda. One Rwandan even said that there are as many Genocide Memorials in Rwanda as there are Wal-Marts in America.

Atop of the clothes lays a wooden cross. A symbol of hope, renewal, mercy and redemption. As proclaimers of the Good News, we are challenged with what Justice, Mercy and Forgiveness will look like in a land so devastated by evil. Our heart’s desire is for God to redeem the land from the curse of the blood that was shed with the cleansing power of the cross.

The time has come for Rwanda to have a new name, a new history. A future of hope, reconciliation, peace and justice. A future that glorifies God’s Goodness. This is our New Mission in Rwanda.

Marty and Louise both graduated from Harding University. During a career in retail management, God swung their hearts towards missions. They moved to Togo in 1997 to begin ministering among the Watchi people. In December 2008, they left Togo and moved with their four sons to Rwanda.

eNewsletters & Updates

• July/August 2011
• June 2011
• April 2009
• March 2009

Rwandan Call

“Initially, we committed to seven years of work in Togo, but God had already opened our hearts to prolonging that time. As our ninth year approached, we began asking God if He wanted us to remain in Africa long-term. Our call to Rwanda began in 2003 with an email from Sam Shewmaker (former missionary to Tanzania) saying that his survey team committed to pray everyday for God to raise up teams of missionaries to minister in Rwanda. We began praying for God to provide $5000 for a survey trip in a way that would increase our faith and confirm this call. We received a check for $5,000 within two weeks (unsolicited). Our teammate Murphy Crowson and Northern Togo missionary Matt Miller also committed to and received the funds to be able to make this trip.

Our plans came together two years later, in 2005. David Reeves joined our group and the four of us spent two weeks surveying Rwanda with Sam Shewmaker and Dave Jenkins. We went with curiosity and returned with conviction. God was calling us to minister in this dark nation. More specifically, God was calling the four of us to minister together in the Ruhengeri valley, a densely populated area in Rwanda with over 1 million people.

In May, 2007, our family, along with the Crowsons, made another survey trip to Rwanda. God confirmed our calling as we met with Rwandans and other missionaries and felt again the darkness of this lost nation.

After a long furlough, we returned to Togo for a closing year. We spent that time encouraging the churches of their sustainability through the Holy Spirit’s guidance. We were confident that the Lord would complete the good work He had begun there.

In December 2008, we said farewell to our home of almost 12 years and hello to a new life in Rwanda. The format of our work was to change tremendously in the coming years. Efforts through ATN to bring benefit to the community we live in, led Marty to use his knowledge and mastery of Taekwondo. Quickly that use developed into his position as coach of the Rwandan National Taekwondo Team.

This dynamic role has been more like that of a vocational missionary – or rather like every other disciple’s calling – to work while fleshing out discipleship and leading others in relationship with Jesus.

Contact, Blog and Web Information

U.S. Address

Warrenton Church of Christ
6398 Lee Highway Access Road
Warrenton, Virginia 20187

Web Information

Family Blog: http://kooncefamily.wordpress.com
Marty’s Blog: http://martykoonce.wordpress.com
Louise’s Blog: http://louisekoonce.wordpress.com
Togo Ministry Web Site: http://watchiharvest.com

Email the Koonces

Sponsoring Church

Warrenton Church of Christ
6398 Lee Highway Access Road
Warrenton, Virginia 20187

Koonce Contacts: Tom Ryon

Brian has an undergraduate degree from Oklahoma Christian College. Graduated from Medical School at Oklahoma State University. Completed a residency in Internal Medicine at The Penn State University and then completed his training with a Fellowship in Endocrinology at The University of Oklahoma. Kristin is a graduate of Harding University with a degree in Elementary Education. After five years in education she now stays home and raises their four children Grace, Madelyn, Samuel and Aaron. They live in Tyler, Texas where Brian is a physician and medical director in a large multi-specialty practice.

Rwandan Call

Our call to missions came as a young married couple when we were asked to join a Let’s Start Talking team in 1996. We were part of the first team into the new country of Croatia following the war for independence. We found a people and church that were struggling to make sense of a war that pitted family against family and turned neighbors into enemies. Croatia was struggling to reunite families and to find trusted leaders who would protect and secure their future. The missionary we met with was an ambitions native Croat that knew in his heart that the security his people were looking for was only going to be found in God.

In 2001 Brian was asked to take a small group of premed students to Honduras to work at Predison clinic. After returning from Honduras we began to realize that this was what God wanted from us. We were burdened by medical school student loans and even though we knew of organizations that would make our student loan payments (bigger than our house payment) while we were on the mission field we believed God was telling us to wait, be good stewards of the money he had given us and to be patient. For seven years we waited anxiously for God to free of us our debt and to call us to this type of work. God demanded much of us in order to free us from our debts but we feel we have been obedient and He has been faithful.

In November of 2007 we were sitting at a church dinner and Kristin nudged me and said, I know those people. Have you ever been nudged by God? I looked up and saw the Koonces, whom I had never met. She said she went to college with them and that they were missionaries in Togo. They had come to Tyler to seek support from Glenwood. Due to her connection with them we were asked to be their liaisons. I was hesitant at first because their commitment to Rwanda was 20 years. I asked God, “How am I supposed to remember to pray for them every day for 20 years?” God does have a sense of humor! After a spending a weekend with them and truly falling in love with them we finally asked ourselves, “What’s stopping us? We asked God the same question and the answer was, “It’s Time. My time”.

We have fasted and prayed for this change in our lives. We have asked many to pray for us and still, after months of praying we have but one mission, to follow God.

Contact, Blog and Web Information

Internet Blogs

http://awillingspirit.blogspot.com
http://africanpictures.blogspot.com

Email the Robinsons

 How Can I Help Support the Robinsons?

We have been so blessed over the last 10 years to be able to help others who have made this type of commitment. It is so hard for us to suddenly become the receivers rather than the givers and depend on others for our financial needs. This part of our preparation has been a humbling test and we have prayed that God will give us the patience to wait on Him and his provisions. We know that many of you have known us and loved us for many years and ask that you will join us in our mission by committing your prayerful and financial support for our family.

We are so excited to announce that we have received a commitment for full salary support from our wonderful family at Glenwood Church of Christ. We are so humbled by the faith they have put in our family.

Yet the financial burden of this ministry is great and even though we have our salary support we are also in need of further support to cover the expense of moving and maintaining an ongoing ministry in Rwanda.

HOW TO SUPPORT OUR MINISTRY

• Pray for our family!!!
• Share us with your friends, bible study groups, churches and mission boards.
• We are in need of funds to complete the preparation and relocation portion of our work.
• We realize that many people like to help in many different ways. Because of this we ask that each of you feel free to help in your own way. We know that God has given each of us gifts that we are confident in and good at using. For this reason we have separated our needs into some categories that we hope will encourage each of you to give. Some needs are simply financial but some are in the form of donated items.

Non-financial needs
Many wonderful friends (and God bless the people we didn’t even know a year ago) have asked us how they could be of help. We understand that not everyone can give financially but we are in need of people with organization skills who can assist us in gathering items we will need over our first two years in Rwanda. We have been overwhelmed with the stress of planning for a family of six (clothes, toothbrushes, shoes, etc) for two years in advance. We have compiled a list of items by category that we need help collecting in the next 9 months. If you are able to help organize a bible study group, Sunday school class or place of employment to adopt one of these categories we would be so honored. If someone is willing feel free to contact us by email at awillingspirit@gmail.com. I will try to keep an updated list on my blog found at awillingspirit.blogspot.com in order to prevent duplication.

• Kids clothes
  • Girls (all clothes should be knee length or longer)
    • Dresses/skirts with adjustable waist band, if possible, in sizes 8,10,12
    • Jeans with adjustable waist band, if possible, in sizes 8,10,12
    • Very modest blouses 8,10,12
    • Shirts (three quarter sleeve, longs sleeve, short sleeves)
    • Underwear 8,10,12
    • Socks white and dress
    • Shoes sizes 12,1,2,3,4
    • Dress
    • Tennis shoes
    • Sandals
    • Hair clips/bows
    • Light dress sweaters sizes 8,10, 12
    • Rain coats/windbreakers
    • Pajamas sizes 8,10,12
  • Boys
    • Jeans size 5,6,7 (slim or adjustable waist band)
    • Dockers type pants blue and khaki colored size 5,6,7,8 (slim or adjustable waist band)
    • Short sleeve and long sleeve dress shirts 5,6,7,8
    • Short and long sleeve t-shirts 5,6,7,8
    • Shoes toddler sizes 8,9,10,11,12 and boys sizes 1,2
    • Dress sandals
    • Dress shoes
    • Tennis shoes
    • Boots
    • Socks
    • Underwear sizes 5,6,7,8
    • Light jackets sizes 5,6,7,8
  • DVDs
    • Family friendly movies
  • Music
    • Any music
      • Oldies
      • Contemporary Christian
      • Pre 90s rock
    • Sheet music for
      • Piano
      • Simple music for guitar
      • Clarinet
      • Simple music for violin
  • Books
    • Educational
    • Bible study
      • Leisure
      • Historical fiction
    • Fiction
    • Children’s books
      • Educational
        • Biographies for young readers
        • Books for 5-7 year old boys
        • Books for girls age 8-12
  • Hygiene items
    • Tooth brushes
    • Tooth paste
    • Deodorant soap
    • Dove green
    • Razors
      • Schick twin (green or blue)
      • Venus breeze cartridges
    • Shaving cream
    • Shampoo and conditioner for kids and adults
  • Food Items (these items need to be collected and packed in our container the first week of June 2009)
    • Holiday treats and items
    • Canned tomato paste
    • Rotel
    • Mac and cheese (dry cheese, no liquid cheese packs)
    • Peanut butter
    • Bulk sized spices
    • Chips of all flavors
    • Dr. Pepper (no diet)
    • Candy (non-melting)
    • Dry food packets
      • Pasta sauces
      • Noodle packets
      • Mexican seasoning packs
      • Chili seasoning packs
    • Children’s chewable multivitamins
    • Children’s chewable generic Tylenol (acetaminophen)
    • Children’s chewable Motrin (ibuprofen)

Financial needs:
In addition to the above items we are still in need of the funding for the following startup items. Please prayerfully consider how you or your group could help in this way.

• Container shipping costs $17,000
• Container import tax in Rwanda $4000
• Vehicle in Rwanda $32,000
• Vehicle import tax $10,000
• Visas $400 per person
• One year of school in Kigali Christian School $9600
• Our children will attend this school while in Kigali but then will have their own school after our move to Ruhengeri.
• Plane tickets for final travel to Rwanda $12,000
• Generator $1300
• Extras:
  • Solar panels for our home (plenty of power outages in Ruhengeri) $3200. Much more efficient for long term and frequent use than a generator.

To financially support our ministry please send tax deductable contributions to:
Glenwood Church of Christ 5210 Hollytree Tyler, Texas 75703
Please add our name or Rwanda Harvest to the memo line of your check.

Both Murphy and Christine were missionary kids and have always had a heart for missions. They moved to West Africa in 1998 to begin ministering to the Aja/Watchi people where served until the end of 2008. God has blessed with them two wonderful sons (Stephen 5/1998 and Matthew 9/2000). They moved to Rwanda in January, 2009.

Murphy and Christine are both Harding University graduates. In addition, Murphy has a M.Div. and a M.S. in Missions from Abilene Christian University and Christine has a M.S. in Clinical Nutrition. They studied French in Canada before arriving on the field in September, 1998 to work among the Aja people of Benin.

Missionary Work in Benin/Togo, West Africa

In September, 1998, the Crowsons moved to Azove, Benin, West Africa to begin a ministry among the Aja people. They learned Aja language and culture and God used them to plant several churches and bring many to the Lord.

In January, 2002, the Crowsons moved across the Benin/Togo borde to join the Watchi team in Tabligbo, Togo to continue on their ministry among the Aja people who live in Togo as well as work with the Watchi.

The Aja are “second cousins” to the Watchi people with whom their team works. The Aja language and culture, which Murphy and Christine had already learned, are very similar to the Watchi language and culture. This made their transition to the work here much smoother and allowed them to be fully involved in planting churches among the Watchi people in just a few short months.

God has also used them to plant a new cluster in the northern region of Watchi land with four churches, one Aja and three Watchi. In addition to his work in this cluster, he worked with the new elders and churches in the Adangbe region teaching and mentoring them through the Train & Multiply evangelism and leadership training series.

In 2008 the Crowsons finished their full-time ministry among the Watchi. In January, 2009, they moved to Kigali, Rwanda, Central Africa and began a new life and ministry there.

Visit the Watchi Harvest web site: http://watchiharvest.com to find out more information about the growth of the Kingdom among the Watchi.

Rwandan Call

Matt and Andrea met at Harding University where they both studied missions. Matt went on to complete a MA in Missions at Harding University Graduate School of Religion in Memphis and is currently pursuing a DMin in Transformational Leadership from Bakke Graduate University in Seattle, a degree he will be able to complete while continuing to live in Africa. They moved to northern Togo to work among the Kabiye in 2000 and continued there in ministry until April 2011. They plan to move to Rwanda in early January 2012.

Missionary Work Among the Kabiye of Togo, West Africa

The Millers spent over ten years working as church-planters and leadership-trainers among the Kabiye people of north Togo.  During that time, they helped to plant over 20 churches and worked to train and mentor many leaders who continue the work of church-planting and training today.

Rwandan Call

Our call to Rwanda began during a survey trip to Burkina Faso in 2003. Sam Shewmaker, a missionary-trainer and friend, joined us in Burkina just after a survey trip to Rwanda. He began praying daily for God to raise up teams of missionaries to minister in Rwanda. Murphy Crowson was especially touched by this call and immediately began praying for god to provide $5000 for a survey trip in a way that would increase faith and confirm this call. He received a check for $5,000 within four weeks (unsolicited) and began praying for God to raise up two other men willing to go and “spy our the land.” Within six weeks Matt and Marty Koonce approached Murphy and said, “We should go see Rwanda.”

Two years later, in 2005, David Reeves joined our group and the four of us spent two weeks surveying Rwanda with Sam Shewmaker and Dave Jenkins. We went with curiosity and returned with conviction. God was calling us to minister in this dark nation. More specifically, God was calling the four of us to minister together in the Musanze valley, a densely populated area in Rwanda with over 1 million people.

Rwanda Transition Timeline

2008- May 2011—The Millers continued their ministry among the Kabiye of northern Togo, focusing on completing the maturing and training of the churches they have planted as well as establishing their new teammates in the ministry to new areas of Kabiyeland and north Togo.

2011—Beginning in May, the Millers began an extended furlough of 6 months in the US to refresh and renew relationships with family and sponsoring church as well as retool and raise funds before the transition to Rwanda.

January 2012—the Millers will make their way to Rwanda. Our family will be living just outside of the capital city for the first 3-5 months to learn Rwandan culture and the Rwandan language, Kinyarwanda.

We hope to move to the Musanze region and the city of Rhuengeri within the first few years of our time in Rwanda.

Contact, Blog and Web Information

US Contact Info.

Matt & Andrea Miller
c/o Homewood Church of Christ
Attn: Stephen Presley
265 W. Oxmoor Road
Birmingham, AL 35209

Internet

Family Web Site: themillerfam.wordpress.com

Email the Millers

Sponsoring Church

Homewood Church of Christ
265 W. Oxmoor Road
Birmingham, AL 35209

Church Website: www.homewoodchurch.org

Heath Amos was born and raised in West Virginia.  I went to Harding Univ. in ’96 and received a BS in Biology and a BA in Missions.  While in school, I went on Harding’s overseas program to Athens, Greece which changed my life.  For the first time I found myself in a cross-cultural experience surrounded by true poverty.  My eyes were also opened to the reality of the Bible by traveling throughout the biblical sights of Greece, Turkey, and Israel.  Two years later I went to Kenya as a summer apprentice and this sealed the deal in my interests in missions.  After this trip, I also started working with an inner city church in Little Rock which made me more aware of domestic missions.

After graduating from college, I moved to Memphis to attend Harding Grad. School where I received an MDiv.  During those 4½ years there, I worked with an urban church (Frayser Mission Church) which was a church plant with Highland St. cofC’s Memphis Urban Ministry project.  After that I met my wife in Rwanda and moved to Lubbock where I was a high school Bible teacher for 2 ½ years.

My role at ATN is three fold: I am the Coordinator of our English Literacy Program, Chief Operations Officer at ATN, and a member of the DMM Coordination Team.

Rebecca Amos  -  I am from Lubbock, TX.  I was raised out on a farm in Eastern New Mexico and my family moved to Lubbock in my late high school years.  I attended Harding University (1997-2001) and played on the volleyball team for my 4 years of college. I graduated with an Elementary Education degree and moved to Uganda, East Africa just after graduation to join a team in Jinja.  I taught children and village church members there for 2 ½ years, before returning to Lubbock.  I taught in Lubbock at an urban, economically disadvantaged public school for four years.  I absolutely loved my job and found that 5th grade science was truly my niche in the USA.   I enjoy reading, homemaking, jogging, and riding my bicycle.

As for our story, Heath and I met after Harding, in Rwanda, during a summer mission trip working at an orphanage.   We both love outdoors, being with family and working with the disadvantaged.  We have spent two summers hiking on the Appalachian Trail, and have completed 850 miles so far.   We have been married since March of 2006 and truly enjoy the journey we are on together now.

We have a son, Pete, born February 2, 2009 and twins, Jude and Lily, born June 11, 2011.  I am thankful that my family is my primary ministry here.