Dusting off my blog and sending an update

I'm really excited to share with you about our next stage in our work in Rwanda. But first, a little background. More than 10 years ago, I made a decision to start a Master’s program because I wanted to be the director of a non-profit organization. As I sat in a session with the CEO of the National Big Brothers Big Sisters organization, she shared how so many non-profits have been ran poorly and she didn’t want to see one more Big Brothers Big Sisters local office have the same fate. It was a challenge, a charge; something I felt deep in my bones.

Now that I’m leading a ministry in Rwanda, I want to do it well.

Over the last few months, the Rwanda staff and I have been working on a 3-year strategic plan and each staff person has their action plan for 2017. I’m so proud of the work our Rwandan staff has put into making sure our work is sustainable. But through this process, I’ve realized that we need a stronger organizational foundation under the Rwanda side of our work if we hope to build and expand.

Some highlights of our plan:
For Belay Global
·         Grow to 2 more cities in Rwanda within the next 3 years
·         Begin vetting 2 other African countries within the next 5-10 years.
For Rwanda
·         We want to launch a business incubator for our young Duhu entrepreneurs to begin working out of our office, which gives us more one-on-one attention and discipleship opportunities.
·         For DuHope, we want to see the women making $150/m by the end of the year. This is 5 times the average wage in Rwanda.
These goals will help us spread the gospel of Jesus in a tangible, life changing way. I LOVE IT!
Years ago, I sat with a consultant in the US who challenged us to make big, audacious goals. These are big, audacious goals and I believe with God all things are possible. We have prayed over these plans. We are pulling together the gifting that God has put on our team and have given each team member a charge. And as excited as I am about working with my team in Rwanda, I see these big, audacious goals needing more support, more foundation.

As the Executive Director of Belay Global, it’s up to me and the board to begin working on this foundation to make sure we can support the dreams of our amazing team. So, I'm back in the US for a season. I will be dedicating about 6 months to come back to the US to build support and advocacy from March – September. I will be visiting places that I have visited on short term trips to deepen our networks and meeting people doing similar projects to learn from them. It's very hard for this Sooner-born girl to admit, but I will be spending the first couple of month in Austin, TX to learn from other organizations working abroad and also spend time with other business incubators to learn how to help young entrepreneurs launch their businesses.

I need your continued support and prayers. I’m very excited and very scared. It’s a big job ahead of me, but I know God has been with us every step of the way and I have no doubt He is already orchestrating this trip. I’m excited about leaving the Rwanda team to keep working, growing, and building this ministry and also sad, because I don’t want to miss out.

If you want to help this trip start out on a strong note, feel free to drop a little money in the plate. =)  belayglobal.org/donate  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spiritual Coasting and God's Vomit

In my opinion, and of course this is my opinion because this is my blog, but I believe that the general church-going population believes that as a missionary, I am always on this mountaintop spiritual "high". That I am always seeking God because I have moved so far from home and my family. Let me dispel this rumor, this is not true. Just like in America, my spiritual walk has peaks, valleys and plateaus. There are times when I see God working and moving in such tangible ways that I sit back and worship and praise His name. I pray so fervently that I become physically tired. Our team takes time to pray every week for various things, but always seeks God's guidance and leadership over us. And there are times when I see a situation and I pray real hard and I don't see God moving and I look to the sky and ask, "Where are you? Creator of the universe, who can make all things happen and controls the movement of every star, why aren't you moving in THIS situatio
Read more

My confessional: I hurt most of the time

This is something I rarely talk about, much less write about. So buckle in, I'm getting vulnerable here. When I was young, up through high school, I was very active. I played softball, golf, any activity at youth events. If there was activity, I was there. During my senior year of high school, I noticed a lot of pain that I just couldn't describe, it was just all over. We were talking with my local college about playing my freshman year as a walk-on with the softball team, but as the heat of the summer kicked in, it wasn't an option. I remember the heartbreaking moment for me admitting that I had hit my limit. I could still play recreational ball, but competitive softball was over for me. At the beginning of my sophomore year of college something was very wrong, but again, I couldn't explain it; I just hurt all over. I had to sit out a semester of school and my mom was on a mission to find out what was wrong. I was having blinding tension headaches and I constantly
Read more

Small Bits of my life: My God is so big

Image
So, I arrived in Rwanda to start a new adventure. You have been with me, prayed for me, and encouraged me when I was scared (even though I pretended I wasn’t).   This is probably one of the most difficult emails to write because I’m trying to sum up the last 3 years of my life in one (not so) simple message.   When I first moved here, I was doing communications for ROC, the organization that I came here with and fell in love with Rwanda because of them. I was facilitating a women’s entrepreneurship program. I started a Bible study for some junior high girls in my neighborhood and a ladies Bible study for other Americans. I was also volunteering once a week with an orphanage. I wanted to do everything, I wanted to see everything and meet everyone. Three months in, I was tired…and sick. The first year here, I was sick a lot. I think it was a combination of learning how to properly clean and cook food and just being smooth worn out. Everything was new and exciting and I didn’t want to mis
Read more