Rwanda Challenge - Blog

The Advanced Group's Reflections on the English Training

6/9/2022

Ivy Brothers, David Presley, Máté Csernus, and Nimród Selmeczi taught the advanced group of students. The advanced class was made up of students who have the ability to carry on short conversations and can begin to convey complex ideas in English. Many of these students, like some in the intermediate class, already have degrees from other universities. However, these degrees are not in English. This class practiced writing essays, working on phonics and pronunciation, spelling, reading out loud, and vocabulary meaning. They spent many hours in the classroom and many hours taking the practice test on the computer.

The teachers believe six are ready to take the English proficiency test and that five more will be ready by the end of the year. The students were very dedicated and eager to learn.

Enjoy what Allen, once of the advanced students, wrote about his three weeks of English training:

"These past weeks have helped me a lot in my English language in the following ways:
I have been able to learn how to pronounce English words and get proper spelling of some other words. This was manifested in a way that I am now able to pronounce some words properly and with the proper accent. I have also been able to know the meaning of ordinary words that I often used and actually didn't know their meanings. Sincerely speaking, I am better than before we entered into the 3 weeks of English teachings. However, I can't wait to give you the most beautiful activity that we did with our dearest teacher Ivy, which was describing the images that would be in the different photographs. It was really amazing the fact that she and the other two teachers taught us how to describe them by using many examples for us to understand. Sincerely speaking, I am now an expert in describing images in the photographs. I thereby conclude by saying that this was so beneficial to me and my fellow learners, and the only wish I have is that the almighty God may bless my beloved teachers and I let that blessing flow to their families, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren."

Please pray with us for Allen and the rest of the students that they would pass their English proficiency test and they would be able to start their studies with MACU in January.

The students took practice tests on the computers.

The advanced group appreciates their hardworking teachers.

The Intermediate Group's Reflections on the English Training

6/6/2022

Wes Bishop and Alison DeLong worked with the Intermediate Group during the English Training. This group already knew basic English and conversational skills, but they progressed in developing complex sentences and a richer vocabulary. The students spent hours learning parts of speech, creating sentences, writing paragraphs, reading aloud, and participating in group discussions.

At the end of the three weeks, each of the students wrote a paragraph about what they learned and why the English training was important. Here is what Donavine had to say about the teachings:

"For me in these weeks, I improved speaking English very well. And I learned many words like 'doughnuts,' 'sky,' 'evil,' 'watered', and 'birthmark.' My teachers helped me to be confident when I am speaking English. They tried to help me speak English without being nervous; it is great to me. My teachers taught me conjunctions, prepositions, and quotation marks; it facilitates me to make and write good sentences without mistakes in my sentences or letters. I know many things, for example the plural and singular of 'like': 'John likes bananas.' Another is 'John and Angel like bananas.' I know whether to use 's' or not in the sentences. I understand many verbs. For example, 'drink-drank,' visit-visited,' 'play-played,' 'cry-cried.' So this improved my English, as well as when we were talking about the story of Jesus, like the lost son. When we discussed this, it improved by English. There are so many. My conclusion is that it is great to study English for these last three weeks, for I am really appreciative of all the skills and knowledge. Thanks."

Please pray for Donavine and the other students, as they continue to grow in their English fluency, that they may be equipped to do the ministry God has prepared for them.

Left to Right: Elysee, Donavine, Miriam, Peter, Wes, Gerard, Eric, Alison, Angelique, Consulee, Sylvain

Wes teaches the Intermediate Group.

The Beginner Group's Reflections on the English Training

6/4/2022

Three weeks of English training wrapped up on Friday, June 3. During those three weeks, Victoria Bishop, along with our translator Miriam, worked with the Beginner group on basic English vocabulary and conversational skills. At the end of these three weeks, the students collaborated together to explain what they had learned:

"Over the last three weeks, our group has become more confident in our use of English. It has given us the drive to continue to learn even after the training. This training has helped connect us to others including our families, friends, and visitors. It has given us skills to communicate with others through speaking, writing, and reading. We have learned how to introduce ourselves to others. We have learned how to write sentences along with some new words."

It has been deeply encouraging to see these students build their confidence over the past three weeks. Please continue to pray for their progress.

The students signed their names under what they have learned.

Victoria works with the students on forming basic sentences.

The group expresses their gratitude to Victoria with a gift. Left to Right: Miriam, Napoleon, Victoria, Dorcas, Alex

Wes Shares about the Current Work of Rwanda Challenge

5/31/2022

A group of volunteers has been in Rwanda since May 12. We began teaching Monday, May 16. We are preparing prospective students to study at Mid-Atlantic Christian University-Rwanda. Since all higher education in Rwanda has to be delivered in English, students must pass an English-proficiency test to be admitted to the school. Our task has been in preparing them to take the Duolingo Test. Several teams have come at different times since November 2020, although Covid has slowed the process and prevented some teams from coming. With restrictions relaxed, the most recent (and current as of this writing) team has been in Rwanda for a little over two weeks with a week left.

Most students, especially the younger ones, studied English in high school. Almost all the students can communicate in English very well; their skills need to be sharpened. (If you took a foreign language in high school or college, how much do you remember? How successful would you be in a college-level environment in that language?)

This most recent trip started with putting students in one of three levels (beginner, intermediate, and advanced). We learned from previous experience that separating students based on ability allows students to be more successful.

On this trip, Victoria Bishop (previously in Rwanda in November 2020) has been doing exemplary work with the beginner students teaching them basic skills such as introductions and other conversational skills. The group has also read a good deal.

Wes Bishop (previously in Rwanda in May 2021) and Alison DeLong (previously in Rwanda in May 2019) have been working with the intermediate students covering nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and other parts of speech. The students have advanced to writing paragraphs. They have also engaged students in reading, summarizing, and conversation.

Dr. Tammy Bishop (previously in Rwanda in May 2021) taught the advanced group for the first week. Ivy Brothers (previously in Rwanda in May 2021 and January 2022) took over for the second and third weeks since Tammy had to return home for work. This group is the closest to taking the Duolingo Test. They have been reading and writing along with taking several practice tests. Many are nearly ready to take the actual test, and all students have improved their practice test scores.

Michael Pittman (first timer in Rwanda) taught computer skills the first week covering the basics of creating, saving, retrieving, and opening files. David Presley (previously in Rwanda in May 2021 and January 2022) took over in weeks two and three. David has also assisted in practice tests.

We were joined by two theology students from Hungary, who are first-time visitors to Rwanda, Nimród Selmeczi and Máté Csernus. They have worked with Tammy and Ivy’s group. They have engaged students in conversation and helped students with writing. They have been valuable because they are not native English speakers. That gives the team insight into how non-native speakers learn English.

Tammy had the idea of teaching English through basic songs. Since singing engages a different part of the brain, this would be another way to strengthen language skills. During the first week, Michael led the singing at the end of the day. Michael’s skills as a keyboardist and singer facilitated this. When Michael left, Máté stepped in with his skills on the keyboard. It was wonderful to see the students singing in English, building their language skills, but also singing praises to God.

Everyone on the team has said how much students have improved. Those of us who have been here before have noticed long-term improvement. This is especially the case with Eric and Jules. In the last year and a half, both have made great strides in their English skills. Even in the short term over the past couple of weeks, we have noticed growth in English skills.

We need more workers willing to help. While many of those who have come are educators, you don’t need to be an educator to come and teach. Tammy has prepared packets of lessons to assist teachers in teaching and learners in learning.

Please continue to pray for this endeavor as students wrap up the three-week training that they would continue to improve their skills. The need is great, both for English skills but also for legal pastors. As Matthew recorded, “Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’” (Matthew 9:37-38).

Wes teaches the Intermediate Group.

Left to right: Victoria, Tammy, Wes, Michael, Scott

Ivy teaches the Advanced Group.

Top row: Máté, Nimrod, Frank, David Bottom row: Alison, Heidi, Ivy

The students and teachers at the end of Week 1

Team Rwanda - Christ's Church

11/21/2020

Victoria Bishop - Thursday - Saturday, November 19-20, 2020

As our week of teaching came to a close on Thursday and Friday all of us has been touched in ways that none of us expected. I know for me I have been touched by the hard work and determination that our students have shown this week. I have been amazed to see the progress that our students have made this week. Their hard work and determination has paid off. I cannot wait to see what our students go onto to do in the MACU program and beyond. We tried to send off our students with the assignment to write everyday and find ways to continue learn and grow.

Our students also gave us the best send off at the end of the week. Our group went around and shared why they were thankful for us coming and that we were good teachers. My partner and I told our students that we could not have been such good teachers if we did not have such good students. Our students also got together and gave us each our Rwandan name. The name that our students gave to me was Neza, which means kindness. I have been touched in so many ways this week and I am excited to see what these students go onto to do.

On Saturday we went to the wedding of Angel and Billy Graham, the daughter of Theophile's. During the day we participated in a traditional dowry ceremony. Part of our group carried in the gifts that were presented to the families during the ceremony. During the ceremony we all also presented with gifts from the family, which we are all touched that the family would think of us to give a gift. After that we then participated in the wedding ceremony at the church. After that we were in a reception party to celebrate the marriage.

All in all our group has had a good week and have been touched in ways we never expected. Some of us are already planning our planning our next trip to Rwanda. I cannot wait to see what God does with these students and how he continues to use them as part of His mission.

Rwanda Challenge - Christ's Church

11/18/2020

Sabrina DeWald - Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Greetings from Rwanda! Happy Hump Day! Today is day 3 of our English teaching in Kigali. We are EXCITED to see the learning progress of our students. This morning the task of our students was to identify sentence fragments and correct the sentences to make them complete. We are very pleased at their critical thinking skills. They are understanding the basics of what completes a sentence which is one step closer to writing a paragraph! This afternoon we focused on computer work, typing sentences in a Word document, and saving them in a file. These Rwandan students work very hard and are a blessing to us. Please continue to pray for our team as we teach throughout the week. Also pray for the students to have sharp understanding minds so they can ultimately obtain a diploma and serve in their local churches to further God's kingdom.

Team Rwanda - Christ's Church

11/17/2020

Tim Turner - Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Day 2 for the Rwanda Team teaching was awesome again. What wonderful students we have the privilege of sharing with. The team is doing a fantastic job. God is definitely using them.
I have some pictures and a video. The video is of the students praying for my mother. She has had a rough week. I hope this will lift her spirits.

Team Rwanda - Christ's Church

11/16/2020

Travis Taylor - Monday, November 16, 2020

Today our team began its first day of teaching computer skills and introduced basic English grammar. Our training is being held at Zarephath Christian Church here in Kigali. We have 24 students and they were split up into three groups of eight. While there are some barriers in teaching in this context, we all as a team experienced a lot of encouragement from our time with the students. We are excited to see how God is going to use this time to further train these future church leaders. Continue to pray for the students and for our team as we all are learning in how to best help these students excel as much as possible.

Team Rwanda - Christ's Church

11/15/2020

Karlee Hardison - Friday, November 13, 2020

We had a busy but fulfilling day today! We were able to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial and the Nyamata Genocide Memorial. After reading about the genocide of the tutsi’s before coming, it was eye opening to be able to see first hand just how horrific it was. We walked through one of the churches where 10,000+ tutsis were murdered and were able to see the blood soaked clothing and belongings of the victims. We also got to go into one of the mass graves where 45,000 bodies are buried. While this was incredibly heart breaking to see, it was a very humbling experience that makes you grateful for the freedoms we have.

Jonathan Dewald - Saturday, November 14, 2020

Safari Day - Akagera National Park

Sabrina and Jonathan Dewald

Travis Taylor, Karlee Hardison, Jennifer Parker, and Victoria Bishop

Frank Reynolds and Tim Turner

Jennifer Parker - Sunday, November 15, 2020

What a great day in Kigali, Rwanda! Today’s my day to post an update so here you go! This morning we had church in our rental home and dug into the concept of love and what loving others intentionally really looks like. May this trip be a means for me to experience love in a way I never have - creating relationships with my teammates and the wonderful people of Rwanda. Today we enjoyed delicious Italian, visited the market, had the fellas measured for their suits for the big wedding day, and did some more shopping in downtown Kigali. Tomorrow we start teaching! Our team is ready to impact lives and we are ready to meet our first group of pastors to help equip them with English and computer skills training. As much as I miss my family, I am having an amazing week and am thankful for this life changing trip. My first mission trip has been both heartwarming and heartbreaking. More tears, smiles, laughs and memories to come. Sending hugs from Rwanda. I am now family, and I think I’ll come back.

"Stranded" in Virginia

4/10/2020

Myra and I left for Virginia/North Carolina on February 5th and intended to return home earlier this week (about April 7th). We were halfway into our trip when church services were being closed, first in NC and then VA.

The purpose of our trip was to seek partners in the new mission of Rwanda Challenge: to offer an associate degree in Bible in Rwanda. New laws in Rwanda created the need for this new mission. By September 2023, a local church cannot meet without a legal preacher. A legal preacher is required to have an associate degree in Bible/theology by September 10, 2023. Multiple churches and individuals in VA/NC were communicating excitement about Rwanda Challenge partnering with Mid-Atlantic Christian University to provide the necessary degree. Then everything stopped; churches were not meeting, budgets were closed to anything new, and future decisions were on hold until they could assess the new normal.

In future blogs I will provide more info on the present status and future possibilities. But, for now, Myra and I are waiting for COVID-19 to calm down in New Hampshire – 268 known cases yesterday in Rockingham County compared to three where we are staying in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. So, we are “stranded” in my niece’s camper by the Banister River where we enjoy watching two bald eagles nesting in the tall pines.

Giving thanks for small gifts while we seek God for a huge need in Rwanda.