Empower was recently invited to conduct a Master training at East Africa Christian College in Rwanda. The team had presented New Man New Woman New Life (NMNW) to students and others at the college in February, and last month returned for the Master Class. The following is a report from a new Empower partner, Faith Kabiru. She is a management consultant in Nairobi, Kenya who uses NMNW in her corporate consulting and a strong advocate for Empower. She traveled to Rwanda twice with Pastor Frank Tweheyo and Elizabeth Ndabi to lead NMNW programs. (Report edited for space and clarity)
New Man, New Woman, New Life is aimed at helping people get a biblical discovery of self and relationship. It is anchored on the presentation of the Bible as a three-part story of human relationship with God and with each other. The three parts are: The Creation ideal, The Fall and Redemption.
East African Christian College is a Christian university owned by the Anglican church of Rwanda. The chairman of the Board is the Archbishop, Anglican Church of Rwanda. It is led by Prof. Chemolion. About five years ago, the government of Rwanda passed a law that for a pastor to run or manage a church, they must have a degree in theology. Though owned by the Anglican Church, this university has been training pastors from all denominations to allow uncredentialed clergy to meet this requirement. They have also introduced other courses and the graduates are expected to serve in different areas in the society.
This university has therefore great potential in transmitting the NMNW teachings across the nation and in every sphere of the society. As an Empower team, we look at this university as a “fertile mission ground or epicenter of mind shift.”
We had carried out a level one training in February and we were happy to be invited back to carry out level two training, the Master class.
During our February level one training, this group was very inquisitive. They interrogated the training like the Berean Christians. The many theologians in the audience interrogated the teachings from a scholarly perspective. We were looking forward to hearing from them and assessing impact on level one training because it was now six months since the first training.
We began the training by seeking to understand the impact of the first training on individual members and the communities that they had interacted with. It was interesting to hear their experiences in those six months.
Principal’s Remarks
The Principal, Prof. Chemorion Chosef, observed that the training promoted partnership between man and woman for a better society. He reminded the participants that “new life” means new life in Christ where we choose to die and rise in Christ and allow our hearts to be turned heavenwards. The old man focuses on earthly things but the new man on heavenly things and the will of God. His desire for the team was:
- Build on the gains made in level one
- Continually grow to be a New Man, New Woman and experience a New Life
He encouraged the participants to freely share their experience on what they had learnt in level one, their concerns, what was taken positively, what was taken negatively and even what did not work.
These remarks reassured the team and we were able to get big gains in this training.
Dr. Frank Tweheyo, Empower Africa Program Director, helped facilitate the training. He shared an overview of the NMNW content and noted that the participants were able to respond correctly in discussions which meant that they had retained the information that had been shared.
Participant responses
Here are a few of the participants observations and responses to the training:
- I am a changed person. I took this information to my family. I shared it with my wife. We are young but many people come to us to ask us for more information. I am a young catechist but because of this information, people look at me differently. They look at my wife and I as mature people. When I got the invitation for the master class, I was happy that I was going to learn some more. My wife kept reminding me about this training. She never wanted me to miss out because she also benefited.–Valens, Catechist
- I used the materials with the young people in my church. They may not have seemed to understand every detail because some concept touched on marriage and they were not married but I was happy that I had put some deposits in them and when their time comes for marriage, they will remember.–Olive
- The information I have learnt in the level one training has been a great help. I don’t just view myself as a cultural man but as a Christian. I now help my wife in nurturing our children. I am very happy that I am now involved in the life of my child. I even change diapers.–Rev. Christophe
- I learnt so much in the last training. As a pastor, I used this material in our home fellowships and couple’s groups. We have even scheduled a fellowship once a month.
- I have shared these teaching with my children and my children in law. They are young and this information is important for them as early as now. I am a people’s warden in one of the churches and I have been able to share in my home fellowship. I intend to share more in the opportunities that I get. —Peace
- The program is now clear and I have many things clarified. I am the Archdeaconry president of the mothers’ union in my archdeaconry. I am planning to train mothers’ union and fathers’ union members. This is great information that I need to share.
- I think we should organize small groups in the university where we can continue to learn together. —Rev Israel Benoit
- We will take the information back to our communities and churches. This is great information.
The Deputy Principal and the Dean of studies were keen to see how the principles in NMNW program would be taught to students as a practical theology unit. The Dean was to follow up with Dr. Frank on the same.
The master class also provides participants with the opportunity to ask questions and clarify the things they learned in level one. Here are a few questions that came up:
- It was also observed that the term ‘Ezer Kenegdo—suitable helper—was also a big issue in the community because of cultural interpretation and cultural interference.
- Several participants observed that not everything cultural is wrong. There are good cultural values, and they should not be discarded.
- As members shared in the community, they realized that communicating these teachings in a big group is difficult, but it is easier in small groups.
Management Remarks
After the training, the Deputy Principal of Academics came to graduate the master class participants and his observations. The following were the remarks.
“I appreciate the work that Empower International Ministry is doing and consider it foundational in our communities and the nation.” He explained his understanding of the training in context of the following Sustainable Development Goals.
- SDG No. 4 on quality education and lifelong learning for all without leaving anyone behind
- SDG No. 11 on sustainable cities and communities noting that transformation begins from the family
- SDG 16 on peace and justice and strong institutions
From the above understanding, he observed that the Empower training is relevant to community transformation and there was a need for a formal collaboration where Empower International Ministries can open a chapter in EACC.
He urged the participants to commit to change as individuals and go out and change their families, community and nation.
We were happy to note that the participants had interacted with level one training materials and there was impact in their own life and that of the community.
We also noted that they were ready to engage the community in a deeper manner.
The East African Christian College (EACC) is a fertile ground and a gateway to many other countries. It is important that the partnership is interrogated further because there are many opportunities.