I am traveling to Africa in August! Discipleship Focus will end on August 10th, and my trip to Rwanda begins August 11th! Talk about timing. I am going with an organization called ALARM, and the purpose of the trip is to give a conference to educate African women about leadership in their communities. The portion of the conference for which I will be responsible is to lead a session about spiritual and emotional healing from trauma. I am attaching my news letter to give you a little more info. I am also trying to raise $2900 in the next week, so that is a major way that you can pray for me to trust the Lord.
Hope you are having a great week! Thanks for reading.
June 27, 2012
Dear Friends:
You are receiving this letter because I
believe you would want to know about an exciting opportunity that God has made
available to me. I invite you to
come alongside me to learn more about this opportunity, the organization
extending it, and how you might participate.
A dear friend contacted me several months
ago and let me know about an organization called African Leadership And
Reconciliation Ministries (ALARM).
She told me about an opportunity that she had to take a trip to Rwanda
in August for a conference that ALARM wanted to put on. I was excited for her opportunity and
the way that it seemed to fit in with her passion, education and leading in
ministry. Four weeks ago my friend
contacted me again, telling me of a need on their team that she felt I uniquely
fit and asked if I would pray about going along. After some prayer and thought I have decided that this is a
trip that also fits with my passion, experience and leading in ministry.
ALARM was founded by Dr. Célestin Musekura,
who is an ordained Baptist minister from Rwanda who earned his Master of Sacred
Theology and PhD in theological studies from Dallas Theological Seminary. The conference is a week-long leadership
training conference for women attorneys, judges, women rights activists, and
counselors from Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo
("DRC"). The purpose of
the training is to empower the attendees to use their position and skills to
act as servant leaders in their communities.
When about 70 percent of Rwanda’s pastors
were killed or forced into exile due to the 1994 genocide, and when an exodus
of Western missionaries out of Rwanda, Burundi, and Congo followed, this region
experienced a crisis in Christian leadership. To Célestin, who himself lost family and friends to revenge
killings, “[i]t quickly became evident that the African church needed strong
leadership capable of guiding, teaching, forgiving and reconciling for healing
and transformation of their communities.”
Burdened to develop strong leaders who would serve their communities, Célestin
founded ALARM, an organization through which indigenous Africans could equip
their people with the skills needed to rebuild Africa. ALARM serves in eight countries of east
and central Africa with 55 fulltime indigenous staff and five fulltime staff in
the US office in Dallas.
As I consider the opportunity to partner
with ALARM in leadership training, I feel amazed at how uniquely fitted this
ministry is to the passions and experiences that God has given to me. My specific role at the conference will
be to share with the women what I have learned about trauma during my education
and experience as a counselor.
Because of the turbulent political and social environment, many African
women have suffered a great deal of trauma, and are ill equipped to handle the
resulting mental, emotional and spiritual strain.
Significantly, the conference will include
time for the attendees to develop a plan to pass on what they have learned.
Attendees from past conferences have shared stories of returning to their communities
to train dozens of other community leaders in the conference materials.
I
hope that you will consider joining with me in ALARM’s ministry by engaging in
one or more of the following:
·
Learn about ALARM’s ministry. ALARM has an extensive website at http://alarm-inc.org
that provides numerous ways to plug in.
Célestin’s books on the healing power of forgiveness, Forgiving As We’ve Been Forgiven
and An Assessment of Contemporary Models
of Forgiveness, offer tremendous glimpses into Célestin’s vision. You can
even do a quick Google search for interviews and sermons featuring Célestin.
·
Pray for ALARM’s ministry, and
specifically for this upcoming conference in Rwanda (August 13-17). Pray for unity among our team from the United
States. Pray for vision, clarity
of focus, and efficiency as we prepare for the conference sessions. Pray that I would be able to prepare
all of my materials with such short notice and in the midst of doing another
full time ministry this summer. Pray
for God to prepare the hearts of the attendees. Pray for protection.
Pray for God’s purposes to be fulfilled.
·
Give to make the conference possible. The cost of my airfare and lodging is
approximately $2900, an amount that is overwhelming to me. I am depending on God to provide the
finances through support from family and friends. Further, in order to conduct the conference and bring
attendees from DRC and Burundi, our team must raise an additional $8000. Any funds that I raise above the $2900
will go toward the conference cost.
I am trusting God with this, as I am wanting to purchase my tickets within
the next week. To make a donation
for my trip, please make your check payable to Emily Benning and mail it to me
at 223 Young Life Lane, Branson, MO 65616.***
·
Tell others. If this ministry reminds you of someone, please pass the
word along.
***If you are interested in making a tax deductable donation directly
to ALARM, please email me for more information on how to do so. embenning@gmail.com
Thank you for your friendship and for the
role that you play in my life.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter
and to reflect on this opportunity.
I am thrilled to get to partner with ALARM this summer, and can’t wait
to tell you what God does through this conference.
Sincerely,
Emily Benning
We want to adopt from Africa. Originally, I was feeling Ethiopia. BUT Just this week, I was reading so much about Rwanda. I am praying for you. :)
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