Bridges Beyond—Connecting to Empower—Impact story—Samuel
Samuel was a vagabond (his words) on the street, stealing, not in school, and making a problem in the community. His younger brother was learning from him. His mom had no means of income and was living in a rented home with no hope. Her first husband was killed in Genocide. She birthed Samuel and was pregnant with a second child when her husband was killed in a motorcycle accident.
BB—Connecting to empower—Jean Paul
JP came to Canada and was discipled by Dave for 17 months. He felt God’s call to return to Rwanda. We continued the relationship and the discipling. JP got promoted within the church. In the meantime, God set up a meeting in Brussels with Jon Ortlip (President and founder of (www.ambassadorsfootball.org) and Dave after which Ambassadors Football came to Rwanda. Jean Paul is trained in using football and the pitch to reach children, something JP is passionate about.
Samuel is invited onto the pitch and we (JP, Bridges Beyond and the local community) assess the need and chose to help. Initial support with school fees, sewing classes for mom, sewing machine, and regular follow-up, were involved in making every effort to ensure success.
We are NOT project based or focused, we are Christ centered and person focused, engaging the people on the ground to determine the root of a problem and together developing and implementing a strategy to bring real, sustainable change. We have been implementing this approach and are seeing remarkable success.
Please watch the following 5-minute video that is Samuel’s Story. Real impact in real lives.
Thank-you!