Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB)

UOB Home Office

UOB is the first and largest microfinance bank in Rwanda.

And UOB is a Christian bank.

Its owners are three Christian international NGOs. Their investment purposes are not to maximize the financial return on their investments, but to see the holistic transformation among Rwandan people. So the mandate is to maximize the holistic transformation impact among people with the maximum outreach within operational sustainability.

UOB is the largest among micro finance banks and non-bank MFIs in Rwanda in loan portfolio, deposits and the number of clients being served. So I suppose we are leading the outreach.

UOB reached, by God's grace, the operational sustainability in 2011 even after our staff received a significant bonus in December.

UOB has been implementing various strategies and programs towards holistic transformation, specifically through client transformation and corporate transformation. These strategies and programs have been implemented under transformation principles: holistic, integral, intentional, institutional, progressive.

So, now mission accomplished? Great job and go home?

Absolutely not. There is more work to do.

Now we should be going even deeper into rural areas to serve the under- or un-served people of Rwanda.
Most of its staff is Christians. I would call it extended outreach.

Now we should be more conscious about maintaining the sustainability. There are many minefields in the microfinance operations that may lead us back into a loss.

Now we should allocate more resources to be transformed internally and transformational externally to clients.

So, the task has become larger and more complicated. It is a challenge, but it is a worthwhile one.

Every first Tuesday morning, all senior leadership gathers together for intensive prayer for an extensive list of prayer subjects. It is a time of blessing and comfort. It is a time of encouragement and edification. We adore God for who He is, confess our sins to Him, thank Him for His wondrous grace and present our supplications.

We weep and cry out for help. But we surrender. To His sovereignty. To His plan to be manifest in His time.
We dedicate our lives to Him. To His authority. To His providence. To His commission. Great Commission.

He is God.
He is God of love.
He is God of goodness.
He is God of faithfulness.
He is trustworthy.
He is gracious.
He is God.

I am grateful for the opportunity to lead UOB.
It is almost three years since I have been leading UOB.
It has been a time of tremendous blessing, learning and growing.
I love leading UOB and coaching my colleagues.
I love worshiping God through our work.
I love serving God in and through life.
I love God of goodness.
I love God.

Glory be to God Almighty forever and ever! Amen! - Jeffrey