Sunday, September 1, 2013

Ministry Updates - August 2013...

Dear family, friends and fellow Kingdom workers,

Warm greetings from Kigali, Rwanda to you all who are scattered all over the world. Momentarily, I was thinking of the countries where this e-mail will reach: USA, Korea, Senegal, UK, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, UAE, Ghana, Germany, India, Philippines, Myanmar, China, Ethiopia ... just off the top of head. I trust all is well with you all despite some challenges that may come your way from time to time.

The following were highlights of the ministries during August:

With Nick, Director of mHose mVISA project
1. mHose mVISA launch was scaled up in August. Now 5,000 clients and 50 agents have signed up and enjoy the convenient service. We held a press conference and Rwandan media gave us prominent coverage. From September, mVISA begins roadshows and UOB will participate in the roadshows that will take place throughout the country.

2. UOB began a 4-month long radio campaign on Holistic Life Improvement (HLI) training that covers financial and business literacy. This radio campaign will be made through two radio stations one of which specifically target agricultural farmers. UOB sponsors prominent programs and as part of the programs, HLI training is aired. At the same time, mHose mVISA is also promoted in the middle of 5-7 minute long HLI training. May this radio training campaign bear many fruits!

3. UOB will be the first bank within Opportunity International implementing members, which will migrate into T24 R12 model bank. T24 is a world class core banking system and R12 is the most recent release to which UOB will migrate from the current R05 (2005 release). This migration, upon completion, would help us improve the operating efficiency significantly. This migration project had a kick-off meeting with global project manager and UOB's own task force. This project is one of five big rock projects of UOB for 2013.

4. The project to distribute  UOB Grace cards to borrowing clients have been completed in August. Now our focus will be on distributing these chip-based debit cards to deposit clients so that they may benefit from using 270 ATMs and other POS-based merchants or agents.

5. Rwanda's central bank held its semi-annual Monetary Policy Statement meeting in August. As of June 30th, 2013, Rwanda continued its stable but steadily improving economy. The permanent secretary of the Ministry of Finance acknowledged the volatility buried in the six month statistics, due mainly to the macroeconomic fiscal challenges associated with disrupted inflow of foreign development aid. For more details, click here

6. UOB scaled up its agricultural finance and education finance programs in August. To date, we have provided input/production loans for more than 4,000 farmers. For more details about Education Finance, click here

Yaramba Nursery
7. Kristin's Yaramba (Gicumbi) Nursery construction project has been completed in August. VBS was held with the assistance of two short temr mission teams, making the preparatory foundation strong. Please click here to see the blog post related to this.

8. Kristin and I made a quick travel to Burundi with a couple of lady pastors. For more details, click here

9. Jeffrey attended the Opportunity Kenya board meeting in Nairobi, Kenya and continued serving the Kingdom of God through preaching at UOB staff devotion and Agape Korean Church, and teaching/disciple making through Shalom Bible Study.

10. Please pray with us for the following subjects:

  • UOB regained a momentum in its key operational performance indicators to the levels of April 2013. The struggle continues and we pray for quick recovery to stabilize the operations as the macroeconomic situation is improving.
  • T24 R12 model bank migration project is significant for 2013. Please pray for thorough preparation and smooth migration that will begin in September.
  • HLI training and 5W for standardized group meeting are important for UOB's holistic transformation efforts. Please pray for all staff's strong buy-in and wholehearted implementation for effective impact on clients.
  • Kristin and I will be traveling to Korea in September to attend a week-long BAM (Business As Mission) consultation. Jeffrey has to deliver three lectures and another one at a church in Pohang. Also, we will see the SBS alumni in Seoul and Pohang. Please pray for travel mercy and fruitful meetings.
  • Our parents are stable without much improvement or worsening. Please join us in praying for their graceful finish of their lives on earth in hopes for the life to come. Amanda is in transition as she follows her husband James who is undergoing the training at several locations, to be able to fly special operations aircraft. Joyce continues her Peace Corps responsibility in Senegal. Please pray for their spiritual health to grow strong with solid foundation of faith in Christ.   
Thank you for standing with us in our ministries through prayer and support. You are an integral part of our ministries for our Lord Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.

Warmly and gratefully IN CHRIST,

Jeffrey and Kristin Lee from Kigali, RWANDA

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