'UOB Day' on July10th...

[We are a big family of 230.......... With Bishop John Rucyahana who was a preacher for the day.]

We hold UOB Day twice a year: one in January and the other in July. We held the UOB Day today, Saturday on July 10th.

UOB Day is a day when all UOB members gather together first to celebrate the Lord who is the creator of all, the savior of our lives and the ruler of all nations. He is the ultimate CEO of UOB. Second, on UOB Day we gather to fellowship with each other and to encourage each other. We give out awards to those who have served UOB for 5, 10 years and beyond. We also announce those who are promoted and pray for them. Third, we review UOB's performance. We rejoice in the success together with thanksgiving to the Lord, and share the challenges and plans to overcome them together.

Today, over 200 staff members gathered together in uniform polo shirts, wearing caps, and rallied for the Lord on what He is doing through us. Bishop John Rucyahana, a director of UOB's board, shared the Word of God. Based on 2 Corinthians 5:16-19, the Bishop challenged us as new creation to be the ambassadors of God, reconciling people to the Creator God. It was in line with our theme of "Arise and Shine." He asked us if we are shining as God's ambassadors. We were reminded that UOB is not an ordinary bank but a vessel of delivering God's message of love to the world, particularly the Rwandan poor.

We also delivered the Thurman Award to Chantal, one of UOB's clients, who won the Award from HOPE International. Also the lending team who helped her in the transformational process received a prize.

We shared the challenges we faced and the progress we made during the first half of 2010. We also shared the action plans we are taking to overcome the challenges. The second half will not be easy, but we resolved to work together as a team. TEAM stands for Together Everyone Achieves More.

This UOB Day had a special program of expressing appreciation to Ross Nathan who has served UOB for the past almost five years as Chief Operating Officer and sending him and his family off to Tanzania in a new assignment. Phil Smith, Vice Chairman of UOB's board delivered a message on behalf of the board and many colleagues also shared the moments of appreciation. We blessed him and his family with a prayer.

It was a wonderful gathering and I praised the Lord for what He will do for the rest of 2010 and beyond. - Jeffrey