A Miraculous Drama in Amesterdam...

Peter, the detective, who was an instrument used for revealing God's goodness

I am about to share God's miracle that happened to my wife and myself yesterday and today in Amsterdam.

On Friday, April 27th, we were returning from Brugge, Belgium, after celebrating our 29th wedding anniversary, to Amsterdam Central Station to join the bus tour group that originated from London on the same day. It was a 3 and half hour trip and everything seemed to be going well... only until I realized that our two backpacks disappeared from the rack above our seats on the train. We were getting close to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and many people were standing to get off the train. I got up from my seat to pull out the information about the hotel where we were supposed to go.

A passenger tipped me that a guy took the backpacks as if they were his after the train left the previous station. A thought came to my mind that they must still be on the train then. At this tip, I took off and started rushing through the passengers standing in the corridors waiting to get off in thin hopes of spotting the thieves. But my efforts ended in vain as the train arrived at the station and people started deboarding the train before I finished the search.

My wife went into a panic because she had everything in the backpack, including her high blood pressure medication, her passport and all cash we were going to spend for the next 2-3 weeks on top of all credit cards and some electronic gadgets that she was using. I also had a computer, 3 USBs that contain a lot of information that I cannot afford to lose, a day-timer that has a "half of my brain" according to my daughters, and of course, a credit card, driver's license and some cash. It would be a huge loss.

But, I am a pragmatist. I am able to adapt to situations pretty quickly. I can easily say "Let by-gone be by-gone" and move on. I believe that regret is always too late. Moreover, my reasoning ability starts working far better when a crisis occurs. I suppose I have inherited this attribute from my dad who retired as a police officer, It is known that his analytic and investigative insights were superior to others, thus handling many tough cases.

I immediately started thinking of follow up actions to deal with the situation and consequences. First, report to the police of the theft. Whether they will be able to catch the thieves or find the backpacks was only the secondary question. Second, pull out the information about the hotel where we are supposed to join the bus tour from e-mails. Third, pull out the information about the credit cards to report the theft and to deactivate them. Fourth, find a way to get a temporary passport for Kristin. Fifth, ask a friend of mine in the U.S. to send us some money via Western Union because we were getting into a long weekend in the Netherlands.

I do not intend to bore you with details, but while we were traveling to the hotel, our God Almighty was already working on this case that resulted from our carelessness of not keeping the backpacks in our sight and in good custody. He turned our mistake into a wonderful opportunity for us to experience His power, goodness and abundant grace.

When we arrived at the hotel, one of the owners, called Lusie, welcomed us and informed us that the police caught the thieves in Den Haag, 60 km away from the hotel, and everything we thought we lost had been recovered, including computers, Kristin's passport, credit cards and even cash. We could not believe what we were told! How could the police catch the thieves so quickly in such a large city and recover everything we thought we lost? It did not make sense at all. To us, it was a miracle and we had no choice but to say "Hallelujah!"

This is the account of the police detective, called Peter, who caught the thieves. Den Haag is a city where many people (120 people groups according to Peter) are living, including many criminals. Two thieves got on the train we were riding and stole our backpacks, exchanged all US dollars into Euros and came back to Den Haag. In a residential area where they are supposed to be living, they were sorting out what should be thrown away and what should be kept. Also they were discussing how to divide the harvest. A neighbor felt suspicious of their behaviors and reported to the police. A detective, Peter, happened to be right around the spot and arrested them immediately even before they finished their discussion. They were arrested approximately within two hours after they stole our backpacks. That is an unbelievable and incredible story!

How did they find us? Kristin had all the trip information in the backpack. The police contacted the travel company in London and the travel company contacted my daughter living in New Mexico and left a voice mail message on my Skype call. Also, the police called the hotel where we are staying now and left a message that the thieves were caught.

Last night, when we arrived at the hotel, it was a moment of jubilee when we were informed of the news. While I was talking with Lusie, the police officer called and right after our dialogue through Lusie our daughter Amanda called and we were able to talk also. A series of accidents? No. It was a miracle.
 
Today, Saturday, we went to the police station in Den Haag and reported to the police officer through a registered interpreter for two hours about what happened and what we lost in details. After that, we recovered everything we thought we lost, even all the cash and credit cards!

For the past two days, we experienced God's goodness through so many good people who were exceedingly good to us. Lusie was helping us out as if it was her own matter. She talked to the police officer and answered our questions in the middle of receiving several groups of clients. Her attitude was genuine and we thanked God for her. She even helped us by asking one of her own staff to drive us to Amsterdam Central Station this morning because it was raining heavily. Also, the hotel staff, a 29-year old Polish young man, was kind and good to us. The taxi driver who took us from the train station in Den Haag to the police station was also very good to us. The police officer, Peter, was exceedingly good to us with extreme patience. God's goodness revealed through many people made us humble and immeasurably grateful. How great Thou art!!!

It was a drama, a miraculous drama that was performed in less than 20 hours in Amsterdam.

On the way back, we could not stop praising the good and faithful Lord who demonstrated His goodness even through the mistakes that we made. It was a miracle to us and we gained even stronger conviction that God is good and He works even now strongly in our very lives to manifest His love, goodness and power. May His goodness be proclaimed to all nations forever! May we worship Him, honor Him and glorify Him through our lives as blessings to others! Amen! - Jeffrey 

29th Wedding Anniversary in Brugge Belgium...

A surprise fire cracker for Kristin made her laugh

April 25th is our wedding anniversary day. We celebrated our 29th anniversary in Brugge, Belgium. After a long trip from Kigali via Nairobi and Amsterdam made us tired, but a wonderful dinner, at a surprisingly fine French restaurant at the hotel we are staying for two nights, made our celebration joyous. We praised God's faithful grace that was poured upon us over the past 29 years in many forms and shapes.

Obviously there have been ups and downs, laughs and tears, joy and pains, times of health and sickness and times of agreement and disagreement over the past 29 years. But one thing clear has always been that we honor and worship Jehovah God and Jesus Christ. He has been the third string in our relationship that bonded us together and strong even when our own relationships were shaky. (Ecclesiastes 4:12)

God has not only helped us spiritually born again into His light but also helped us draw closer to Him little by little to be like Jesus Christ. We know we are still far off and it is a long way to go. But we trust He will never give up on us as long as we cling to Him and we will eventually be like Him when we wake up. (Psalms 17:15)

He has entrusted with us two daughters who have received the seeds of the gospel when they were young and have been educated well. Amanda graduated from US Air Force Academy and is married to a US Air Force pilot, now living in Clovis, New Mexico. Joyce graduated from Wharton School at U Penn and is now getting ready to go to Senegal as a Peace Corps member. Both daughters make us proud of them and we are grateful to our God for them.

He has also entrusted with us many different ministry opportunities: youth ministry, college ministry, young adult ministries, English ministries at three churches, teacher training ministry, Project BGAN ministries, short term missions, bible study groups, shelter ministries and now ministering to Rwandans. We have been blessed and we are deeply grateful for the blessings we have received.

A beautiful setting

The desert, the highlight...

We worked together. We traveled together. We served together. We ate together. We walked together. It is a great blessing to have a company in life.

However long our remaining life may be and whatever ministry He may lead us to do for the rest of our life, but we have one thing in common and we are very clear about it: we shall honor and follow Jesus Christ's lead and His instruction.

Thank you, Lord, for holding us together for 29 years! May the faithful Lord hold our hands together as we walk along with Him for the rest of our life together! - Jeffrey 

UOB Support Center Opened...

On Monday, April 23, 2012, UOB opened its Support Center in Kimironko. We worshiped and praised God who enabled us to open it in a tight schedule.

It is a three story building in Kimironko where our branch is located. Approximately 26 people have relocated to this Support Center.

The branch has also been expanded to accommodate the growing number of clients. By the time I arrived at 8AM, a dozen clients were waiting for the branch to open. The expanded banking hall seemed to be too small already. I felt assured again that the branchless agent banking is the only solution to address this growing client base. We are now pilot testing the mobile and agent banking solutions from February through May. We plan to launch it in July.

During the devotion, I shared a message based on Matthew 5:13-16 about "Salt and Light." I referred to this scripture to remind ourselves that we should be the salt of the earth and the light of the world in the area where the Support Center is located. People know who we are and what we do. If we fail to live up to our identity as children of God and His Kingdom citizens, we may end up disgracing our God.

The life of the salt requires us to be righteous before God. Such a life will only slow down or prevent the decay of the world. It will also add the flavor of "purpose" to the meaningless and futile life of the world. Any impurity will only cause us to reduce or lose the saltiness. The life of the salt plays a role of preventing the negative aspect of life in the world.

The life of the light requires us to be always facing the true light, Jesus Christ, to be able to reflect His light to the world. We are not the light ourselves. We only reflect the true light that Jesus himself claimed to be. We should also be pure and clean before Him to be able to reflect His light effectively. The scripture refers to being the light as doing the good deeds. Through these good deeds in His sight will bring God praise He desires and deserves. The life of the light plays a role of reflecting the true light positively and proactively to the darkening world.

We plan to hold a reception on June 7th, Thursday, with the UOB board members, after the board committee meetings, and invited guests.

May the good Lord continue blessing us to be effective blessing to many others around us! - Jeffrey

A Five-Week Leave...

Kristin and I will be traveling from April 24th until May 28th. It includes a trip to several countries in Europe, a trip that involves medical and dental check-up, a family reunion with our children, seeing old friends, filing a tax return, seeing Kristin's mother who is ill and attending a conference in Lancaster, PA.

The trip to Europe has been long waited. We meant to be part of an organized bus tour for quite some time and now is the time. We will visit Bruges (Belgium), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Berlin and Dresden (Germany), Prague (Czech Republic), Bratislava (Slovakia), Vienna (Austria), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Venice and Rome (Italy) and The Vatican City. I know the duration of the visit to each city will be short, but we are excited about this insight trip.

We have our medical doctor in Littleton, Colorado and our dentist in New York City. Our older daughter and her husband live in Clovis, New Mexico and our younger daughter is living in New York City. Kristin's mother and her brothers all live in New York and New Jersey. Moreover, we have friends and supporters in California, Colorado and New York. So the logistics are somewhat challenging, but in one form or another we will get to see them, we pray.

I will also be attending a week-long HOPE Leadership Summit to take place in Lancaster, PA where HOPE International is headquartered.

So the cities that we will be visiting in sequence are:

Kigali - Amsterdam - Brussels - Bruges - Amsterdam - Berlin - Dresden - Prague - Bratislava - Vienna - Ljubljana - Venice - Rome - Florence - Rome - Amsterdam - New York City - Denver - (Kristin visits Los Angeles) - New York City - Lancaster - New York City - Kigali (via Amsterdam)

We are deeply grateful to the good Lord for this travel opportunity. Before we leave, however, there are still tons of work to be done. It is my prayer that we may receive the Lord's favor in managing the priorities and tasks effectively prior to our departure in Tuesday evening. Also, there will be still a lot of projects to progress while we are traveling. May the Lord also be gracious to us and UOB while we are away! - Jeffrey

A Korean Movie Night at Korean Embassy...

UOB staff wearing "I love Korea, I love Rwanda" shirts

20 members of UOB staff participated in a Korean movie night at Korean Embassy in Rwanda on Thursday, April 19th. The Ambassador Heon Lee greeted us in person along with several staff, and provided us with snacks and "I love Korea, I love Rwnnda" shirts. We were grateful for their services and hospitality.

We watched a short video presentation about Korean's miraculous economic and social development after the 3-year Korean War that destroyed the peninsula into ruins. We also watched a few K-Pop music videos. K-Pop musics are spreading like wild fire not only in Asia but also in Europe and U.S.A.

The movie we watched was titled "Into the fire." This movie was based on a true story about 71 student soldiers who fought against North Korean troops to slow down their rapid advancement towards a city called "Pohang" during the Korean War.

All our staff was moved by the young students's sacrificial deaths, but they were more inspired by Korea's unbelievable economic development stories just over a half century from the second poorest country in the world after the War now to one of the top 10-economies in the world.

I challenged our staff and encouraged them to aim high and to work hard towards making it happen in Rwanda also.

May it come true in Rwanda indeed! - Jeffrey

A Study on the "Sermon on the Mount" Completed

On Friday, April 20, Shalom Bible Study (SBS) completed its study on the Sermon on the Mount. It has taken 20 lesson. 12 members participated in the last session and we all sincerely prayed and pledged to start applying the lessons into our lives like building a house on a rock, rather than on sand.

New members have joined us and they all look sincere and committed. A missionary family has yielded the seats to new members because we were running out of space. How grateful we are for their considerate heart!

As usual, we had a special dinner for fellowship. This time, Kristin cooked "Vietnamese wrap." It was delicious and everyone loved it!

For the next bible study, we have decided to study on "Believers' Armour" based on Ephesians 6.

Unfortunately, we forgot about taking a photo.

May the good Lord continue blessing us through this bible study! - Jeffrey

Resurrection Day in 2012...

Jesus Christ has risen from the dead!
He is alive!
He has become the first fruit of all resurrections to come.

Resurrection is an essential component of Christianity. Without resurrection, Christian faith is futile.

Resurrection is different from resuscitation. Resuscitation is restoration of breath on a recently dead person. There are numerous cases: Lazarus, Peter's mother in law. Even some people have reportedly gained resuscitation in recent days. But they die again.

Resurrection is different from reincarnation. Reincarnation is getting born again into another being according to the believers of this. Another being could be another human being, or the same human being in different times of history or another form of living creatures including animals. Buddhists believe that life circles around and around. If you are a good person in this life, you have a high chance of being born into another good being in the next life that may come after decades, centuries or thousands of years. If not, you may be born into another not so desirable being. Resurrection is not what reincarnation claims to represent. Christianity does not believe in this.

Resurrection is different from regeneration. Regeneration pertains to a spiritual rebirth that takes place when a sinner confesses his or her sin and accepts Jesus as the Savior towards salvation. Resurrection goes beyond regeneration.

Resurrection represents people coming alive with a transformed glorious body like that of the resurrected Jesus. There has not been such a case, other than Jesus Christ, and there will be no such a case until Jesus Christ returns as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords on the day of Jubilee. Through His resurrection, Jesus became the first fruit of all resurrections to come, including yours and mine if you are a born-again Christian.

Resurrection points to the glory. Thus, it gives hope and purpose in life. It makes us prepare in this life for the life to come because it will be eternal. Resurrection leads us to see the eternity of the life to come. What a privilege!

Like Christmas, Jesus Christ's resurrection has been tarnished with commercialized unrelated stuffs, such as bunny, eggs, lilies although I acknowledge their historical connections at certain point in time. Resurrection is a bodily transformation into a glorious body without constraints in space and time. It presents a body without pain, agony or sorrow. More than anything else, resurrection makes it foreseeable for us to be with the Lord forever and ever. He is risen indeed! Praise the risen Lord! Rejoice! - Jeffrey

Genocide Memorial 18th Anniversary in Rwanda...

Genocide Memorial Center in Gisozi

Today is another memorial day for the Genocide against Tutsis 18 years ago.

800,000 to 1,000,000 were slaughtered in 100 days. It was the fastest paced genocide ever. It was all over even before the world admitted that something was happening in Rwanda.

The U.N. was avoiding the use of the term "genocide" because it would trigger certain actions if it did.
They ended up deliberately turning their back against the genocide that was occurring in Rwanda.
Shame. But a fact.

Photos of People Killed during Genocide

Many Western world countries were also keeping their actions in step with the U.N.'s decision, indecision in that matter. It was probably natural under the circumstances. Nonetheless, it was also shame on them.

Slaughtered people are dead. So they are no longer alive. At least physically. They are gone. But many people survived the genocide and are still alive. They live with deep scars and horrible memories. They still suffer from nightmares and become hysteric about the terrifying memories from time to time. Each year's memorial period of 100 days until July 4th, including the week-long Mourning Week starting today, is the toughest time for these survivors. The past becomes alive again and again. And again.

The government is campaigning a slogan for the Genocide Memorial Period each year: "Never again."
Rightfully so. Probably people will be reminded and brainwashed not to think of any genocide again.
Or do they wish. Whether it be true or not, many people suffer greatly in the mean time.

From early morning, cars are driving around the towns with a loud speaker, calling people to attend the genocide memorial ceremony to take place all over the places in the country. This almost mandatory ceremony attendance will continue on and off for the next 100 days all over the country. People must attend it. Otherwise, you may be labeled negatively. Many times, businesses are forced to close down to attend the ceremony.

Tombstone listing People Killed

Some human rights activists criticize this forced attendance as an evidence of dictatorship and lack of freedom. Well... they may be right from their Western-style democracy viewpoint. But I am not sure if it is appropriate to apply the Western democracy to this virgin country. But, they cannot be blamed to be totally wrong because there are involuntary and unwilling components in these government-led activities.

The truth will prevail. No matter how long it may take.

On the other hand, there have been numerous positive developments. I am an advocate of this country. A strong one. I am amazed by the leader and the government in their efforts to becoming an exemplary nation in Africa. Not just economically but in many many fronts. I see clear evidences and even good fruits. However you dice and slice it, it is absolutely true that Rwanda has been transforming from a nation torn apart into pieces by the genocide into a nation of economic development, transparent governance, forgiveness and healing, clean streets, safe environment, pursuit of excellence, business friendliness and on and on. The list can go on. Amazing. Simply amazing. Enough said.

On this day, I pray that another genocide of any kind against any people should never happen again. Never again.

I also pray that Rwandans, particularly Rwandan leaders, fear God Almighty and humble themselves before Him and seek His divine wisdom for their future.

I sincerely pray that God will bless this nation to make an unprecedented precedent in Africa and in the world to be the fastest developing nation without losing a balance.

I also pray that Rwanda becomes a blessing to many other African countries and beyond not only economically but also socially and spiritually.

On this day, I confess that I am blessed and thankful to be part of this nation-rebuilding process in Rwanda. Thank you, Lord, for bringing us to Rwanda! - Jeffrey  

Good Friday...

Today is Good Friday.
Some people call it Holy Friday.
It commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Crucifixion was the cruelest form of death penalty at that time.
But it was not uncommon.
Many serious criminals were crucified.

But why was Jesus Christ crucified?
What did He do so terribly that He had to be crucified?
He was only merciful, gracious, healing the sick and feeding the hungry.
He was sinless and did not even know what sin was. (1 Corinthians 5:21)

But God gave up Jesus to save His people as a ransom for many. Atoning sacrifice.
And Jesus Christ gave himself up to obey the Father's will. He became sin.
He became a curse to save the cursed. Us.
But still... why crucifixion?
Because to fulfill the scripture.
Whoever was hung on a tree was cursed according to the scripture.
He was hung on the cross (tree) to be cursed to save the cursed. Us.
Unbelievable plan of God, satisfying His holiness and love at the same time, to save His people. Us.

The cross of Jesus Christ was in substitution for our death that was inevitable wage for our sins.
His cross was redemptive of God's people lost to Satan because of our own sins.
His cross justified the unjustifiable sinners in the holy eyes of God.
His cross restored our broken relationship with God.
His cross set us free from the penalty of sin.
His cross atoned our sins.
His cross saved us.

Some people say that Holy Friday is good because we are saved.
But we are not the focus of His cross.
God is the focus of His cross.
His goodness has manifested through this redemptive cross.
This Holy Friday is Good because He is Good, not because we are saved.

On this Good Friday, I remember and praise God's goodness again.
May Thy goodness prevail over wickedness and last forever and ever!
May our hearts be filled with gratitude and humility forever and ever!
May Thy name be lifted up high and glorified!  - Jeffrey

UOB Annual Report 2011 Published

UOB has published its annual report for 2011.

Its cover page shows "Shalom" at the background and a white dove that is about to descend. (See the left.)

Shalom was the spiritual and management theme of UOB for 2011. While we were preparing the annual report, we realized again how gracious our God was on UOB in 2011.

Not only UOB grew significantly, almost doubling its loan portfolio and achieving a 70% growth in deposits, but also it scaled up its transformation efforts in 2011. Staff morale was boosted and we clearly saw God's touch.

We thanked our God again and again and again.

Our love for God and commitment to our faith in Him have become even stronger.

God is good all the time. - Jeffrey

Ministry Updates - March 2012

Dear friends, family and fellow Kingdom workers,

We are always amazed by the way God works. We were blessed by what He did to and through UOB.

1. UOB has been pilot testing its mobile banking and branch-less agent banking solutions with four groups of clients. It has been working well so far and we honor our God for His grace. We have been signing up new agents. Thus far, four independent retail merchants have signed up and KCB Rwanda, Kenya's largest bank, has also signed up as UOB's agents. UOB has also signed up to be KCB's agent for its mobile banking. This way, both banks can allow their clients use each other's branches for their banking transactions. KCB and UOB are in strategic alliance. We are also working on enhancing the functional solutions to our mobile banking to appeal to deposit clients.

to the Scottish government for a grant that will help us expand our agricultural and energy products in Rwanda. The result will be announced in April and we would like to request your prayer.

2. OI UK has submitted a proposal to the Scottish government for a grant that, once approved, will help expand agricultural and energy products to rural Rwanda significantly. The result will be announced in April and I would like to request your prayer.

3. UNCDF has selected to work with UOB on its project in cooperation with KOICA. This project will focus on two districts, Kamonyi and Nyamagabe, and Kicukiro College of Technology for financial inclusion and entrepreneurial financing. We are blessed by many resources that God provides for UOB.

   

4. We are expanding our "Linkage Loans" particularly with CARE International's VSLA (Village Savings and Loan Association). Our pilot testing was successful and we have come to an agreement to scale up our collaboration. May God bless us in this endeavor so that those who are in informal sectors may have access to formal financial services freely. 

5. We have finally begun to offer Western Union remittance services at all eight (8) branches. It has been delayed somewhat due to system configuration challenges. We will soon begin to offer RIA remittances and Money Gram in April. UOB will be the only bank that offers all three remittance services, in addition to global wire transfer services in Rwanda.

6. UOB's loan portfolio continued its increase to Rwf7.9 Billion as of March 30th, up from Rwf7.56 Billion a month earlier. The deposit balance also increased to over Rwf5.2 Billion. UOB's loan portfolio quality declined slightly with PAR>30 days at 1.5%. 

7. For the first two months in 2012, UOB reported an operating profit despite a slow seasonality and significant salary adjustments that we made for annual performance review. We are so grateful! In March, we expect to continue being sustainable. Praise the Lord!

8. For the month of February, the number of clients who received at least one lesson of HLI training was close to 9,000. We are prayerfully working closely with all relationship staff to increase this client transformation effort further in 2012. 

9. UOB is in the process of establishing its Support Center in Kimironko. Construction began in March and is almost completed. In April, approximately 25 UOB support staff will relocate to the Support Center. We will hand over the space above KCB Rwanda Head Office that we have been using to KCB for its own use. With a slightly more rent, we will more than double our current space. We are also expanding our Kimironko Branch to meet the growing needs at the branch.

10. UOB is exploring the possibility of bringing solar chargers and efficient cooking stoves to its clients. We are collaborating with MTN on solar chargers and with Paradigm on efficient cooking stoves. Both will help improve the life quality of our clients, while presenting a micro business opportunity. 

11. UOB has strengthened its Branch Support Team by hiring a leader for the team. This is part of the bank's continuous efforts to strengthening its operations team. Also, UOB has signed a contract to hire its Chief Operating Officer. Once she joins UOB in April, UOB will have a strong operations team to be able to better serve its clients in branch operations. We thank the Lord for His providence.

12. UOB has published its 2011 Annual Report. It looks beautiful, but more importantly it shows how wonderful God's grace was upon UOB indeed in 2011. If you want to receive an electronic version of it, please let me know.

13. Korean missionaries in Rwanda continued the monthly prayer fellowship and it was a blessing to us all. We hope to see this fellowship develop further to collaboration that will produce synergy for His Kingdom. 

14. Jeffrey continued serving God's people through preaching at UOB staff devotion and Agape Korean Church in Rwanda. He also led the weekly Shalom Bible Study, studying the Sermon on the Mount. It is a time of mutual blessing and spiritual growth.

15. We have the following Prayer Requests: Please...

      * Pray for the UOB's continuing holistic transformational development through Christian micro finance in Rwanda.

      * Pray for the continued beta pilot testing for mobile and agent banking until June.
      * Pray for a scaled-up progress in UOB's agricultural lending program.

      * Pray for successful development of financial resources for several projects under development. 

      * Pray for God's wisdom and guidance in designing effective educational finance products that will benefit many students in Rwanda

      * Pray for our children (Amanda + James, and Joyce) to figure out what God has in store for their lives on earth. 

      * Pray for God's peacefulness in the heart of Kristin's mom during her last days of life on earth

We appreciate your standing with us through prayer and support!   

Every spiritual blessing IN CHRIST, (Ephesians 1:3)

Jeffrey and Kristin Lee from Kigali, RWANDA,