Lisa McColm

Did you know that over 45% of Rwanda’s population is children?  38% of children live in poverty and 38% suffer from malnutrition due to not having enough food to eat.  The people of Rwanda are resilient and hard working, but they could use your help.

Ten Talents International is hosting a trip to Rwanda in July, 2024 and we’d love for you to come with us. We’re traveling Thursday July 11th through Saturday July 20th (returning home on Sunday July 21st).

* Focus: host a Vacation Bible School for children that are in our program and outside of it
* Goal: evangelism and education through Bible stories and scripture memorization
* Cost: $1,200 plus airfare. Airfare should be about $2,200 (PDX to KGL).

If you have more questions or would like to join us please email [email protected]

One of our founders, Michael McColm, will be traveling to Rwanda this weekend for a 10 day trip where he will be spending time meeting with the Ten Talents International staff, children in our sponsorship program, and with their families. He will also be looking into new ministry opportunities while he is there!

This is his first visit back to Rwanda since 2019 and we’d like to ask for prayer for his trip. Please pray that his time there would be productive and fruitful and that he would not become weary. Please also pray that God would protect him and his health and that God would guide and direct him throughout the trip, even setting up “divine appointments ” for him.

We thank you for your prayers and support! If you’d like to give to the ministry please click here.

We had another wonderful center day last week. Our day was divided into a few sections- worship, preaching, writing letters to sponsors and meeting with students and parents to discuss any challenges they might be going through.

 

Your support, either as a one time donation or a monthly sponsorship, goes directly to supporting at-risk children and families in Rwanda.

CLICK HERE TO GIVE

We had a wonderful Center Day on Saturday, August 12th, with the students and families in our programs. If you haven’t heard of them, Center Days are a time where students who are a part of the Ten Talents International program come to our local office with their parents or guardians and participate in, what is essentially, a group check-in day. The staff can meet with the families and/or students, provide direction, and answer any questions the student might have. This is a time when students, families, and staff get to know one another better and can share experiences with each other. There is also a time for sharing of God’s word and teaching of the bible.

After prayers on Saturday, we shared stories of progress and prayer requests. As for the progress, most of the students performed well and have been promoted to the next levels in their schooling!

Among the prayer requests, the most sensitive one was from one of our students, Martin. His father fell from a tree and suffered a serious back injury. Please pray for his complete recovery and healing!

We have another center day coming in September so please also keep our students and faculty in your prayers!

Your support, either as a one time donation or a monthly sponsorship, goes directly to supporting at-risk children and families in Rwanda.

CLICK HERE TO GIVE

As a partner with you in helping children and families in Rwanda, it is our privilege to watch the young people in our sponsorship program grow over the years and eventually develop into adults.  This year we have some students from our In Home Program (The Home of Innocence) who have completed their studies and will be moving out of sponsorship to independent living. We celebrate with them this milestone in their lives, and we thank each one of you who have helped this ministry to be a help to them.  The opportunities you have helped to provide have made all the difference to them.  Out of respect for their privacy, we cannot share all of how they came into our program, but we would like to give you a little glimpse into how far God has brought them over these years.

Bigirimana Jean Pierre had polio as a child, resulting in some physical challenges for him.  Before joining our program in 2009, he had been forced to leave his own home and didn’t have any support.  Jean Pierre completed electrical and electronics engineering in May 2022 with an advanced diploma. He is currently working in the plastics industry while applying for a job of his qualification.

Twahirwa Aimable came into our care in 2010 with special needs due to his heart condition. His mother was also sick a lot and his father was not supportive.  Aimable was struggling when he came to us.  He has now completed driving school and he has a part-time job on construction sites. His future plan is to get a driver’s license.

Musoni Celestin was the very first child enrolled in the Ten Talents International sponsorship program in 2008.  He was living on the streets without any family at all.  While in our care he was able to find some of his family members.  He has now completed culinary arts studies. He started working with Marriott hotel in Rwanda last year.

Dukundane Adrien came into our care in 2009, when he was 6 years old.  He has a chronic health condition, and his mom also had a chronic health issue which left her unable to care for him.  He has now completed hairdressing training in 2021 with a certificate and has been doing part-time jobs. He will live with family members, due to his health conditions (which need follow up). He plans to have his own business of selling charcoal (a cooking fuel used widely in Rwanda).

Before he came into our care in 2010, Manzi Alex’s parents had died when he was young, and he was living with a neighbor who was no longer able to care for him.  He has now completed a short course in film production with a certificate, and was taking English lessons before COVID 19. He works seasonal security jobs.  His future plan is to start a business of operating a gym/fitness center or a small shop.

We are so grateful that God has allowed us to be a part of these individual success stories.  What an honor!  Please continue to pray for the success of these young people, and for us to be able to help more children find these opportunities.  If you would like to be a part of blessing a child and blessing the future of a nation, please visit our sponsorship page and sign up!

With Gratitude,

Michael and Lisa McColm

Hello friends,

Thank you for your support this year: each donation you’ve sent in has gone directly to supporting at risk children and families in Rwanda.  As we reflect on 2022, we’d like to give you our own type of “12 Days of Christmas” but this could be called, “The Many Ways You’ve Made a Difference.”

In 2022 your help enabled us to reach:

55 At Risk Students: providing school fees, supplies, medical insurance, food, and other support that enabled them to continue their education while remaining with their families.

19 In Home Youth:  these children and young people would not have a suitable home to live in, if it weren’t for you.  Your support provided everything mentioned above for their education and health, plus a safe place to live, food, and other items needed to sustain a household.

13 College Students: providing for their school fees, supplies, medical insurance, and other needs so they can achieve their dreams.  5 of these students also graduated this year!

2 Technical School Students: again providing for them so they can gain the skills needed to be able to provide for themselves. These 2 students also graduated this year!

4 In Country Staff:  all that we do is made possible by our staff who take care of the office, meet with families, coordinate with all the different schools each child attends, do bookkeeping and paying of school fees, oversee the children who are In Home, help children write letters to their sponsors, and much more!

There’s still time to give and do more good in 2022!  Your donation today means a child is able to go into 2023 knowing they’re loved and supported.

We wish you all the best in the new year and if you can help us end 2022 strong, we would greatly appreciate it.

God bless you, Michael & Lisa McColm

Click HERE for year-end giving

Diane was being raised by her mother only, a genocide survivor who had no job. She was able to complete primary, secondary, and advanced school thanks to friends of the family who paid her way, however when it came time to move onto University she had no funding and no one to support her efforts.  She dropped out and gave up hope of finishing her education.  In 2017 she was connected with Ten Talents International and invited to be in their sponsorship program in 2018. This allowed her to resume her studies at Mount Kenya University where she eventually graduated in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management (Risk Management and Insurance). She is very thankful to Ten Talents for supporting her and fulfilling her dream to complete her education. She is currently working with SANLAM Insurance and able to support her mother and her younger sister.

Diane is one of many success stories from Ten Talents International and we wanted to share her story with you to show how much difference one person can make in someone’s life.  Because of Diane’s sponsorship the trajectory of her life has been changed and also that of her entire family.

Thank you for supporting at risk youth through Ten Talents!

Did you know that over 45% of Rwanda’s population is children?  38% of children live in poverty and 38% suffer from malnutrition due to not having enough food to eat.  Rwanda has overcome so many obstacles since the horrific genocide of 1994 which wiped out nearly 1 million of its citizens and sent the country into collapse.

Center days have started back again for the students in our program in Kigali. The students who are a part of our Ten Talents International program come to our local office with their parents or guardians and participate in, what is essentially, a group check-in day. The staff can meet with the families and/or students, provide direction, and answer any questions the student might have. This is a time when students, families, and staff get to know one another better and can share experiences with each other. There is also a time for sharing of God’s word and teaching of the bible. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the center days were the first and second Saturday each month and we’re so glad that these days have started again!
During the first center day at the beginning of August, the students learned about Psalm 146 1-10 as Mama Ishimwe led the bible preaching. When that was over they were able to spend some time in prayer for fellow parents who had lost a spouse. One of the newer students mother’s said this time was unlike anything else she had participated in during her previous NGO (Non-Governmental Organization… which are organizations like Ten Talents who help struggling families). It’s so important to us that our students know God and we love that this time can be a blessing to so many families.

After their prayer and bible time, they spoke about things relating to the students like school fee payments, health insurance, rent issues, and anything else that they might have questions about. Many of the families and students expressed eagerness to see the US team again and the parents shared appreciation for food support during Covid-19 and other programs that supported their children’s educations.

Thank you for supporting these students and their families, because of you days like this can happen and students can not only feel comfortable with the upcoming school year but also find fellowship with other families and hear the hope of Jesus Christ and his love for them.