Mid-Atlantic Christian University, Elizabeth City, N.C., has signed a memorandum of understanding with Rwanda Challenge and Africa Hope Initiatives to offer an accredited associate degree in Bible and ministry to the people of Rwanda and other East African nations.
A year ago, Rwanda Challenge director Frank Reynolds approached MACU and shared the need for such a degree. In 2023, Rwandan law will require all ministers to have an accredited associate degree in ministry. Through discussions, the three groups arrived at a solution for providing the necessary degree at an affordable cost.
Students will take the majority of the courses online, but some courses will be offered in-country. Africa Hope Initiatives currently partners with Rwanda Challenge to provide leadership training to church leaders. They will maintain property and supply day-to-day operations of the facility. Rwanda Challenge will provide the financial resources for the endeavor and Mid-Atlantic will offer the academic program.
Rwandan law requires that all higher education be conducted in English, so language should not be a significant barrier. A low-cost approach to the degree is essential, since Rwanda is one of the poorest countries in Africa. Under the plan, Rwandan students will pay a small fee (equal to a few U.S. dollars) for each course; Rwanda Challenge plans to fundraise so it can shoulder the larger share of the costs and make the program possible. Faculty will be asked to forgo a salary for teaching.
“We are excited about this opportunity,” said Kevin Larsen, MACU’s vice president for academic affairs. “From its founding, MACU has had a passion for ministry and training ministry leaders. This is another opportunity for us to contribute to the advancement of God’s kingdom.”
“This partnership with MACU and AHI is a significant step in the future health of the local church in Rwanda and East Africa,” Rwanda Challenge’s Frank Reynolds added.
“What a blessing this will be,” said Bishop Rugubira M. Theophile of Africa Hope Initiatives. “The churches in Rwanda will be so much stronger and in a position to have even greater influence on our culture by having leaders with formal Bible and ministry training.”
The first courses are scheduled to begin in March.
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News Briefs
Compiled by Jim Nieman
Compassion Christian Church in Savannah, Ga., is opening the doors of its new community center twice weekly to families and children in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We realized immediately that people needed food, and our partnerships with our local schools [informed] us that there needed to be a space for free WiFi and technology for families,” campus pastor Drew Humphreys told www.WSAV.com. Students may also check out laptop computers.
The facility, located at the church’s East Campus, is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
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A hiker who was rescued after spending a night in subfreezing temperatures at Mount Rainier National Park, and whose heart subsequently stopped for 45 minutes in a hospital emergency room, is recovering, according to an article in the Journal of Emergency Medical Services.
Michael Knapinski, 45, told the media he does volunteer work with the Salvation Army Food Bank in Seattle and building houses through Overlake Christian Church in Redmond, Wash.
“And as soon as I get physically able, that’s going to be my calling in life,” Knapinski said. “Just helping people.”
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Lee Strobel’s new four-week Case for Christmas Online Bible Study is being made available free of charge from Nov. 30 to Jan. 1 through a partnership with Bible Gateway.
In the study, Strobel—former legal editor of The Chicago Tribune and a former atheist—investigates whether the account of the birth and divinity of Jesus is logically and historically credible. The lessons will be released one per week for four weeks.
Go to BibleGateway.com to learn more.
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Kyle Idleman worked with City on a Hill a few years ago to produce a video-based small group study called The Christmas Experience. Materials include an 80-minute movie, pastor’s kit, leader’s guide, participant’s guide, and journal. Idleman now serves as senior pastor of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville.
Learn more about and/or order The Christmas Experience and its various components from City on a Hill, RightNow Media, Amazon, ChristianBook.com, Kyle Idleman’s Facebook, and SmallGroupLeadership.com.
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Central Christian College of the Bible—which this fall began offering a Master of Arts in Ministry Leadership at its campus in Moberly, Mo.—will welcome its first cohort of graduate students to its extension site in Florence, Ky. (near Cincinnati), in January.
The degree track is designed for those working in the ministry to enhance their skill sets and bring congregations and churches to solid health. CCCB has been working with the Christian Church Leadership Foundation and the Russell School of Ministry to continue the legacy of ministry education in Greater Cincinnati since the closure of Cincinnati Christian University late last year.
CCCB representatives will be in the Cincinnati area in early December to meet with those who are interested in the program. Learn more at cccb.edu.
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Kissimmee (Fla.) Christian Church partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank to provide boxes filled with food and worship invitations to people in more than 500 vehicles that came to the church Nov. 11.
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Lincoln (Ill.) Christian Church is partnering with Community Action Partnership of Central Illinois and with Group Mission Trips for a project called Workcamp for Lincoln during the week of July 25-31, 2021. That week, several hundred youth and professional volunteers will perform repairs, painting, and building accessibility improvements for 60 to 70 local homeowners impacted by COVID-19.
State Bank of Lincoln is accessing Targeted Impact Fund grants for the program available via the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, according to a story in the Courier. TIF monies may be used for direct support of organizations that help persons impacted by the coronavirus.
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Milligan University in Tennessee will increase traditional undergraduate costs (for such things as tuition, fees, and standard room and board) by 1.49 percent for the 2021-22 academic year, the lowest increase in 30 years, according to president Bill Greer.
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Volunteers at a food-packing event Saturday at RiverGlen Christian Church in Waukesha, Wis., prepared 100,000 meals for shipment to Panama, where a pastor will help distribute the food and minister to people affected by COVID-19, according to story at www.fox6now.com.
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Walter D. Zorn, a former professor at Lincoln (Ill.) Christian University and Great Lakes Christian College, Lansing, Mich., has written a new book, The Faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah: A Gospel Emphasis. The book is available from Wipf and Stock Publishers and Amazon.
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