Catching the Vision

Ruhtt Mbomwae is an incredible asset here at Namwianga Mission. Ruhtt was an Olympic runner in her home country of Peru. Years ago Abilene Christian University recruited her for their track team. During her time at ACU Ruhtt learned English, ran track, and became a Christian. She also met and married Shepherd Mbomwae, a Zambian. Ruhtt and Shepherd came here to Namwianga for Shepherd to teach computer science and business. Since then Ruhtt has been a tireless worker in a variety of ministries. Ruhtt was instrumental in upgrading the college library. She has started women’s ministries in some villages where she gathers the women to crochet or sew as a way to earn extra money, and then she conducts Bible studies. Shepherd and Ruhtt have planted at least thirteen new congregations, including one in a blind community where they have organized college students to serve the needs of the disabled members.

Most recently Ruhtt teamed up with Canadian donors to open six Christian Community Schools in remote villages. These schools serve students who do not live within walking distance of the nearest government school. The community members provide labor to build buildings and pay some expenses, but the majority of the funding comes from the group in Canada. Ruhtt hires teachers, gets the buildings built, gets uniforms made, obtains supplies, and does whatever else needs done to keep the schools in operation. These schools even provide one meal a day for their students, since most of the children who attend are extremely poor.

Ruhtt invited me to do a training session with her teachers on the subject of teaching from a Christian perspective. Doing workshops on this topic is one of my passions, so I readily agreed. She told me to expect 10-12 teachers, but we ended up with 15. They were a joy to work with. Many of these teachers are untrained, and those who have training have no experience. As I talked about ways to teach all subjects from a Christian worldview, I could see by the expressions on their faces that some of them were really “getting it” and becoming excited about the possibilities of teaching in this way. Most enthusiastic of all was Ruhtt. She has now caught the vision of how faith can be integrated into the curriculum, and I expect that the schools under her care will be working to become distinctly Christian in their teaching practices. She’s already planned for another session with the six new teachers she will hire in the next few weeks.


It is exciting to be in this place at this time and see how God is at work!