The words “founder” and “foundation” share the same root. The Latin root is “fundus,” which refers to “bottom” or “base.” It is where something originates—where it all begins. As believers, we know that God is the true creator. Only God was able to facilitate “creatio ex nihilo,” meaning “creation out of nothing.”
However, in our created order, God has endowed human beings with the ability to also create, to build something from the bottom-up. He calls some of us to be “founders.” Founders are sometimes referred to as originators, architects, designers, pioneers, authors or builders. These are people who make things happen. Founders are willing to boldly go where no one has gone before. They venture into the unknown. They activate, they lead and they change their world.
How does a Christian community transformation project, including a school with 630+ students, 75 full-time staff members, and literally thousands of direct beneficiaries emerge out of a blank spot on the map in the middle of East Africa in just seven years?
In the case of Hope Haven Rwanda, it began with a Colorado woman who was willing to listen to God and to simply say “yes.”According to Susan Hollern, “God took over. He used my hands, feet, heart and mind…but make no mistake, God’s power – His Holy Spirit – did the real work. He made this dream more incredible than we ever could’ve imagined!”
As Jesus taught in his closing paragraphs of the Sermon on the Mount, there is a lot of wisdom in building on a solid foundation: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”(Matthew 7:24-25).Please pray with us that we will continue to be founded on the on the Solid Rock of Jesus Christ at Hope Haven Rwanda!
Susan, our entire team honors you today, on the occasion of your birthday, because you were willing to bravely say “yes” in the face of a lot of “no’s.” God has used you in powerful ways and we wish you all His best in the years ahead—we’re just getting’ started at Hope Haven Rwanda!
(To watch a bit of this incredible journey, we invite you to check out our latest video from Stephanie Riggs, Mark Shermanand Paige Steele: “The Spirit of Hope Haven Rwanda.”)