A redemptive initiative that seeks to provide comprehensive support in mental health care—offering direct care, reducing stigma, raising community awareness, and training communities and schools in peer-led emotional and mental well-being. LEADStrong International is providing leadership training and organizational consulting to this first-of-its-kind mental health case management initiative in Rwanda.

The dream is large and the team is small, but nearly 30 people attended the first training, which covered all aspects of care—spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical—for patients and their families walking this journey. More training has been requested, and this relationship will be an ongoing journey as the project continues to grow rapidly in a variety of opportunities.

LEADStrong is filling a faculty role in Leadership and Organizational Development coursework at a Western-accredited college in their graduate diploma program, soon to become a Master of Arts in Theology degree program. These classes are full and expected to grow significantly due to recent changes in Rwanda’s governmental requirements for clergy.

Dr. Jones has been asked to join the faculty and serve on a team creating an undergraduate counseling program—working alongside an incredible group of people with a heart to train leaders in culturally contextualized counseling skills. This is a vital need throughout the region.

LEADStrong partners in the development and leadership training of an incredible local team in Burundi, serving as the non-profit partner and board leadership in the West for this novel initiative. This unique community center is active in a wide range of redemptive initiatives: conference and seminar work, child sponsorship initiatives counseling and care work, community development, maternal and child well-being, and youth programming, to name just a few. LEADStrong International continues to walk closely with the leaders of this center, providing deep care and consistent board oversight.