Xtra Mile Communities

One Mile to Freedom from ATN-Rwanda Media Team on Vimeo.

Listen to the story of Charles Kabeza and discover the heart of Xtra Mile Ministries and their desire to build community and restore “family” to the nation of Rwanda.

Mobile Family

The name, “Mobile Family,” was coined to describe many of the activities of Xtra Mile Ministries. As we described the idea of Xtra Mile Ministries, we do have a mission to rebuild the community starting with family. Orphans need a way they can get a sense and feeling of family. One way is to have people visiting and joining them constantly.

Mobile family includes volunteers who have families as well as orphans who are devoted to be the family for those who live alone. When it started there were few orphans but today more than 90% of mobile Family are orphans!

Mobile Family’s Activities

To share word of hope from Jesus.
Welcome and celebrate with the orphans when they get school holidays.
To visit with orphan headed families.
To counsel.

Mobile Family is the biggest program among the Xtra mile programs. Mobile Family is a group of people who are committed to be the family to the orphans who do not have the family. Being a part of that group we learn to have compassion and to care what God cares about.

Around the country of Rwanda there are hundreds of thousands of orphans who need some one to come visit and comfort them. People in the Xtra Mile are aware that God has blessed and enabled every one to do that. Also, most of the people in the Xtra Mile know what to be alone is like; therefore we try to do whatever needed to be a blessing to other people.

How great it is, to see orphans visiting and comforting other fellow orphans! Some time being in the Mobile family trips asks a high cost of leaving our comfort zones.

XMM Education Program

This program started in 2009. In this program the orphans get an opportunity to study in university. Many of the orphans would not have had a chance to enter into high education because of the situation and conditions in which they studied in high school.

For them, to be involved in the education program means more than education, but also having a family.

In the beginning, we took a step of faith to start with 5 students, while we did not have even $100! But we showed God what we intended to do and we talked to several people, then after only one week, we had the funds needed for those 5 students for their first year!

Later, different people got interested to support and make donations to the program. As well many in the education program help Xtra Mile Ministries by acting as activity organizers.

We are thankful for what God has done to make this possible. As a human being, having people like the genocide orphans who are willing to have the same agenda as Jesus is a miracle.

All the time we are looking for other people who may be interested to support this program because we always have many demands. In 2011, we will have 23 students who are in the program

Community

The idea to form the Xtra Mile community came mainly for those with no family so that they would get a family. The community meets twice a week. One meeting is on Friday evening and the other one is on Saturday during the daytime.

The purpose is beyond ordinary meetings, but family gatherings. Every first Saturday of the month we share a meal. On Saturday the community who are divided into 4 groups. Either bible study or other kinds of works are done through those small groups.

Since that community started, there are several problems that were solved, not only the problems of that community but some from other people that Xtra Mile works with. Issue like how to assist someone who is sick or who is going to get married; are solved through that community. Also as young people there are many funs. Through this community, God has touched many people’s hearts. It was a dream for some of them to find a community where they would feel free to share from their hearts.

We are hoping to start the same communities everywhere the Xtra Mile has connections with orphans. We are convinced that God is using this community to get into many people’s hearts. It is not possible to deny what God is doing in the life of these young people who had lost what the world may call every thing including hope for the future. God is using such a simple way as community and belonging to reach out and show his love to people.

Development

We believe that God created human beings to live in peace and harmony with Him and with each other; that He did not create the inequities and injustices that exist in our societies today.