African Leaders
Program Focus
Developing African leaders through initiatives such as scholarships, educational support and courses.
Program Start
The seed of what would become the African Leaders program started with a conversation in 2005 over coffee with Dr. Mabiala Kenzo. Kenzo, as he prefers to be called, was then the Rector of the Faculté de Théologie Evangélique de Boma (FACTEB).
The school was on a journey back from crisis brought on by war in the Democratic Republic of Con
go. When Kenzo agreed to lead the school, it was barely keeping the doors open and had only 12 students. Despite the circumstances, Kenzo had a vision to renew the Boma seminary with a daring goal to grow to 300 students by the year 2020.
The objective of growing this capacity to train leaders is critical as Africa cries out for servant leaders who will make fundamental changes. Kenzo says it well when he says, “We need to train new leaders for a new Africa.” His vision is for godly leaders that make a difference in communities across Congo and Africa in all aspects of life.
What started over a coffee has developed into a partnership between FACTEB and the ReGen Community. The program has operated since 2007 to provide scholarships to deserving men and women studying at FACTEB. The program also includes a component to build capacity so that FACTEB is better able to communicate their story of developing leaders with potential partners in Congo and around the world.
Since the program inception, over 200 scholarships have been awarded. In many cases, the scholarship has made the difference which allows students to attend the school.
The program is funded by individual Canadians who want to connect with our brothers and sisters in Congo and their vision for a new Africa.