Liberty’s new G5 campaign puts spotlight on Rwanda

  • G5 campaign focuses on five areas of a selected country each year and offers way for students to serve that nation.
  • The pilot G5 campaign focuses on Rwanda, a landlocked nation still recovering from a 1994 genocide.

 

During the fall 2017 Global Focus Week, Liberty University’s Office of Spiritual Development launched G5, a campaign that supports and promotes a selected country in five areas: government, higher education, entertainment, business and sports.

 

The G5 Campaign, named such because of the characteristics of Christ displayed in Galatians 5, has a singular focus on the country of Rwanda. The campaign will explore how the campus can showcase those characteristics of Christ in a foreign context—whether it’s through traveling to Rwanda, sponsoring a child in need from Rwanda, or exploring other opportunities to serve the people of Rwanda.

 

Steven Gillum, the director of International Engagement, spearheads Global Focus Week through the LU Serve office. Gillum sits at a desk with a marked-up map of the world behind him, different countries and regions circled and noted. Here, he directs and consults how Liberty’s students can impact the world.

 

One of those outlets is the biannual Global Focus Week, which will now be a platform for change for one country per school year.

 

“The idea is to get students connected with global partners that are giving students (the) opportunity to connect their major — what they are studying — with what is going on around the world,” Gillum said. “We have something unique here at Liberty. We want to help students get connected with the opportunity to serve and share their faith globally.”

 

The G5 initiative is an avenue to centralize Liberty’s focus of talent and time to one country for an entire school year.

 

“The G5 initiative is to mobilize students, faculty and staff here on campus, and to invest in one country,” Gillum said. “I think students walk into Global Focus Week each time and get overwhelmed.”

 

So while there will be the classic conference staples like organization booths or cultural experiences, it can be expected that Global Focus Week will become a platform for global, influential leaders to get Liberty students’ attention. Coming out of Global Focus Week, the country in the spotlight — Rwanda — will become the focus.

 

Rwanda has been the spotlight of national news since the genocide in 1994. The country is a statistical contradiction. Most of the population is less than 24 years old. According to the CIA Fact Book, the country is at “very high” risk of disease, and only 70.5 percent of adults are literate. Because of this, Liberty’s relationship with Rwandans has opened doors for Liberty to walk with the landlocked African nation as they rebuild.

 

“There is a lot of opportunity to shape the future of Rwanda through development and, really, to partner — not to walk in front of the Rwandan people but walk beside them,” Gillum said. “That’s kind of our role and what it really needs to be, not walk in front but to walk hand in hand and say, ‘How will our contributions add value to your culture and your people in the best way?’”

 

Rwanda became the pilot country for Liberty’s first G5 campaign due to the relationships Liberty has within Rwanda and Compassion International.

 

“The country is so welcoming,” Gillum said. “Many of those in leadership really want the help of Liberty but they want it in the right way and we want to do it in the most contextual manner.”

 

But Gillum also wants students to know the work happening in Rwanda is not solely because of Liberty.

 

“I believe in what’s going on there in terms of their leadership,” Gillum said. “I also believe there are some strong key partners there that were doing good works before we even arrived. Even if I never go back to Rwanda to help, their ministry and work is going to continue on, with or without me.”

 

While more than 860 children were sponsored during Global Focus Week, there are still opportunities to get involved with Rwanda through LU Serve. Short-term service trips and internships are available for Liberty students and, due to the G5 campaign, these inquires will be expedited because Rwanda is the country in the spotlight this year.

 

For more information, contact LU Serve at LUServe@liberty.edu  or visit the office on the first floor of Dorm 20 on the Hill.

 

 

 

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