A few weeks ago, I
was asked by a colleague to write an article about one of our two full time counselors,
Marie Claire. From our limited interactions during our weekly staff meetings, I
established a great deal respect for her and was honored to take on the task.
After gathering the information needed to write the blog I came to the
following conclusion: Her journey is incredible. Her strength compelling. Her
faith extraordinary.
Marie Claire was born
in 1960 to a large family. During secondary school, she found an interest in
the field of education and pursued it throughout her career. Four years after
completing secondary school, she was married and was abundantly blessed with
four children (3 boys and 1 girl). In 1994 everything came to halt. With
Rwanda’s tumultuous government and the Genocide, Marie Claire sought refuge in
the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was a challenging year living in a refugee
camp, but through God she persevered.
After one year, she
returned to Rwanda and continued her work with the Shyira Diocese Women’s
Ministry. Marie Claire experienced many opportunities to enhance her
professional and academic life. After she returned to Rwanda, she connected
with World Vision. Through their Healing
Program, she was equipped to provide basic counseling services to her community. She still yearned to learn English and
increase her proficiency in the Bible. Through God’s grace, she received a
scholarship and continued her education with All Nations Theological Seminaries
(ANTS).
However, as the old
adage goes “sometimes there is a tragedy, and it is then that we find our
purpose.” In 1998 she tragically lost her husband to post genocide insurgencies
and immediately became the primary caretaker and breadwinner of her family. She
also began to care for a destitute widow with HIV and four orphans, increasing
her household to nine individuals. Regardless of her limited basic and
financial resources, she was compassionate, faithful and continued to submit
all her burdens to God.
If we are aspirant, trials
and tribulations can be our greatest asset. For Marie Claire, her trials and
tribulations led her to True Vineyard Ministries. In March 2014, she began
working as a part-time counselor. She had much to learn about our 44 widows and
slowly began to establish the rapport needed to effectively console and counsel
them. By January 2015, Marie Claire was hired as a full-time counselor. Her
successful counseling methods positively impacted the widows and their
emotional, professional, spiritual and interpersonal growth.
Marie Claire knows
that counseling is her calling and gift from God. Through it she is determined
to create long-term growth and healing. This is her way of testifying God’s
grace and His truth. She remains optimistic on behalf of the widows and
believes that through counseling and training other counselors, the ladies can
be permanently transformed. Finally, she wishes to be a spiritual asset to the
staff, widows and her own family. Marie Claire hopes that one day she can
organize and facilitate spiritual conferences so that others might know Jesus
and experience the life changing effects of salvation. So who is Marie Claire? She is a dedicated Christian
counselor, with the goal to set others free from the bondage of trauma and
pain.
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