It’s been over seven months since my last post so this is long overdue! Plenty has been happening over these months even though much of my involvement has been remotely as we spent mid-June through mid-October in Calgary. As there’s lots to catch you up on, this post is a little longer than usual 😊.
This year’s stint in Calgary was focused on getting my parents, Emil and Erma Boettcher moved from their condo into a retirement home where they could benefit from assisted living. We were also blessed with the arrival of our second granddaughter, Ava Rose on 29-Jul, born to Tim and Rachel.
Our summer and fall in Calgary was also blessed with many great family times and especially hosting Thanksgiving dinner with all our kids and their families for the first time since being back for our Covid-hiatus in 2020.
MINGA MISSION HOSPITAL
Back in July, I was contacted by the managing director of Engineering Ministries International, South Africa (EMI) to see if I was interested in being part of a sustainability planning and advisory group that was forming up to help Minga Mission Hospital transform its current operation to be ready for new surgical suite infrastructure that was being implemented through a grant funded by the Helmsley Trust. I said yes, and that decision has taken me into a revisiting of and leveraging my experiences operating both the Lifeline Malawi Ngodzi Health Centre (2004-2006), and the Partners In Hope Hospital in Lilongwe (2014-2016). The Business Sustainability Team or BSP is comprised of Dr. Jason Fader who is an American missionary general surgeon who’s been operating Kebuye hospital in Burundi for over ten years; Daniel Steenkamp, a financial processes expert based out of Stellenbosch, South Africa who has a track record working with EMI on similar mission hospital sustainability plans including a recent engagement in Angola; Ellery Walker, an American urban design architect based out of Denver, and myself. By early August the team was meeting biweekly over remote video calls and we all travelled to Minga Hospital for an onsite evaluation and meetings with the hospital’s leadership from 25-Sep through 4-Oct. The feature photo above shows the team together with some additional EMI engineers and architects along with the Sisters who give administrative oversight to the mission hospital. Minga Hospital is a Catholic mission being administered by a team of Tanzanian nuns and has been in operation since the 1960’s.
Andy with Sisters Asperanza [middle] and Donatila [left]
It’s a rural hospital situated in the Petauke district of the Eastern province of Zambia, about 5 hours drive from the capital Lusaka. They operate as a level 1 district hospital within the Zambia Health Ministry and serve a catchment area of over 110,00 people. Being rural and with a staff of 150, plus a significant maternity services offering (150+ deliveries per month), it’s a key component of the healthcare delivery ecosystem in Eastern province but like so many healthcare delivery providers in developing African nations, they are severely underfunded. Most of the facilities and equipment are dilapidated and poorly maintained. They rely on outside donations like the Helmsley grant to help fill operating gaps, source capital for new facilities and equipment and have to overcome daily challenges to deliver quality healthcare to the thousands of patients they serve.
Andy meeting with the Petauke District Health Officer Dr. Simon Nyimba [center], Gerhard van der Merwe, EMI-SA Managing Director [left] and Dr. Jason Fader, BSP team [far left]
The BSP team’s work is to help the hospital’s senior leadership team build a viable change plan, in order to transform their operational capacity within the next two years, so that by time the new surgical and other infrastructure improvements are delivered, they will be ready to deliver the maximum value from these improvements and hopefully within another 2 years following that (2029) be fully self-sustaining and operating as a level 2 district hospital with several surgical specialties.
For my role on the team, I’m spending 20-30 hours per month part-time as an advisor consultant, helping draft change management plans, building multi-year strategic operating roadmaps, exploring operating effectiveness initiatives to enhance revenue, trim costs, and redesign differentiated health services. I’m also involved helping the hospital’s board be revitalized with a new governing model and training board members how to more effectively govern a mission hospital and champion their needs within the Zambian Ministry of Health, while learning to navigate the uniqueness of managing Catholic diocese and government health structures and stakeholders.
Andy and Dr. Jason Fader [left] presenting a summary of their early findings to Sisters Asperanza and Donatila with other EMI team members listening in.
Andy and Sister Asperanza having lunch together in the Nunnery next to Minga Mission Hospital
Since being back in Cape Town in early November, the BSP team has had several in-person workshops to explore sustainable operation opportunities and build a change plan that we can align on with the Minga leadership once we’re there for our second on-site trip which is happening 26-31 January. And in February we’ll be working to refine our proposal to bring to the Helmsley Trust program manager to pitch for the funds that will be required to underwrite the next several years of change management and readiness activities for the Minga team, as well as fund an additional bridging grant to assist with the ramping up of surgical services delivery and then tapering off over the next 2 years as sustainable operating capacity is built.
I hope to share future updates from our upcoming second onsite trip as well as hopeful good news of Helmsley’s acceptance of our recommendations for augmented grant funding. Stay tuned!
iHub STUDENT COACH MENTORING
As mentioned in previous updates, I’ve had the privilege to provide coach-mentoring support to an iHub student for the fourth year running. My 2024 cohort student, Noluthando (Thando) Zondi has been a delight to spend time with biweekly since April and our remote video call sessions continued regularly while I was back in Calgary. As with previous iHub students that I’ve coached, our relationship has progressed to deeper trust and a solid professional friendship by time the final phase of the program was wrapping up in November. Thando progressed very significantly from the earlier phases of the program, mastering both the digital marketing technical training skills and the Core Soft Skills for business elements that have become such a defining feature of the iHub readiness program. I was honored that Thando trusted me and found it safe to share some very personal history elements of trauma and abuse during our latter coaching sessions that helped me appreciate her history and challenges she brings into the classroom that need healing in order to aid her learning outcomes; and are the reason I’m very proud of the Student Journey stream we provide professional counselling and support for students like Thando (recall my previous post showcasing Zanele, our fulltime, certified Counsellor).
Thando and Andy on their final coaching video call (remotely from Calgary)
It was a privilege to once again this year, be onsite in Johannesburg in early December to participate in and experience the iHub’s class of 2024 Graduation. Forty-six students walked across the stage to receive their certificates, a new record.
iHub Africa Graduating Class of 2024
This year was special in that for the first time I was joined by my other two board members, Lourens Kruger and Regan Adams. It was their first in-person iHub grad experience.
iHub Board members Lourens [left], Regan [center], Andy [right] seated in the alexander theatre hall taking in the grad proceedings
What a delight to be able to be part of Thando’s graduation experience. Interestingly, not one person from her family came out to cheer her on (a sad reality of the challenges she’s had to overcome). She even surprised me (and herself) that she attained special recognition for her top-three overall program marks achievement.
I am so proud of her and all she has persevered through to reach this milestone in her life! I look forward to being part of her support network in the months ahead as she (hopefully) lands a well-paying job in digital marketing. The next few photo shows us celebrating her special achievement together.
Of course, every grad ceremony has to finish off with the traditional “cap toss”, as captured in the video below.
I’ll share more of the 2025 cohort as part of the more general iHub leadership and program updates below.
iHub AFRICA PROGRAM and LEADERSHIP
It’s been an exciting second half of 2024 for the iHub, including the unplanned and sudden announcement from Sbu Ncala of his resignation. This took the Board by surprise and put us suddenly on our back foot when after only 20 months in his role as Managing Director, Sbu came into a commercial opportunity that would be transformational for his career and family resources. As his last day would be 30-Nov, we went into high gear to search for a new leader for the iHub. Suffice to say we ended up promoting from within the organization and I am pleased to say that Liz Skosana, who has been with the iHub since 2020 and faithfully been heading up Program Delivery was appointed as the new iHub General Manager, effective 1-Dec.
A recent headshot of Liz Skosana
Another new approach for the 2025 intake process was to pull Bootcamp forward from happening in January and instead hold Bootcamp in October. We believe this strategic shift will payoff in being able to confirm seats in next year’s program ahead of when students vying for other post-secondary education opportunities get confirmed; already having a firm commitment from iHub’s to take our one year free training program. Time will tell if this new strategy pays off but we are very pleased that after taking over 180 students through Bootcamp (down-selected from over 4,000 applicants), we have confirmed the acceptance of offering the top best 68 students seats in our 2025 program. Pulling Bootcamp forward into the current year’s last quarter now means we can launch the new year’s program on 3-Feb vs. having to delay until mid-March like prior years. Liz will now preside over all these structural changes as well as give oversight to the largest iHub team and the largest cohort ever of 68 students. Exciting days ahead!
To accommodate this many students, we’ve moved spaces at the Media Mill tower and have taken over the entire third floor (400 m2 or 4,300 ft2). This more than doubles the space from our previous lease and as you can see from the photos below, provides us the extra space to train up to 70 students in a single group, plus have breakout and other meeting rooms for quiet coaching sessions.
The same space will now house the [ihda] agency to work synergistically side-by-side of the training program – [ihda] is the for-profit marketing agency Sbu helped us launch in 2023 and ramped up in 2024. It’s also where we provide 3-5 internships for some of our grads each year.
I look forward to introducing you to the new cohort of 2025 students in future updates. We are believing that 2026 will be the year we re-launch an iHub again in Cape Town. And as Hillsong churches continue to thrive in Nairobi, Kenya and soon in Lagos, Nigeria, our vision in the years ahead is to see a multi-country iHub branch model come into reality in other regions of Africa, God willing.
HILLSONG CONTINENTAL CHURCH EXPANSION
As mentioned in previous updates, a fairly large slice of my volunteer time is spent helping to implement the continental church expansion strategy for Hillsong across Africa as well as provide governing oversight to the recent new location launched in Kenya.
I continued to chair the Hillsong Kenya Board of Directors with monthly meetings through end of December. Starting in February 2025, we will shift our board meetings to bi-monthly, given the church is becoming more stable and most start-up processes in the country are well in place. Our first annual external audit should be ready by the end of February. The Nairobi church continues to thrive and Pastor Enock Ngone and his leadership team have recently determined they will be needing to look for yet another new, larger facility to accommodate the congregation’s growth and provide more space for mid-week gatherings. We give praise to the Lord for the continuing, healthy expansion of the Nairobi congregation.
One of the added responsibilities that comes with being chair of the Hillsong Kenya board is bringing an update to the Hillsong South Africa board at their quarterly meetings. I started that process for the first time in November. You can see in the photo below my tile on the screen along with all the other board members captured from the Zoom video call.
I welcome the ability to get to know better and present to this esteemed group of leaders that are giving governing oversight to all of Hillsong’s churches in Africa and also has the Global Senior Pastor, Phil Dooley present for their meetings.
I’ve also spent considerable time along with Lourens Kruger over Q4, 2024 moving the registration process forward for Hillsong Nigeria. Unfortunately, the Nigerian government changed the law mid-October governing NGO’s that no foreign national could be a director of a Nigerian non-profit organization. Hence given that two of the three inaugural directors are non-Nigerian (Lourens and myself), we’ve had to pivot and pursue a trust arrangement where a Nigerian law firm will perform the formal roles of a trustee under the direction of an operating board and own the organization’s operating registration under special provisions and disclosures. As you can imagine, getting all the terms and conditions right for such an arrangement is a new complication we’re working through and now expect registration to be completed by the end of March, Lord willing. I look forward to being an inaugural board member to help get Hillsong Nigeria established so that we can hopefully launch our first Nigerian church location – Hillsong Lagos by end of 2025 or early 2026. We have plenty of learnings from our start-up of Hillsong Kenya to leverage! We are still searching for a permanent Nigerian pastor but in the meantime the existing church meeting as a Connect in Lagos has been thriving and growing month over month under interim pastor Sam Adeleke. Please see the video below which was captured at their special Christmas program service on 15-Dec. There were 265 people in attendance!
That’s a wrap for now. Thanks for enduring this very long read and hopefully through the pictures and narrative you feel more caught up with all that has continued to unfold as part of our South Africa posting under Hands and Feet International. It’s a privilege and delight to continue to follow the Lord’s calling on our lives here. And to whatever degree we are able to influence and impact the lives of people that our serving touches, we give all the glory and honor to Jesus Christ and almighty God our Heavenly Father who is the one who continues to enable, equip and empower us daily to build His Kingdom and serve His heart for the nations here in this beautiful continent of Africa.
Blessings, health and favor for 2025 on you and yours! Andy