The Frederick News-Post in Frederick, Md., features a student who has been involved in Grace Community Church (R Greene, pastor), a Grace Brethren congregation in Frederick, Md. She’s been a part of the youth group, according to Eric Miller, youth pastor, and has also served on the youth staff. A portion of the story appears below. Read the complete story here.
Forever changed: Young woman leaves college life for Rwanda enterprise
Elise Cooper never thought she’d start a business before she graduated from college. In Rwanda, no less.
Yet she’s just launched a small enterprise in Gisenyi, Rwanda, making leather goods.
She and 30 local men are learning how to make messenger bags, wallets and laptop cases, to sell locally as well as abroad.
Cooper found sewing machines and tanned leather and worked with a local craftsman to develop prototypes. About 10 days ago, training began in earnest.
Cooper, 21, grew up in Frederick and graduated from Frederick High School in 2009. Last spring, she finished her junior year at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.
During her school’s Christmas break last year, Cooper took a trip that would change her short-term plans for college graduation. A devout Christian, she took a mission trip to Rwanda and Ethiopia. Visiting Africa was something she’d always wanted to do. She spent five days in Rwanda and fell in love with the country.
“The second day I was here, my mind was made up that I would come back to live for a year,” she said.