On October 10, missionary April Baggott found herself playing a fierce game of football (called soccer in the United States) in front of several thousand people in the Rwanda National Stadium in Kigali.
Along with women from seven different nations, Baggott represented international non-government organizations against a team of Rwandan women who work for the nation’s Parliament.
Missionary April Baggott (wearing No. 14 jersey above) joined other international
women from nongovernment organizations in Rwanda to play women from
Parliament. Photo courtesy April Baggott.
The competition was organized by the National Women Council as a fundraiser for the One Dollar Campaign, which supports orphans of the 1994 genocide. The council set a goal for the event to raise $10 million in Rwanda Francs ($17,605 U.S. dollars).
“The president’s wife was on the Rwandan team and she played the whole game,” Baggott said. “I actually gave her a high five at the end of the game.”
After trailing 3-0 at halftime to Baggott’s team, the Parliament team scored five unanswered goals in the second half to win 5-3.
April and Spencer Baggott have served in Rwanda since 2008. Spencer assists the field strategy coordinator, and is the field education coordinator, in which capacity he provides training in discipleship, evangelism, administration and pastoral education. April works in the areas of mission finance and children’s ministries. They have two children – Lucas and Abigail.