Tonight is our last night here in Rwanda. It's going to be a rough time for all of us. For our last dinner, we took the staff here at the mission house, as well as our drivers and translators, out for a very nice meal at a beautiful restaurant on a hill overlooking the whole city. It was a wonderful time of food and fellowship with our new, dear friends, and we were all doing our very best not to focus on the fact that we will be leaving tomorrow. I can't speak for the rest of the team, but I know for me personally the last few days have been incredible in truly strengthening the relationships that we have made here and I'm just not ready to come home yet. It feels as though we have barely scratched the surface of what we could accomplish here in Rwanda, and I find myself wishing I could stay for several months at least.
On a brighter note, yesterday was a wonderful last day spent in Kayonza. We spent the morning leading Sunday school classes for the church that meets in Kayonza. After that, we joined the rest of the congregation in worship. We were asked to participate in the service, so the whole team went on stage and sang two worship songs. Then we performed the "Everything" skit one last time, which again seemed to be a great success. We had originally thought Kevin would be preaching a sermon to the congregation while we were leading Sunday school, but it turned out that Kevin just preached the second sermon of the day, so we were all able to sit in and listen to him. And he did awesome!
After the church service we were able have a party with the children from the orphanages at Kayonza. We sang songs with them, they performed traditional boys' and girls' dances for us, and we served chocolate cake and Fanta. Then some of us played football, also known as soccer back in the States and some of us played "Mozungu" (white person) Says, our African variation of Simon Says. All in all, it was another exhausting day, but by God's grace we had the energy to get through it with smiles on our faces.
Today was very low key - we got to sleep in! We didn't meet for our morning devotions until 8:00, as opposed to the usual 6:30. At around 9:00, a group of college-aged women from a house called the Esther Home joined us for breakfast, along with our friends from the band Hindurwa. We sat and got to know the girls, and then we played a few rousing games of volleyball with the guys. It was a very different experience from working with the street kids and orphans, which we have been doing for the rest of the week - and we loved it! It was a really wonderful way to end our trip.
Tomorrow, our flight leaves in the afternoon, Rwanda time, and we are scheduled to arrive in Portland just after 2:00 PM on Wednesday. Please pray for safe, healthy travels for us all, and that our luggage will make it home as well!
Thank you all so, so much for all your prayers and support through the entire process of making this trip happen. We are all so grateful for you and, God willing, we look forward to sharing our stories with you when we get home.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Off roading!!
The title of today's post refers to what we spent all day doing - off roading on the African savannah! Before I tell you all about our safari, I just want to praise God for what He accomplished yesterday!
You might recall that yesterday, Friday, the team was in charge of leading a Vacation Bible School at Africa New Life Ministry's campus in the town of Kayonza. No big deal, right? Teach a lesson, do a craft, lead some singing, and play a few games. Let me tell you, when you throw 800 children in the mix (almost half of whom don't speak very much English) it becomes a big deal. But I am here to tell you that the team did great! I am So proud to be a part of such a hard-working, energetic team that is full of the joy of the Lord! From teaching the story of the lost sheep, making sheep masks to go with it, playing soccer under the hot African sun, and dancing and singing along to the Kinyarwanda worship song we learned this week, the team was bursting with excitement and love for those kids. We spent the morning doing 8 rotations among the kindergarten through third grade classrooms. Each rotation consisted of 2 to 3 of us and anywhere from 40 to 60 students. Most of the classrooms had teachers that were able to help translate to the students who didn't understand, but there were a token few classrooms with no teacher, and we just had to wing it and trust that God was enabling those children to grasp what we were saying. After a lunch break, we spent the afternoon with grades four through six.
Being a part of the music group, it was such a wonderful experience to share worship with the children and to in turn learn their favorite songs. Our friend Brian, who is in the band Hindurwa, has even taught us a few worship songs in Kinyarwanda. Those were a Huge hit with the kids. You should have seen the smiles on their faces when the "mozungus" started singing a song in their language.
After school, split in to two separate groups and made village visits, bringing gifts to families. It was truly a blessing to be able to bless these families with flour, rice, sugar, salt, soap, and matches. We also shared testimonies and prayed for the families. It was a very powerful experience because, in some villages, groups of close to 30 would swarm around our group and listen to what we were saying.
Last night we all went to bed very early, as we had to wake up at 4:00 this morning to leave for Akagera National Park. I'm certain that today most of us were able to cross one item off of our list of lifetime goals: go on an African safari! It was truly surreal to be walking as quietly as possible through tall, dry grass on the African savannah in search of giraffes! While I personally was terrified that I was going to step on a coiled up black mamba, the deadliest snake in the world, it was still incredible to experience it. Besides the giraffes, which seemed to generate the most excitement, we also saw a lot of baboons, impalas (a type of antelope), hippos, and water buffalo. It was such a fun way to spend our one day of R & R and I was incredibly impressed with the fact that not a single one of our team members complained about waking up at 4:00 AM. On the contrary, we were all extremely excited for the incredible photo-op that the sunrise was this morning.
Tomorrow we will be returning to the Kayonza campus one last time. One of our own, Kevin, will be giving a sermon to the church at Kayonza while the rest of us teach Sunday school classes. Then in the afternoon we will be having a party with the orphans from Kayonza. We will be bringing cake and Fanta for all the kids, sharing a testimony or two, and playing soccer. This will be our last time shared with the children of Kayonza, so please pray that it will be a time of joy and blessing, and that it won't be too difficult for us to say goodbye.
The team would ask that you pray that God will speak through Kevin, that our fellow team in Bolivia will be rejuvenated for their last few days of their trip, and that we will all make it home safely with all of our luggage. Praise God that Stacy finally received her luggage, and God bless Abby for being such a good sport without her bag!
You might recall that yesterday, Friday, the team was in charge of leading a Vacation Bible School at Africa New Life Ministry's campus in the town of Kayonza. No big deal, right? Teach a lesson, do a craft, lead some singing, and play a few games. Let me tell you, when you throw 800 children in the mix (almost half of whom don't speak very much English) it becomes a big deal. But I am here to tell you that the team did great! I am So proud to be a part of such a hard-working, energetic team that is full of the joy of the Lord! From teaching the story of the lost sheep, making sheep masks to go with it, playing soccer under the hot African sun, and dancing and singing along to the Kinyarwanda worship song we learned this week, the team was bursting with excitement and love for those kids. We spent the morning doing 8 rotations among the kindergarten through third grade classrooms. Each rotation consisted of 2 to 3 of us and anywhere from 40 to 60 students. Most of the classrooms had teachers that were able to help translate to the students who didn't understand, but there were a token few classrooms with no teacher, and we just had to wing it and trust that God was enabling those children to grasp what we were saying. After a lunch break, we spent the afternoon with grades four through six.
Being a part of the music group, it was such a wonderful experience to share worship with the children and to in turn learn their favorite songs. Our friend Brian, who is in the band Hindurwa, has even taught us a few worship songs in Kinyarwanda. Those were a Huge hit with the kids. You should have seen the smiles on their faces when the "mozungus" started singing a song in their language.
After school, split in to two separate groups and made village visits, bringing gifts to families. It was truly a blessing to be able to bless these families with flour, rice, sugar, salt, soap, and matches. We also shared testimonies and prayed for the families. It was a very powerful experience because, in some villages, groups of close to 30 would swarm around our group and listen to what we were saying.
Last night we all went to bed very early, as we had to wake up at 4:00 this morning to leave for Akagera National Park. I'm certain that today most of us were able to cross one item off of our list of lifetime goals: go on an African safari! It was truly surreal to be walking as quietly as possible through tall, dry grass on the African savannah in search of giraffes! While I personally was terrified that I was going to step on a coiled up black mamba, the deadliest snake in the world, it was still incredible to experience it. Besides the giraffes, which seemed to generate the most excitement, we also saw a lot of baboons, impalas (a type of antelope), hippos, and water buffalo. It was such a fun way to spend our one day of R & R and I was incredibly impressed with the fact that not a single one of our team members complained about waking up at 4:00 AM. On the contrary, we were all extremely excited for the incredible photo-op that the sunrise was this morning.
Tomorrow we will be returning to the Kayonza campus one last time. One of our own, Kevin, will be giving a sermon to the church at Kayonza while the rest of us teach Sunday school classes. Then in the afternoon we will be having a party with the orphans from Kayonza. We will be bringing cake and Fanta for all the kids, sharing a testimony or two, and playing soccer. This will be our last time shared with the children of Kayonza, so please pray that it will be a time of joy and blessing, and that it won't be too difficult for us to say goodbye.
The team would ask that you pray that God will speak through Kevin, that our fellow team in Bolivia will be rejuvenated for their last few days of their trip, and that we will all make it home safely with all of our luggage. Praise God that Stacy finally received her luggage, and God bless Abby for being such a good sport without her bag!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Muraho (hello, how are you?) from Rwanda!!
After several days of either losing power or Internet access in the evenings when it was convenient to post on the blog, I finally had the opportunity and the ability to give you all an update.
We've had an extremely busy week thus far. Let's see if I can look back and remember all the incredible things we have done. Monday was spent at New Life Bible Church volunteering with their street kids ministry. It was such a blessing to be encouraged by the overflowing joy of these children. It was also convicting and inspiring. After spending a couple hours running around under the African sun with these kids, we went inside and had a great worship time with the kids. Halfway through the first song, the children had flooded the front of the room, pulling us with them. We sang and danced together in the name of the Lord. After worship, we were again asked to perform the "Everything" skit, which was a curve ball. Even without the music or our props, the skit was a huge success, and the kids loved it. Then Andrew shared a wonderful message about the story of Joseph and how faithful God is.
That afternoon, the team split in two groups, one went shopping for paint while the other visited the genocide memorial. While it was an extremely difficult experience, it was also very informative and it helped all of us to better understand the people that we are here ministering to. The Lord’s power is truly visible in the fact that the people of Rwanda, who experienced the indescribable atrocities of genocide, have overcome the grief and found hope in the future of their country and their children. Praise God! Imana Ishimwe!
Tuesday we spent another day at New Life Bible Church, but this time we were designing and painting Sunday school classrooms at the church, as well as organizing their newly acquired library. We were tremendously blessed by how excited the staff of the church was with our work. That afternoon, the second half of the group visited the genocide memorial while the rest of the team stayed and continued working on the Sunday school rooms. Praise God, that afternoon it rained in Rwanda! It has been dry here for a very long time.
Wednesday we spent most of the day finishing the painting projects. Not only did we finish the two rooms and the hallway that we had planned on painting, but we had enough time, energy, and paint to finish a third room! In the evening we stopped to play with 15 boys in a transitional home that Africa New Life Ministry runs. Before we went home, Carson shared his testimony with the group, and the group of young boys seemed to love it!
Finally, today was spent in Kayonza, which is about an hour and a half from Kigali. Africa New Life Ministries owns a huge piece of property there, which houses multiple orphanages and schools. Many of the children that our team members sponsor go to school here, so they got to meet their children and bring them gifts. We spent more time painting today, two classrooms. When we first arrived in Kayonza, a flood of 800 school children rushed from their classrooms to greet us. It was incredibly overwhelming but so exciting! The children were in and out of the classrooms all day, and it was so much fun to interact with them, because, unlike the street kids we worked with on Monday and Wednesday, these children were in school and most of them spoke English very well. We were able to communicate with them very well and have interesting, fruitful conversations.
Tomorrow we will be returning to Kayonza to run Vacation Bible School Classes for all 800 students. We will be sharing bible stories, games, music, and crafts with these students. Please pray that we will have plenty of energy and excitement in sharing the joy of the Lord with these children. There will only be two of us for every group of 40 children so it will be a pretty crazy experience!
It seems like the trip is passing faster than we can even keep track of, and this weekend will certainly not be an exception, but I will do my best to update the blog again a couple times before we head home next Tuesday. Thank you for all the support and prayers! We can't wait to come home to share all our stories and show you all our pictures!
We've had an extremely busy week thus far. Let's see if I can look back and remember all the incredible things we have done. Monday was spent at New Life Bible Church volunteering with their street kids ministry. It was such a blessing to be encouraged by the overflowing joy of these children. It was also convicting and inspiring. After spending a couple hours running around under the African sun with these kids, we went inside and had a great worship time with the kids. Halfway through the first song, the children had flooded the front of the room, pulling us with them. We sang and danced together in the name of the Lord. After worship, we were again asked to perform the "Everything" skit, which was a curve ball. Even without the music or our props, the skit was a huge success, and the kids loved it. Then Andrew shared a wonderful message about the story of Joseph and how faithful God is.
That afternoon, the team split in two groups, one went shopping for paint while the other visited the genocide memorial. While it was an extremely difficult experience, it was also very informative and it helped all of us to better understand the people that we are here ministering to. The Lord’s power is truly visible in the fact that the people of Rwanda, who experienced the indescribable atrocities of genocide, have overcome the grief and found hope in the future of their country and their children. Praise God! Imana Ishimwe!
Tuesday we spent another day at New Life Bible Church, but this time we were designing and painting Sunday school classrooms at the church, as well as organizing their newly acquired library. We were tremendously blessed by how excited the staff of the church was with our work. That afternoon, the second half of the group visited the genocide memorial while the rest of the team stayed and continued working on the Sunday school rooms. Praise God, that afternoon it rained in Rwanda! It has been dry here for a very long time.
Wednesday we spent most of the day finishing the painting projects. Not only did we finish the two rooms and the hallway that we had planned on painting, but we had enough time, energy, and paint to finish a third room! In the evening we stopped to play with 15 boys in a transitional home that Africa New Life Ministry runs. Before we went home, Carson shared his testimony with the group, and the group of young boys seemed to love it!
Finally, today was spent in Kayonza, which is about an hour and a half from Kigali. Africa New Life Ministries owns a huge piece of property there, which houses multiple orphanages and schools. Many of the children that our team members sponsor go to school here, so they got to meet their children and bring them gifts. We spent more time painting today, two classrooms. When we first arrived in Kayonza, a flood of 800 school children rushed from their classrooms to greet us. It was incredibly overwhelming but so exciting! The children were in and out of the classrooms all day, and it was so much fun to interact with them, because, unlike the street kids we worked with on Monday and Wednesday, these children were in school and most of them spoke English very well. We were able to communicate with them very well and have interesting, fruitful conversations.
Tomorrow we will be returning to Kayonza to run Vacation Bible School Classes for all 800 students. We will be sharing bible stories, games, music, and crafts with these students. Please pray that we will have plenty of energy and excitement in sharing the joy of the Lord with these children. There will only be two of us for every group of 40 children so it will be a pretty crazy experience!
It seems like the trip is passing faster than we can even keep track of, and this weekend will certainly not be an exception, but I will do my best to update the blog again a couple times before we head home next Tuesday. Thank you for all the support and prayers! We can't wait to come home to share all our stories and show you all our pictures!
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The Land of a Thousand Hills and a Thousand Blessings
Tonight marks the end of our first full day here in Rwanda and it was jam-packed!
But first let me start with yesterday. We touched down at Kigali International Airport at about 1:00 PM after 35ish hours of flight, which is a lot more than most of us have ever experienced. We survived the 16 hour flight from Washington D.C. to Ethiopia (split up by a refuel in Rome) with lots of reading, playing cards, sleeping, and taking embarrassing pictures of other people sleeping.
After a slight debacle at the airport trying to locate some luggage, we finally arrived at the Africa New Life Ministries mission house, only shy two suitcases. We unpacked and then spent the rest of the evening playing soccer in the streets with neighborhood kids. Dinner that night was a delicious stew made with peas, carrots, and an interesting cooking banana that is similar in taste and texture to a potato.
The majority of today was spent at New Life Bible Church here in Rwanda. We attended two services this morning, one in English and one in Kinyarwandan. We even got to go up on stage as a team and share a worship song with the congregation. In was a really incredible experience to participate in such a genuine, heartfelt service taking place in multiple languages, all to the glory of one God.
Later this afternoon we returned to the church for orientation with Pastor Emma of Africa New Life Ministries. He graciously welcomed us to Rwanda and gave us a rough idea of our itinerary for the week. It is going to be long and full but well worth all the work.
At the end of orientation we returned to the sanctuary for the youth service, in which we played a very active role. First the whole team went up and sang another worship song, which all the kids in the audience really loved. Then, about 8 of us performed a short skit that we prepared last night. The skit is pantomimed to the song "Everything" by Lifehouse and is a portrayal of the temptations and struggles we all face in this life and the absolute freedom that is found only in Jesus Christ. It seemed to have a pretty powerful impact, as everyone in the audience began to shout and cheer at the climax of the skit.
On the docket for tomorrow is leading VBS as part of the church's street ministry, as well as picking out paint for the Sunday school rooms at the church we will be painting. In the afternoon, we will be visiting the genocide memorial. It is sure to be an extremely difficult and emotional experience, but Pastor Emma believes that once we more clearly understand the history of the country we will have a better idea of how we can serve the people here.
Tonight at our team meeting, the group asked you to prayer requests:
-good health
-getting enough sleep and having plenty of energy
-lost luggage (Abby and Stacy would really appreciate that!)
To close, I just want to explain the title of this post: The Land of a Thousand Hills and a Thousand Blessings. After the genocide, Rwanda was known as the land of a thousand hills and a thousand problems. Today in orientation, Pastor Emma explained that in the last decade, the church in Rwanda has had a tremendous impact in changing this stigma. What an encouragement to hear that God is at work here in Rwanda!
But first let me start with yesterday. We touched down at Kigali International Airport at about 1:00 PM after 35ish hours of flight, which is a lot more than most of us have ever experienced. We survived the 16 hour flight from Washington D.C. to Ethiopia (split up by a refuel in Rome) with lots of reading, playing cards, sleeping, and taking embarrassing pictures of other people sleeping.
After a slight debacle at the airport trying to locate some luggage, we finally arrived at the Africa New Life Ministries mission house, only shy two suitcases. We unpacked and then spent the rest of the evening playing soccer in the streets with neighborhood kids. Dinner that night was a delicious stew made with peas, carrots, and an interesting cooking banana that is similar in taste and texture to a potato.
The majority of today was spent at New Life Bible Church here in Rwanda. We attended two services this morning, one in English and one in Kinyarwandan. We even got to go up on stage as a team and share a worship song with the congregation. In was a really incredible experience to participate in such a genuine, heartfelt service taking place in multiple languages, all to the glory of one God.
Later this afternoon we returned to the church for orientation with Pastor Emma of Africa New Life Ministries. He graciously welcomed us to Rwanda and gave us a rough idea of our itinerary for the week. It is going to be long and full but well worth all the work.
At the end of orientation we returned to the sanctuary for the youth service, in which we played a very active role. First the whole team went up and sang another worship song, which all the kids in the audience really loved. Then, about 8 of us performed a short skit that we prepared last night. The skit is pantomimed to the song "Everything" by Lifehouse and is a portrayal of the temptations and struggles we all face in this life and the absolute freedom that is found only in Jesus Christ. It seemed to have a pretty powerful impact, as everyone in the audience began to shout and cheer at the climax of the skit.
On the docket for tomorrow is leading VBS as part of the church's street ministry, as well as picking out paint for the Sunday school rooms at the church we will be painting. In the afternoon, we will be visiting the genocide memorial. It is sure to be an extremely difficult and emotional experience, but Pastor Emma believes that once we more clearly understand the history of the country we will have a better idea of how we can serve the people here.
Tonight at our team meeting, the group asked you to prayer requests:
-good health
-getting enough sleep and having plenty of energy
-lost luggage (Abby and Stacy would really appreciate that!)
To close, I just want to explain the title of this post: The Land of a Thousand Hills and a Thousand Blessings. After the genocide, Rwanda was known as the land of a thousand hills and a thousand problems. Today in orientation, Pastor Emma explained that in the last decade, the church in Rwanda has had a tremendous impact in changing this stigma. What an encouragement to hear that God is at work here in Rwanda!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
This is the day!
After months of prayer and preparation, the day has finally arrived! The team has gathered at the Abbaté house in Fairview, Oregon for one last, All-American barbecue before we embark on this grand adventure. Our flight leaves PDX tonight at 7:32, at which we will hop down to San Francisco before taking the red eye to Washington D.C. This is only the beginning of our journey.
From D.C. we have the pleasure of enjoying a 16 hour flight to Ethiopia. Finally, from Ethiopia we take one more flight, just 2 1/2 hours, and land in Kigali on Saturday morning.
Please pray for safe travels and healthy bodies. The combination of all the different medication we're taking added onto hours upon hours of travel time is sure to cause some upset stomachs.
I cannot wait to post another update once we're on the ground in Rwanda! God bless!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Imana Ishimwe
Welcome to our blog! I'm Charlotte, and I'll be in charge of keeping all of you, our dear family and friends, up-to-date about our trip.
To begin with, I'd like to explain to you the title of our blog - Imana Ishimwe. I'm sure you were wondering about it. In Kinyarwanda, one of three official languages of Rwanda, it means "Praise God!" It is really our heartbeat to give glory to God throughout this entire trip, for without Him, none of it would be possible or even worthwhile.
We've been given an incredible opportunity to travel halfway across the world, and I think I speak for the whole team when I say that it is our first priority to truly demonstrate God's love to the people of Rwanda with every word and action. Whether we are teaching Vacation Bible School classes, painting a mural, or just conversing with college-age students, we pray that our actions reflect those of Christ.
Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa, with a population of over 10 million people on just 26,000 square kilometers. For a little perspective, Oregon is about 10 times the size of Rwanda, with just about a third of the population. Of those 10 million people, 41% are 14 years old or younger. To me, this means that a huge mission field awaits us. The children and teenagers that we will be ministering to make up such a large portion of the population that a spiritual revival among them can only lead to greater things within the rest of the population of the country. We are so excited to see what God has in store for us over the next two weeks!
If you would like to join our team in prayer, here are a few requests:
To begin with, I'd like to explain to you the title of our blog - Imana Ishimwe. I'm sure you were wondering about it. In Kinyarwanda, one of three official languages of Rwanda, it means "Praise God!" It is really our heartbeat to give glory to God throughout this entire trip, for without Him, none of it would be possible or even worthwhile.
We've been given an incredible opportunity to travel halfway across the world, and I think I speak for the whole team when I say that it is our first priority to truly demonstrate God's love to the people of Rwanda with every word and action. Whether we are teaching Vacation Bible School classes, painting a mural, or just conversing with college-age students, we pray that our actions reflect those of Christ.
Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa, with a population of over 10 million people on just 26,000 square kilometers. For a little perspective, Oregon is about 10 times the size of Rwanda, with just about a third of the population. Of those 10 million people, 41% are 14 years old or younger. To me, this means that a huge mission field awaits us. The children and teenagers that we will be ministering to make up such a large portion of the population that a spiritual revival among them can only lead to greater things within the rest of the population of the country. We are so excited to see what God has in store for us over the next two weeks!
If you would like to join our team in prayer, here are a few requests:
- Safety in travel: that we all survive the 16 hour flight from Washington D.C. to Ethiopia without going too stir crazy
- Team unity: that we will all be "like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose" (Philippians 2:2)
- Flexibility: that we will go into this trip with open minds, prepared to cope with any curve balls that comes our way
- Spiritual revival: that seeds will be planted and lives will be changed for God
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