It's Been a Year!

Today I have been in Rwanda for a full year. And the Lord has been so amazingly faithful every step of the way. How true I have found Lamentations 3: 22-23 to be“The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning, great is Your faithfulness.” There was a while upon first arriving at site that most of my job was just doing paperwork in an office. How thankful I am that that has changed!

So what’s happening now? I able to be out of the office and working with children, in a variety of contexts ...

This picture is of me using a stuffed animal to teach teeth brushing during a Community Health Day

I've also been getting to continue my work as a Child Life Specialist in the local hospital! It is a delight to be able to bring play activites into an otherwise rather miserable environment for children...to have tears stop and smiles appear, what a great reason to be here!

SWAA (The Society for Women and AIDS in Africa) is the organization in Rwanda that I am partnered with. This picture is from a camp that we put on for Orphans and Vulnerable Children.

In November I took a trip to Uganda and went bungee jumping and whitewater rafting on the Nile River. It was incredible! But you know, even more incredible than that experince, is the incredible love of our Lord Jesus Christ!

"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, not things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separated us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ~ Romans 8:38-39

I am so thankful that He brought me to this beautiful continent and that He is continuing to work in and through me as I continue to be available to Him.

"Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will Bring it to pass" ~ 1 Thessalonians 5: 24

So with that, I'm looking forward to this year ahead and all that the Lord is going to do!

A Collection of Christmas Photos (and a few thoughts too)

Welcome to Winter in Rwanda...

...where family, friends and frosty weather are missed, but Christ’s birth is celebrated with fun traditions and a joyful heart.

I made a wreath for my door,

gingerbread houses with friends,

decorated a tree,

and even fashioned a manger scene from corn husks!

I was so thankful to have a Christmassy home here! But even more so, I am so thankful that Christmas is much, much more than just snowflakes and holiday cheer. It’s the celebration of Christ’s birth and life!

How delightful it was to read the Christmas story together with my host family in both Kinyarwanda and English. “Kuk’ uyu munsi Umukiz’abavukiye mu murwa wa Dawidi, uzaba Kristo Umwami.” “For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” ~Luke 2:11
It is such a blessing to know that “you” means each and every one of us. That Christmas, and its message of hope and life in Jesus, is for the whole world. Glory to God in the highest, it is in Him that we find peace!

P.S.~ On January 29th, I will have been in Rwanda for one year. My year-in-review blog update is coming soon.

Home is where the heart is...

So I've moved into my apartment! It's small, just two rooms, but cozy and I have so much enjoyed making it into a home.

Here's some before and after photos.

The curtains I sewed with material I bought at the local market.

And the flowers I found cut and dried, trimmed from a bush that needed pruning and left on the side of the road.

All I did was tie them together with string and hang them up above the door between the two rooms.

And my furniture, that's from the secondary school just down the road from me. My table is not quite so empty now, in fact it's almost completely full as I'm still waiting for a cupboard to store my dishes and food.

And finally, I store my shoes by the door accompanied by this verse:

If you can't quite read it in the photo it's Colossians 2:6, "Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him."

What a good reminder it is that every day we are to be living in Christ, marveling in His saving and indwelling life. Well, I guess that's about all for now. Hope you enjoyed getting a little glimpse at my house, I'm sure thankful to be moved in. Mostly though I'm thankful that wherever I am, I can trust in the Lord and that my true home and life is found in Him.

Walk in Him.

Sounds

This was actually written on March 29, 2009, I just haven't been able to upload it until today.

I woke up this morning to thunder, booming somewhere in the distance. The sound was dulled by the miles so that it was a soft rumble by the time it reached my ears. In those first few seconds of wakefulness, still clinging to my dreams, the thunder was a familiar sound. Not one accompanied by lightening, but one I heard every Tuesday back home. One of wheels turning on pavement as the garbage can was pulled along the driveway. The thunder came again, this time a little louder and much more nature like. I turned over; remembering I was in Africa and at the same time remembering the sounds of home.

(A plant outside my window in the rain)

Who would have thought a person would miss the sound of the trash being hauled out, and yet I do. More so, I miss the sounds surrounding the act, harmonizing with it in a way I never noticed or appreciated. My dad’s cowboy boots hitting the ground with a little tap as he completed the task. Inside there would be a different tap, the clicking of my mom’s knitting needles as she worked diligently on a pair of socks. I miss the sound of the heater turning on and the sound of my cat, sitting in front of the vent, echoing it with his purr. The refrigerator door being opened and closed, the garage door too.

I turned over again and for the moment thoughtfully closed the door on reminiscing and looked ahead.

Africa has it’s own sounds, sounds I love. The thunder I heard this morning, the pitter patter of rain on the dirt road. The voices of people stopping as they walk to greet each other, birds singing in trees high above. The sound of a wheel, rolling in such a different way than at home. The sound of a wheel directed by a stick, held in the hand of a running boy, with a smile on his face.

These are a few of the sounds of Africa, the first few lines of the song of Rwanda. So far I have been here two months and I still have two more years to go. Sometimes I feel homesick, but mostly I feel content. I am content knowing that among all the sounds I hear, or don’t hear, and among all that is before me, God is faithful. Psalm 29:2-4 “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in holy array. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord is over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the Lord is majestic.” His voice truly is the sound that matters most.

A Little About Life In Rwanda

These are the flowers on the fence around the center where we are staying:

Aren’t they amazing!

And here’s a look at the center, outside:

And in:

This lizard was in the wall of the hallway outside my room yesterday; He was so very small, just about 2 inches from head to tail.

Our classrooms are outside. Here’s a picture of one:

It’s a perfect place to learn, but in the afternoons I need to remember to put sunscreen on my neck.

So what have I been doing recently? Classes and more classes, but it’s good, I’ve been learning a lot. Also I met two couples from the United States who are here briefly teaching at the university. Together with them I was able to go to a local orphanage. The children sang for us and then we played duck, duck, goose together. It was wonderful to see the joy on their faces and the delight they took in playing, even though they have such hard lives, they are still children who find a game in everything and want so much to have fun and to learn.

So here’s a picture of that:

Finally, I just want to end by saying that this is an exciting place to be. It’s amazing to see all that is happening here right now and to watch Proverrbs 3:5-6 unfold before my eyes. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

Hello From Rwanda!

Yes, I made it here safely and I love it. Rwanda is beautiful! It's warm, but not too hot and so very green! After staging in D.C. I flew with the 33 other trainees to Rwanda, with just a short layover in Brussels. We've now been here almost two weeks and are staying in a facility that is run by nuns. Our schedule each day is pretty full. We have breakfast at 7:00 am and then class starts @ 8:00. We have class until 12 and then lunch. After lunch we have a break until 2:30. During this time, I've often gone into town, about a 10 minute walk down the road. Class starts again at 2:30 and goes to 5:00. After class gets out, a group of us often go play volleyball We get back at 7:00 for dinner. After dinner I try to study some. So that’s my schedule.

What classes am I taking you may ask. Well, mostly it’s language. We have small classes of three of four people and Rwandan teachers. The teachers rotate to the different classes, however all teach the same material. That way it’s balanced. Kinyarwanda is hard, but it’s also amazing how much we know after such a short time. I still have a long way to go though! Another type of class we have is tech class. This is done all in one group and covers what we’ll need to know once we get to our sites. We don’t yet know what those sites will be though and so far we’ve just had mostly overviews.

On Sunday I was able to go to a local church here with a service in English and French and then in the afternoon a group of us went for about a 3 hour walk through a forest looking for monkeys. The forest was a mix of all types of trees and flowers, simply stunning to traverse, but absolutely void of monkeys. As we walked back to the center where we are staying from the forest what do you suppose we saw just on the side of the road? A monkey, and not just one, 20! They were small, but very curious and very photogenic. What a delight they were to stumble upon and a reminder of how God orchestrates things in ways we don't always expect.

So, I'm writing now with a thankful heart...thankful to be in Rwanda, thankful for it's beauty and it's welcoming people, thankful to be part of a great team, thankful for you and your prayers, and most of all thankful that God is so amazingly good, that I can trust Him and His plans, and that this is just the beginning.

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name." ~ Psalm 100:4