Our Days at Imbabazi

As we drove through these amazing hills and valleys, past small little villages, and groups of people harvesting their crops along the steep hillside farms, I was falling more and more in love with the beauty. (If you can’t tell by now, I REALLY love this country... Alot.)

As we were driving, I began reading scripture, looking through the psalms about God's creation. I ended up in Isaiah (it's always the place I end up!) and I stumbled on the perfect verses for Rwanda. Driving through these hills, listening to worship music, watching the people of Rwanda out the window, and reading the beautiful words of the Lord...it was awesome. Here is what I found:

"No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your GOD will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end. Then all your people will be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor. The least of you will become a thousand, the smallest a mighty nation. I am the LORD; in its time I will do this swiftly." Isaiah 60:18-22

I love that the Lord's glory is being displayed so OBVIOUSLY in this country. :)

Halfway to Gisenyi, we stopped to have the “best juice in the country” according to Jane. And, it really was THAT good. Passion fruit juice, squeezed that day…oh my. So yummy. And, again, I couldn’t get past the scenery. This is what we saw from the parking lot.

As we arrived in Gisenyi, we went straight to the next orphanage we would be visiting, Imbabazi.

Our team had joked many times about how we were having to eat lunch AT the orphanages for the next four days, and to be honest, we were all a little fearful of what that meant.

But, once again, we had NO idea what we were walking into. First of all, we had the two best meals we had all week, including Shepherd's Pie and a cheesy pasta dish with every comfort food side dish you can imagine! It was a taste of home for sure!

And, I have never seen a place like Imbabazi in my life. It was right out of Alice in Wonderland, with six beautiful flower gardens, little cottages, and white gates that looked like they were transplanted from the English countryside.

Ros Carr established this orphanage after the genocide, with big vision for what this land would become. It is now a flower farm, producing fresh bouquets that they sell all over the country.

And, besides the flowers and animals and business it produces, it is a beautiful place for these kids to live.

Even the clothesline looks prettier here!

Most of the children here are older, since they were all there as a result of the genocide, and they are almost all attending secondary schools across Rwanda. We had a GREAT visit with these kids, and we discovered so many talents and gifts among this group! They have definitely been raised to find what they are uniquely created for, and are encouraged to use their gifts in many ways around the orphanage and in their schools. Jeff, the director, described many of the child-led committees they have on campus, and some of the opportunities that they are given to lead their peers in different ways.

Once again, one of the concerns we heard from the kids again and again is where they will go from here. Many of them are in their last year of secondary school, and will be making decisions about college in the next few months. They were worried about what they will do and where they will go. And, many of the men on our trip spent their time encouraging these young adults as they make decisions about career fields, and how to use their talents and gifts to be successful after they leave the orphanage. I love this picture of Larry counseling these young men about their career choices. :)

Again, I feel like there is something stirring here. There is a need for teams to go and train these young adults, and to show them love by helping them through this transition time in their lives. They need stability, and to be equipped with the tools to make a life for themselves. They need to know how to interview, how to apply the knowledge they have learned, how to build a business, and how to manage their money. And, they ultimately need encouragement to trust that God is leading their every step as they step out in faith into a world that is scary and unknown to them.

So….as you might already know, I really love Africa. I especially love worshipping with African people. There is a Spirit there that I can’t begin to describe in words. It simply makes me cry every time. And, it happened again at Imbabazi.

One of the boys, Twagira, has taught himself to play guitar, and began playing some Rwandan worship songs. (I have great videos of them, but they're taking too long to upload. So, I'll try again later.)

I was sitting along the wall talking to some girls, and they immediately stood up and said, “We love to sing. Come with us to listen.” For the next hour or two, I sat and worshipped with these sweet kids. I couldn’t understand a word of it, but Jane would interpret the words for me after each song was finished. Which of course made the tears flow. These children praise God for His goodness and His provision…and it amazes me.

The first song they sang was immediately my favorite one. It has the most amazing tune and words...here is the English translation.

“I come into your presence. I have come because You are good to me. I come so that your will may be done in my life. There is a reason I come into your presence. I was to die but you became a sacrifice for me so I may be called your son or daughter. In You, I will find my rest.Oh God, I don’t want to go back to the way I was. I know that in You is where I will rest from the problems of this world.”

Good stuff.

I also loved watching as they listened to their own voices, since Billy was able to do a high quality recording of their singing with all of his cool equipment!. He made them a CD of their songs, and we’re HOPING to actually have that available for others soon too! It is beautiful…and I know we look forward to having it, especially for our little Rwandan baby someday!

It was a great couple of days with these kids, and we, once again, were encouraged to see how God was making a way for these kids.

The sad thing is that they all still expressed their deep desire to belong to a family…to have a mom and a dad. That continues to be so hard for me. It’s the true reality that the void does not go away, just because they get older, or because they’ve dealt with it a while. God is reaching them where they are, and developing leaders for His name. But, this is simply NOT the way God designed us to live. So, it just never feels right.

I continue to pray about what to do with that heartbreaking truth…

But, we did our best to do some simple things that hopefully made memories for them and began relationships that will continue over time. We sang, we danced, we painted nails (Amy did some mean french manicures!), made crafty creations, and sat around and talked about life.

We learned to peel potatoes the rusty-knife way (they asked us if we had ever peeled potatoes before. :), we learned to crochet, and we learned a new version of checkers.

We exchanged email addresses with these new friends of ours, and would love to continue to help at Imbabazi as well. It is certainly a place I hope to visit again someday! And, if you're interested in training older teens for entering the world of business, begin praying about how you can help too!!