Rwanda, Day 2

Hello everyone from the DC airport!! It’s been quite a while since I’ve updated here, and of course, I am officially overwhelmed with content. My heart is so full and as each day has passed, I’ve wondered how I will ever write it all down. God is doing some big things in my heart…I just pray I can communicate it somehow.

I'm going to back up a bit, even though some of you have seen bits and pieces of our week in Rwanda already. I have to start from the beginning. :)

The day after we arrived in Rwanda, we spent time shopping around town and getting to experience Kigali. It was SO much fun!

(And my teammates are laughing as they read that, because I went a bit crazy on the shopping thing. I was finally here! So, I had to buy it all!! And, a special thank you to Jason and David for carrying my excessive goodies home for me. :) )

It was fun to interact with the people and see the “every day life” of Kigali. We were also so excited to experience some new things in Rwanda. Look at this plate full of food...all my favorites! I ate way too much this week!

Jane, our guide, is the BEST and took us to great places to shop, to eat, and to see the sights of the city. She has become a dear friend to us all, and I am looking forward to sharing more about her in future posts. ☺Let's just say I brought alot of her fun paper bead necklaces home, and they are going to be available to BUY, along with some other fun things!!! I'm so excited about this!

Back to the Day Two update. After we shopped and ate, we spent the afternoon with the Best Family. This family is led by a group of young guys, who were orphaned by the genocide in 1994, and decided to band together as a group to take care of each other. Now, they are taking care of another generation of children, providing what they consider to be the key to overcoming poverty: education. They send street children--both orphaned and poor--to school, and also provide for other needs they have.

What I was most impressed with is that they have big God-sized plans for their program. They want to teach the children how to run a business, so they hope to open an internet café, which would provide computer training for the kids, and would also teach them to run a small business.

They also dream of having multiple houses for their young men and women to transition into as they finish secondary school and even university level schooling.

This is one of the biggest eye-opening things for me this week. There are so many people taking care of orphans in their formative years, as they grow up through childhood. But, there is a HUGE need for those who will provide training and support to orphans as they leave school years behind, and enter the “real world”. They feel very lost, very scared, and very alone.

And, the Best Family is determined to equip these children to not just survive, but to succeed, by providing them a home to live in while they establish themselves in the community. I love that.

And, most of all, I love that God has literally given these young men (the director is only 26!) this amazing vision, and they are carrying it out very well.

As I sat and listened to Jean Claude explain his vision and his call, I kept thinking, “Mark would LOVE this guy! “ And, just as I thought, as I explained this guy’s maturity, his vision, and his dedication to these kids, even at a young age, and Mark was sold. ☺ I have no doubt that they would have really connected if Mark had been there to talk with him. We are praying about how we might be able to help the Best Family with some of its goals in the future.

We did not have long enough with the kids there, but we did get to sing some songs, and do a little African dancing. ☺ They were good little teachers.

We had planned to play soccer and get outside for the afternoon, but the huge storm that blew through had a different plan. It was amazing to watch the winds start blowing crazy and the temperature drop 20 degrees in 5 minutes. :)

It was a good afternoon, and I admire these men who have not sat around feeling sorry for their loss. Instead, they are taking their loss and turning it into a beautiful legacy for children who have no one, and all to the glory of God. We could certainly take some lessons from these guys about dreaming big and pursuing the plans God has for us in life!

After we finished with the Best Family, we got to go see the actual Hotel Rwanda, where many people were hidden and protected during the genocide. Although it was a little different than the one on the movie, there were many spots that looked JUST like the movie! And, it was amazing to stand on such important ground…isn’t it BEAUTIFUL?!

This was the only day we did ministry in Kigali, so that night we packed our stuff to head west to Gisenyi the next morning. I had heard it was going to be beautiful, but I had no idea what we were about to see as we followed the winding roads through Rwanda's hills. It was obvious why this country is called "The Land of a Thousand Hills". And, it made me think many times of the scriptures that describe God’s glory being revealed in His creation. Rwanda is a place where you can’t miss God’s creative and beautiful work that surrounds you!