Mark's Turn!

So, my husband is officially in the air and on his way to Rwanda. He is already greatly missed around here, as my girls kindly said at bedtime, "But, when DADDY is in charge, we ALWAYS stay up late!" And, "When DADDY is here, we can have dessert even if we didn't finish our dinner!" Yeah, yeah, he's the fun one. I know.

But, hopefully, they'll survive with me for the week. Luckily, we're having company some of the time and we're visiting friends too, so we'll have a full week of fun.

Some of you have wondered if Mark's trip this week is connected to our summer projects...or to our adoption...and the answer is surprisingly no to both. Yes, we're confusing like that. This is actually a totally separate thing. Which makes it so crazy and so exciting!

After my trip in January, Mark and I were having many of our usual conversations about this amazing country and how far they have come since '94. But, we also felt this heaviness for how far they still had to go...not because they aren't trying or because they aren't able. This country is filled with the most determined, purpose-driven people I've ever seen! But they have had such devastating loss to suffer through: poverty, death, disease, and an orphan crisis, just to name a few of the major struggles.

We talked about how many "big things" Americans could help with if they were willing. It could literally revolutionize this little part of the world if we were open to some pretty big ideas. As we talked, we both had in mind this idea that came to me in the middle of the night on my last night in Rwanda.

It was this vision of partnership. Of Americans coming alongside Rwandans to help both nations find what they've been missing. :) It's already happening in many industries and I think it's great.

As I thought about what Mark does everyday, I started wondering...What could happen if corporate America used the gifts and talents of their employees to pour into a country in need of those exact specialties?

There are multiple families from America who are living in Rwanda doing exactly that. They are businessmen, leaders of churches, educators, attorneys...all living in Kigali, teaching Rwandan leaders, business owners, and students how to be successful on every level. And, it totally inspired me...I thought, why couldn't Mark's company do the same?

We have been so blessed by Mark's job and especially the AMAZING people he gets to work with at The Medicines Company. They are a pharmaceutical company focused on cardiovascular care in hospitals, who truly care about their colleagues, the patients and the hospitals they serve. They had already been searching for the right way to "give back" in a philanthropic kind of way, and to help others with medical needs somehow.

So..what if they could partner with the main hospital in Kigali, to meet their needs and help develop their facilities? As Mark says, could we partner and be a source of help, to make this hospital a 'center of excellence' like it desires to be? That's what they do every day in hospitals around America already!

Now, who knows what that will look like...this is the beginning of it all. It could mean training for nurses and doctors, improved facilities, access to better medication, better cardiovascular care...we don't know what it will be yet.

But, that is why Mark is there. His amazing company has sent him, and our friend and Mark's colleague, Brian Woods, for the week to meet with the key doctors and staff to see what could happen if a forward-thinking hospital in Kigali and an innovative, compassionate company in America come together for the improved health of a nation.

Could be pretty cool! This is all still "in the works" and we really don't know much yet. But, I did want everyone to know why Mark has gone and how this came to be.

I really do marvel at what God has done to lead us on this path. He clearly said "Rwanda" over a year ago to us, and we had no idea why at the time. But, there was no mistake that this little country was supposed to be a part of our lives. Now, we're finding many reasons why He said "go". And, we're looking forward to seeing just what He could be planning...