A Few Highlights from Rwanda

I tried to come up with my "Top Ten Moments" on this trip, but there are really too many to even count! So, these are ten highlights from our trip that just came to me first...I'm sure there will be more to come.

1. Watching our medical team work!

As I mentioned before, we had friends from all areas of our life on this trip with us, sharing their amazing gifts and training with these kids.

It was so cool to watch all the different groups come together and make the most amazing team I've ever seen!

There were many moments where I got tears in my eyes watching sweet friends bring healing and hope to these children.

The medical team began each morning with "first things first", praying that God blesses the work of their hands and gives them sharp minds for the children they will treat. What a blessing to serve alongside people who are serving the Lord like this.

And, there were SO many moments where God whispered "This is why you're here...for this child right here!"

Words are failing me, as I try to describe my gratitude to this team and all who helped this effort. It was quite the undertaking to see 552 children in a week. But, they shined in amazing ways.

And, of course, while the doctors and nurses were doing things like this:

And, the amazing office staff was doing this:

The waiting room team {which I was a part of} was doing this:

And, this.

And, this.

It was a rough gig. :)

But, even then, as we were seemingly "only" playing, I found some of my favorite, most powerful moments as well.

2) Teaching children how to play. It's sad, really, that any teaching was necessary but it was another way God used our team.

As these sweet ones fed their babies, or rocked them...

...they were learning to nurture and love.

Or, as they popped bubbles and drew pictures...

They were FREE to be kids! There was such JOY in that!

I have shared this story with our team already, but one of my favorite, but simple moments, was when the 5 year old boys came into the waiting room. None of these children have much to call their own, so their instinct is to hoard whatever they find. They began shoving wooden blocks into their shirts and just sat down with them. They had NO idea what to do with blocks!

So, I sat in the floor and showed them how to build a house or a tower.

It was a miracle moment for me...they began to build, and play together, sharing the blocks and connecting their little houses to each other's buildings or towers.

They just needed someone to show them how. And, we were all continually blessed throughout our time at Noel by opportunities like this one...whether it was running soccer drills or beading necklaces or playing musical instruments, they were given new opportunities to express themselves that every child deserves!

3. Seeing my Noel friends again! After our trip here in January, I was so anxious to see the sweet ones I connected to before. One of my first hugs off the bus was from Vedaste, my sweet 9 year old friend who never left my side last time. Of course, I had my favorites from the baby nursery and toddler rooms too, who are now growing up and getting so big!

I loved on my little Vestine every day, and loved seeing how all the babies have grown.

But, one of my favorite reunion moments came the third day we were there. My friend, John, came running into the waiting room, jumping up and down and yelling "Chelsea, Chelsea, come, come!!!" I follow him as he RAN outside and there stands my sweet Jean, who was home two days earlier than we expected from school! It was such a wonderful surprise, and I loved getting to hug him and tell him how much he was missed. He immediately felt for my bracelet again and said "Wow. Chelsea. You are my best friend and I have missed you. I pray for you every day." I LOVE THAT BOY!

It was also fun to introduce him to the others on the team, and watch as he formed such close friendships with so many of them over the next two weeks.

He is such a special kid, and God has SUCH big plans for his life. We hope to continue helping him with some things he needs that make his life as a visually impaired teenager easier and are so thankful that we get to be a part of his life.

4. Watching God clearly define our purposes as the weeks progressed. I feel like it could be summed up as this:

*HEALING for the sick

*HAPPINESS for the children

*HOPE for the future of Noel and Madame Director

We were amazed to watch these purposes be made clear, as children were healed, illnesses were detected, and many received treatment they needed. There was so much happiness spread through the love of these teams and through the different projects we did with them.

And, we are humbled and excited to be a small part of bringing continual hope and support to the Noel Orphanage in the future. Many plans and discussions were had with Madame Director, and we are thrilled with some of the opportunities we will have to continue our relationships with these sweet children in so many ways.

5. Watching amazing team bonds form.

This is something Mark and I had prayed over daily for months and months! Any time you are leading a team of people who don't all know each other beforehand, it is certainly a concern. But, there was no need for concern here!

Everyone became so close and it still feels weird to not see all of these sweet friends every day now! I pray that life long bonds have been made between people, and that many more trips of service will come from these first trips together.

6. As I mentioned before, I truly loved watching every team member use their specific gifts to bless others. Whether it be coaching the older boys, organizing our crazy supplies, drawing with the older girls, playing games with the toddlers, or playing guitar for the babies, every single person had amazing love to share through their gifts and talents.

It never ceased to amaze me as God would pair up the perfect team member with the perfect child who needed that specific moment of blessing.

None of that was by mistake. It was all perfectly planned, and each member of this team was equally as important and gifted as the next.

7. The Belvedere Hotel. :)

One of the important things to me as we began planning this trip is creating a good environment for sharing and relaxing at the end of our days. The Belvedere was the perfect place to hang {except for the barking dog who chose to stay awake all night and bark and bark and bark.} Other than that, it was a beautiful place, and was a great setting for relaxed dinners, and good conversation. Definitely part of the trip we will always remember.

8. Jane's "home" church!

The second week, our team visited our guide, Jane's, church, where she and her husband work pastoring a sweet, small group of people in their neighborhood. I really don't have words for what this powerful morning was like for our whole team. Tears were streaming down all of our faces, as we joined these spirited Rwandans in prayer and song. And, I have to do a whole other blog about the word from the Lord that I got that morning. He KNEW I desperately needed a reminder that HE is VICTORIOUS over evil and that, therefore, so am I, if I believe!! It was AMAZING and such a God moment for us all.

Jane and Peter are truly some of the most beautiful people I have ever met in my life, and she has played a huge role in these two weeks for us. Not just in coordinating our every meal, bus ride, and shopping stop, but in much bigger, God-sized ways. She has spoken HIS truth when we needed to hear it, and has guided us in the most beautiful, humble way. She relies on the Lord for EVERYTHING in her life, and she is such an example to me.

9. Serving alongside some amazing children!

I know I've already written about my own girls, but the entire team of kids who came with us were AMAZING and really were the hands and feet of Jesus in ways only they could be. Each one had such a perfect place on the team and had such compassionate hearts for the kids at Noel. It was a sweet thing to watch them love and be loved on. :)

10. Watching my husband lead and serve!

What a blessing to partner with him on a trip like this, and after months and months of hard work, to watch him in action! Mark was the runner for everything from money to lost luggage, from supplies or prescriptions to formula and basketball shoes.

Whatever the need was, and for whoever needed it, he was there. And, I loved getting to see pictures of him buying shoes for children he met in the market,

or clearing the shelves of infant formula from the local store, and blessing the store owner with more sales than he would have had all year!

Beyond the errands and organizing he did, I just loved watching his heart for these children most of all.

He connects so easily to these children, and loves them so deeply.

He leads with such passion and heart, and I am SO GLAD I can call him mine!

We consider it a true act of God that He has placed the exact same passion in both of us at the same time in our lives. Doing this together is the BIGGEST blessing, and we keep watching in great anticipation to see what else God will call us to do together for His children!