Connected

I just came back from a wonderful Easter break in Kenya. And one of the neatest things about coming back this time, was that coming back to Kigali felt like coming home. I was back home. It's always a beautiful and yet, weird thing when you get that feeling....that another place feels like coming home. Of course, it's not my "real" home...we all know I was homegrown in K-nap with Dairy Queen and Sundrop and grits and the Wonders. But this time, when I reached my gate on Aracura Street in Gaculiro, I was home...after traveling for 2 weeks. It's a good feeling. What makes it feel like home now? I don't exactly know...I think the familiarity and the smells and my things being there. But also the connections I've made with folks. Seeing new, but already "connected" friends picking you up at the airport. Seeing Alphonse, our guard, and all the neighbors out and about. It looked the same as it did two weeks ago and I appreciated that. I think K-nap will probably look about the same too when I come home in a few short weeks...and I'll appreciate that as well.

Anyway, back to my break. It's advised that many foreigners leave Rwanda during the memorial of the genocide which began on April 7, 1994, as that week has been, in the past, one of hostility and tension. This year, the events of the 7th went smoothly, but last Friday we got word that there had been another 2 grenades thrown in town, near the bus station. Again, it's just scare tactics, we think, by the opposition party, as the elections are coming up in August. But, thankfully we were already out of the country. We were fortunate that our school board paid for the returning teachers for next year (yes, thats me!) to travel to Rift Valley Academy in Kenya for the ACSI teacher's conference for schools all over Africa. It was a wonderful time connecting with fellow teachers from national and international schools. It was almost surreal sitting there at RVA and discussing familiar things like Brain-Based Learning and Best Practices with teachers from Uganda, Tanzania, Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, and many more. We really are all connected to one another in so many ways. And we are more alike than different. Those are the same things I would discuss with my colleagues at Northwest. I feel like I came away with a broader understanding of what works in different countries, cultures, and different curriculums like Cambridge. I also picked up some great ideas for teaching Science and Math, since those are my weak areas.

I was richly blessed by the speakers at the conference, and hearing what God is doing all over the continent. We heard from a principal from South Africa, who had suffered from the system of apartheid in his country for many years. He told the sobering story of his son's murder when two white farmers crushed his body with a tractor. He also told of his forgiveness of those farmers, and how he and his wife were able to receive healing from that forgiveness. He told of the time when he was shot in the chest late at night after the wrong person found out he was speaking out against apartheid. He said his goodbyes to his wife while lying on the floor, only to wake up days later in a hospital room in Johannesburg. Today, this man leads one of the top schools in South Africa and is a joy to be around. We also were blessed to hear from Dr. Wes Stafford, the President of Compassion International, and hear his story of being raised in a remote African village with no water or electricity, and realizing at a young age how he was different than the rest of his agemates because he was white and he had marks on his arms (vaccines) which allowed him to live when the rest of his friends died. I think it's so important to realize how we are different, how we are privileged in many ways and how we are blessed. But it's the similarities that connect us. He encouraged us to continue pressing onward and looking for ways, big and small, to invest in childrens' lives. The little ones are big in the kingdom of God.

Another complete joy of the conference was connecting with other teachers there. On the first day, I noticed Karina, a teacher in Ethiopia who was also in one of my Islam classes at CIU last January! I remember talking with her at CIU about her job in Ethiopia and her work with HIV+ women in Addis. I just get overwhelmed at how the Spirit connects us all. His hand is in all and I firmly believe that there is no coincidence in the life of a Christian. He is in all of us, weaving us together and he made us for each other! We were made to be connected to each other. And it's such a complete blessing when it happens so far away from home. Another one of those moments was in meeting Crystal, a young teacher in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She sat down and we were instantly connected like we had known each other forever. We talked, laughed, shared stories and prayed. She's originally from Michigan, but had been teaching in Edgecombe County, NC the same time I was teaching in Lee County, and her brother is a student at Wake Forest. She teaches in TZ, I teach in Rwanda, and we meet in Kenya and are able to encourage one another. God is really cool!

One of the neatest moments of the conference where I felt very connected was during the registration. We arrived at RVA the same time that Pa's funeral was taking place back home. I wanted to be there, of course, or at least be able to talk to them. But that was not possible. But the Holy Spirit, that dwells in each of us, chose an even better way for me to be connected with my family at that time. During registration, what kind of candy does the lady hand me? A Werther's Original, the candy that makes me think of Pa. And they don't sell it here in Africa. It was brought over by an American missionary coming back from furlough. I hadn't seen it until then. Until I was connected. Then we go into the chapel and sing the hymn, A Mighty Fortress, the same one they were singing back home at that time. God knows all and is in all! I love how the Spirit moves in us and intertwines our lives so that we can be connected to one another. Because that is what life is about, right? Being connected to our Savior and through Him, connecting with the world.

(I'll write about the rest of my break very soon and post some pics!)