a verse

"When a soul sets out to find God it does not know whither it will come and by what path it will be led; but those who catch the vision are ready to follow the Lamb wherever He goes, and it is as they follow, obedient to what they have seen, in this spirit of joyful adventure, that their path becomes clear before them, and they are given the power to fulfill their high calling. They are those who have the courage to break through conventionalities, who care not at all what the world thinks of them, because they are entirely taken up with the tremendous realities of the soul and God." ~Bishop Bardsley

Aunt Ruth

Aunt Ruth is a very young, spunky, and fun 88 year old lady from Louisville, Kentucky who's been volunteering here at KICS since January. She helps tutor children, and works with two boys who have autism. She flew here by herself, and she leaves in April to go back to her beautiful horse farm in Kentucky. We will certainly miss her. Aunt Ruth first started taking mission trips to Africa 20 years ago after her husband passed away. In those 20 years, she has lived in Eritrea, Tanzania, Kenya, Zaire, Ethiopia, and now Rwanda. She's taught in an orphanage, lived in a mud hut, taken public transportation in Africa (this says A LOT!), and been kicked out of Zaire by the late dictator, Mobutu. All of that took place in the last 20 years! Aunt Ruth is an example of a life that is lived! And she's still living it. She's so full of life. We went to town the other day and I was tired trying to keep up with her, weaving in and out of traffic and the rows in the market! Talking with Aunt Ruth is something I adore and treasure. She has so many amazing stories to tell, and yet, is unbelieveably humble. She loves to give me relationship advice, among other things, and I gladly accept it! The way she talks about her husband is so endearing. He grew up in an orphanage, and lived there until he was 18. She thought she would never marry and find someone that could keep up with her. But when she met her husband, she fell in love with his humble heart and how incredibly smart he was! They married and were flat broke in the beginning, but God continued to bless them both, and he ended up being the VP of General Electric. They had 7 children who are today spread out all over the country, and they were blessed with 13 grandchildren too. When we were eating the other night, and she was talking about her late husband, she smiled and said that they always kept a framed copy of Rudyard Kipling's poem, "If" in their house. And then she recited the entire poem for me over dinner! I wanted to share it with you....great lessons there! Aunt Ruth has really been a blessing to me these past few months. I only can hope to live a life this rich and full! Her life is an adventure that only God could have written. She makes me think of the verse in Luke, "Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!" (Aunt Ruth is camera-shy, but I'll post a picture of her before she leaves for sure, so you can see the fullness of joy in her face!)



"If" by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

I forgot to post...

The best picture of the whole trip!!...posted on the factory wall...in TWO languages...


And...a random picture of Orla and I with our masks. :-)

Big-time Kigali news

This is from BBC...big news here right now...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8545120.stm

Silkworms

Last Friday, we took a field trip to Utexwra, a textile plant in Kigali that specializes in silkworm farming! It was so fascinating! We were able to see the entire process of how a piece of silk is made, beginning from the eggs being hatched, all the way to the women who spin and weave it by hand into beautiful silk. We watched silkworms munch on their favorite food (their only food!) of mulberry leaves. We saw two worms mating, and watched the female lay eggs, over 300 in about 15 minutes! Wow! Sadly, then the female dies, but the male continues to mate with others. We discovered that only one tiny cocoon of silk can be stretched out for one kilometer! We also got to tour the spinning and weaving part of the factory, and the power mill plant as well. The kids loved wearing the surgical masks, and we left there with tons of cotton all over us. We walked up and down through the loud machinery and watched cotton being cleaned, and the fibers sorted, and eventually made into Army uniforms for the Rwandan army. Such a neat process to see! Here's a few pictures from our trip.


24 day old silkworms


Silkworm eggs that have just hatched

Norah, touching the silk on the machine

Watching the lady weave the silk together. It was such a neat, rythmic process to watch! It was all about timing for sure!

Putting the silk on spools

The weekend

Thank you all for your prayers for peace and security here. We had an uneventful end to the week and a calm weekend as well. I can't say the same for the people in Chile. My heart just aches when I hear the stories, and I just wanna go there and help! And so close to the Haiti earthquake! I just wanna go help in some way so badly. Do you ever feel that way? And sometimes I feel so helpless. But I know we can pray, if we can't help in another tangible way. I sometimes forget how powerful prayer is. When I spend that time, and take that time to really let everything else go and focus in, it's so powerful.

I like to talk to God when I run, and I had a LONG time to talk to Him on Saturday. A friend convinced me to go on a long run, without telling me how long, OR the fact that he enjoyed running up mountains for fun! So I'm still trying to decide if I will train for this race in May, so I joined him. Whoa! We literally ran up a mountain...for 13K! Ok, half of it was running DOWN the mountain, but still! He was gracious and stopped and walked with me on the steepest parts, cause I'm just not there yet! But it was fun, winding our way through village after village, jumping a swollen creek, stepping into huge mud piles, and ending up back in town on the main cobblestone roads. I think we provided much Saturday morning entertainment for many people not used to seeing mzungus in short shorts with mud streaked on them, panting and sweating through the village. And....the BEST part of the run....I got to eat GRITS afterwards! Yes, REAL SOUTHERN GRITS! They were amazing! And totally worth the long effort to get them! :-)

On another note, I want to tell you about a man I met Friday night named Ian. We just happened to be at the same house, with loads of different people from all countries (and walks of life,) and I got to chatting to Ian, an older man from Scotland. He's here with his Ugandan wife, and they have just adopted Danny, a 2 year old boy who was left on their doorstep when they lived in Uganda. Danny turned out to be his wife's nephew, and the parents were unable to take care of him. Ian told me how much joy Danny has brought into his life, and his wife's as well. We talked about many things Friday night....Ian struggles with alcohol, and it is having an effect on this second marriage of his. And the conversation turned to faith while he was sitting there sipping on his gin. We discovered that we both lived in the same neighborhood, about 2 minutes walk from our houses. The church is in between us. He started telling me how he used to go to church in Scotland and Belgium, but he never felt welcomed and he never felt good enough to be with "all those other people in their nice clothes." Ian is very simple and is the kind of person that would give his shirt to you off his back if you commented that you liked it. He said what I've heard before...that he never fit in in church, and he blamed other people in his life for what he thinks about church now. But he kept coming back and saying to me that when he looks at the stars he knows God is there and He believes in Him. He said his mother should have died many years ago from cancer, but that is the last time he prayed, and He really believes God heard him cause his mom is still alive. He said, "I think my faith is still there. I really want to believe, and I think I do." He's a real simple fellow, and struggles with sin, just like the rest of us. I invited him to church this morning...since it's right down the street from his house. I could tell he was seriously considering, and I was excited to welcome him. He didn't show up at church today. But he has been on my heart and my mind all weekend. I know God put us beside each other Friday night for a reason. Please pray for this guy, Ian, that God continues to place people in his life who encourage him and that the Holy Spirit will continue to work. I know the Spirit is already working!

I Saw What I Saw

This is the title of a song by Sara Groves. Sara is a Christian singer/songwriter, and her lyrics are so beautiful and honest and pure. This Youtube video was made after one of her trips to Rwanda last year. She's coming back in March, and I hope to meet her. You can check out her website at www.saragroves.com I think she'll be in Greensboro in April.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSdP6PqsbJY

The lyrics are:

I saw what I saw and I can't forget it
I heard what I heard and i can't go back
I know what I know and I can't deny it
something on the road, cut me to the soul
your pain has changed me
your dream inspires
your face a memory
your hope a fire
your courage asks me what I'm afraid of and what I know of love
we've done what we've done and we can't erase it
we are what we are and it's more than enough
we have what we have but it's no substitution
something on the road, cut me to the soul

I say what I say with no hesitation
I have what I have but I'm giving it up
I do what I do with deep conviction
something on the road, cut me to the soul

your courage asks me what I’m afraid of
your courage asks me what I am made of
your courage asks me what I’m afraid of
and what I know of love and what I know of God