I'm back!

I arrived safely back in the land of a thousand hills (after a record SIX planes!), and I survived the first week of school! The first week of school always seems tough to me, no matter where in the world I am, or how many years I've taught. I've got a great bunch of kids; a lot of them missionary kids this year. I have 16 students, from places as diverse as Madagascar, Oregon, Canada, India, Ukbekistan, Afghanistan, England, Rwanda, and a host of other lands!

KICS is really growing, and God has now provided us with a staff of 25 teachers. One family, the Gaskills, are from High Point, NC! I couldn't believe it! But they don't have an accent like mine, because they lived in Colorado for many years. :) Another KICS family, the Raymonds, work for ManaNutrition, which is based in Matthews, NC. You really have to check out their website. www.mananutrition.org. They work to combat hunger in East Africa by providing children with Ready-to-use Therapeutic Food. Mana is an acronym that stands for Mother Administered Nutritive Aid. Mr. Raymond also told me that they have visited the Research Campus in Kannapolis to inquire about partnerships there. What a small world! I will blog more about this later, but check out the website!

To be honest, I was really excited about coming back home to Rwanda, but the transition this time has been one of the most difficult ones. I think it's perfectly normal though, to be missing things from my other home, and to not feel totally settled yet. I really miss sweet Aiden, and fresh blueberries and Cheerios, Mom's cooking, and pimento cheese. I miss my family. And a host of other things! Is it bad that I miss the microwave too? It is nice to come back to swift and thrilling moto rides to the lively market, and the long runs on the red dirt paths in the village. And the dirt cheap mangoes, avocados and pineapples! But I'm realizing that I didn't miss the multiple power outages, slow internet, and no water that is currently our situation. boo :( One thing that is the same....the sounds of drumming in the evenings. I enjoyed sitting on the porch this summer and listening to the Big Green Machine practice at my alma mater. And my first night back here, I heard the drums, and had to think, where am I? It was the same sounds echoing similar rhythms. Only here, it was the traditional drummers with their cowhide drums.

I had to move into a new house this year, with two new roommates, and we still don't have water yet, so I've been resorting back to the old bucket baths I took when I lived in Mombasa. But it's been pretty cold here at night; cold enough to sleep under a down comforter. So I've been "spoiling" myself and boiling a pot of water each night to pour into the cold water. You know, it's not that I can't take baths like this forever. I really know I could. But I think it's just tough when you go from having something, and then you don't have something. That's when it's tough and you feel like you need it! Even though I know that's false.

Last night I was kid-sitting for the Urquharts, my favorite family here in Kigali. I taught their son, Weston, two years ago. It was a privilege to hang out with their two youngest, Ava and Marcel. We have all prayed for a long time now for Marcel's arrival. He is 5 years old, and we first met him 2 years ago when he was living at the Sisters of Charity Home of Hope orphanage. Weston adored him from the beginning, and loved their play times together each week. And soon the whole family fell in love with Marcel. It took them over a year to complete the adoption process, and Marcel came to be an Urquhart in May, right before summer break. It was wonderful last night to see how he has grown, to see how much English he's learned in such a short time, and to hear of his trip to DisneyLand this summer! And it was beautiful to hear him pray the special kinyarwanda prayer at dinner that all the children still pray at the orphanage. He still remembers it, and I'm glad.

After tucking Marcel into bed and singing him the same songs I sang to Aiden this summer, Ava and I enjoyed watching one of my favorite movies, Swiss Family Robinson. I haven't watched that movie (or any movies) in a long time, but I still remembered how much I longed to live in a treehouse, and still do! :) I had to smile in one scene...where the Father and Mother were talking about their new lives on the uninhabited island....How would they raise their boys here? What would they continue to do for food? How would they continue to defend their treehouse from the pirates who are trying to attack them? And the Father leans in to the Mother and calmly says, "Don't you sometimes feel this is the kind of life we were meant to live on this earth? If only people could have all this and be satisfied; I don't think there'd be any real problems in the world." And then he responds to his wife, "Honey, don't worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself."

That was my lesson....the way God chose to speak to me last night! And yes, I am satisfied. No matter the circumstances, no matter the things I am missing, or the things I think I need or don't have. I am blessed, and I live in a beautiful land of a thousand hills, my one of many "homes" in this great, big world. I am beyond satisfied!  I have joy beyond circumstances.

My prayer for this week...Lord, help me to live Your way, and to be content with where I am right now. I know that when I walk with You, You are always taking me somewhere! I also know you will not leave me where I am forever. Help me to continue to grow and step out of "where I am" and refuse to be content with anything less than ALL of what You have for me! Continue to teach me and let my ears and eyes be opened to Your way and Your leading. Amen.

Thank you for your prayers!

peace,

emily

life

Sorry everyone...for being the world's worst blogger this summer! It's been too long. But I've been enjoying precious time at home with my sweet nephew Aiden, great home cooking, and Sundrop and Whatburger too! I've enjoyed time with brothers and sisters and family all over the place...the beach, Florida, Puerto Rico, camp, S-town, and K-nap. I'll post some fun pictures soon. But for now...my brain is in a fog, and I'm sitting on the cold Cairo airport tiles, eating something that resembles rice, but is not quite. I've already done 4 planes, and I've got 2 more to go before home sweet Kigali greets me and I face those hills again! I've already lost one bag in Athens, so I hope to remain with this one!

I left yesterday at noon, and it was hard. :( Hard to say goodbye. It was too tough listening to Aiden sing "the Emmy song" one last time in the airport. I shed some tears, but quickly wiped them away so he could know one more time just how happy he makes me. He's loved looking in my eyes all summer....even when he's being scolded....and saying, "Emmy, I got blue eyes like yours. I make you so happy, Emmy!" :) He sure does.

Ok, we gotta change that subject. too sad for now.

It's weird the things that strike me in airports around the world. An airport is my favorite place for people-watching. I love witnessing celebratory reunions, and I also am sad watching tearful goodbyes; even though I don't know the people.While I sat at baggage claim in Athens today for 5 hours waiting for my bags to arrive, I played a game with myself and tried to guess which destaination they were arriving from based on their appearances. I'm so curious about other people, and love seeing the flavor of another country in their eyes, their clothing, and their gestures. Athens is not a fun airport, neither is Paris or Cairo.... but no matter the vastness or dinginess or stickiness of many airports, you can always witness LIFE in them! Life is going on all around me. Just like in Rwanda. You can be a witness to everyday activities on the roadside, in the marketplace, on the dusty dirt roads headed up to Musanze. Instead of driving on a highway in the States where everything is whizzing by you, you can actually see life being lived!

Right now, I see a group of about 20 grandmothers, dressed in their beautiful, white hooded veils and robes, squatting on the tiled floor next to me and sharing flat bread and homemade shwarmas they brought from home. I see the young engaged woman in the full Muslim burqua, dressed all in black, with only her smoky eyes glowing through. I'm sitting outside a coffee shop. I went in earlier for some Hibiscus tea, and the young male shopkeeper was alone. He had taken off his apron and placed it down on the floor in the rear of his shop, and knelt down over it, reciting his daily prayers, facing Mecca. I didn't want to disturb him so I left and came back for the tea later on. Everywhere I go, everywhere I am seeing people praying; many prone on the ground, some kneeling. I think to myself...if only I could be that faithful in praying! If only we could pray that faithfully, with such dedication. I try; I do. But often times, I confess, I'm just plain lazy. Last year, I would often wake up at 5am to the loud, annoying Muslim call to prayer, and just bicker over and over again at the unpleasant wake-up call. Perhaps this year, I will stop getting upset at being woken so early, and embrace the opportunity to pray as well!

Now it's two hours later, but still 3 to go until my 3am flight to Ethiopia. The Cairo airport is the only airport I've been in where they love to scare you by seizing your passport upon arrival and not giving it back until you board. It's strange. But it's happened every time I've passed through here. Tonight, I was leisurely hanging out in a hallway, when an airport security guard frantically ran up with my passport yelling, Emily! Are you Emily!? I calmly answered, Yes I am. He acted like he was so out of breath chasing after me. But I didn't feel too bad; afterall, I'm the only blond-haired, blue-eyed person in this entire airport! And he told me to hurry and run behind him because I was about to miss my bus. So I ran behind him and we bypassed security (theres not really any here, except the taking of passports upon arrival!)  And I remembered this from last time. It was still 5 hours before my flight, but they were taking me on a bus to another part of the airport to a small tiny, smoked-filled waiting area where I am now. And they escorted us in, and of course took my passport again. I just asked the man if I could step outside the room to use the restroom, and he chuckled and said no because I didn't have a passport. Then he laughed and said it's ok because he didn't have one either. That's what the Egyptians call security. No bag checks. Only passport seizing.

This is what I like to call the Egyptian torture room, because from here you can see the McDonalds golden arches and Cinnabon in the distance, but you can't get to them! We're trapped in the passportless glass smoke bubble!....with nothing to do but watch life. :) and wait for the plane to carry me home...

letter from God to me

You are on the path of My choosing. There is no randomness about your life. Here and Now comprise the coordinates of your daily life. Most people let their moments slip through their fingers, half-lived. They avoid the present by worrying about the future or longing for a better time and place. They forget that they are creatures who are subject to the limitations of time and space. They forget their Creator, who walks with them only in the present.


Every moment is alive with My glorious Presence, to those whose hearts are intimately connected with Mine. As you give yourself more and more to a life of constant communion with Me, you will find that you simply have no time for worry. Thus, you are freed to let My Spirit direct your steps, enabling you to walk along the path of Peace.

Smile :)

"Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful." ~Thich Nhat Hanh

He's at work!

I had another wonderful parent conference this week! It's so odd for me to actually be EXCITED for parent conferences, but I am! I love these parents, and of course I love their kids! :) These families are such a part of my community here. I live with many of them, we worship together, fellowship together, work together, and play together. KICS has such a close-knit community. When my computer crashed last week (it's totally finished, no hope, but my sweet principal let me borrow one of his), I had no shortage of parents offering to take it to be fixed. When I'm sick, they want to bring me food or medicine, or even take me to see their doctor. They want to make me clothes, take me to the market, teach me kinyarwanda, marry me off to their cousins, and everything in between! I feel so blessed to be a part of this community, this city on a hill that is now my home.

Anyway, back to parent conferences...I had another awesome conversation with J's mom, from India. She and her husband practice an ancient religion called Sikhism, which is founded on the teachings of 10 Gurus from India. As I've mentioned before, I've had many opportunities to share with this mom this year, and each time, she has really opened up and asked so many questions; questions about Jesus, about Easter, about the Resurrection. Her 9 year old daughter, my student, goes home and tells her all about the characters and stories in the Bible, and that's how she became interested! Last time we met, she told me that she's so happy that her daughter knows about the teachings of Jesus, and when she hears her pray, it melts her heart. Now, she has begun praying alongside her daughter, and she said her husband has even prayed with them before. This week, we had another wonderful talk, and she asked me to pray with her again, in Jesus' name. She also asked for some books to help her better understand! So right now, I'm trying to pray about and think about books that would be useful for her. God is awesome, and continuing to work and open doors here! Please pray with me that this mom will continue to seek, that the Holy Spirit will continue to do a good work in her and her husband, and that God will continue revealing Himself to this family.

"But when He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the Truth." ~John 16:13

a simple prayer

I think many of you have heard stories about my super sweet and special student this year, Kang-Hee, from Korea. At the beginning of the year, Kang-Hee wouldn't talk, except to himself, as he played with the flags that he drew from all over the world. Kang-Hee is fascinated with flags and other countries, and knows more about this world that I do! It took him a long time to warm up to all of us, almost as if he were testing the waters to see if he would be accepted, because for so long, he hasn't been.

And he was. We all embraced him this year and yes, there are challenging days, but the blessings by far outweigh the challenges. He has taught us to laugh more and think "outside the box." :) He has taught us all about China and the Middle East, and every war that has ever been fought. He has taught my students about differences and loving people in spite of their differences and unique qualities. His prayers have humbled me and astounded me, and brought us to tears as well. At the beginning of the year, Kang-Hee refused to pray as well. He said he hated God because God made his eyes hurt, and he didn't have any desire to talk to this God. But throughout the year, Kang-Hee has learned so much in Bible, and he has even asked questions and now, he's the first one to pray. He prays for all the countries that are in any kind of conflict. He prays for everyone; he prays for people that we even forget we were praying for. He remembers them all. His English still isn't great, but he can pray continously until you tell him, ok, Kang-Hee, let's let someone else pray. It's beautiful.

But even now, he's very open with all of us in his class, but is very shy in public. However, last week, for Easter chapel, as I stood in front of the entire elementary to close us in prayer at the end, Kang-Hee ran up beside me and tugged at my pants and said, "Teacher, teacher, Miss Griggs, I pray." He was so eager. There was a split second where I thought, should I really let him pray? There's no telling what he might say! :) And this is in front of the ENTIRE elementary. OK, what should I do? So I just smiled and said, ok everyone, Kang-Hee is delivering our prayer. Please bow your heads and close your eyes. And what came next was a simple, but precious reminder of how great our Father is. He spoke boldly and perfectly and said, "Dear God, thank you for chapel. Thank you for Friday for the death on the cross. Thank you for cross on Friday so we go to heaven. Thank you for coming alive again. Love you Jesus. Amen." Then, ALL the kids started cheering and clapping up a storm for him. It might have seemed like such a simple moment for an outsider, but for all of us...Kang-Hee's family...it was incredible. My headmaster leaned over and whispered, "They really love him don't they?" All the teachers had tears in our eyes.

This young boy has blessed us so much this year through his joy, his outlook on life, and in his weaknesses and struggles as well. I know the Holy Spirit is alive at KICS. He's alive and working! After the chapel service, I emailed Kang-Hee's parents who are traveling in the U.S. right now to raise funds for Food for the Hungry. And I want to share his dad's response with you after he heard Kang-Hee had prayed that prayer, and even in public...

Hi, Ms. Griggs



Praise the Lord!


This is something unbelievable!!!!


I know he knows the story of Jesus, but I didn’t expect he confess his belief through his mouth.


If it is true his faith, I do not have any concern about his future anymore…


Thank you very much for this good news!!!

With many blessings,


Kang Hee’s dad.


He is ALIVE and working here at KICS, in so many childrens' lives and their parents too! Thank you all for praying for this young man. He's a true joy in my life! :)

Garden

Heard this beautiful Need To Breathe song this week...perfect one to celebrate our Risen Lord!

Listen to it here: http://www.needtobreathe.net/music/garden/

Won't you take this cup from me


Cause fear has stolen all my sleep
If tomorrow means my death
I pray you'll save their souls with it


Let the songs I sing
Bring joy to you
Let the words I say profess my love
Let the notes I choose
Be your favorite tune
Father let my heart be after you


In this hour of doubt I see
But who I am is not just me
So give me strength to die myself
So love can live to tell the tale


Let the songs I sing
Bring joy to you
Let the words I say profess my love
Let the notes I choose
Be your favorite tune
Father let my heart be after you


Father let my heart be...
For you