Community is rich!

 I live a rich life! I am so aware of this every time I wake up, and God has given me yet another day to live and to work and to be with this wonderful, diverse community in one of the most beautiful countries in the world. There is such a richness in diversity here that I adore. I know God delights in our differences because He created us so unique, each one of us! And we all make up the body of Christ!

Even when I crave solitude and need it desperately to be refreshed and restored, I'm thankful for a community that understands those needs. :) I guess this is my apology for not having blogged for so long too! :) I've realized that I've unintentionally let the world's chaos and busyness come find me here in Africa too! But now I'm intentionally trying (with a ton of grace) to be quiet right now...quiet inside..and to do more listening.  For no other reason, except I feel like I need to be quiet and LISTEN right now...time to find a quiet space.  (This was supposed to be a blog about community, but somehow solitude is a theme here as well! Ha! Anyhow, I'm so thankful for my communities near and far where I can rest and be filled!) 

The view at sunset from my neighborhood hill! I sometimes linger along this ridge after an evening run...breathtaking!

I love these sweet boys!

 

I love looking out at my students and seeing different faces and unique glimmers of Christ in each of them. There’s Inge from Portugal , Ineza from Rwanda, Christian from Hawaii, Gitau from Kenya, Haba from Uganda… ..and each face uniquely shines the light of Christ!

 

Walking home from school in the afternoons, I hear the traditional Rwandan drums echoing from our church, and I stop to listen and appreciate the dancers and drummers practicing for an upcoming dowry ceremony. 

Then it’s time for Fitness Club with my gorgeous array of young ladies, representing multi-faiths and nationalities. I love seeing them dance, run, and sweat, as we all use our bodies to honor and glorify God, and pray for each other as a family.

 

Afterwards, I run down the dirt path overlooking the green, lush Rwandan hills to Kagugu village to teach Kang-Hee. I enter and take off my shoes, and slip on the traditional Korean sandals, and I’m welcomed for tea and Korean soup as we sit on the floor mat and begin his studies.

Finally, I’m home to greet Beatrice, our lovely house helper, who tries so tirelessly to teach me Kinyarwanda, and we break out the French/English dictionary so we can communicate with each other and I can try to learn Kinyarwanda!  Three languages just to learn one! J  These are just a few of the ways each day I am so blessed by living here in such a diverse community of friends and fellow lovers of Jesus. I love that here I can experience so many different cultures and communities just by interacting with my neighbors. Christ is Lord over all of us. No matter where in this world we live, or what our skin looks like. He made us all so unique, yet made for each other! Made for community and relationships! We are created to worship and live and do life together. All of us. It’s really just a small world after all…

 

 

"There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace and ultimately no life without community." ~Brennan Manning

'We are superstars'

Check out this front page CNN story of the Rwandan volleyball team at the London Paralympic Games! It's awesome!

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/31/sport/london-2012-paralympics-rwanda-volleyball/index.html?hpt=hp_c1#

do less, but accomplish more

Demonstrate your Trust in Me by sitting quietly in My Presence. Put aside all that is waiting to be done, and refuse to worry about anything. This sacred time together strengthens you and prepares you to face whatever the day will bring. By waiting with Me before you begin the day's activities, you proclaim the reality of My living Presence. This act of faith--waiting before working--is noted in the spirit world, where your demonstration of trust weakens principalities and powers of darkness.

The most effective way to resist evil is to draw near Me. When you need to take action, I will guide you clearly through My Spirit and My Word. The world is so complex and overstimulating that you can easily lose your sense of direction. Doing countless unnecessary activities will dissipate your energy. When you spend time with Me, I restore your sense of direction. As you look to Me for guidance, I enable you to do less but accomplish more.

from Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young

Here I am, where I ought to be

"I had a farm in Africa…the equator runs across these highlands, and the farm lay at an altitude of over six thousand feet. In the day-time you felt that you had got high up, near to the sun, but the early mornings and evenings were limpid and restful, and the nights were cold.

The geographical position, and the height of the land combined to create a landscape that had not its like in all the world. There was no fat on it and no luxuriance anywhere; it was Africa distilled up through six thousand feet, like the strong and refined essence of a continent. The colors were dry and burnt, like the colors in pottery….The views were immensely wide. Everything that you saw made for greatness and freedom, and unequalled nobility.

The chief feature of the landscape, and of your life in it, was the air. Looking back on a sojourn in the African highlands, you are struck by your feeling of having lived for a time up in the air. The sky was rarely more than pale blue or violet, with a profusion of mighty, weightless, every-changing clouds towering up and sailing on it, but it has a blue vigor in it, and at a short distance it painted the ranges of hills and the woods a fresh deep blue. In the middle of the day the air was alive over the land, like a flame burning…

Up in this high air you breathed easily, drawing in a vital assurance and lightness of heart. In the highlands you woke up in the morning and thought: Here I am, where I ought to be."

From the opening pages of Karen Blixen's Out of Africa.

Back in action!

Hey everyone! It's been a rush of a 3 weeks since being back on African soil again! I apologize for the lack of blogging...and I promise to pick up very soon! I already have 48+ things to blog about! :) It's been a beautifully busy time back here in Kigali, with moving houses...starting school...teaching lots and lots of adventurous boys...new adoptions and new births!...a funeral and a sad goodbye...a broken toe (fine now, but just a nuisance!)...sunday school trainings...and more! whew! God is good though EVERY DAY! I am so incredibly BLESSED to be here again serving Him and His children! Looking forward to this new school year and all that He has planned! I promise to elaborate more very soon!

Thank you for your prayers! If you would like to receive an email about specific prayers requests we have here in Rwanda, and want to commit to praying for needs here, please either comment to this post or send me a short email. It would be wonderful to have many people interceding for us. I will probably send an email every other week only. Thank you!

And yes! There are still some Rwandan beaded and fabric necklaces and earrings still available for sale! You can email me if you are interested and I'll let you know who to call. I'm also trying to get more items shipped soon. Thank you for your support!

emgriggs@hotmail.com

Philippians 1: 3-4 "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now..."

Talented ladies!

I love these talented ladies! I visit them weekly or sometimes more at the local Kimironko market. They are a bunch of sweet, talented ladies who earn their livelihood for their families by sewing beautiful clothes, (they've made me some GORGEOUS dresses!), and handcrafting jewelry with their own creative touches and an extra dose of love! They make a lot woven earrings and necklaces made from scrap paper and metal and other odds and ends. Many of these ladies are past victims of domestic violence. I think it's just BEAUTIFUL what these ladies can do with so little resources! They inspire me!

At Christmas I was able to bring a lot of their handiwork back to the States and sell it to all of you to make a profit for these hardworking ladies. Now they have new sewing machines and we were able to open bank accounts for many of them so they can start saving their resources and being good stewards of their finances. Thank YOU for helping these sweet ladies! I love coming back home and seeing everyone all decked out in their African jewelry! :) It makes me smile! I brought many more jewelry items (and a few other crafts!) home with me this summer! Please let me know if you'd be interested in seeing some of the lovely merchandise, and I'll be glad to bring them to you! There will be a few more craft parties this summer, and even some this fall too! I'm so thankful and blessed that you all love these items and keep supporting these fabulous ladies!

Evangeline

Beautiful jewelry for sale!

Josephine (my personal tailor) and Evangeline

Stephen makes a lot of the wooden crafts!

Colorful, fabric necklaces for sale!

Mama Polly

my man!

I enjoyed every minute of my weekend at Lake Lanier, Georgia with my main squeeze, Aiden. He's the love of my life! Summertime is good! Hope your weekend was full of love and giggles and sunshine too! :)

"The times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." ~Acts 3:19  KJV