He Loves us!

This was a tough week. just plain tough. There was sickness, weird things, many confusing situations to deal with at school...my sweet Kang-Hee that I tutor, tried to harm himself. :( so sad. He is ok now though and getting the support he needs. but it was just one of those hard, rough, EXHAUSTING weeks.....or couple of weeks.

My friend, Jack, that everyone was praying for, and we thought he was 100% healthy...just last week he was...but tonight, he boarded a plane for the States. His white blood cells were way low this week, and his immune system is just wrecked from everything he endured. we're not sure if the weird mystery virus is back or what...but he's now flying back to his home in Nashville, to fully get treated and recuperate. We hope to have him back on African soil in no time, and we are believing God is in control and is healing Jack completely. But thanks for your prayers. they are really appreciated!

It was just a tiresome week for many reasons...I know you've had weeks like that! whew!

and it was also Valentine's Day...LOVE week...and time to wear red and white and send roses and chocolates and Rwandan doughnuts to everyone. Those things made it fun at school...seeing boys secretly send a rose to a girl "anonomously," and secretly hope she finds out it's him. :)

It was also Ash Wednesday, and the first days of Lent. I think it was symbolic this year that the first day of Lent coincided with Valentine's Day. 40 days to prepare our hearts, our minds, our souls for the greatest love story of all. the blood shed for us. the biggest act of love imaginable. actually, it's rather hard to imagine what happened on the cross. sometimes it's hard for me to understand what great love God has for me, that He sent His Son to die....because He is in love with me, his beautiful, yet broken creation! for God so loved the world! unfathomable.

Even though it's been a rough week....I've felt His love too. He's romanced me with this incredible full moon the other night. spectacular! And a wonderful chat with an old friend. and clean, running water, and a shower, after going without for a couple days. :) He romances me with the beauty of His creation every day I run at sunset and stop to gaze out of the hills to see the fiery colors. I delight in Him and I know He delights in me too! He is love. and He shows it all the time. In the face of evil, He loves, in the time of doubt, He loves. In sickness, He loves. Without reserve or boundary, He loves. And I can't thank Him enough!

Happy Valentine's week ya'll!

Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. ~Joel 2:13

 

CNN interview with President Kagame

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame did an interview this week with CNN's Christine Amanpour.

Here's the link to the video and the article. It's a short interview, only a few minutes, and very interesting to hear how our President responds.

http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/28/rwandas-president-kagame-we-have-a-problem/

She asked him some direct questions about supporting the M23 rebels in Congo, what he thinks should be done about the Congo situation, and also his views about some Western countries withholding aid from Rwanda. She also asks him about his intent to step aside when his term is through in a few years. Many view Kagame as Africa's best President, but there are others who have a different view of him. It's true, he has accomplished a lot, and Rwanda has made remarkable strides in everything from education, to road construction to women's empowerment, since the 100 days' genocide in 1994. However, there are other less positive views of Kagame's leadership. We can only hope that all of his progress and success will continue in Rwanda in the future!

Faith Through Fire: Rwanda and Me

The Bennett family

 

Faith Through Fire: Rwanda and Me

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If you are at all interested in Rwanda's tragic, yet hopeful, history....this book is a must-read. And right now, the author is giving the Kindle edition away for free! This week, you can go to Amazon and download the Kindle Edition free of charge!

http://www.amazon.com/Faith-Through-Fire-Rwanda-ebook/product-reviews/B008LCP7PM

Here's the website where you can read some excerpts:

www.faiththroughfire.net

Faith Through Fire is the memoir of Gary Bennett, an American missionary who's lived in Rwanda for 22 years. His brother co-authored the book with him. I've been so blessed by Gary and his wife, Barb and thier ministry. Barb teaches music at KICS, and has also started a children's choir in her neighborhood and church. I love listening to their story of how they met and how God brought them together. Barb was a single missionary in Japan, and Gary was a recently widowed missionary with two young daughters living in Rwanda. They met through the E-Harmony website, and the rest is history. Gary and Barb have a deep love for God, and this country, and it shows in everything they do!

This book is highly inspirational, and you will not be able to put it down. Gary and Barb still live in the house they did 22 years ago, now riddled with bullet holes, from the effects of the genocide in 1994. This is a fascinating read of one man's faith through fire.

Here's the book description on Amazon:

Faith Through Fire is the inspirational story of people living out the faith that Christians profess, under some of the most difficult conditions imaginable.

It is the true story of the main protaganist's experiences living out his faith before, during, and after the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda. It is a compelling story that is beautifully told.

If you are looking for inspiration or a way to challenge your faith then this story is a must read!

The story is also about his Rwanda team during one of the most intensive killing campaigns in the history of the world! These are real people who, because of their love and understanding of who God is, acted decisively and heroically, with actions that saved lives. After the Genocide they went back. At great price they went back. Even after the death of his beloved wife, my brother still went back...

The world is in need of real stories of seemingly insignificant people from what seem like insignificant places who do extraordinary things by the power of faith in an extraordinary God. If you're not a person of faith, the story alone will grab you. If you are, you will be encouraged to stand strong even when things do not go the way you thought they should.

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Celebrating Life!

This is sweet Gloria Ishimwe. Ishimwe means "Give thanks to God" in the kinyarwanda language. And this child's life does exactly that! She glorifies God with her life! All who meet this child thank God for her, and the joy she brings to each of us.

 

This is a picture of Gloria one year ago, last week, right after being rescued from being abandoned in a field nearby our church and school. She was found late at night by the security guards in our neighborhood. They were alerted by the barks of the dogs that had surrounded her. We think Gloria was in the field for the first full 2 days of her life. God protected her and she was found on Day 3.

 

Our Umudugudu at the time, Margeurite, contacted local chiefs and officials, and they began looking for any family members or information about Gloria. Meanwhile, our pastor's family took her in and began caring for her and loving her as their own. Through our church's Spoken For Ministry, babies have been found and placed into foster or adoptive homes. Gloria was the first!

 

We praise God that she was healthy from the beginning, and only a little malnourished. The Shreck family soon begin loving sweet Gloria, and she has countless "aunties" who love her as well!

 

Fast forward one year to today. On January 25, 2013 Gloria Ishimwe celebrated her first birthday! Take a look at this precious, chunky, super-healthy, mischevious beautiful girl today!! Each Sunday after the first service, I steal her away from her sisters and have some special Gloria time. :) She is hilarious! She's just started to walk, (or teeter-totter in her case!) We laugh at her and her cute, chunky thighs! I take her into the 2nd service, and we worship together, and often times she'll fall asleep in my arms. It's the best way to spend my Sunday afternoons!

Have you ever seen a child this cute!!? Look at that smirk on her precious face! :) In everything she does, she brings glory to our Father!

This is Gloria with her big brother, Benjamin. Even her "pout" face is adorable! The Shrecks adopted Benjamin and Nicholas from Home of Hope, Sisters of Charity orphanage when they were infants. (The first orphanage outside of India that Mother Theresa started.)

 

Here's all the Shreck children. Natalie, holding Gloria, was my student 3 years ago. Nicholas and Benjamin are in the middle. And then big sister Kassidy (10th grade) is holding the newest member of the Shreck family, Baby Moses. They are fostering Moses right now, and looking for a Rwandan family to permenently adopt him. Moses was abandoned at an upcountry hospital when he was born. He was extremely small and malnourished and doctors didn't give him much hope to live. Faith and Roger took him in to their large family for a few days and gave him much needed love and care. Later Brett and Keli Shreck fostered him because Keli used to be a physical therapist in Oklahoma, and Moses was in dire need of therapy. Some doctors have prematurely diagnosed Moses with cerebral palsy, but others have said it's too soon to make that diagnosis. Keli, and my friend, Julie, who started the first chiropractic clinic here, have been fervently working with Moses every day to improve his flexibility and motor skills and strength. He is now almost 6 months old, and is now on the charts for the very first time! He has gained sooo much weight, it's incredible, and his little muscles aren't so rigid now. They are still tough, but you can tell a huge difference when you feel them now! He's stretching and moving around a lot, and smiling so much! Especially at his big sister, Gloria. Seeing those two play together is seeing Jesus for me! :) I give God ALL the glory for rescuing these two babies and I know He has AMAZING plans for their lives! I look at Gloria and imagine what she will be like at 16 years old....spunky, adorable, athletic, smart as a whip. God has ordained this child's life. He has spoken for her, and I give Him all the glory! 

 

"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy-dwelling. God sets the lonely in families." Psalm 68:5

 

"Our God is a God who saves." Psalm 68:20

Jack update

Thanks to all of your prayers...my friend, Jack, is finally and fully recovering from his mysterious illness! We think he is totally out of the woods now, and he is almost feeling 100% better! Jack's dad flew in from Tennessee to Nairobi, where Jack was in the hospital. While awaiting news from the insurance company on which doctor in Kenya would have to treat Jack, they found a wonderful Jewish doctor, Dr. Silverstein, on their own. A few days later, the insurance company approved this doctor, so that was a huge answer to prayer! After many more tests, he took Jack off of all the other meds previous doctors had him on, and placed him on only one antibiotic. It was determined that Jack had a viral infection that had gotten too close to his brain. Jack was able to fly back to Rwanda this week with his dad, and he is doing marvelously! Thanks for all of your prayers for my friend!

Prayers for Jack

A great friend of mine, Jack Beach, needs lots of prayers right now! Would you join me in praying for him? I met Jack in 2009 when he was a P.E. teacher here at KICS. After that first year, he came back to Rwanda, as an engineer with Living Water organization. Jack is a wonderful, Spirit-filled, Tennessean from Nashville. Ethan got to meet him this summer when he was in the States. He is a wonderful friend! 

 

Jack needs prayers right now for a serious, mysterious illness that has plagued him since mid-December and has gotten progressively worse. He went from a super-healthy, fit guy to fighting for his life in a matter of a few days. He's been in hospitals in Israel, Rwanda, and now in Nairobi, Kenya since Christmas time. He's been through many, many tests...a spinal tap, and various other forms of treatment. They've now ruled out malaria, typhoid, and meningitis, but aren't really sure what's going on.

 

From day to day, his condition will improve, he'll be coherent, and then he'll decline again. The evenings are the worst with horrible headaches and chills. He's in a great hospital in Kenya right now, and doctors are trying to stabilize him, and make decisions about further treatment options in the States. I talked to him yesterday and he was alert and hopeful, and said he's trying to rest and pray. But he appreciates many, many prayers right now during this uncertain health time. It's frustrating to Jack that they aren't sure what is affecting him. Please, if you think about it, could you commit to praying for Jack each day this next week. Thank you! Here's a couple pictures of him, so you can put a face to the name.

 

 

Jack is beside me, on the far right. Rafting the Nile, Thanksgiving 2009

This one is from a Thanksgiving/Christmas party in 2012, right before he got sick. Jack's costume was an overweight cyclist. :) He's got a wonderful sense of humor!

 

Thanks for praying for my dear friend!

Christmas Day!

Christmas Day was the best! We had another wonderful service at church, complete with Rwandan traditional dancers on a very cool rendition of O Come All Ye Faithful, and Little Drummer Boy. We also had a Christmas choir for the first time this year, with beautiful sashes made by the "41" girls (I'll tell you more about them later!) We had two beautiful baptisms after church! What a great day to be baptized! 

 

After church, I enjoyed a nice brunch with some American teachers. They had a guest visiting from Texas, and she brought some REAL American bacon, and we had biscuits n' gravy, eggs, breakfast burritos, baked oatmeal, and ham biscuits! Delicious! Later, on my way down the hill, I visited with the soldiers who guard our neighborhood and shared some breakfast and treats with them, before we all got caught in a Christmas Day rain/hailstorm that soaked my African dress. :( No pictures of that! (or brunch, sorry!)

 

After brunch, I walked to Kagugu down the road, and feasted again with 125 Koreans who are serving all over Rwanda! The Lee family has Korean church services at their home each Sunday, and I have taught and tutored their son, Kang-Hee for 3 years now. They are a really special family, and I've learned a lot about Korea from them and enjoyed Mrs. Lee's cooking so much! Mr. Lee has answered soo many of my questions, especially about North Korean relations. (I'm fascinated!) After a wonderful Korean meal, (yes I ate again!), each Korean family/mission group performed a Christmas skit or song and dance for everyone! It was so neat taking part in this cultural experience. The oldest goes first, and they end with the children. It was all in Korean! I loved hearing favorite Christmas hymns sung in different languages. I think I sang Away in the Manger in four different languages this Christmas! How special! I took some videos of the children singing in Korean, and I'll post one when I figure out how to do that!

 

Then, I left there mid-afternoon and took a moto to Kinamba village, to visit my worker and dear friend, Beatrice, and her family. Beatrice's daughter, Karia, just had a successful surgery on her leg and is wearing corrective shoes now, in hopes that she will be able to walk very soon! She was in such good spirits and enjoyed the chocolate cupcakes so much! Beatrice got a new radio and some earrings for Christmas, and Karia some pretty pink dresses!

 

Finally, in the evening, I took a moto to the Nashes house. They are missionaries from Minnesota who taught at KICS last year, but now are with another organization. Jeana prepared a real honey baked ham, and it was glazed all over! Yum! And she had a special recipe for the cheese biscuits from Red Lobster, so that was a fun treat! They also invited my friend Jamies Boiles, who is working with 3 of the "41" girls, Passy, Amelie, and Diane. "41" girls are a special co-op that was formed from girls living in the Noel orphanage in Gisenyi. Now, these girls are in their twenties, and have earned enough money to live on their own, and are trying to "phase" out of life at Noel. Jamie is working with them and training them, and helping to market their products. They made me a special Rwandan Christmas stocking, and it is beautiful! After dinner, they did an impromptu Rwandan intore dance for us, complete with drumming! I'll post a video soon! Then we played this hilarious Sankaliwa Swahli "I spy" game!

 

Please visit the girls' website if you get a chance! It's awesome!

 

www.no41.org

 

or you can find them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Number4one

 

I'll blog about them in detail soon!!

 

This Christmas is truly one I will never forget. I feel so blessed to be a part of this large, loving, cultural community, alive with the Holy Spirit. I missed being in North Carolina with family this Christmas, but God is good and He knows what we need. I had no idea how joyful and special this Christmas here would be!

 

The day after Christmas, I was exhausted, and spent a wonderful lazy day eating pancakes, being lazy, and worshiping God over coffee and caramel icecream! :)

 

I am blessed! Enjoy the pictures!

 

The Lee family performing Away in a Manger

 

Kang-Hee playing his trumpet for us!

Moses baptizing Amanda in our church fountain out front

Onawa is a worship leader from Washington State. She's lived in Montana too, AND Alaska! She has three of the cutest kids in Kigali, and I love her! She's a great Graphic Designer, and started "Body and Soul" aerobic classes at our church! Her husband, Rusty, is also a worship leader.

 

Amelie, Diane, and Passy....the 41 girls that train with my friend, Jamie!

 

 

Sweet Karia with her pretty pink dress!

 

Beatrice and her family

Diane doing a traditional dance for us on Christmas!

Amelie on the drums!

Diane made this special Christmas stocking for me!

 

What a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of Christ....being baptized!