MT Days 10-15: what words can only say

Being here can not be explained in words. You have to experience it to understand. Pictures, words and videos may bring it to you but until you experience Africa that is all they are. Now Africa has a part of me. Rwanda has a part of my heart. I love my boys but I have not missed them since we have been here. I think of them and the activities they are taking part in. I pray for them daily. But while I am here I am all here. The thought of having my boys back in my arms gives me great joy. The thought of leaving here again makes my heart ache. I am torn. I am in love with two different parts of the world. Here is a little part of this world...

First, Brogan and Ashton have had a great time together and with our driver Ellie. They are all great buddies!

We went to Sunday worship in the village of Murundi. We worshipped on the top of a mountain overlooking the village. The church has no building and puts up a tarp each week for services.  Pure joy!

Children from higher ip the mountain came down to see "mizungus" and listened to the entire service. 

The government is helping the church to build a school up here. They realize the need as there are over 2,000 children that can not get to the closest school for 3 months during the rainy season as this area is cut off from the rest of the village by flood waters. The church will still need to provide the flooring and the roof before the children can attend. Here are a few of the children in front of the start of the school.  AHG TX 1318: this is where your envelopes went and the children were overjoyed!

Today we visited Kabuga. When we came last year the floor of the church was only 1/2 completed. We provided them funds to finish the flooring. Today their floor was complete!  Today we were able to provide funds to start putting in doors or windows and for the women of the church to start a goat project. I am not a crier but the women's joy was overwhelming and, yes, I cried. These people are so giving and thankful.  Brogan and Ashton also presented tshirts, dresses and soccer jerseys to the children of the church. 

We have been handing out the envelopes that everyone sent and the expressions on the children's faces can not be written in words. Most, if not all that have received them, have probably never received a gift much less something that is only for them. One little girl who spoke zero English started crying when we started taking everything out to show her.  This is not a great picture but she is on the right. Your precious gifts and letters have made a difference!

 

The Youth Conference was a blessing to the young adults in attendance. We handed out tshirts that we didn't sell to the men and skirts to the young ladies. Each youth also got a Bible. They were so happy to have this time of training, encouragement and rare fellowship with one another. 

We also gave tshirts to the teachers at the Remera school. They loved them!

School ends around noon here. In the afternoons we went back up to the school to hang out with any children that came over. Most that showed up were street kids and not in school due to the lack of funds. They were all so eager to learn!  Every day they would ask Shannon to give them an examination. She would draw a picture and write the word in English. We could have done this for hours and had to stop after 25. After the examinations were done we would play and love on kiddos. We handed out envelopes to these kiddos also. They were so happy with their small gifts from children in America!

We made it back to Rhenguri this trip as well. We visited the church of Pastor John Rwemera. FSM supports a few of Pastor John's children for their education. These students give out of their own pockets each month to support the education of children here in Rwanda. It was good to see Pastor John again and be able to bring an update back for the students. 

Brogan made a friend one of our first days here. Her and Erizie have been playing futball together. We asked him to bring a few friends and we gave each of them HVYSA soccer uniforms. They were so thrilled!  Here is Brogan and Erizie exchanging email addresses. 

Well, I know I am forgetting something but my phone is on the last leg. More updates when I get home!

How to pray:

-Pray that the work, encouragement and the teachings will continue after we leave. 

-Pray for travel mercies as we start to head home Tuesday evening. 

-Pray for our families back home.

Thanks Y'all!!!  See you soon!

MT Days 6-9

The Women's conference was wonderful!  There was some great teaching by Katy and Judi and it was all orchestrated by God so well. Every teaching was relevant to the women and it blessed all involved. 

The women were each able to pick out a purse to take home with them. They were so excited and thankful. Thank you to everyone that contributed purses for these women!

We have been in the school sharing Bible stories the last two days. Many of the children remember Brogan from last year and were so excited to see her. Their faces are precious. 

Glow sticks to remind the children that Jesus is the light of the world. They were fascinated with them. 

Brogan found some boys near where we are staying. She asked them if the wanted to play futball and they of course took her up on it. They were very good!  She had a blast with them. One of them asked me to email him this picture of the three of them!

Brogan left her tennis shoes at home. She remembered when we arrived at the airport. She has only her crocs and it is not easy to play in those.  We finally had a chance to go shoe shopping. Of course, shoe shopping in Rwanda!  We got her these shoes for less than $9!  They are even pretty stylish!

Sunday was church service at Remera. Some of Brogan's friends from last year were there and got her up to dance with them. She wasn't as hesitant this year and got right up there with them. Her moves still don't compare!

Some of the Youth choir were even wearing shirts that were given to Esron on his visit to Huntsville this past Fall. 

It such a blessing to be in a worship service here. They give it everything they have and more!  We arrived after 9:00 and they had already begun the service and they worshiped through song and dance and praise until 12:30. Wayne gave the message and we finished around 1:00 and had another 1/2 hour of talking and fellowship afterward. I love how pure they are!

The Pastor training started today. It was good to see so many faces from last year as well as some new ones. Please pray for these men over the next few days. That the teachings would be relevant and that they may understand them to be able to take them back to their village churches. 

We are handing out soccer uniforms to the boys in Remera. They love them!  Thank you HVYSA for donating them!!!

Well, that's a quick update. My phone is in and out of service so stay tuned for more when I'm able. 

Please pray for:

-The continued teachings in the school and pastor training. 

-For us to discern needs for the school, teachers and pastors

-For upcoming travel to the villages and church plants 

-For continued health and safety. 

Thanks y'all!  You are a huge blessing to us!

MT Day 4: we made it!

Out yummy breakfast in Brussels!  Chocolate croissants!!!  We checked out of our hotel around 8:45 to check in for our 11:30 flight to Kigali. Praise The Lord that all of our bags were able to he rechecked with no extra charges!!!

That is our team on the runway!  We made it to Kigali!!!  We might be a couple of days late but we are here on God's timing. Let me tell you, it feels wonderful to be back!!  In a way we both feel like we are back home!

All of our bags made it with us!  We had 1 minor hiccup and had to go back for 2 missing bags. We didn't notice that they were not in the cars (yes, there were 3 of them to get all 9 of us and 38 bags!) until we got to the hotel and unloaded everything. No worries though, a trip back to the airport and there they were. Another Praise The Lord!!

We arrived at hotel, unpacked, and headed to bed around 11:45. It was a long day but we are here and ready to see what God has in store!!

MT Day 5: Meeting Erick

This is Erick!!!  Our Compassion Sponsored Child here in Rwanda!

We are soooo excited that we were able to meet him!  His village is 2 1/2 hours away from where we are staying in Kigali. He came on a bus with a sponsor from his Compassion Center. We were able to spend the entire day with him!  

He was very quiet at first as was Brogan. She wasn't to sure about riding in a car with someone she didn't know (something her Daddy would be proud of!). After a couple of reassurances she reluctantly got in the car. It took Esron, the Pastor we work with to give his "ok" and then she felt better. 

Once we got started everyone warned up to each other. We visited the Presidential Palace Museum, ate yummy pizza at Se Luna, went grocery shopping, and exchanged gifts. We were so very surprised to receive on from him also!  It is beautiful!  I have pics on my camera and will post those when we get back home. 

We gave Erick a small scrapbook with photos of each family member and a few things about each of us. He held it the entire time!  Brogan noticed that he kept running his finger over the stickers on the front that said his name. I realized that he had probably never owned anything with his own name on it!  He showed it to everyone and was very proud of it. 

We visited to Compassion Office here in Kigali and everyone was very nice. They are so appreciative of the support of the children and were very eager to show us around and explain their jobs. They couldn't believe that Brogan has been here once already and that she is the one that actually writes the letters to Erick. It was very neat to actually see all of the work that goes in to child sponsorship within the actual country. 

I can't tell you the feeling of meeting him and knowing how such a little thing is actually so BIG. If you don't sponsor a child, I would encourage you to. If you do, go sponsor another one!  There are 12 in Erick's sponsorship program without sponsors and, there are thousands more around the world!

Oh and PS: I asked if he had any questions for us and the only 2 important ones that he wanted to know we're what Jon I had and how old I was. It was cute and Brogan thought it was very funny!

More on Erick when I get home and have the pics from my camera!

Prayer requests:

- Women's conference started today. Pray for open hearts, language barrier, Judi and Katy that are leading. 

-Pray for Erick as he returns home

- Upcoming Pastor training and Youth conference

-How we can minister to the children 

MT Day 3: More Waiting

Brogan had my phone on the plane from Chicago to Brussels and the above picture was the result.  She and Ashton just had to sit by each other for the 9 hour flight. They are great buds and I hope this trip will bring them even closer.  

The above empty turnstile was what we got when we arrived in Brussels at 9:00 am.  None of our 20 bags made it out. After some inquiring, and a few hours, 3 bags were in our hands. From 3:30-7:30 pm we waited for the other 17 bags to be found and into our hands. We now have all 20 bags!  Praise The Lord!

Most of our team is running on very little sleep. When I say "very" I mean about 2-3 hours over the last 2 days.  United had paid for us a night at the Sheraton by the airport and given us meals. Our bellies are full and we should get a hot shower and a good night sleep. Hopefully the much needed rest will happen so that we can be ready to go when we get to Kigali tomorrow night. 

Ways you can pray:

~ Baggage restrictions are different here in Brussels than in the US.  We had to collect our bags, each weighing 45-50 pounds.  The weight limit is 10 pounds less here (40 pounds). Please pray that they do not charge us overweight limit fees. 

~ Pray that the 2 extra bags I paid excess baggage fees for are not charged again. 

~ Pray tomorrow's flight is on time and safely arrives in Kigali. (This is the only flight from here to Kigali until next Tuesday)

~ Praise for the United folks, hotel employees, baggage people and everyone else that had helped us along the way. They have all been very gracious and helped us out tremendously. 

~ Begin to pray for our work that we will be doing. The Women's conference will be cut short due to our delay. Pray that we are flexible with the results of how things happen schedule wise once we are on the ground. 

Thanks for lifting us up!  Keep the prayers coming. They are working!

MT Day 2: The Waiting Game

So today we wait. We wait in the O'Hare Airport for our 6:00 pm flight. We wait to see who we will encounter. We wait to see what God has ahead for us. We wait. It's a waiting game. But, isn't life already?

My mom called and said that my cousin just had her first baby. A tiny bundle of joy, a sweet baby boy. They waited 9 long months for this sweet creation and now he is finally here. The long wait has produced something beautiful. Something only God's hands could have done. 

So, just as they waited for that precious child, so will we. Will wait for several more hours until our flight leaves and we will wait 2 more days until we get to the precious faces we have been planning to go back to see for the last year. We will wait to see what God has in store for us over the next few days and over the next 3 weeks. We will wait for the beauty that is to come!

 

Prayer for:

~Our flight to be on time

~Safe flight

~Our accommodations in Brussels as they will be made by the airline upon our arrival

~Our baggage situation. (We have 20 checked bags plus 18 carry-ons that we will have to transport from airport to hotel and back to airport while in Brussels.)

~I paid (planned) excess baggage fees when leaving Houston for extra supplies.  The charges were supposed to be good through to Rwanda but with this unexpected hitch we are not sure how the Brussels airline will handle the extra bags. Pray that we will not have to pay more excess baggage charges. 

~Our team as we bond and figure out on the ground things over the next couple of days.  That we will be well rested and adjusted with the extra stops.  With 2 days less in Rwanda we want to be able to hit the ground ready to go. 

Thanks so much!

(And my sweet daughter just came over and gave me a hug and a kiss and said "Thank you for going with me so I can go, Momma". I love that girl, a heart and obedience.)

(Joshua, Codey, Christian, Rylen and Jeremy. I love y'all too!!)

MT Day 1: And We're Off

We go into this trip prayerfully and being lifted up by so many wonderful people.  We go into it knowing that flexibility is key. We expect things to change and we know the unknown is all a part of it. What we don't expect is that it will start here, on day 1, with a delayed flight. A delay that causes us to miss our connection which, in return, causes us to miss our flight to Kigali. The Kigali flight only flies on Tuesday and Thursday. A 2 hour delay caused 2 missed days on the ground in Rwanda.

So, here we are, in The Windy City, Chicago, overnight. We will fly to Brussels this evening and spend the night to catch the Thursday flight to Kigali. Plus side to all of this, team bonding, full bellies, comfy beds and hot showers for a couple of extra days. Bonus, there has got to be someone along the way to minister to, right!?!  And, we will be rested and ready to hit the ground running when we finally reach Rwanda!

To add to the excitement of missed connections and unexpecteded layovers, Brogan left the house wearing her crocs and not her tennis shoes as she had planned. Translation: she has no shoes for the trip. She already has blisters so we will be looking for a pair of shoes IMF the way over the next couple of days. While we won't have time here in Chicago, we will have a whole day in Brussels. Guess that means she is getting some European shoes!  Not in the budget but hey, flexibility, right!  She also took my hairbrush out of my bag to use it before we left the house and guess what?  Yes, we have no hairbrush. Somehow, one of those might be easier to find. Though the Houston airport didn't have any and the hotel only combs but hey, we are being flexible!  Gotta love my Miss B!

Well, that's all for day 1. I will do my best to keep up here but y'all know how that goes!  Love you all and keep lifting us up in prayer!