Friday, November 30, 2007
Those Eyes
Nov. 27th-28th, 2007
Today we experienced something that cannot be captured by words, but maybe this picture will help. I'm referring to the eyes of the beautiful African children--eyes filled with excitement, eyes filled with joy, eyes filled with hope. I know we're here to be the "missionaries" on this trip, but I can't think of anything else that could more clearly reflect the beauty of God than the eyes of these children! Needless to say, our team was ministered to in a BIG way over the last two days.
We've been in Kayonza yesterday and today facilitating our OlympActs program. As the title infers, this is a program that combines the theme of the Olympics, with the Acts of the fruit of the Spirit. Someone on the team described our first day as "controlled chaos", and I'd have to say this was a pretty accurate description. The staff at the school provided the "controlled" part, and the rest of us probably contributed to the chaos in some ways (I know at times I felt like I was herding a large group of cats). But regardless of the disarray caused by large group numbers and the language barrier, we had an absolute BLAST and loved the kids in Kayonza! Though we were only expecting 350 kids, we had 500 arrive and they were rarin' to go! Cindi Gerkman and Karen Woolley, co-creators of our OlympActs, did a fabulous job flexing the design of their program to the needs of this large group of boisterous kids. the games were fun, but I think the highlights for most of us were the simple acts of giving out high-fives, hugging as many kids as possible, and seeing the faces of these children light up with joy.
We parked all our gear and had our meals in the Grace Home--and let me just say, this home is beautiful! Both Cindi and Craig sponsor children in the Grace Home, and on the second day they were able to take their children shopping in the village for some new clothes. Though I believe they each only paid around $36, this was enough to buy their child several outfits and new shoes. Craig described this time as one of the best days of his life.
Another part of the last two days has been visiting the homes of our sponsored children in the village. How humbled we were to be graciously welcomed into these homes. Some houses had a full cement structure; others were simply stick walls held together by red African mud. Our eyes were quickly opened to the HUGE importance of child sponsorship, as well as the great need for more sponsors. Sponsorship not only touches a child, it impacts an entire family. If you are interested in sponsoring a child or learning more about the program be sure to visit www.africanewlifeministry.org.
One visit that was particularly special was visiting Denise's sponsored child. As we walked up to the simple home, there was Angelique's grandmother (and primary care giver) sitting on a makeshift stool reading her Bible in the sunshine. Denise had taken the time to sew two beautiful quilts, one of Angelique and one for her grandmother. How I wish you all could have seen the appreciation in the eyes of the grandmother as Denise wrapped up Angelique in this beautiful handmade quilt! I don't think there was a dry eye among us as this woman hugged Denise, speaking a mile a minute about her thanks, appreciation, and praise for her Savior! LM
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Tours
Monday, November 26
Are there any of you out there who miss us so much that you wish you could feel what we are feeling? If so, then I recommend taking an “African Shower.” Because water is not readily available (it’s actually delivered from a truck), conservation is imperative. So here is what we have to do: Turn on the water and immediately jump in, don’t bother waiting for it to warm up. Get wet. Turn water off. Lather up. Turn on water. Do a couple of well aimed spins. Turn water off. The water should not be on for more then 30-45 seconds. You’d actually be surprised how effective this is. Although, I say that now, it may be a different story next week.
Today was all about touring around and seeing where we will be working for the next few weeks. We checked out the New Life Church, the Family Center (where many of your presents will be coming from), and the Dream Center. The Dream Center is located on the top of one of the tallest hills in Kigali and has a gorgeous view of the city. It is mostly used for the street kids’ ministry but is a large enough space that it will soon be the home of the church and offices. We got an amazing treat upon arriving. Inside their main hall were hundreds of singing kids. These are children that live day to day on the streets of Kigali. Africa New Life feeds them, bathes them, and teaches them about the Lord. Most, if not all of them, are boys. If a girl ends up on the streets she is usually adopted very quickly, the boys are not so lucky. After introductions we had some time to visit and take some pictures with them. Street kids love having their picture taken. What they love more is seeing the picture you just took of them. It was both heart-breaking and hilarious.
What’s more hilarious is that we ate goat at a Chinese restaurant in Rwanda. I don’t think I need to say anything more then that.
We ended the day at the Genocide Memorial Site. It contains a museum dedicated to the Rwanda genocide as well as a general overview of other genocides throughout history. In addition it contains mass graves of over 258,000 victims. This number keeps getting higher as they find other mass graves throughout the country. Last year it was at 250,000. I’m not going to get into the specifics of this experience because it’s far beyond words. What I would recommend is if you would like to know more about the events of 1994 then to do your own research. What I can tell you is that it’s one thing to read about it. It’s quite another to see the graves. TK
Are there any of you out there who miss us so much that you wish you could feel what we are feeling? If so, then I recommend taking an “African Shower.” Because water is not readily available (it’s actually delivered from a truck), conservation is imperative. So here is what we have to do: Turn on the water and immediately jump in, don’t bother waiting for it to warm up. Get wet. Turn water off. Lather up. Turn on water. Do a couple of well aimed spins. Turn water off. The water should not be on for more then 30-45 seconds. You’d actually be surprised how effective this is. Although, I say that now, it may be a different story next week.
Today was all about touring around and seeing where we will be working for the next few weeks. We checked out the New Life Church, the Family Center (where many of your presents will be coming from), and the Dream Center. The Dream Center is located on the top of one of the tallest hills in Kigali and has a gorgeous view of the city. It is mostly used for the street kids’ ministry but is a large enough space that it will soon be the home of the church and offices. We got an amazing treat upon arriving. Inside their main hall were hundreds of singing kids. These are children that live day to day on the streets of Kigali. Africa New Life feeds them, bathes them, and teaches them about the Lord. Most, if not all of them, are boys. If a girl ends up on the streets she is usually adopted very quickly, the boys are not so lucky. After introductions we had some time to visit and take some pictures with them. Street kids love having their picture taken. What they love more is seeing the picture you just took of them. It was both heart-breaking and hilarious.
What’s more hilarious is that we ate goat at a Chinese restaurant in Rwanda. I don’t think I need to say anything more then that.
We ended the day at the Genocide Memorial Site. It contains a museum dedicated to the Rwanda genocide as well as a general overview of other genocides throughout history. In addition it contains mass graves of over 258,000 victims. This number keeps getting higher as they find other mass graves throughout the country. Last year it was at 250,000. I’m not going to get into the specifics of this experience because it’s far beyond words. What I would recommend is if you would like to know more about the events of 1994 then to do your own research. What I can tell you is that it’s one thing to read about it. It’s quite another to see the graves. TK
Monday, November 26, 2007
First pics!
Picture 1 - Our awesome pile of bags.Picture 2 - Youth service, notice the blurring, we'll let you draw your own conclusions on if white men can actually dance.
Picture 3 - Our wonderful guest house.
To Sleep or Not to Sleep
November 25th, 2007
I start this entry with a confession—I am not a morning person. Now, I try to keep my morning grumpiness on the inside-and I like to think I do a good job at this (though in less than a week I’m guessing the rest of the team could give the true call on that one). But let me say this—waking up to your first glance of Africa is a very exciting thing! In fact, though we’d only had a few hours of sleep I think most of the team popped out of bed bright and early to get our first peak at our new home. We woke up to a beautiful sunrise in a beautiful country! Rwanda is a land of lush green hills, gorgeous flowers and trees, and beautiful people.
After a delicious breakfast, our team piled into the vehicles and headed to New Life Church. As you drive through Kigali, it’s amazing how many people you see on the red dirt roads. Men, women, and children walk along the sidewalks and on the road, as cars, motorcycles, and vans weave in and out of each other in an impressive almost choreographed fashion. Soon we arrived at the church and were ushered to the front side of the church. If we were sleepy, this was no time for napping. I don’t think even an “amen” prayer gesture could get us out of the awkwardness of falling asleep while we were on display like this.
As a believer, there is something so comforting, powerful, and incredibly unifying to sing worship songs with other believers all the way across the world. As Maggie described it, it was like “being home” even though we were so very far away. Here we were, different people, different countries, different cultures and lands united together singing praise to the One True God! The feeling was almost overwhelming! The people in the church were incredibly warm and welcoming, and they made us feel more like family than visitors. Church in Rwanda—what a great way to start off our time together!
So I said I wasn’t a morning person, the good news is I am incredibly gifted in the area of napping. I have just learned that my talent is not only matched-but exceeded by one of my teammates. Li Hoffman is one of the most gifted nappers I’ve seen. She slept on all of our flights, she could fall asleep in the van, and she easily fell into a deep sleep after lunch today (as a few of the rest of us did as well). I would guess that waking from our afternoon nap was as difficult for her as it was to wake from my own. But again it was adventure time, so we piled into a van and headed out for a tour of Kigali. As I sit here staring at this computer screen, it is so hard to try to find words to describe the sites, the smells, and the feels of Rwanda. So many times on our driving tour one of us would point to a Kodak moment, a woman with a baby ingeniously tied on her back, a gorgeous Rwandan child all dressed up for Sunday church, a woman at the market with a basket of fruit on her head. All these moments were quite impossible to capture on film in a crowded moving van, but were burned forever in our memories.
Going back to the sleeping theme—jet lag is a very present reality for us all today. That’s why going to the youth service tonight was just PERFECT. If you want something to get you up and moving, get you singing and dancing, inspire you to worship and praise, well the New Life youth service is the thing for you! We performed our drama for the first time, and we were blessed by having Enrich write a song just for the drama. His talent is such a gift of God, and though he wrote the song separate from us and our drama plans, it couldn’t have been more ideal. We were also able to see God use talents of specific members on our team tonight. LuLu Hoffman introduced the drama and though she said she was nervous, her words were so impacting that we really couldn’t tell. Scott Modrall (who was only given about an hour to prepare) preached a very powerful message on the armor of God and the shield of faith. And finishing up the night Fred got us all fired up with a message I only wish all of you back home could hear. Needless to say, we were FAR from sleepy during his message. We finished up with some good ol’ worship dancing, which Fred described as “disorganizing our bodies”. Personally I think he described it this way to put all of us white folks (with our lack of dancing skills) at ease. I don’t know, I think we “disorganized” ourselves pretty well for our first try!
After another delicious meal, we finished up our night with a sharing time. This time was precious as we got to hear all the many ways the Lord has been working in each of us during this journey. Craig shared something very profound. We can’t help but see this trip to Rwanda as a “mountain-top experience”. During mountain top experiences, we are able to climb above the tree-line, and gain a new perspective and vision of our surroundings. We feel blessed to be able to ascend this mountain, for the view up here of the Lord, His work, His children, His love—it’s amazing. Craig also pointed out that though these experiences are wonderful, the valley is where the lush growth occurs. So while we are ascending this mountain, we will drink in as much as we can. Our prayer is that the lessons learned up here will change us, and better prepare us for the valleys and mountains which lie ahead.
Towards the end of our sharing time, the eyes began to glaze, the comments slowly died down, and we all approached that inevitable jet-lagged sleep-deprived wall. But it was 8:30-so we had made it! I can’t think of another night where a 9:00 bedtime sounded so sweet! We said goodnight, took our turns in the bathrooms, and finally allowed our eyes to close. LM
I start this entry with a confession—I am not a morning person. Now, I try to keep my morning grumpiness on the inside-and I like to think I do a good job at this (though in less than a week I’m guessing the rest of the team could give the true call on that one). But let me say this—waking up to your first glance of Africa is a very exciting thing! In fact, though we’d only had a few hours of sleep I think most of the team popped out of bed bright and early to get our first peak at our new home. We woke up to a beautiful sunrise in a beautiful country! Rwanda is a land of lush green hills, gorgeous flowers and trees, and beautiful people.
After a delicious breakfast, our team piled into the vehicles and headed to New Life Church. As you drive through Kigali, it’s amazing how many people you see on the red dirt roads. Men, women, and children walk along the sidewalks and on the road, as cars, motorcycles, and vans weave in and out of each other in an impressive almost choreographed fashion. Soon we arrived at the church and were ushered to the front side of the church. If we were sleepy, this was no time for napping. I don’t think even an “amen” prayer gesture could get us out of the awkwardness of falling asleep while we were on display like this.
As a believer, there is something so comforting, powerful, and incredibly unifying to sing worship songs with other believers all the way across the world. As Maggie described it, it was like “being home” even though we were so very far away. Here we were, different people, different countries, different cultures and lands united together singing praise to the One True God! The feeling was almost overwhelming! The people in the church were incredibly warm and welcoming, and they made us feel more like family than visitors. Church in Rwanda—what a great way to start off our time together!
So I said I wasn’t a morning person, the good news is I am incredibly gifted in the area of napping. I have just learned that my talent is not only matched-but exceeded by one of my teammates. Li Hoffman is one of the most gifted nappers I’ve seen. She slept on all of our flights, she could fall asleep in the van, and she easily fell into a deep sleep after lunch today (as a few of the rest of us did as well). I would guess that waking from our afternoon nap was as difficult for her as it was to wake from my own. But again it was adventure time, so we piled into a van and headed out for a tour of Kigali. As I sit here staring at this computer screen, it is so hard to try to find words to describe the sites, the smells, and the feels of Rwanda. So many times on our driving tour one of us would point to a Kodak moment, a woman with a baby ingeniously tied on her back, a gorgeous Rwandan child all dressed up for Sunday church, a woman at the market with a basket of fruit on her head. All these moments were quite impossible to capture on film in a crowded moving van, but were burned forever in our memories.
Going back to the sleeping theme—jet lag is a very present reality for us all today. That’s why going to the youth service tonight was just PERFECT. If you want something to get you up and moving, get you singing and dancing, inspire you to worship and praise, well the New Life youth service is the thing for you! We performed our drama for the first time, and we were blessed by having Enrich write a song just for the drama. His talent is such a gift of God, and though he wrote the song separate from us and our drama plans, it couldn’t have been more ideal. We were also able to see God use talents of specific members on our team tonight. LuLu Hoffman introduced the drama and though she said she was nervous, her words were so impacting that we really couldn’t tell. Scott Modrall (who was only given about an hour to prepare) preached a very powerful message on the armor of God and the shield of faith. And finishing up the night Fred got us all fired up with a message I only wish all of you back home could hear. Needless to say, we were FAR from sleepy during his message. We finished up with some good ol’ worship dancing, which Fred described as “disorganizing our bodies”. Personally I think he described it this way to put all of us white folks (with our lack of dancing skills) at ease. I don’t know, I think we “disorganized” ourselves pretty well for our first try!
After another delicious meal, we finished up our night with a sharing time. This time was precious as we got to hear all the many ways the Lord has been working in each of us during this journey. Craig shared something very profound. We can’t help but see this trip to Rwanda as a “mountain-top experience”. During mountain top experiences, we are able to climb above the tree-line, and gain a new perspective and vision of our surroundings. We feel blessed to be able to ascend this mountain, for the view up here of the Lord, His work, His children, His love—it’s amazing. Craig also pointed out that though these experiences are wonderful, the valley is where the lush growth occurs. So while we are ascending this mountain, we will drink in as much as we can. Our prayer is that the lessons learned up here will change us, and better prepare us for the valleys and mountains which lie ahead.
Towards the end of our sharing time, the eyes began to glaze, the comments slowly died down, and we all approached that inevitable jet-lagged sleep-deprived wall. But it was 8:30-so we had made it! I can’t think of another night where a 9:00 bedtime sounded so sweet! We said goodnight, took our turns in the bathrooms, and finally allowed our eyes to close. LM
We made it!
Greetings from
The first thing I’d like to do with this blog is to thank all of you for your prayers, love, and support. Believe me, your friends and family appreciate it and miss you all. Now, before I get into the crazy rollercoaster that was our journey over here, I want to let you know a little about our team and the writers of this blog. Right now we number 14, though by this weekend we’ll be adding 2 more. We represent 4 different churches and have an age range from 17-almost retired. The updates you will be receiving most often will be from Lynn Morrow, who is in charge of our women’s conference, and me, Timothy Keene. I am the head of our drama team and attend Grace Chapel. Though, there will be some days when other members of our team will share something special they experienced as well.
Some things to remember: this blog will not be updated daily. Because of our limited access to the internet, it is impossible for us to predict when we will be able to get posts online. We will be writing a full entry for each day of the trip so multiple days may be uploaded at once. With this in mind, please check back as often as you like to find out what we’ve been doing. By reading this blog you are helping yourself and your loved already know some of the best stories of the trip. Lastly, what you are going to read in this blog will be emotionally all over the map. This trip is going to put a strain on everyone on this team. A lot of what you are going to read is going to be light-hearted, embarrassing, and fun. Some of it is going to be written by someone with tears in their eyes. With all of the small print out of the way, let’s get to the fun stuff!
Nov. 23 & 24 – The Flights
In a trip where it’s expected to expect the unexpected, what happened today was completely expected (this is possibly the greatest sentence I’ve ever written). Let’s start at the airport. Due to some confusion upon check-in, Cindy Gerkman’s bags may not make it to
Probably my favorite story so far involves Karen Wooley’s wedding ring. This story epitomizes the idea of not letting setbacks undermine you during this journey. Before takeoff from
It took over 27 hours for us to reach our destination. In that time we saw two sunsets, one in DC, the other over the Darfur mountains 38,000 feet above Sudan. We watched a ton of movies, some good, some terrible (no one should see “Hot Rod”…ever). We met a ton of very cool people that are using their skills to help
For kicks we decided to stop in
It should be mentioned that the guest house is absolutely amazing. It’s huge, it’s clean, it has hot water, and the cooks are fantastic. We could not ask for better accommodations. But, being that it is
Lastly, it should be mentioned that Craig McManus slept for a total of 25 minutes between 6am Thanksgiving day and when we arrived in
Sunday, November 18, 2007
T-107
That's right, we leave in less than 107 hours! Tonight we had our final meeting before our team of 16 departs on our Rwandan adventure! We dished out ministry luggage bags, went over our itinerary, and exchanged nervous jokes about how much rice and matokee we'd eat in the next three weeks. Needless to say, we are excited for all that the Lord has in store for us in the next three weeks.
If you are reading this, then know that we consider you part of our team. Whether you are a goer, a sender, a pray-er, or one of the faithful family members holding down the home front--we thank you!
Stay tuned for the adventures to come!
Lynn for the Team
If you are reading this, then know that we consider you part of our team. Whether you are a goer, a sender, a pray-er, or one of the faithful family members holding down the home front--we thank you!
Stay tuned for the adventures to come!
Lynn for the Team
Rwanda Mission 2007
We are excited to leave this Friday! This blog is a test to see if everyone can subscribe and view this blog. This is where you will get news updates.
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