Making the Transition
Well since I'm kind of still brain dead since I am on oxycod (some drug supposedly stronger than vicodin) ...I am not going to write twice but instead I will just post the letter that I am mailing out to those who supported me. Soooo enjoy... really though, I will post some blogs in the next week or so... I think. Oh-- and attention to Julie and all other regular blog readers-- I think I will keep this blog and make the transition from "Updates from Rwanda" to "A Little Perspective" (so in a few days, the new blog address will be www.justalittleperspective.blogspot.com) ...enjoy!
Muraho!
I’m back! I made it safely back from Rwanda a little over a week ago and I am excited to be able to share of the amazing work that God is doing in this wonderful country. My team and I were able to be a part of some incredible experiences and we thank God for every second of our trip.
Traveling to and from Rwanda is an adventure in itself; we visited the airports of four different countries and two different continents. Although my specific team had only seven people, we traveled with six other teams and overall we amounted to fifty-five (mostly white) college students. The traveling lasted 42 hours, which provided for a lot of team bonding time in the beginning and a lot of story time on the way home.
My team—Team Amakuru—was chosen to work and live in Gitarama, a small town 45 minutes South of Kigali. We were chosen to help with construction on a learning center for women who have converted from the Muslim faith. Muslim women are taught that they do not need to have any money-making skills, so when they converted from this faith and became Christians, they had no means of making any income. Venantia, our local worker in Rwanda, is in charge of the project. It is her vision to have a place where women can learn skills like basket weaving, knitting, and more, and a safe place where they can learn more about Christianity.
Before going to Rwanda, we knew that we were the labor team, but we all underestimated the work that this would entail. The first day we arrived, we quickly learned that the kind of work that we would be doing would be dirty and it would be difficult. The first half of the trip we used only two tools: a shovel and a hoe. We moved dirt, mixed cement, carried water jugs up hills, moved more dirt, planted grass, mixed more cement, and then moved some more dirt. It was exhausting and tedious at times, but we just would remind each other that we were doing this work for the Lord, and it would get us through each day. Some of the mini projects that we were able to be a part of included: laying cement flooring inside the house, laying a cement porch, leveling the front yard and planting grass, digging stairs into a 15-foot vertical wall, and priming and painting the inside walls, baseboards, and ceiling of the house. We had a great time working.
Another fun and unexpected aspect of our trip was hanging out with the local children. Walking to and from work each day, we would find ourselves surrounded by and holding hands of thirty or so kids. They would run from their homes yelling “muzungu” (white-person) and then continue to walk the rest of the way with us. I don’t remember many times walking without holding a child’s hand. We were also able to spend time with the children at the worksite while taking breaks. We often found ourselves on this one staircase just sitting and hanging out with the kids. They would perform songs for us or we would perform songs for them, but we were never actually able to communicate very much with them. We learned very quickly, however, that our main mode of communication with the children would be through touch. We would just hold the kids or hold their hands, and this was enough to make them happy. Being able to spend time with the children was a blessing.
Our team was amazed at all the ways that we could see God working in and through this country. We all learned so much about ourselves and about God during the time that we spent there. One specific thing that we learned that seems to stick out in my mind is the perfect nature of God’s timing and his plan for everything. We all felt blessed to be a part of the perfect plan that God has for Rwanda, and more specifically, for this learning center in Gitarama. We all felt blessed to be a part of this, but more importantly, we felt comfort and wonder in knowing that God was working there before we got there and He will continue the work after we leave.
Even though we are no longer in Rwanda, please continue to pray for all that God is doing there. Continue to pray for the hearts of those we came into contact with. Pray for endurance, strength, and blessings for the local men and women who are a part of this learning center and are working to finish the construction and then begin the actual teaching there. And please pray for our team, that we would not forget what we have learned and that we continue to grow in our faith as a result of our experiences in Rwanda.
Thank you so much for being a part of this experience. Thank you for your support, both financially and for your prayers. I have posted some of the pictures online at http://photos.yahoo.com/pacs023 in the “Rwanda Captures” photo album.
I’m back! I made it safely back from Rwanda a little over a week ago and I am excited to be able to share of the amazing work that God is doing in this wonderful country. My team and I were able to be a part of some incredible experiences and we thank God for every second of our trip.
Traveling to and from Rwanda is an adventure in itself; we visited the airports of four different countries and two different continents. Although my specific team had only seven people, we traveled with six other teams and overall we amounted to fifty-five (mostly white) college students. The traveling lasted 42 hours, which provided for a lot of team bonding time in the beginning and a lot of story time on the way home.
My team—Team Amakuru—was chosen to work and live in Gitarama, a small town 45 minutes South of Kigali. We were chosen to help with construction on a learning center for women who have converted from the Muslim faith. Muslim women are taught that they do not need to have any money-making skills, so when they converted from this faith and became Christians, they had no means of making any income. Venantia, our local worker in Rwanda, is in charge of the project. It is her vision to have a place where women can learn skills like basket weaving, knitting, and more, and a safe place where they can learn more about Christianity.
Before going to Rwanda, we knew that we were the labor team, but we all underestimated the work that this would entail. The first day we arrived, we quickly learned that the kind of work that we would be doing would be dirty and it would be difficult. The first half of the trip we used only two tools: a shovel and a hoe. We moved dirt, mixed cement, carried water jugs up hills, moved more dirt, planted grass, mixed more cement, and then moved some more dirt. It was exhausting and tedious at times, but we just would remind each other that we were doing this work for the Lord, and it would get us through each day. Some of the mini projects that we were able to be a part of included: laying cement flooring inside the house, laying a cement porch, leveling the front yard and planting grass, digging stairs into a 15-foot vertical wall, and priming and painting the inside walls, baseboards, and ceiling of the house. We had a great time working.
Another fun and unexpected aspect of our trip was hanging out with the local children. Walking to and from work each day, we would find ourselves surrounded by and holding hands of thirty or so kids. They would run from their homes yelling “muzungu” (white-person) and then continue to walk the rest of the way with us. I don’t remember many times walking without holding a child’s hand. We were also able to spend time with the children at the worksite while taking breaks. We often found ourselves on this one staircase just sitting and hanging out with the kids. They would perform songs for us or we would perform songs for them, but we were never actually able to communicate very much with them. We learned very quickly, however, that our main mode of communication with the children would be through touch. We would just hold the kids or hold their hands, and this was enough to make them happy. Being able to spend time with the children was a blessing.
Our team was amazed at all the ways that we could see God working in and through this country. We all learned so much about ourselves and about God during the time that we spent there. One specific thing that we learned that seems to stick out in my mind is the perfect nature of God’s timing and his plan for everything. We all felt blessed to be a part of the perfect plan that God has for Rwanda, and more specifically, for this learning center in Gitarama. We all felt blessed to be a part of this, but more importantly, we felt comfort and wonder in knowing that God was working there before we got there and He will continue the work after we leave.
Even though we are no longer in Rwanda, please continue to pray for all that God is doing there. Continue to pray for the hearts of those we came into contact with. Pray for endurance, strength, and blessings for the local men and women who are a part of this learning center and are working to finish the construction and then begin the actual teaching there. And please pray for our team, that we would not forget what we have learned and that we continue to grow in our faith as a result of our experiences in Rwanda.
Thank you so much for being a part of this experience. Thank you for your support, both financially and for your prayers. I have posted some of the pictures online at http://photos.yahoo.com/pacs023 in the “Rwanda Captures” photo album.
posted by Christie Nicole @ 1:11 AM
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