There are many phrases and gestures that I have noticed I have picked up from living here. But one of my favorites is saying: Oh, sorry. Let me explain. On my first trip here, I realized that when I would drop something, the nearest Rwandan would say, "Oh, sorry". I would laugh and say, "I dropped it, why are you sorry?". Or I would smack my funny bone on something. Again, "Oh, sorry". "But you didn't do it, it was me who smacked my own funny bone." I didn't get it. Oh, sorry isn't an admittance of guilt here. It is a sympathy gesture. For example, I'm sorry you dropped your phone and the battery just flew across the room...again. Or, I'm sorry you are coughing your brains out and you seem to be in pain. I believe that the short phrase "Oh, sorry" or "I'm sorry" has so much more meaning to me now than ever before. It is taking a moment to empathize with someone. Stopping to realize that the stra...
As a child I remember a story about the city mouse and the country mouse, I am making a cultural adaptation here...the city mouse and the village mouse. Once apon a time, there was a city mouse, who was very convinced her city way of doing things was the right way. She had the clothes and the friends equivocal to the city life. There were certain foods she longed to have daily access to, where she knew city life was the only life for her. For the sake of this story, we will call this city mouse, Jamie. Then she was introduced to the village mouse, who, for the sake of the story we will call Tara. This village mouse wanted nothing more than to live in the village and work with other village mice. Tara and Jamie met and then lost touch. I'm not sure why, but sometimes it just happens. City life gets too city and village life get too...villagey. Then one day, unbeknownst to either mouse, their paths were crossed. The village mouse had come to the city to pray at the city mou...
O my goodness. I’m laying awake tonight so excited as we are launching this fundraising website and a new twist on our ministry. This is a story about God being God. There is no way in this small message I can tell you the full story, so know there are years of evidence that God has been moving things into place and then He opened the door and said, “Jamie, I want to show you something.” Okay, that was Moses, our youth minister who verbally said it, but God inspired him. Just a few short weeks ago I was shown an alley where women sell sex. I knew it happened, I knew it was there, but I hadn’t ever seen it with my own eyes. We talked to one young woman who said that if she had ANY other option in life, she would not be a prostitute. Jamie, do you love me? Yes, Lord, you know I love you. Then feed my lambs. Fast forward a few weeks to having two Rwandan social workers say, “I want to help!” A best buddy who said, “I’m in!” An Australian social worker who h...
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