Sent to Rwanda

So, it's that time of year, every organization you've ever given to is asking for money. It's the end of the year and everyone knows we all want those tax deductions!! Or you may be thinking, I just gave you money, why do you already need more? Well, things happen. Because of financial difficulties, one monthly supporter of $50 had to discontinue their support. I understand, life happens. But that $50 impacts me in a big way here. My car is...well, almost 20 years old. So far, about once a month it goes into the mechanic's shop for something. Right now, it is in for the suspension. The roads are very hard on the cars here and even though I love my "hot rod" (as one of my teammates' kids call it); I have realized I need to get a vehicle that sits up a little higher (and maybe has air conditioning for the hot days). There are many roads I am not able to drive on. Just like on Friday when we were going to the orphanage. Usually, I ride with some friends

Over the last couple of weeks, I have had the opportunity to visit 3 different village areas. The first was to meet the child that my family sponsors. You can read about that unique introduction here. The second was with one of our teammates as they were taking one of the guys who works for them to see his family. And yesterday, I went with two of the ladies from the PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS project I have been working on the last 3 months. On this trip I learned a lot. One  of the women wanted to do a clothes collection and distribution for a local village. I thought we were going on Thursday just to distribute the clothes, but was I in for a surprise. As we made our way out to one of the ladies’ farm about 20 minutes outside of Kigali, we arrived and she proudly presented us with her “piggery”. She started about one year ago with 2 pigs and now has about 20. I got to see pineapples grow (I thought they grew on a tree). And then we sat under a tree. I wasn’t sure exactly what

How many Christian concerts have you gone to where they encourage everyone to sponsor a kid somewhere a million miles away in some far off country? I have been to many and have experienced differing emotions when it gets to "that" part of the concert. I have gotten up to go to the bathroom, so I don't feel guilty for not sponsoring a child. I have said things like, "There is so much need in our own backyard, why do I need to send my money across the ocean?" Or how about this one, "How do we even know that money is actually going to get to that kid?" A couple days after I left for Rwanda, my parents went to a Christian concert where Food for the Hungry was asking for sponsors. My parents sponsored a child who was in Rwanda, an 11 year old girl named Jeanette. My whole family is involved, even my sister's children put part of their allowance aside for Jeanette. This morning, I got to meet Jeanette and her family! I know for a fact that Food for

I have written several half blog posts and have been a little blocked on my writing..my apologies. But something has sparked a need to write yesterday. As I have previously written about the Shaws and one of my favorite people--Faith. She has such a way with words and through her eyes I have the opportunity to see things from an amazing perspective. On Friday, I had the opportunity to ride with Faith to the fish farm where the youngest children are now living (if you don't know what I am talking about, see the last 2 posts), hang out most the day and then ride back. There are so many stories that we insist that Faith must write a book someday, she insists that she is an artist, not a writer. On the way home, Faith described her experience of becoming an American citizen; standing in the room with people from so many different countries. She exclaimed, "Call it what you want, but there were so many of us from different backgrounds. There is no other place in this world that

I introduced "Joe's One More Drive" last week, for the full story, click here A family at our church here in Rwanda has made it their mission to help abandoned children. Faith and Roger Shaw have 18 children they are currently taking care of...with a little help from some "aunties". The Shaw's are currently in process of developing a fish farm, which, in the future will not only financially sustain their large family, but will help teach the children a trade. More information here. In honor of the life of my friend Joe, who dedicated his life to helping others. I am asking you--my friends and family--to adopt this precious family. You can help in several ways: 1) Pick one or more of the children to shop for. Clothes, underwear, socks and shoes are the greatest need, but we also want the children to have a special toy just for them. We will be collecting the items in Oklahoma and then sending them with someone who will be traveling (it is cheaper and mo

One of my youth minister's in high school, Russ, had a sign hanging above his door that said, "One More." I asked him what it meant and he explained the ending of the movie Schindler's List. Oskar Schindler is credited with saving 1,100 Jews during World War II. At the end of the movie when the war was declared over, Schindler had to escape and was saying goodbye to all the men, women and children who lives were spared because they were "employed" by him. He looked around and said, "I could have saved one more..." Iszhak Stern says, "Oskar, there are eleven hundred people who are alive because of you. Look at them." Oskar continues to look around at the things he had, even a pin on his lapel and cries out, "This pin. Two people. This is gold. Two more people. He would have given me two for it, at least one. One more person. A person, Stern. For this...I could have gotten one more person... and I didn't! And I... I didn't!&q

I totally stole the title of this from my friend's facebook status. There are some days that I have to remind myself why I am here and then there are some days that I am hit in the face all day. Today was the second. I woke up thinking it was a normal Wednesday morning. Got ready, sporting my lavender Survive and Thrive t-shirt and brown capris (that are now belted up because I'm losing my American weight). I pretty much have a uniform for Wednesday--a comfy t-shirt and pants that dry easy, because we are heading to the orphanage! I had the honor of delivering a donation that had been made on behalf of a family member who had adopted from this orphanage. So we made a quick stop by the ATM on the way. Upon arriving, I noticed there was a small bus full of mzungus (white people), but was determined to deliver this special donation. We had a good day playing with the kids, but nothing too out of the ordinary. As we ascended the stairs to leave, we noticed all the m

I'm not giving this a title, because I'm not sure what to call it yet...this is just going to be some stuff that is in my head. Maybe no one will read this and I'm just getting some stuff out of my head and on paper (digital paper..give me a break). It's a little longer than usual, so be patient. I have been sick over the last 8 days--sick in bed. It gave me some time to do some reading, some thinking, some movie-watching and a lot of sleeping. Being sick a million miles away from home stinks. Can I be honest? Well, of course I can, this is my blog. It stinks big time. I got a pretty common bug here, giardia, a crazy micro organism that lives in your small intestines. I included a picture because I think it looks like the thing on the Matrix that they pull out of Neo's belly button. I really wasn't "sick" I just had no energy and just felt really lethargic. I have some other bugs that we will start medicines on once I finish the medicine for the g-

I was told when I first arrived, "Don't go looking for work, it will find you." That is to say, "Pace yourself." So, one of my intentions for coming is to work with the young girls in the youth group. I am still trying to figure out exactly what that looks like. Moses, the youth minister, and I are still working on it. To get started, Moses wanted me to start a study with the young girls. I prayed over it for several weeks and finally just decided to start announcing it and see who shows up. So tomorrow, I will start with the young girls 12-14 years old and on Wednesday evening, I will have 15-18 years old. Both groups are hosted at my house, which is in the same neighborhood as the church and school. As I have been praying and planning over this study, my roommate looked at me a couple of weeks ago and said, "Want to start a Bible Study at our house?" "Sure," I responded. Just before I left, I had bought a Sheila Walsh study called, &quo

As I have started working in Rwanda, I realize what a big part of our job is networking. There are no YellowPages for Kigali, so we learn about other organizations by taking phone numbers and exchanging business cards. I recently was introduced to an organization that I am particularly interested in, called Tubahumarize (too-bah-hoo-mah-ree-zey). " Genocide survivor, Jeanne Mwiriliza, founded TUBAHUMURIZE in January 2006, after the murder of one of her dear friends. Following the 1994 genocide of nearly one million people, including her own husband, Jeanne made it a regular practise to meet informally with women to share burdens and provide one another with emotional support. Her friend’s murder, however, was the catalyst for her to formalize an organization that would support women in many ways. That woman friend to Jeanne, who was crippled moving on a wheel chair, always talked about the violence done to her by her husband. One day she called Jeanne and told her t

I'm homesick...I'm not going to lie. I'm not too proud to admit that I miss my family and friends. I get confused when I realize that everyone's life is still going on even though I'm not there. =) I thought the world might stop and wait for my return. OU's football season started without me. My dad turned a year older without me. He didn't even wait for me to have a birthday dinner...how rude?! I am not conceited enough to think that everyone would put their lives on hold for me. But being away has reminded me who is important in my life. I was hanging some family pictures in my room the other day and a friend noticed and started asking (in broken English) about them. I pointed to my mom, dad, sister and her 3 kids, naming each. She said, "Your mom looks smart. She looks like you." Smart=Well dressed or good looking (They got it from the Brits, I think). She started trying to ask me questions about my family, so I reciprocated and asked about