Sent to Rwanda

So it's been a while, sorry 'bout that. I have many things to say on this post, but I'm going to stay focused on one thing--saying "yes". When I was making the decision to move to Rwanda, one of my colleagues told me to get a book called, "What Happens When Women Say Yes to God" by Lysa Turkurst (good book, go read it). She gave ways to help make decisions. I'm going to be honest and say that I can't remember all of them, but the ones that stuck are: Is it Biblical (does it contradict Scripture)? Is is being confirmed in other ways--friends, Bible studies, lessons, etc? I remember going through that book thinking that moving to Rwanda was a BIG yes, but everyday there are little yes' that we have the opportunity to make. My friend Tara, who has done some really cool things (no41.org--check her out), says often that her organization just evolved out of a bunch of little yes'. Did we set out to start projects helping young women? No...

I have been reading some blogs about minimalism and am in a study about being more grateful. I have been thinking about my trip back to America last year and anticipate my visit this year. It is hard going back to a world that seems so familiar, but yet so foreign. Some of the things that shocked me after living here was the materialism. I think everyone can admit how wrapped up America has become in their possessions. I know I was. As I was getting ready to come here two years ago, there was a freeing process I went through of getting rid of almost everything I owned.   And then when I left Rwanda to visit America, I was in between houses, so I locked up the majority of my stuff in my office. I don’t have that many things and it’s nice. There are some differences living here—I can wear basically the same wardrobe all year around, so I don’t have to store seasonal clothes. But overall, I just don’t feel connected to things the same way I used to. I live in a country where $...

Everything in my life starts with a "du" now, even my thoughts. As we are quickly approaching one year of the first suggestion of Duhugurane and have completed the first phase of our first training group, I want to paint you a picture of what is going on over here. A little over a month ago, we were ready to launch our first training and started quietly looking for young women 18-25 years old, who were English-speaking who would be willing to pilot our ideas. We were looking quietly because we didn't want to be inundated by girls. We selected the first cohort and were ready to start. The first day of class (February 11) I arrived early, praying and hoping someone showed up. I laughed to see that there were girls there before I was, over an hour early. I'm not sure they really understood what they had signed up for, but they were there. I started the class of 25 young women by introducing what we were about to embark on and shared Hebrews 6:11-12 (NCV...

In my opinion, and of course this is my opinion because this is my blog, but I believe that the general church-going population believes that as a missionary, I am always on this mountaintop spiritual "high". That I am always seeking God because I have moved so far from home and my family. Let me dispel this rumor, this is not true. Just like in America, my spiritual walk has peaks, valleys and plateaus. There are times when I see God working and moving in such tangible ways that I sit back and worship and praise His name. I pray so fervently that I become physically tired. Our team takes time to pray every week for various things, but always seeks God's guidance and leadership over us. And there are times when I see a situation and I pray real hard and I don't see God moving and I look to the sky and ask, "Where are you? Creator of the universe, who can make all things happen and controls the movement of every star, why aren't you moving in THIS situatio...

This morning at our Christmas service at Christ's Church in Rwanda, I cried a little. I listened to Moses, our youth minister, read the story of baby Jesus and how King Herod wanted to kill him and I cried a little. I looked around the room and watched as one of our team members had quite a few family members fly in from America and I cried a little. I sat on a row with my roommate and our 3 grown up girls who live with us and I cried a little. I watched as those 3 girls praised the Savior of the world with everything they had within them and I cried a little. As a member of the choir, I sang a song about feeling Jesus in my bones and not being able to hold it in and I smiled the widest smile of the day! My life is so very different that 1 year ago, 2 years ago and goodness knows 3 years ago and we aren't even going to 4 years ago! But isn't that how it should be? Each year we can smile and know that we are different people because of a Savior who came to the w...

I haven't written about those cutie babies in a while, so I figured it is time. I call them babies, but they are really babies up to little kiddos. Someone posted on facebook the other day something to the effect "People frustrate me when they say, 'I'm not ready to adopt'. Do you think the children out there were ready to be orphans?" I'm so blessed to have the opportunity to visit the local orphanage and get to love on the babies. Some people don't like the word "orphanage", I guess it's no longer politically correct, so maybe I should call it--place for babies who don't have a mom or dad. It has been a roller coaster of emotion over the last few years--visiting the place for babies who don't have a mom or dad for the first time is overwhelming. The reality of babies who don't have moms and dads for whatever reason and looking into their little eyes is a tough one. Even tougher is seeing a special needs child, knowing th...

First, may I say sorry for not writing in so long. I've been going 90 to nothing and decided to take a little breather. I sent an email recently about the new young women's project (which we are still needing funding for...www.duhugurane.org). In addition to this work, there has been some extra  things going on that I wanted to share about. When I returned, I found a roommate and a house pretty quickly. The roommate was set before I left and the house kind of found us. I have questioned why this house, it's a little too big for just the 2 of us and was completely empty when we moved in. Recently, we were challenged at church to pray for an area--our property, a neighborhood, city, etc. I choose to pray outloud for my compound. (All of our houses are surrounded by a wall and gate and are called "compounds".) I don't know why, it was just on my heart. Around the time these prayers began, we started looking for one more roommate to help with expenses. A reall...