Safari Day!

We were advised to get up at the crack of dawn to get to Akagera National Park early to be sure we could get a guide.  So we were up at 3:30, left by 4:00 and were there before 7am.  The guesthouse we are staying at is amazing. They had a full breakfast and to go boxes with all kinds of stuff for us to make sandwiches to bring with us.  They even gave us a cooler to keep everything in, and a bag of popcorn.  Adorable.  And so thoughtful.
We didn't even get to the main gate of the park before seeing this...

It was amazing!  We had to wait a while to be sure there were no more elephants just about to cross the road.  As we passed by and looked over to where this elephant had entered the trees and brush, we saw about 6 of them.  It was a great start to the day.
After making it to the gate, and getting our guide, we tried to track these elephants to see if we could get some more pics of it.  We did. It was our driver's first time seeing an elephant too so that was fun to see him get all excited like the rest of us.
Then we entered the game park again and within about 2 minutes we came upon zebras and throughout the day all the rest...

There were many baboons, but this one cracked me up. He just sat there very unimpressed with us while many of the others were flitting around and nervous mommas were snatching up there little ones and running for the hills!

This was really cool.  We were so close to these hippos, it was amazing!  There were about 4 of them just lying in the grass just near the lake.

The elephants were so active, that we kept coming across large branches and entire trees just snapped off from the elephants as they would move around. At one point this tree was blocking the road and our driver and guide could not get it to move out of the way so the guide held it back as much as he could and the driver went into the brush on one side to get around it.  It was definitely an adventure.

This picture does not do the views justice.  This place is so beautiful that you just have to be here to appreciate it.

To experience this week with these four people has been incredible.

As I write this we are about to get ready for our last day in Rwanda and we have many things to do.  We are going to start our day with a tour of the orphanage where JP spent his first year. Then we will go to the bagel place here in Kigali followed by a few other errands and then we plan to finish our time here at the National Genocide Memorial in Nyamata.
Until next time Rwanda....

A very fun, sad day.

We were very excited to get to the Home of Purpose this morning to do all the fun decorating now that all the painting was finished.  Most of this post will be pictures since it is very late here and we have to be up at 3:30 am to head out to the game park.  These just loaded in random order so I am not going to take the time to rearrange....Here were the highlights...

 These hands belong to Brayden and Kevine.  At one point in the day we had time to just sit and visit while I was finishing up sewing the rings on the curtains.  Kevine and Grace climbed onto Brayden's lap and cuddled with him. This picture is probably my favorite one from the trip.

 Here is the painting Juliet made that is now hanging in their living room.

We made Brayden the designated "ladder guy".  That thing was scary.  We hung these tissue paper flowers all over the house to brighten things up.

 This is Louise's room.  She is one of the house moms for the girl's home.  She has 3 children that are being supported through Ten Talents.  Her son Amani lives at the boys home and one daughter is at boarding school and Flamine stays with her at the Home of Purpose.

 This is also Louise's room with some added color. (Brayden made that painitng.)

 And here is Lousie.  I can't believe that I can't find a picture of Valerie on my phone.  She is the other house mom that lives there with her daughter Stacey who is about 2 years old.

 Robert came back again to help us today and here he is making a tissue paper flower. His were actually the best ones!

 Here is Valerie's new closet with new storage compartments.  I can't find the picture of the wall hanging that Camden made that is now hanging in Valerie and Stacey's roon.  It looks like the others that are hanging in the dining room and it says JOY on it.

 This picture is dark, but this is one corner of the girl's room that is now bright and cheery!

 This is the dining room.

 And here are 3 more of our paintings.

I already showed you this one last night...but it's worth showing again I think!  It came out great and they were all so happy.  Tonight during our time of celebration and goodbye's Valerie said that she was so excited to invite her neighbors and friends to come inside her home.  She said that she thinks they will be very confused and they will think that they have stepped into America because of all the beautiful things.  She also made us laugh because she said something about how she will miss the way we smell.  She could always know we had arrived by the nice smell.

At 6:00 we went to the Home of Innocence to have one last visit with all the children from HOI and HOP.  They first performed a traditional dance for us and then I shared my story of how I became connected to Rwanda through our adoption of JP. (Last night one of the boys at the home asked me to share my "testimony" the next evening. )  I then shared some parting words for them that I felt God had given me for them long ago when we first started planning this trip.  After that, in typical Rwandan fashion, each person in the room stood up to say a final word of thanks and goodbyes.  It was very emotional.  I think we all cried a bit.  Goodbyes are always difficult I guess.

We ended our night at Sole Luna, a very nice Italian restaurant, where we reminisced about our favorite moments of the past week and the hardest moments too. I think the most satisfying thing for me is to have some of my closest friends and family come to understand why I love this place so much.  Not only is this country breathtakingly beautiful to look at, but its people are equally as stunning. 

It's all coming together!

First of all, this is our view each morning! Now I am not a morning person AT ALL, but when I am in Rwanda, I do not sleep very much.  We girls have been up till midnight talking and laughing and yet I am still up and on this balcony each morning by 7. Today I couldn't sleep past 6:30.  I think it is because my time here is always so limited and I hate wasting a minute of it. Or maybe it's because I can't get enough of their coffee and I know that there is always a large pot of coffee waiting for me each morning.

Our day started with a trip back to the girl’s home to complete our painting project.  Robert met us there to help us. 

He is one of the boys that recently graduated high school and has moved out of Home of Innocence and is living on his own, with continued support through Ten Talents.  Classes have not yet started for him so he offered to come help us and he has been such a huge help.  We finished all the painting in 2 days and we could not have done that without him. He is a work horse.  How precious is his smile!  His story would break your heart, but he too only speaks of his gratitude and God’s faithfulness.

We finished the painting before lunch and began hanging the girl’s craft that they made the other night.  Check it out....

We also hung up all the storage compartments for the girls and their 2 “Aunties” and they were very excited to have a place to put their things.

This is Juliet. She works for Ten Talents and has been very helpful this week. We have had so much fun getting to know her and sharing stories.
Here are some pics of the team playing with all the kids that come running as soon as they hear our van pull in.  They hung around the yard for about 7 hours today just waiting for any 5 minute break we might take to play with them for a few minutes. 

Brayden had several kids literally swinging from his arms.

And we almost lost Juliet in this sea of kids!

Ray with a new friend...

Me with a new friend...

And Anne....

An emotional and productive day.

Before I fill you in on our day I thought I would just show you some random pics!
Here are the two beautiful Juliets!

And here is Ray with Kevine and Grace with Juliet.  Kevine spent the whole first day we were visiting just sitting on his lap and snuggling with him. So cute.

Here is Juliet with some of the neighbor kids.

And here is a group shot of all the neighbor kids just out front of the Home of Purpose.

The start of our day was a difficult one. Juliet had arranged for us to get a tour of one of the local genocide memorials.  We met Ellen at the site and she began to share with us her story.  I have read many stories of genocide survivors and they are always very moving and difficult to hear.  Every Rwandan you meet has a story of loss.  Hearing Ellen describe how she lost her parents and 6 siblings was gut wrenching. Listening to her share how thankful she was that God was with her and how she was able to literally run between the legs of the men who were trying to kill her was emotional to say the least.  She showed us several places where people tried to hide and yet became trapped and ultimately killed. I will spare you some of the details of her story, but the courage she has in telling and retelling her story to visitors is remarkable. She shares her story so that people will remember, so that people can honor the lives that were lost.
There was a point at which she had to cover her face and weep in the midst of her story and I just completely fell apart.  I wept while hugging her and did not want her to continue because the memories were so painful, but she seemed determined to finish her story and I am so glad she did. She ran to Congo and when she reached there she thought she was safe but then she saw the men that had tried to kill her searching the camp.  She continued to run.  She went 3 months with almost no water and no real food to speak of. But she survived and eventually found her oldest sister. They were the only 2 survivors of their once large family. She has 3 children, but life is still hard because her husband, also a survivor, suffered tremendous PTSD and left the family, so she struggles to provide for her children. Her strength is incredible. But that is not the most remarkable thing about her. She has forgiven the men that killed her family. And that is not all, she cares for them, she counsels them and feeds their children when they come by her house.  She could have had an attitude of “Where was God? Why did He let this happen to my family?” But she never once questioned or doubted his presence and power in her life. Only God could enable a person to endure such things with that amount of grace, forgiveness and selflessness.

There is no good transition from this story to the rest of our day, so I will just continue on.  We went to the Home of Purpose and began our painting project!  Here is Brayden on a very scary ladder!

We painted and patched walls until lunch and then we took a break to play with the neighborhood kids that came around.  We made bubbles and Anne and our driver blew up those long skinny balloons that the kids used as bats to hit the bubbles. 

It was a fun break from the painting.  We completed about half of the home today and then went over to the boys home to visit with them for a bit.  They played soccer for a while as we waited for all the boys to get home from school. Once they all arrived, one boy performed a poem and then they all sang and danced and we all joined in!  It was such a good time!  Brayden and I shared about integrity and acceptance.  Tomorrow evening we will go back and Ray, Anne and Juliet will talk about blessing others, patience and humility. We look forward to another dance party tomorrow night after another long day of painting!
 I have some great videos of the girls singing while doing their craft and of the boys dancing, but they won't upload!  I did upload the pic of the craft we did with the girls on my previous post if you are interested in going back.

The birds of Rwanda!

It happened on day 3!  The birds of Rwanda finally woke me up.  In all my other trips to Rwanda I have stayed with my missionary friends.  And in the room I would stay there must have been a nest of birds right outside the balcony because these birds would sing and wake me each morning.  I don’t know why, but I have always LOVED that sound.  It is odd because I’m not a real big animal lover, or lover of nature.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike these things, but I am not passionate about either of them so it seems strange to me that the sound of these birds is something I miss when in the states and look forward to when I do get to come to this incredible place.  The first morning here, while these accommodations are wonderful, I didn’t hear the birds in the morning and after not being able to see the landscape from the plane as we flew in due to darkness, this was just another bummer for me.  This morning it happened.  I heard the birds and even though I have only slept about 5 hours, I am out on the balcony overlooking Kigali listening to the birds and thinking about some men we met yesterday that have impressed me.

There is a man called Emah that volunteers at the Home of Purpose and Home of Innocence. He has a job doing IT at another ministry and yet in his evenings he teaches computer skills and english lessons to the girls and boys.  Every night.  Volunteers. This man is so full of joy and love that it just pours out of him and it is impossible not to notice.  When making the crafts with the girls, he was so eager to help them and was enjoying it almost more than they were. He even asked if he could make one for one of the girls that is at boarding school.  Earlier in the day, when chatting with John we were asking him many things about the culture here and Juliet asked about saying “l love you” and if that was common here and he explained that it is ok within marriage but very unusual and maybe even slightly inappropriate otherwise.  Emah’s spirit was so precious and Anne apparently forgot her social etiquette and told Emah that she loved him.  We joked about that last night and since I am the one saying all sorts of things that is keeping the team entertained with my stupidity, this is my way of getting just a bit of revenge for the constant teasing.  (Love you Anne!)

Then there was Robert. He is one of the boys that Ten Talents has sponsored for several years. He is now being supported outside of the home as he gets ready to attend university.  He is living with another of the boys that is also almost ready to be self sufficient.  This other young man has just completed driving school and is looking for employment.  They still come back to the home for visits and to help out with the younger boys.  Robert even asked if it would be ok for him to come help us paint since he did not have classes or anything else to do, he would love to serve with us.  How many 18/19 year olds do you know that would volunteer to serve with a group of strangers doing manual labor?  I am looking forward to getting to know him better today.  the sun is almost blinding today and I can’t wait to see what another day in Rwanda has in store for us.

Remember I told you how John, our translator, shared his story with us yesterday? Well, it deserves to be heard.  John has one artificial eye, a missing thumb and I imagine some scarring on his abdomen.  When he was younger he was trying to create some electricity for his home and the device he was using exploded in his hands and damaged his eye, tore off his thumb and ripped open his stomach.  He spent 2 months in the hospital. The authorities investigated as they thought it was a bomb that was being hidden and going to be used against the militia, so they put his father in prison.  Not once did John say, I don’t know why God let this happen to me?  Not once did he seem angry at the injustice done to his father.  He only spoke of gratitude and the faithfulness of God for seeing them through their difficult time. Oh to be more like him when I face a “trial”.  He also shared how he and his wife came together.  She was an orphan from the genocide and lived with her siblings that also survived.  When they met she was sharing her story and John described that he felt a “hurt” inside for her and he said that he could not do anything about her past, but he could take care of her in the future and he said that is when God grew his love for her.  They are now married with a baby boy.  That is redemption. That is God using people to change the history of his servants just like the song spoke of last night.  His life is an example of full reliance on God’s provision.  He had a school where he taught English (among other languages) that has now closed due to a paperwork issue and he is struggling to make a living for his family.  A man he knew heard about his school closing and has offered him very cheap rent until he finds work. He just learned that the place he is living in is going to be destroyed soon due to the land being taken over for another purpose, so he is on the verge of being homeless again and yet, you could not detect an ounce of fear or anxiety in him.  He is completely confident that God will make a way for them.  This is not a “worry” for him, just a way for God to redirect his path and John is ready for whatever God has next.

I

Day 2 by Tina

First of all, I must apologize for my incredible insensitivity in my former post about how Brayden could sleep through an earthquake.  My husband pointed out to me that there was just a devastating earthquake in Nepal. Clearly I was not aware and so please forgive me.  On a lighter note....this pic of Juliet staring at Brayden cracks me up!

We started our day eating breakfast on the balcony that overlooks this beautiful country.  Juliet (from Ten Talents, Int.) met us here at the guesthouse and rode with us to the Home of Purpose so that we could get a tour of the home and plan for our week on how to make improvements to their home.  We also sat with the girls that happened to be home and the house moms and showed them all the sweaters we had for them.  I think the best way to describe it was that it felt like Christmas morning.  It was so much fun to see them get so excited about their new clothes.  They even started posing for us like supermodels!

Even our translator, John, found something he liked!  He wore it all day long.

Once we had an idea of what we needed to start the painting tomorrow we headed to the market to buy rice, beans and cooking oil for the special needs orphanage that is very close to the girls home.  We arrived at the orphanage and gave them the food and other school supplies and art supplies we had for them and we were told that it was lunch time and that we would not be able to play with the kids because lunch time takes at least 2 hours.  We had expected to be able to interact with the children in some simple way by blowing bubbles, or hitting balloons back and forth to each other, but it was not possible. They did offer to give us a tour.  This evening we all agreed that this was the most difficult part of our day.  It was difficult to see so many children and adults all in one place in need of so much care.  It was difficult to imagine what a massive commitment it was for these caregivers to dedicate their lives to this work.  But for me, what was so hard was to just be standing around.  We wanted to be helpful but there were already a few volunteers that were helping with meal time, so there was really nothing we could do, so we continued on with the tour of the facility then prayed for the caregivers.  As we were about ready to leave Anne noticed a young boy laying in a school uniform on the concrete slab outside one of the buildings. She inquired about him and learned that he was the son of someone that either works or lives in that facility.  He complained of having a bad stomach ache.  We all circled around him and prayed that he would get well.  Afterwards, he just smiled and thanked us.  

From there we went to the Home of Innocence which is the boys home.  We got a tour of their home and the Ten Talents offices.  We met a few of the boys too. One boy stepped out of the house and I immediately recognized him as the sponsor child of a friend back home.  I said, “Hello A_____!”  His face exploded into the brightest smile and ran into my arms and hugged me.  I told him my name was Tina and that I met him a few years ago and that I was a friend of his Momma Linda.  He was precious!

We had some time before we needed to be back at the Home of Purpose so we went back to the guesthouse for a cup of tea and visited on a more personal level with our translator, John.  He shared some of his life story with us and it was a sweet time to get to know him better.

Our final activity of the day is by far one of my favorite moments in Rwanda to date.  This description will not do it justice. We arrived at the girls home and waited for the all the girls to gather with us and once they did their computer/english tutor led them in performing a skit that they had put together that illustrated how God can change a life and bring hope to the hopeless.  They did a great job practicing their english while delivering a great message.  After this they offered to sing for us.  I can not describe the power behind their voices, nor the passion behind their words.  It was beyond inspiring.  We finally sat down (in the furniture that was donated through friends of Mugisha Ministries!) and shared with them about the life of Joseph. We spoke about the character traits we saw in his life.  Humility, acceptance, patience, integrity, striving to bless others, , being hard working, etc. We showed them an example of the craft we planned to do with them and explained that the mulit-colored design on the craft is like Josephs multi-colored robe.  We asked them to imagine all the diffirent colors as the character traits displayed in Joseph's life. When they see their names with all those beautiful colors coming through, we want them to also strive to reflect those character traits in their lives.

Here is an example of what we did with them only using each of their names. They LOVED it.  

(pic to be inserted tomorrow since it is 1am and upload is taking too long!)

There was only one dim light in the living room and no light in the dining room where the table was so we had to turn on our flashlights on our cell phones and hold them above the table so the girls could complete the craft.  There were so into it that you could hear a pin drop and honestly I was dying to hear them sing again, so I asked them if they could teach us the song they were singing earlier, so they did and we all stood around the dining table, holding our cell phones for light, belting out worship songs and it was all I could do to hold myself together.  These girls who have known so much loss, heartache and hardship are so quick to thank God for all they have and sing to Him with such passion.  There are just no words to describe what it felt like to be in that room in that moment.  When the song ended, I asked if they would sing to us in Kinyarwanda. They did. And I was in heaven.  John translated the song one line at a time as they sang and it was a beautiful song about how God can rewrite the history of those that serve him.  That was it for me, I reached my breaking point for the day and cried tears that were a mixture of so many emotions that I can’t articulate, so I won’t even try.  

Our day concluded with another delicious meal at the guesthouse where we sat and debriefed all the emotions and experiences from the day.  We are super excited to begin our painting project tomorrow.

Day 1 By Juliet

I would first like to refer back to the previous post about the sleeping situation on each plane. We could have crash landed and Brayden still would have been asleep, waking only when violently shaken. Unlike Tina’s fortunate accumulative hour of sleep, I may have gotten 22 minutes throughout the 24 hours of travel. Within that 22 minutes, Brayden managed to capture a photo, and in complete spite and revenge, I later captured an identical snapshot.

Returning to current time, we began our Sunday with church, attending the first service in English. After worship, we were slightly disappointed by the news that we would be hearing from a speaker from California. We had all been looking forward to experiencing an authentic African service so hearing from an American pastor was just not what we were imagining. We also met up with our translator, John. We were fortunate enough to stay through the worship portion of the Kinyrwandan service. Their voices ushered in the most humble presence of God I have ever felt. Their voices sounded as though they reached heaven and the demeanor in which they worshiped was with a pureness of heart I could never imagine to have. 

We left the service and headed to the hotel where we would meet the sponsored children...we unloaded the van and met about 10 of the children who had already been there. In a short amount of time, 30 more showed up. Some of the boys joined a circle of soccer and most girls were looking on, waiting for something to happen. I began speaking to a girl named Sonia and asked her about her ambitions, she spoke of how she dreams of being a heart surgeon. Her favorite subject is Biology, she doesn’t like french class (only because she’s bad at it), has three sisters and loves to read mystery books. But what I took away from this conversation most was that she would not talk about herself unless asked, and she only asked questions about me and who I was and what I liked and that has to be one of the best traits a person can have. Total selflessness. Oh how I wish I could be like these people. 

Gathering in the room to eat, we first introduced ourselves, identifying ourselves by our siblings, spouses and children. Then, all of them were asked to stand and share their name, their siblings, and most importantly their dreams. I have found that to these people, there is no small dream and no circumstances will hinder them. They have decided. And they will arrive. These dreams included being engineers, doctors, accountants, and business men and women. Also, scientists, humanitarians, politicians, surgeons, journalists and caregivers. And I must say that I believe every one of them and in every one of their dreams. We then ate lunch which was as amazing as expected, 100% carbohydrates. We decided before the trip that we would speak on the life of Joseph and the character traits that he portrayed throughout his life, so we each chose one and shared with them our thoughts on them. Patience, acceptance, blessing others, hard work and humility were among them. But let’s be honest, we can be almost certain that they excel us in every category. Then, we introduced a craft to them and after that, our Rwandan friend Harriet asked if anyone would like to share their hearts. Five people shared. Fina, Alloys, Joshua, Uwese and Sharron. They spoke of their life, their hardships and their undying appreciation for the sponsorship program. If you’re reading this right now and you sponsor a child, especially through Mugisha Ministries, I would encourage you by saying that your contribution is not money in the wind and the fact that someone chooses them every month is a constant reminder of the Fathers love for them. They have a true understanding of the importance of The Lord at the center of their lives and their ambitions are anything but far fetched. They have every intention of following through on their word. I recently heard from a fellow missionary we are staying with that it’s part of Rwandan culture that if you speak something, it gives way for the future, they are true believers in words having power. Sharron (who has recently graduated) said something that cut right to the heart- “On behalf of all of us, we love you and thank you from the bottom of our hearts....but for you there is no bottom”. 

But really, what a blessing it is to be here. As I type, I’m looking at lights covering the hills below me that words and pictures will never convey. Can’t wait for what the Lord has for us this week. Waiting in anticipation. Wishing everyone the best and loving all of you from Africa. 

With Great Love,

Juliet Locker

We Have Arrived!

Our flight from Boston to D.C. was fairly turbulent but otherwise our whole journey was uneventful.  ALL fifteen of our bags made it here. Praise the Lord! Here we are on on of the flights...I think it was the last leg from Brussels to Kigali.

We arrived at the guesthouse at around 7:30pm to a wonderful welcome. They had cold passionfruit juice waiting for us.  That was heavenly after a long day and a half of travel!  We settled into our rooms and then had to go through the rest of our baggage to organize all our supplies, assemble the backpacks for our sponsor kids, and then prepare for the craft we plan to do with them today. 

We did not get to sleep until about 11:00 pm and I’m not sure if I have ever been more tired.  I did not sleep on any of the flights.  Maybe one hour total.  Brayden got the most sleep, big surprise!  That boy could sleep through an earthquake!  The airport in Brussels was great.  They had these cool lounge chairs that we took advantage of to be horizontal for a bit before the last leg of the journey to Kigali. 

I was bummed that we arrived after sunset so I couldn’t see the landscape from the plane as we landed.  That is usually a highlight for me and always makes me cry!  J.J. from the guesthouse was there to meet us with Edward, our driver for the week, and Innocent who drove the truck full of our luggage.  J.J. is impressive.  He can speak 10 languages!  He taught himself English by watching movies and reading.  Amazing!