Reflections.....

It has been more than a week since I've been back in Virginia and I am finding myself finally ready to reflect on what was an inspiring, powerful and humbling experience in Rwanda. We covered every emotion while on the trip and had some quite entertaining conversations in the green machine. We experienced the pain and suffering of a country devastated by genocide in 1994 to the confidence, rebuilding and productivity of today.

The last evening of our trip we had one last opportunity to have dinner with Pastor John and Robin over a nice dinner and I found myself talking with John about National Parks in America and memorials. I explained to him that I used to work in South Dakota at Mount Rushmore National Memorial which is the four presidents of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln carved in stone. Pastor John explained to me about a memorial that he continues to build on his land along the river where the other side is Tanzania. He has been planting trees in honor of the people that were killed and bodies dumped into the river at the Rwandan border. John has planted around 45,000 trees so far and continues to plant more in his spare time. He also asked me about campgrounds in the states and how I could help him to design one at his memorial so people could come and enjoy the area. I am honored to help him design this amazing memorial and I can't wait to go back and see the site!

I have always been interested in global missions but during my time in Rwanda I have also found myself thinking about our community of Rockingham County, and the city of Harrisonburg. How can I better serve the people and immerse myself in community?  I need to find my place within the local community which my take a while to find my niche, but I know that I am drawn to mission and service.

One more thing I find myself drawn back to is the students at the Rwamagana School and a particular student. From the time that we met some of the students at the school I found a bright and smiling girl that immediately took at liking to me. The students name is Melissa and I found myself just excited to get to know her story and talk with her. During my time of finding out how to come home and deal with the experiences I have learned I found myself asking Robin the day that we were leaving what Melissas story was at the school. Robin immediately told me that she is one of the students who needs a sponsor; someone to help pay for her education. That was it! That was the piece that God had put in my life that was missing. I am so excited to sponsor Melissa and I hope to go back and see how she is doing in school.

My time in Rwanda is over for now, but I find my heart is just not complete yet. I have left a small part in Rwanda, and hopefully in a few years when my pocket book finds the money; I will be able to go back and see the people, the country, and build more relationships.

Thank you all again for your support and prayers!


Kelly :)

Headed back to America!

Please pray for safe journeys! We are headed home and should touch down in Washington Friday morning around 8:45!!!!

Kigali Genocide Memorial

Yesterday brought back a lot of the memories I had specifically of the genocide in Nyamata and in the church there, however the Kigali Memorial reminded me of the way we honor people in the states. This memorial was more of a story and explained a lot more about how the genocide started in Rwanda and how today people transformed their way of thinking. Rwandans are proud and confident in themselves and finding a new pride in this country.

As I sit reflecting in the hotel this morning I hear the sound of birds chirping but they are overloaded by the sound of construction and progress. Our time in Rwanda is coming to a close soon and I realize I am not done here. We are near the end of this trip, but I can't wait to be back and continue to see the change and progress this country holds.

We had dinner with Robin and John this evening and as we walked into the restaurant I feel like I am back in America. The lighting and atmosphere was beautiful! I feel the transition starting. It was so nice to be with them one last time and John had a specific question for me. I am going to help him design his memorial for the genocide along the Kagera River to remember the lives that were taken there and thrown into the river. I am so honored to help and my mind is already flowing with ideas. My time in Rwanda will only continue!

Hebrews 12:1 

~ We have all these great people around us as examples. Their lives tell us what faith means. So we, too, should run the race that is before us and never quit! We should remove from our lives anything that would slow us down and the sin that so often makes us fall.

How many Lutherans does it take to build a shelf?

Our project today at Rwamagana Lutheran School; Annie, Pastor Joe, Pastor Annabelle, Gary and myself are tasked with building a shelf to store school supplies in the storage container. Jean was tasked with documenting all the school supplies that we brought with us for the school (microscopes and goggles for the science classes), and Lola was in the library organizing the books and repairing damaged ones. After located the wood for shelves we start to look for tools. I soon begin to realize that power tools are a luxury for us!

We started sawing boards to make the shelves and after two hours of sawing boards we finally had one half done before lunch!

After lunch we continued our task of building the shelving unit, and at some point there was doubt that we would finish in time, but right before the clocked struck 4, we nailed the final piece of wood and the finished product was absolutely amazing!

Completing the shelf was a physical accomplishment to help the school and Robin was simply overjoyed that we completed the task; but the relationships with the kids are what was most important while being at the school for two days. I finally was able to meet Shukulu, who is 19 and the student that we at Muhlenburg sponsor! Such an amazing and bright student! She hopes to apply to go to school in Michigan or Boston in the fall of 2016 and wants to study law.

As we left the school today I think we were all in tears. The smiles and stories of the kids we met in the past two days have changed our lives and I can't wait to see them as they progress in their schooling. Such a joy to meet them all!

Jesus said, "Let the children come to me."

Welcome to Rwamaganda Lutheran School

At last we have made it to the Rwamaganda Lutheran School! After a nice morning stroll to the school, we find ourselves on a tour. I have to say I am quite amazed at the progress. Jean mentioned that the last time she was on campus there was only one building which is still the main classroom building and administration offices.

Today they have a cafeteria, girl's dorm, and a newly completed science building! Also on the campus is a chicken coop with about 20 or so chickens and every day the students collect the eggs and clean the coops. There are also two cows and two calves who roam the school property.

It was interesting to know that most of the kids stay on campus for the year (January through the end of October) and then move to the next grade level. The boys dorm is located about a half a mile from the campus and they walk to school every day. The grades start at Senior 1 (equivalent to 7th grade) and go up to Senior 6 (which are high school seniors). The first graduating class will be in August of this year!

The kids are so polite! I'm amazed at how much the joy in their faces pop when we came to visit them today! Our tour guide Patrick, who is in Senior 4 (sophmore) knew all about "mama jean." It's so wonderful how Jean is known by so many kids here. She told me today that she didn't know Patrick and she wondered how he knew so much about her. I told Jean that it was awesome that even though this is her first trip back to Rwanda in 5 years, she is still inspiring and touching the lives of the students every day!

I had the opportunity to sit in on one of Robin's classes today in the main building teaching about family planning and also in the science building for a biology class. The students are very smart and I find myself suddenly amazed at how much I have forgotten since high school!

Lutheran Worship in Kibungo

Life, energy, dancing, singing, praying and drums! What a beautiful worship service that we attended in the village of Kibungo at the Lutheran Church! The children got up in front of the small congregation and praised the Lord with their amazing music and dancing! It was so hard to sit still and even though the whole service was spoken in Rwandan, we still found a great connection with all the words being spoken.

I think we were all moved at how people here are so passionate about worship. It was such a wonderful blessing.

We felt that way after the service; but on the way from the convent en route to the church God had a different plan for us. I don't know if the green machine had had enough of the group of us singing the songs from The Sound of Music or not but we were in store for a fun experience! About a mile out from the church the green machine got a flat tire and we were the talk of the village. Everyone in the area that could see what had happened decided to walk over and see if we needed help! The hospitality in this country is simply amazing. Everyone helps each other out and there is no hesitation of it!

After church we were invited into the home of one of the church members for a traditional Rwandan meal. What a blessing to be welcomed by everyone and we sat together and shared stories about life and faith.

After dinner we had an amazing treat to see a traditional Rwandan Dance group! We ended up going to the Rwamaganda Lutheran School and what an talented group of people! Kids, adults and teens coming together to share a bit of their culture with us!

Psalm 105

Sing to him, sing praises to him, Tell him about the amazing things he has done.

Psalm 149

Let them praise him by dancing and playing their tambourines and harps.

Safari!

Ahhhh.....It's Tuesday evening and after a full three days of Safari, visiting a church service in Rwamagana, and seeing the Rwamagana Lutheran School I must say I speak for all of us as we are completely exhausted! It's so nice to be back in Kigali where it feels like the Solace Ministries Center has been a "home" to us.

I have much to update you all on! Saturday we took off from Kigali early in the "green machine," which is Pastor John and Robin's green toyota land cruiser to Akagera National Park in the eastern part of Rwanda. Me, being the park ranger in the group; I was stoked to see how parks are run here in Rwanda! We started off our adventure at the visitor center and grabbed a tour guide to come along with us on our tour. Immediately we were all introduced to a quite aggressive, biting, annoying fly which by the end I think we killed over 100 Tsetse flies! The whole safari it felt like we were being attacked by these little buggers and every time Robin stopped the car to look at a bird we were all in the back fighting for our skin not to be bitten to death!

I must say this was awesome! I've been on the typical Safari ride at Animal Kingdom in Disneyworld and hands down this was the real deal! We saw all kinds of amazing birds, zebras, Impalas, a giraffe, and after praying for several days for seeing an elephant we finally spotted one near the last leg of the trip!!!

It's amazing to see the diverse wildlife that Rwanda has to offer and of course I had to get a ranger's perspective on a different countries National Park! I must say I'm very impressed although you would never see me in a campground here! Instead of worrying about bears in the states I think there's an even bigger worry about pesky baboons coming out to steal your food!

After a long day on safari we spent the night in a beautiful convent in Kibungo. I instantly thought of the Sound of Music and Pastor Annabelle and I started singing the songs from the movie! A quiet place for the evening it was nice to settle into our accommodations and get a much deserved sleep for the night!

Genesis 1:20

~ And God said, Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

Genesis 1:21

~ And God created the great sea-monsters, and every living creature that moveth, wherewith the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.