Rocking the Runway in Rwanda

Here is the post "from tomorrow" as promised by Kirsten...

We had a wonderful Sabbath today. We started our day with an early breakfast and a drive through the beautiful countryside to Kayonza. We worshipped at New Life Bible Church in Kayonza. What a treat it was to fellowship with other believers and to witness their joy as they praised God. Deshua and Lynn W. shared their testimonies with the congregation and Enid encouraged all of us as she shared from the story of the demon possessed man from Luke 8.

This evening was the final night of the women's conference. It was an exciting evening praising God and being reminded of the value we have as women. Bethany, Kirsten, Ariel, and I rocked the runway as we participated in the fashion show at the conference. Hopefully we'll get some pictures up soon - I haven't seen them yet, but I've been told they exist. The general consensus is that this was the best night of the conference.

To top the night off some of us received dance lessons with traditional Rwandan baskets on our heads. Once again, I haven't seen pictures, but I'm sure we looked graceful and talented.

Thanks for your prayers. Please continue to pray for us. Tomorrow we will spend the morning at the Dream Center with the Dream Children (street boys) and drive to Akagera in the afternoon. On Tuesday we will spend time in Kageyo. Please pray for our travel through the country tomorrow and our time with those we will interact with. I'm not sure we'll have the ability to blog tomorrow evening so you might not hear from us until Tuesday evening.

-Kara

TIA..

We tried to post last night, but the internets were down... as they say: TIA (This Is Africa).

Post from tomorrow is coming soon.

Umuganda in Rwanda

Once upon a time, in a land far far away, there was a national clean up day. This magical day is called "Umuganda." "Umuganda, you say? What does that mean?" Umuganda is the power of different people coming together to achieve a common goal. In this case, that common goal is cleaning up the nation. This wondrous day happens but once a month, between the hours of 8 and 11 in the morning. If you miss the 8 AM deadline, you may turn back into a pumpkin. (Not actually, of course) If you are caught in transit after 8, the police will, in fact, stop your vehicle and force you to start cleaning whatever, where ever, you are.

Your heroes rushed through the almost empty streets of Kigali to the Kingdom Dream Center, anxious of arriving on time. For the first time since the beginning of their adventure, they were actually early! Upon arrival, they were met by Prince Joshua, his father King Jonathan, and following a short while behind was Princess Shalom. After introducing themselves to the royal court, the team set to work weeding and picking up rocks. Reinforcements arrived shortly after the work began, and your heroes were able to work alongside the women of the neighboring kingdom of Kageyo. Despite the language barriers, all the women worked diligently together.

The clock chimed 11:00 and the women knew their official time of Umuganda had come to an end. Though the rules of Umuganda may have said the time of working together was over, the sentiment of working side by side with others to build up the Kingdom of Heaven knows no time constraints. Your heroes leave the Kingdom Dream Center with full hearts, tired backs, and mud-caked hands. After washing the dirt away back at their temporary castle, the team's hands matched their spirits: renewed and refreshed.

Princess Shalom

Photos from departure

The team gathering at the airport.

Pastor Michael Connor and Pastor Tom Joyce pray over the team before departure.

The whole team with the plane in the background!

Dancing in church

We are at the end of our first full day in Rwanda. We all got a great night's sleep last night - thanks to all who prayed for that! This morning we visited the women in the training program at the ANLM Dream Center. We will be spending a day with them later next week but it was great to meet some of them this morning. We were able to purchase some of the items they make and some of us are having dresses or skirts made. (Yes, Dave, even in Rwanda I still found a place to shop!) We also met and played with the Dream children. These are the street kids that the Dream Center ministers to. It was a blessing to see firsthand how God is working through ANLM.

This evening was the first night of the Women's conference back at the Dream Center. We arrived to the sounds of 500 Rwandan women praising God in song and dance. Although we could not understand the words, it was a joy to join them in worship. Enid was the first to speak and her message was full of grace, truth and wisdom, which perfectly characterizes Enid. The theme of the conference is "Woman, you are valuable", and both Enid's message as well as that of the other speaker, Grace from the UK, communicated how God loves each of us and we are all valuable in His eyes.

Dance is a big part of the worship experience in Rwanda. One of the highlights of the evening was some of the women from the training program singing and dancing for everyone. Seeing the joy of Christ on their faces was amazing. Another highlight was a demonstration of a traditional Rwandan dance as they sang praise songs. Many of the women attending the conference joined in and I even saw our own Enid dancing with our Rwandan sisters!

We ended our day together as a team sharing and praying. We are thankful for and humbled by the prayers of so many.

Bethany

Here!

We made it!

And we are already buzzing about with things to do. It is midday here, so we are about to have a group meal and then head out to see more of Kigali.

More to come.

It's almost wheels up.

We are at our gate at Dulles International Airport, waiting for our plane to be called. Everyone made it through security easily and we had no issues with our bags. The airline didn't even weigh our checked bags, praise the Lord! (After we had scrambled to rearrange and readjust, weighing our bags on our to make sure they are under 50 lbs) Everyone is wandering around the terminal, getting breakfast, coffee, and the like. We are all so excited about the adventure that lies ahead!

Here comes our flight crew, so it's just about time to pack up.

Please continue to pray for a safe journey and traveling mercies.

-Kirsten

Paths and Crossroads

Paths and crossroads are places on our journey. Paths are the streets and roadways we travel on our Journey and crossroads represent points of decision. Sometimes we get confused and don’t know which way to go - should I go left or right or maybe keep straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6 gives us direction for our Journey. It says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” NASB

The New Living translation says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do and He will show you which path to take.

As the women’s mission team prepares to go to Rwanda our desire is to trust in the Lord and not ourselves. We want to serve the women and children in Kayonza, Kageyo and Kigali as God’s representatives. It can be a bit scary traveling to another country so far away from our own and culture so different from our own. But we are encouraged that as we trust God and seek His will in our service He will show us which path to take, how to serve and communicate God’s love.

We have examples of others in scripture who God called to a specific mission and they responded by trusting in the Lord. Moses trusted God to lead the people out of Egypt, Joshua followed Moses and led the people to the Promised Land, Gideon trusted the Lord in battle and Paul trusted the Lord on his missionary journeys.

The women on our team are trusting God to use us to encourage women and children in Rwanda to “Trust in the Lord with all their heart” too.

Enid

T minus 15 days

This is my first time updating the blog without a specific request to do so, but I've been thinking a lot about the trip lately and felt the need to make a short post.

I just entered the date and departure time for our flight from Dulles to Addis Ababa, Ethopia (the first leg of the journey to Kigali) into the first countdown timer I could find via Google: 14 days, 22 hours, 40 mins until our plane takes off. I am so full of nervous excitement, hopes, and fears.

Right now the whole team is busy getting things ready, making sure we all have our shots taken care of, support raised, planning what to pack, the list goes on and on. Despite all these typical worries, there are more things that nag at the back of my mind. This will be my first transatlantic flight in almost 11 years. Flying transatlantic used to occur in my life at least once every 2 years, if not more frequent. But since my dad retired from the military, we've been stateside for nearly a decade. The idea of flying to a different country, without my family in the same plane, is completely foreign to me.

I tell myself I've done this so many times, but really I haven't.

Never before have I gone somewhere without having a home base come with me. Whenever I went abroad for a new posting with my dad, the whole family came, as did all of our things. We were making a new home. I knew there would be an American community for me to belong to. This time is completely different.

This time, I have no idea what to expect. I'm worried about having to be vulnerable, love on strangers and then leave them, traveling with a passport that doesn't have the word "diplomatic" across the front. As someone who prides herself in being a well-seasoned traveler, ready for any challenge, able to adjust easily to any situation, these concerns are unexpected. But this trip is so unlike any other I've been on previously. Before I was going where I was told, following my family. This time, I'm going on my own initiative, because I feel called to be Christ's hands and feet. I'm not going with the safety net of my family or other military brats to fall back on.

When I lived on base, or on a compound, we the country surrounding us outside the base was called "the economy" or "off-base." Us kids talked about going out into the economy like it was a big deal, a special occasion. It wasn't necessarily something you did everyday. You only went off-base for something specific. The base was our home, our shelter, our piece of America in a foreign land. We only had to immerse ourselves in a foreign culture if we chose to leave that. I don't get that choice in Rwanda. I will be surrounded by a foreign culture nearly 24/7, completely out of my league the whole time. I will be challenged, stretched, tested in ways previously I never have been.

But I relish the opportunity to grow. Grow without my parents holding my hand. Grow without a familiar community to hide behind. Grow as an adult. Grow in Christ. Grow with an amazing group of ladies supporting, encouraging, and growing right along side me.

14 days, 22 hours, 19 minutes.

-kirsten