splitsville, in a good way

We all went separate ways today. We're all still getting along just fine, it's just that we all had different interests and things to do today. Some went to Akegera Game Park and saw giraffe, zebra, baboons, monkeys, birds, water buffalo -- sounds like it was quite the successful safari. Some went to the Nimata Genocide Memorial and did some shopping. And some went out to Kayonza again to meet with kids and participate in the groundbreaking ceremony for the new home for former street kids.

And, all we have for you on this blog are pictures from Kayonza.

Here are some of the kids who ANLM took off the streets of Kigali, rehabilitated, and now are living in spare classrooms in Kayonza. These are the kids who will be living in the new dormitory-style dorm.

And here they are, laying the first bricks:

And Charles and Fred, telling the story of how this land in Kayonza went from being a small field of banana trees that was completely surrounded by other property -- and now, it is a huge campus with around nine buildings and plans for more.

And we got to spend time with the kids, of course. They know us by name now...and when they see us, they ask if know you, their sponsors and ask us to tell you to come visit them. You will, won't you?

hangin' with the street kids of Kigali

We enjoyed good times with the boys who live on the street here in Kigali again today. It was good to see familiar faces and be greeted by name by some of the boys. We had fun with jump ropes, basketballs, beach balls...

Megan was mobbed by kids as she began to pull out some scarves to play with...

Rachel demonstrated her "juggling"....

Judy found some cuts and scrapes to bandage up...

We served a maize (type of corn) flour porridge that was piping hot and looked quite a bit like our Cream of Wheat. They all lined up nicely for the first round of porridge and ran quickly for seconds when they were available.

These guys have a squirrely streak for sure. They simply love getting their picture taken -- they pose with the most serious faces and erupt into giggles when we show them their pictures. And then we tried more pictures, asking them to "seca" - smile!

Posed look:

With a smile:

Posed look:

Loving the maize flour porridge for breakfast:

During the "church" portion of the morning, we heard a beautiful story. One boy (pictured below in the white shirt) had recently stolen a camera from ANLM staff. He quickly ran off and sold it to a "middleman". ANLM staff was able to track down that is was him who had stolen the camera and confronted him: the camera was returned and the boy felt terrible about what he had done. The beautiful part is that instead of turning him into the police for what he had done, ANLM staff forgave him. He was able to share his story to all the kids this morning: what a picture of God's forgiveness!

Wanna read more?

Then go to the Lake Mead Christian Academy site to get their take on this journey: http://lmca.org/blog/

Oh Happy Day! : Personal Updates from Rwanda

Today we return to visit our street kids which mainly are boys. Last time we were there I played a hand game and taught them to sing Oh Happy Day and they were giggling. I sure hope today we can play again. They are so full of joy and yet they have nothing. My highlight was washing their hands and looking into their eyes. They are truly God's children with great need and mostly just need to feel loved and worthy. I have been blessed more than I can say. I am trusting that we will continue to have good health and return safely.

Megan

It's been an exceptional time. Today we're going to visit the street children again. I had a good time with some older boys the last time we met. They were teaching us their language and we were teaching them English -- their English was much better than my kinyarwandan!

Cheryl H.

Greetings from Rwanda! We have found that God was definitely here before we got here. It's a blessing to be with Him here and watch Him work, to be a part of that process and to have the priviledge of being here for you too. We love you and continue to covet your prayers. Love to you all!

P.S. God is protecting our health and giving us great joy and fulfillment in our hearts.

Judy W.

Hello everybody! To those of you that are my friends I miss you! and, Chris Y. if your reading this, yes. It's hot enough to cook an EggBeater on the sidewalk. Except there isnt really a sidewalk to cook it on. The weather here is hot hot hot! But it's gorgeous here. today we are heading off to serve the streetkids. Continue to pray for us, as we need your prayers. With tons of love, and a hug and a kiss,

Ashlyn M.

Saturday: Umuganda & Kigali Party

Today -- Saturday -- we participated in Rwanda's national day of service: Umuganda. From what we understand, which we recognize is often wrong, everyone is asked to use the morning to serve or "beautify" the country.

We walked a couple blocks from the guesthouse to an AIDS clinic, where we served basic supples -- maize flour, sugar, laundry soap, beans, fresh fruit, used clothes -- to 207 children who are receive treatment there. While we were there, several church leaders spoke God's love to the children and parents who were gathered there. Also present was a Rwandan news team: rumor has it we're going to be on the local news.

It was a humbling experience to be serving a little bit of life to these children who are facing such a devastating disease. Also, it was good to be on the streets of Kigali, making our way from one place to another the way everyone else does here: by walking.

After grabbing our bags back at the guesthouse, we ran quickly to the party for the sponsored kids of Kigali. Which ended up being a little rushed, thanks to Umuganda lasting a little longer -- by like maybe an hour or two -- than we anticipated. So we made the best of the time we had and played games and served cake and delivered gifts and hugs to the children gathered there.

Parties in Kayonza!

Friday we visited kids in the Kayonza and had...a BIG PARTY! A big, LONG party. We had around 130 kids at the party and had lots of games and activities planned for them. The party began with a meal. A big meal. Which the picture doesn't show, but the plates were heaped high with goodness. That all of us wish we could've enjoyed too. (However, thanks to various team members, tummy troubles were fresh in mind and we refrained. FYI Matt is doing well and Marie can still use some prayer.)

Then it was on to crazy good fun! Pinatas, coloring, Heads-Up Seven-Up, and...an improvised number...Squeaky Balloon games.

And after the games, the kids performed some traditional music and dancing. We finished up with cake -- cut by the kids of the Orchards Home who FINALLY had some sponsors come visit them!

Prior to the Crazy Party Fun, a few people went out to visit Rebecca and Bob and their new baby -- Rebecca is the child sponsorship coordinator and Bob oversees the Primary school. We were able to bring some gifts and introduce their little one to "muzungu"s!

meeting the children of the Orchards Home

The team from Lewiston got to meet the kids in the Orchards Home, which was built last summer. The home is beautiful and the children are even more so -- we are looking forward to spending more time with them during the party we'll be having for them on Friday. Can't wait to share their beautiful faces and personalities with their sponsors!

crazy fun in Kayonza!

Currently, we have internet access for about 30 minutes a day in random five-minute increments. So we're going to exercise a little word economy on this post. Besides, a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

So here's the updates from our fun day out in Kayonza:




And the McManus family eating lunch with their Rwandan daughter!

Classroom visits to share about life in America!

contact info for those trying to call cell phones...

It is our understanding that you people there have been having trouble contacting us people here by cell. Here are two possible number sequences to try:

011 - 250 - 785038659 - Craig
011 - 250 - 785038660 - Dave

250 is the country code

It is our understanding that this sequence of numbers also may have some success...perhaps with a 1 in front of the 250 country code.

250 - 078 - 5038659 - Craig
250 - 078 - 5038660 - Dave

We will modify this info as we figure out what works....thanks!

food distribution in Kageyo

Tuesday we went to the Kageyo refugee camp to distribute two-weeks worth of maize flour to the 4200 people that live in the settlement. They once received government assistance, but now rely solely on the small number of crops they can grow or outside assistance they can get. It is our understanding that no other aid groups distribute food other than the groups Africa New Life Ministries sends a few times a year.

There were four "districts" and food was distributed according to the number in each family. Each family got 2 2-cup scoops of flour per person in each family. It was so humbling to be serving food to these hurting people. In Kigali and Kayonza, we see hope. In the eyes of those in Kageyo, we see despair. After we distributed food, there was a woman with two newborn twins who asked for us to tell a joke. She said life is so difficult, that there is nothing to make people laugh.

Currently there is no church in Kageyo, but ANLM has partnered with the settlement and hopes to build a church and wells and a larger school in the future.


As we left, we drove by a large pond where we saw...hippos!

Personal Updates from Rwanda!

We've got a few short messages from people here to people there -- enjoy!

From Ashlynn M.

The people here are so beautiful and everyone is so friendly. Yesterday we went to see the street kids and they are so happy even though they have nothing. It's amazing how kindly they treat each other. When meal time came, the younger kids all went first while the older kids helped them form a line and wash hands, etc. The older kids didn't eat until every last little kid had eaten. At first we thought that the staff there planned it like that but we were shocked to find out that they did that on there own. I miss you all. ATTENTION ASHLYN'S FRIENDS!!! YOU MUST COMMENT. i miss you all to much not to hear from you and i REALLY want to talk to you!! xoxoxoxo

From Cheryl H.

I enjoyed meeting with the street kids. It was a fantastic experience and very emotionally stretching!

From Judy W.

We thank you for your continued prayers. We know they're being answered. God is with us in this place. The genocide memorial was deeply moving and will help change our lives forever -- in a good way! As a team, we have become like family.

From Jim W.

Hi to the Men's Group and to our small group! This is truly a lifetime experience. The country is very beautiful with ridges, valleys -- just super interesting. The people are the same. We are experiencing a passion for God in these people. Today Judy and I are headed to see our sponsored child, about 100 miles south of Kigali. We know the trip will be worth it when we look into her eyes. Ed, I haven't found Bonnie yet. We thank you for your prayers and wish you were here.

From Judy M.

The street kids may be dirty, but when you see their beautiful brown eyes looking at you with admiration you forget the dirt and the smell and your heart melts. I've never had to tell my name so many times as the standard greeting is, "What's your name?" Your heart goes out to them with compassion.

From Craig M.

As soon as I stepped off the plane and saw the beauty and smelled the sweet smokey aroma my mind went instantly back to November 2007. This country and it's people are beautiful! I wish we had the same "feel" in the U.S. God is with us and everyday is a humbling experience. Today we head to Kageyo refugee camp and I can't wait to see what God has planned. Love you all.

our first glimpse of a beautiful country

We arrived tired and stinky and without some of our luggage, but...we're here! And we are in love!

We arrived at the Kigali International Airport at around 2 pm on Saturday. We tried counting how many hours of travel that came to, but we're not processing such difficult mental exercises at this point in time. ANLM staff and a few guys from Hindurwa were at the airport to greet us and help us with our luggage.

And it seems nothing says a bunch of "muzungu" (white people) like a pickup full of luggage. People turned to look and wave as we rode through the busy -- and often bumpy -- streets of Kigali to the guesthouse where we're staying.

After settling quickly at the guesthouse, we got a quick tour of the Kigali Dream Center and enjoyed an amazing dinner back at the guesthouse. (Plans are currently underway to kidnap Sanyu, our beautiful and wonderful head cook, and bring her back -- still fighting over who would get to take her home first.)

We woke to the sound of tropical birds and Rwanda's refreshing morning air, and enjoyed our first Rwandan church service. Actually, to say that we enjoyed our time at church is a severe understatement...between the heart-felt, body-moving worship and Charles' sermon about Dreaming God-Size Dreams, it will certainly go down as a trip highlight for most of us.

The Purity Conference for young people was held this afternoon: the guys and gals divided up for some very honest, very personal sharing that challenged and encouraged these young people to honor God with their bodies.

And of course, swarms of beautiful Rwandan children circle us for hugs and pictures and candy and stickers...which end up all over their faces!

And finally, after the Purity Conference, we enjoyed a Hindurwa concert, featuring all new songs!

We finally got more dependable Internet access an hour ago (thanks Todd!) and have so enjoyed receiving all the notes and comments from home. We are so grateful for your love and prayer!

almost there....

Altered flight plans + exciting plane rides + LOTSSS of waiting = a whole bunch of people in Nairobi's airport waiting to board the plane to Rwanda. We're all a little tired and a little stinky, but we're also very excited. Yay!


We've done lots of waiting in lots of airports...like in London where we had a 8-hr layover. Fortunately there was a "moving sidewalk" that provided lots of entertainment for the kids and, ahem, even some adults. Plus there was a place to grab a quick bit to eat before boarding the plane to Nairobi.

ready, set....

Passport? Check. Clothes? Check. Anti-malarial drugs? Check. Travel entertainment? Check. I think we're ready.

Oh wait, one more thing we need: your prayers! We have already sensed and appreciated your partnership with us in this area. God is truly good and has already made His care and protection over us known before we have even left the country.

Today is an exciting day: we are meeting each other as a team for the first time and we are leaving for Rwanda. Emotions are pretty high, saying good-bye to family and friends and leaving for an adventure full of unknowns and new experiences. We have 40 hours of travel ahead of us, that will hopefully include some sleep and some sight-seeing and some laughter. And pictures. Which we'll post here when we have them.