Money, money, money

Well, I'm down to my last 2000 RWF (equivalent to approximately $4)... Really need to get to the bank! Of course, it will cost me 1000 Francs to even get to the bank via moto. Oh, for a beloved bank machine or interact card. :) Just kidding! Living simply is refreshing to the soul... and God continues to provide. He always has and always will. God is good!

Long Weekend

We had a long weekend with a holiday today to honour the Muslim celebration of Eid which marks the end of Ramadan. It was nice to sleep in (no Rufus the Rooster crowing every 3 1/2 minutes for some strange reason... I guess he was enjoying his holiday too! Usually, he begins his morning routine around 4:00am and continues on even throughout the day... and no, I'm not kidding. Oh, and did I mention that he resides in a neighboring backyard...nice and close to my window :) ). I enjoyed a leisurely day of cranking the worship music both in the house and my classroom as I spent time in both - cleaning, marking, eating, and planning for the week. And now I am soon on my way to a restaurant called Bourbon Cafe which slightly resembles Starbucks (also has a full menu for meals) for some good food.

God of this City

I pray these song lyrics (Chris Tomlin's "God of this City") for Kigali:
You're the God of this City
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You are

You're the Light in this darkness
You're the Hope to the hopeless
You're the Peace to the restless
You are

There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God

[Chorus]
For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater thing have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City

There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God

For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done here

Ant Rant

I made up this song today while eating corn chips from an ant-infested bag... (yes, they chewed through the plastic)...

I hate ants
Yes I do
I want to murder them all
With my shoe

They managed to wiggle their way into my closed jar of honey. Through the plastic into our one precious bag of corn chips. Through the box into my coconut milk powder. Into my bag of candies that I give to my students (I had to pour the bag on the classroom floor today in order to distinguish between candy and ant - nearly similar in size too - only to then stomp out the innocent little lives of all the ants so we could get to the candy... needless to say, we were all feeling rather itchy after that scene). They crawl on our plastic saran wrap, on our dish towels, into our freezer (bad decision, ants!...we now have a mass grave of hard-bodied vermin in our freezer)... and the list really does go on.

I really don't hate any of God's beautiful creatures on earth. Except ants. It's official. I hate them.

Insightful Children...

As a teacher, there is nothing better than knowing you've made a child's day better or equipped them with the tools to face life and do their best... Well, I had the most fantastic discussion I think I've ever had with a class just this Friday morning. The topic was focused on the Armor of God and the tools that Christ makes available to us to take a stand against the devil’s schemes. We studied Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 to base our discussion on. Some of these children have such valuable insights to offer and it is so exciting to see that come out! They shared stories of how they sometimes sense Satan's power in their lives and also shared stories as to how they deal with it. It was such an eye-opener for some, as they realized that God's power trumps all and also that this kind of spiritual warfare is more prevalent than assumed. We talked quite a bit about prayer - how to pray, the power of prayer, and that prayer in the name of Christ has ultimate power to defeat the devil. We also stopped our discussion on two different occasions and prayed together right then and there. It was amazing. Many of my students has such sincere hearts for God and it is such a blessing to me. They love holding hands in a circle to pray, something they had never done before I introduced it to them on the first day of school... and now they nearly beg me to do that with them each morning. It was so exciting to me, as a teacher, when at the close of our discussion many students enthusiastically declared that they love Bible class and that it is their favourite to learn about. Praise God! It is not by my power but by the Lord's...

Random goings-on

Well, we caught a gigantic mouse in our kitchen with mouse glue. Poor thing. Micah had to drown him.

We are getting close with our water pump. Still no hot water (said to be fixed tomorrow :) ) but we do have some water pressure.

I enjoyed praising God today - sitting around together in the living room, singing worship music with guitar accompaniment. Good times.

I've lived a pretty sheltered life... never seen a cockroach until I came here! :)

Student survey thoughts...

The following quotes are taken from beginning of the year surveys that my students wrote... and some of their comments made me laugh so I wanted to share them with you! (All typos are student-made :) )
One question was: “Anything else I need to know about you to make this year successful...”

-“I have a small promblem with my writing”

-”I forget things fast”

-”I have a hard time listing” (listening)

“I need to sharpen my pencil a lot”

Sometimes kids are so random! I love it!

And one more that touched my heart... "Your thoughts on studying the Bible or Bible class..."
-”I want to grow in Christ and serve him in all I do”

We are going to have a great year together!

Genesis 48

^{Genesis 48:14} But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim's head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh's head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.

¹⁵ Then he blessed Joseph and said,
"May the God before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has been my shepherd
all my life to this day,

¹⁶ the Angel who has delivered me from all harm
—may he bless these boys.
May they be called by my name
and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
and may they increase greatly
upon the earth."

I was reading about Manasseh and Ephraim this past week and will just share this simple thought. Specifically looking at verse 16, wouldn’t it be fantastic to be Jacob, and to be able to declare God’s promises as were promised to his FATHERS, Abraham and Isaac...! What a privilege to be chosen in that capacity. Yet, God has also chosen me and has great plans for me and my future. I am called to praise him in whatever capacity he has for me. In any and every situation, privileged position or not.

Yummm...

One of the things I love about being here is the food (and if you know me, you won't be surprised by that comment at all! :) ). I have been out and about quite often enjoying a variety of restaurants... an Indian restaurant where their coconut fish and naan are mouth-watering, a Chinese restaurant with delicious fried noodles, and many African buffet-style restaurants which I love. I have had goat meat quite often (goat brochette: grilled goat on a skewer) and since KICS provides lunch each day for us at school, I have been enjoying a variety of food including chapati (a type of flatbread), lentils, and more American-style food such as pizza, spaghetti, and hamburgers.
As for keeping myself hydrated, water and tea are constants for me. Coke Zero is hard to get my hands on (and also much much more expensive than Coca Cola in restaurants - which I learned the hard way!) but I have enjoyed the occasional can.

Oh to have a hot shower...

So, let me tell you about my shower experiences thus far. Oh wait...there have been no such things. Our house has had some plumbing delays... simply, little pressure and no hot water from the showers. So...each morning I awake at 5:40 to fill a bucket with water from the outside tap (which for some reason has surprisingly strong pressure), boil some water on the gas stove, and have what could be called a semi-cold bucket shower while sitting in the tub. It is one experience that has daily made me appreciate the luxuries of Canada... ;) But, praise be to God, because the plumber came today (again) and hopefully we will see some positive results very soon!

School has begun...

School has begun and we are off to a great start together! My students really are fantastic already - so sweet, so hard-working, well-behaved, and desiring to do their best and serve God. I love it!

We started school this past Tuesday and though it has felt like a long week (it always does during the first week of school), it went very well. My expectations need to be altered as I have been repeatedly surprised with what they know/don't know as grade 5 students, but I look forward to the challenge. Math especially, should be fun :)

It is a challenge for me as a teacher who has relied upon technology in her teaching for the past 5 years in Canada... I am used to using a smartboard in the classroom everyday. Or at least, the use of an overhead machine. Here, I have use of a plastic sheet that is posted on the wall over a white wall - to be used with dry-erase markers. That will definitely take some getting used to!

Also, until we work out some more details with supervision/yard duty, I have been with my students almost every single minute of the day: from 8am to 3:10. Thankfully, they are a great group of kids to spend time with! ;) During one of the 2 recesses, my class plays outside without any other class (due to scheduling, etc). So, I have made it a pattern of playing some sort of game with them while out there. Mostly, I have played basketball in my barefeet (I would surely break my neck running around on the cobblestone in my heels!) with the boys. They seem to love it when I play on their team (though I'm not so sure why since my skills are most definitely surpassed by theirs!). I enjoy that time as well.