Jordan

This Christmas, I am traveling in Jordan and Israel. How exciting! I am staying in the apartment of a few girls whom I just met yesterday after getting off the plane :) Jordan is beautiful, albeit quite cold (especially compared to Rwanda!). Any minute now, I am off to go shopping and am quite excited...Amman has an actual mall! Wow. I am not used to such a Westernized place anymore :)

Joy in little things

What joy there is in simple pleasures! It is so easy to forget how good we have it in Canada, and how especially easy it is to forget to thank God for his abundant blessings. I pray that I will never again take simple things for granted and will always praise God for his abundance (though I know I will still fail at this). Living in Kigali, I find joy in... finding corn chips on the shelf of a little store; finding diet pop (I can't have sugar in my diet due to hypoglycemia) and not paying close to $3 for one can; an entire day without the power going out even once; hot water; not being run over while walking across the road; restaurant service that only takes 1 hour; a "fast" (definitely a relative term) internet connection; the fact that geckos aren't poisonous; students who love the Lord.

Mangoes

I have discovered I am also allergic to mangoes. I was drinking mango juice 2 weeks ago and noticed a rash developing, so I stopped drinking it. Just this week, I was holding a mango (picked from the mango tree in my front yard) and the juice was all over my hands. That very night, I developed a rash over my hands and face. My eyes, lips, hands, neck, and facial skin are now swollen, red, and covered with itchy hives. One more tropical fruit added to the list... :) Lovely.

2 John

I am memorizing the book of 2 John. In fact, my students are challenging me to a competition: them vs. me in the memorization of the entire book. :)

This came about last week when we read of a feat of Fanny Crosby's (the prolific blind Christian hymn writer): she memorized over several books of the Bible by the time she was 10 years old. We discussed this in awe and decided to attempt the memorization of one book of the Bible in honour of her. So, the book of 2 John it was (the shortest book). My students absolutely love to compete against me any chance they get, so we have hashed out the details and are on our way to learning the book. I have 3 verses down so far, and will be working on the other 10 in the next few weeks. January 15 is the day of reckoning. I hope they beat me :)

I continue to be amazed and so proud of their desire to learn more and more about God. Their prayers of adoration for Christ certainly reflect their hearts of gold.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Went to Lake Kivu again. What a beautiful place. So charming. I went with 2 families from KICS along with David for the American Thanksgiving long weekend. It was quite relaxing...swimming, hiking, playing games, and enjoying a lovely boat ride.