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Living Water International

This past Monday, I took my grade 5 students on a field trip. First stop: a busy well in the heart of Kigali. Seeing the local people line up for more than an hour with their jerry cans in tow was an eye-opening experience. Children with dirty, torn shirts and no shoes focused on collecting clean water. Clean water given in the name of Christ Jesus. Precious.

Oh what a week

Late(ish) May back in Twenty-Ten... This week has felt like a month. But great it has been.

It started out with a mysterious virus I must have picked up on the weekend. I was out of commission from Saturday until Monday night. Of course I HAD to be back for school on Tuesday...there is no way I could deny my students the joy of celebrating my birthday with me. And we had a blast. David delivered flowers, a pink cake, and plenty of paper plates and forks to go around so all 15 sugar-loving fifth graders could dig in. It was definitely their highlight of the day! Mine was soon to come.

Dinner was delicious. And hilarious, actually...picture this: an Indian restaurant in the middle of Kigali with Rwandese waiters in Indian costumes. They danced and sang around our table while banging homemade instruments and drums. I danced alongside them. It made my night.

The rest of the week has been filled with various other activities: studying and discussing 1 John 2-3 with a ladies Bible study group; engaging in a lively discussion with my fifth graders on the topic of Satan ("Does God love Satan?" "Why and how did Satan first sin?" "Will Satan ever die?"); and the never-ending stream of grading assignments and preparing lessons.

My brain feels ready to explode. Boy, am I ready for Friday.

Smelling the Roses

Finding joy in little things...

The intricate carvings in a wooden cross. The sound of children's laughter. A mother bird protecting it's young. The smell of a campfire. Reading the final page of a great book. The first and last bite of your favourite dessert. A smile. A hug. A word spoken in love.

Live a life of love...

"I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy." - Rabindranath Tagore

I just overheard a conversation amongst a few kindergartners... "Let's not play hot potato. Let's play hot mango! It's better!"... You do what you know, I guess :)

My day

It's in the middle of my day here. 11:38am to be exact. My students are off to PE (physical education) and I am supposed to be marking but the grading program online is acting up. What's new. I didn't have internet access all day yesterday and the power kept going off anyway. The younger kids are outside playing imaginary games on top of a mountain of dirt or shooting some hoops. I am munching on very expensive sunflower seeds and watching a gecko climb upside-down along my ceiling before my students return. Then we'll have lunch in the lunchroom. Spaghetti with beef sauce. I'll just have the beef chunks with some carrot sticks because I'm allergic to the noodles. After school today, I will practice riding my new moto (yes, I just bought a moto!!!) around the school's quiet neighbourhood so I can head out on the streets of Kigali soon.I'm nervous! :) Intermittently, the power will go off in the middle of a lesson and we have to teach/learn in the dark; a bird or very large bug may fly into the classroom and zoom past students' heads causing screams from them and laughs from me; or, I will have requests from students to go to the bathroom often because they have some intestinal problem due to something in the food... ha ha. Fun times! _______________________________________________________
Life here is always an adventure and a never-ending test of endurance and patience. And I love every minute of it. Almost. Tonight, after feeding my puppy Goober (leftover pork, a tortilla, a raw egg, and some some ground beef from a burrito), I settled down to do some marking and prepare for this week's parent/teacher interviews. Only 5 1/2 weeks left of school. Time sure flies by!As I sat on the floor to do my marking, I soon realized what a terrible idea that really was. Ants began to climb all over me! Yes, I still detest ants. And now I am off to bed. I plan to get a whole 6 hours of sleep beneath my comforting mosquito net before waking up at 5:15am to start my new day. Besides that of my cell phone alarm clock, I'm sure I will awake to the sound of the neighbour's guard singing songs in Kinyarwanda as he washes his employer's car along with the sound of moto engines zipping through the streets. As I head to the shower, I will pray that there is still water in our tank, let alone hot water, to help wake me up. And the school day will then begin once again. What a joy it is to teach here. The students have hearts of gratitude for the smallest of things and I am also learning this attitude of thankfulness as well. I am thankful to be serving here in this place, exactly where God wants me to be.

Give Thanks

How do you transport your groceries? Have you given thanks for your car today? Have you given thanks for your local supermarket? Have you given thanks for your paved roads? Have you given thanks for your shoes? Have you given thanks for your already pasteurized milk? Are we looking at life through a godly perspective?

Give thanks.

Marvelous March!

Hello there!
It's been awhile since I've written but I am indeed still alive! In fact, right now I am sipping a hot peppermint green tea with my feet up and am growing hungrier by the minute. So...nothing's new here :)
My work is sending me to Kenya tomorrow for a conference this weekend. It is an ACSI conference for Africa and the few teachers who are returning next year were able to go. I am a little nervous about the logistics of finding my way around Nairobi (also called Nairobbery) but hope to have fun. David is then meeting me in Nairobi on Sunday and we are going to shop, be tourists, and go on a safari and see REAL LIVE WILD ANIMALS!!! Then, off to Mombasa we go for a week of lounging on the beach. This is our spring break as it falls in line with the period of mourning in Rwanda (annual period of remembrance for the genocide) and most muzungus go away for vacation. It seems that Rwanda probably isn't the most fun (or safe) place to be around during this time.
When we return, I will be getting a new student from Japan who doesn't know much English at all. I'm sure she will fit right in though... ha ha. English everyday, French class on Friday, with the occasional Kinyarwanda thrown in...she is in for quite the ride! Perhaps I should start learning Japanese too! On second thought, hand gestures it is. ;) Then again, thinking back to my last new student from Sudan, though I can barely understand a word he is saying at times (due to his heavy heavy accent...he pronounces "chips" like "cheeps" and spells "clap" like "crap"...lol!), he is the sweetest and funniest of children!
The wedding planning is going smoothly thanks to my fantastic family and their wonderful help! Especially Mom and Dad...thank you! We are both super excited about coming to Ontario and look forward to visiting and spending time with each of you.
Well, I'm heading to dinner and then plan to watch a few episodes of LOST (we just started season 1 on DVD and it's a freaky freaky show!) before going to sleep my lovely night away. Blessings!

Isaiah 53

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows..." (vs 4)

Christ not only took our hideous sins upon himself when he sacrificed his life on the cross, but he also took our diseases, our grief, and our sadness. We can be completely free through Christ. Praise be to God!

News

My dear friends,
I have some wonderful news to share. A lot has happened since I left Ontario for Rwanda last summer. The Lord has moved in many amazing ways in my life. I have learned so much, and have had many incredible experiences. One of my greatest blessings has come in the form of a wonderful young man I met last August. His name is David Leatherwood.
On Friday the 5th of March, David asked me to marry him... and I said, "Yes!" We plan to be married this July.
When I look at how the Lord has led my life, and how he has brought all these good things about, my heart fills with joy and awe. What a good God we serve!
Thank you so much to all of you who have poured out your lives into me, mentoring me, teaching me, loving me, and praying for me. I love you all!
May the Lord's blessing rain upon each of you, and may each of you see Jesus in some way today. Much love!

Prayer Request

There have been at least 5 grenade attacks over the last couple of weeks.
There were reports of flares/tracer fire as a Kenya Air flight landed last night.
Two generals and two ambassadors have been reported missing. So, we don’t know
what is developing but it could be anything from coup attempt to tribal violence
to election discontent, etc.
Also, Rwanda suddenly declared a national holiday today (possibly to reduce the
number of people on the streets).

I have already registered with the Canadian embassy (online).
To be clear, we are fine and none of us are particularly concerned as the attacks
are not targeted towards westerners.

Something to pray about though...

Election Time

More security threats in the city. Possible grenade attacks. Please pray for safety and peace in Rwanda.

Prayer

Fasting. So good to focus on prayer!

Future Plans

I don't believe I have made this officially public as of yet; however, after much prayer and thought, I will be returning to Rwanda in August (after a 6-week visit back to Canada this summer) and plan to teach in Rwanda as long as the Lord allows. I love being here: the people, KICS, the culture, and relationships that I have formed. I have been extremely grateful for your support and I look forward to visiting with you this summer.

Reports of Violence

Three grenades went off in Kigali on Friday night. All at bus stops. Apparently 1 person is dead while another 30 were sent to the hospital with various injuries, some serious. I am thankful for my health and safety as God's hand continues to be upon me.

The Dog Ate My Homework...?

A student came to class today with the following homework excuse to which I couldn't help but laugh out loud: "I couldn't finish my drawing in time because we had no electricity for the whole night! We had to use candlelight and so now my drawing isn't very good." :) I love Africa!

Memory Verses

"My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." (Proverbs 4:20-23)
The above is the coming week's memory verse for my class. I also learn it with them as we have an ongoing competition against one another. Prior to Christmas holidays, we all memorized the entire book of 2 John and I promised them a party if their class average beat my mark (and they didn't beat me...but made a valiant effort nonetheless).
One of the best things to come out of our competition has been the attitude of two of my students. They both come from families that don't recognize the importance of the Bible for everyday life. In fact, during parent interviews one of their parents implored me to discontinue teaching the Bible so intensely as it is a "dead word." Those two students have made it their goal to now study and memorize 3 John because they so enjoyed the challenge of learning 2 John. Hurray!
So now, each week I have promised to also learn the memory verses with them - this week being Proverbs 4:20-23. What an amazing passage in Scripture. And what a challenge and a privilege to be able to learn the Word alongside my students. God is good.

Haircut

I just went to a salon (called "Saloons" here... :) ) to get a much-needed trim. He asked me how much I wanted off... one or two centimetres? I said only one because I want to continue with long hair. 45 minutes later, my hair is almost 10 centimetres shorter. Welcome to Africa.

Friday Morning Rumblings

The earth shook. My dreaming postponed. Why were the walls and my bed shaking? Earthquake! Two harmless earthquakes in the middle of the night, in fact. Having never experienced an earthquake in Canada before, I was a bit confused and "shaken"...but quickly rolled over and returned to my slumber. I had children to teach in a mere 5 hours!

Christmas 2009 Trip, continued

We returned from Petra to delicious Christmas dinner leftovers and began planning and preparing for our next trip - Israel. The Miles - a family in Jordan that helps children with congenital heart defects - offered to take us with them into Israel for the week. Along the way we stopped at Gadara, also known as Umm Qais, and walked along an old Roman road nearby the place Jesus cast the demons into the pigs from the demoniac. After Gadara we all piled back into the nine passenger van and continued to the border between Jordan and Israel. We breezed through Jordanian customs and drove across the famous Jordan river into the promised land. There began our troubles. Two of our group, David and Jonathan, had visited Iraq previously where they taught English for a few months... this was apparently very suspicious to the Israelis. They held all of us up... for five hours! We sat in the Israeli customs office until hours after it had closed and played games, sang songs with guitar accompaniment, and prayed vigorously until one of the guards came and finally said, "At last, you are free to go." The vigorous prayer continued as it was now night and we had to drive through some potentially dangerous areas on the way to Jerusalem. We finally arrived at 1:00 in the morning and fell into exhausted sleep.

Throughout the next few days we visited some of the coolest places on Earth including some places Jesus walked, such as the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane. We also saw the Rock of Agony, Temple Mount, Western Wall (aka Wailing Wall), Garden Tomb, Sea of Galilee, King David's Tomb, Mary's (mother of Jesus) Tomb, Church of the Holy Sepulchre (shrine at Christ's tomb), Hezekiah's Tunnel, and the Old City - Arab and Jewish Quarter.

On New Year's Eve we youth (the six of us under 30 and over 10 went to see the celebrations on the infamous Ben Yehuda St. which has had its fair share of violence through the years. We escaped with our lives though were only a few feet away from a fatal stabbing; watching the police and military swoop in was actually about as exciting as the night got. There was remarkably little celebration it seemed, though there was a lot of drunkenness and a few street musicians.

On New Year's Day we made our way back to Jordan, taking a detour to En Gedi where David cut the robe of Saul. The border crossing into Jordan was actually pretty painless. They didn't care whether any of us had been in Iraq before.

Our remaining time in Jordan was spent shopping and enjoying the luxuries that are unavailable in Rwanda. We drove out to Makawir, the place where John the Baptist was held and killed, enjoying one more taste of biblical history before making our way back to beloved Rwanda.

Christmas 2009 Trip

My trip to Israel and Jordan was fantastic! Though I am glad to be back. The end.

Just kidding.

It’s amazing how much you miss the first world when you live in the third world but don’t even realize it until you are immersed in the first world once again. The Dubai airport was my first taste of Western society since leaving Canada in August. I was mesmerized when we first arrived in the airport...so many shops and actual fast food! After a long overnight lay-over in Dubai, we were off to Amman, Jordan where I met David’s twin brother for the first time. First stop: McDonald’s. Then off to peruse one of the many malls. It was incredibly strange to see so many options before my eyes. My exclamations of awe and wonder were probably quite loud and odd to others...it was as if I hadn’t ever been to a shopping centre in my entire life! But really, it has only been 5 months :)

We explored Amman for about a week - downtown shopping, enjoying delicious shawerma, sightseeing at the ancient amphitheatre - with some of David’s good friends (he used to live in Jordan while a teenager) and brother. The Arab culture is fascinating. The call to prayer occurs several times throughout each day via loudspeaker from the mosques. Most women wear hijabs but often pair them with skinny jeans and fancy shoes. I was definitely an object of fascination and desire for many, though I was careful to avoid showing too much skin at all. A few American females who are currently studying in Jordan told me that their wearing a hijab doesn’t discourage comments or stares...white women will be met with looks and comments regardless so I didn’t wear a head covering except when I was in a holy or sacred place as a sign of respect for the culture.

From Amman, we traveled down to Petra and Aqaba and saw some amazing sights! Petra is an ancient hand-carved city (apparently mentioned in the Bible, but perhaps under another name) that is beautiful to see. After a fun camel ride, we hiked up a series of hills and mountains, passing by the Treasury (setting for one of the Indiana Jones films), then up to the Monastery, and finally to the Most High Place. Incredible place that all should see! Check out my pictures.

Israel and more about Jordan...to be continued! (I have a Science test to write up tonight) :)