Tuesday, June 27, 2017

#rwanderful: Days 14, 15, & 16

Sunday:

We went to church at New Life in Kigali, where my heart absorbs the joy from people who worship in different ways than the people I go to church with. Lunch was at the Hotel des Mille Collines, where the movie Hotel Rwanda takes place. The chocolate mousse was amazing. FYI.



We had to say goodbye to Zach and drop him off at the airport. Always hard to say goodbye to great friends!

After our airport trip, Annette, Bunmi, JeJe and I went to the singles event at New Life. We were all encouraged by the message to remain a virgin until marriage and to be reminded of the truths in the Bible. It also really poured into my heart and helped heal the hurt from the last few months. The Lord has really intentionally placed people in my life and experiences like this to restore my spirit and fall in love with Jesus all over again.

Monday:

We woke up early to head to Kayonza for the last week of the trip. On the way, we stopped at the mall to get internet, but they place was closed so we enjoyed some beverages at Bourbon Coffee while we waited for them to open. All the juices I ordered weren’t made yet, so I had to settle for orange juice. But it was still delicious. I am going to miss amazing fresh juices.

The view from Bourbon Coffee

We got to the New Life schools with no problems, but when we pulled onto the campus all the kids were outside playing and not in uniforms. No one remembered it was a public holiday, so we ended up having all afternoon to relax and get settled. We were bummed we lost a day in the classroom, but I think we all wanted the rest.

That evening, the staff played the students in a soccer match, which was fun to see. The staff really has great relationships with the students at New Life, and it encourages me to continue to build up my students at home.

Bunmi and I had a really great time attempting to put up the mosquito nets above our beds. Bunmi stood on the head boards, we tried using my selfie stick, and I tried picking her up to make her taller. We were eventually successful after A LOT of laughter.



Bunmi finally made me watch The Gods Must Be Crazy, but my old lady self started to fall asleep. We finished the rest of it tonight (Tuesday). It’s hilariously terrible.




Tuesday:

Up early for school! School starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m., so it is a pretty long day compared to our normal days at home. We met with Sam, the dean of students, and he placed us in classrooms. I was with Charles most of the morning in his senior 1 classes (7th grade). We learned about linear equations, solving equations, and inequalities. As we walked to his last class, he asked if I would teach. So in 2 minutes I got to make up a lesson about graphing inequalities. Good thing that’s how I run my life daily at work. I’ve been well prepped for flying by the seat of my pants.




Teachers wear lab coats! Now we're official!

Olivier is our fantastic chef while we’re at the guest house in Kayonza. We miss Emma, but Olivier is great too. After our amazing lunch, we went to the assembly where the prefects from last year handed off their roles to the newly elected student leaders. We were excited to participate in the fun! We also discovered teenagers laugh at a lot of the same things in assemblies. I’ve said it before, but teenagers are the same no matter where you are in the world.



Bunmi and I are helping lead the devotion time for the primary 5 and primary 6 students tomorrow, so we went to their choir practice this afternoon. Seriously. These kids' ages range from about 10 – 15 years old, and they praise Jesus with their whole being. I want to bottle their praise and dump it on US churches.
The sweetest kids!

We watched another staff vs. student soccer match. While we were sitting there, we talked to a few older students about college and what that could look like in the US or other African countries. God is continuing to prep my heart for my future in this country.


It’s been a long but good day. We’re exhausted and ready for bed, but pleased with all the things we were able to do today.

Pray for us to continue to be an encouragement to the teachers and staff and not be a burden on anyone. Pray for the devotion time tomorrow that everything goes smoothly. Pray for exhaustion to diminish so that we can be the most effective teachers we can be. Pray for God to be the center of our day and not the list of things we feel we need to be doing. Pray for our hearts to be soft and gentle to teachers who are trying to change aspects of their classrooms.


Love and miss you!

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