#Rwandering: Day 3

Picture it. A cool Rwandan morning sitting on the balcony eating breakfast looking out over the beautiful hillside. Suddenly, you decide to ask a question and the person sitting across from you could potentially change your life forever. This was my morning.

I sat talking with Alan Hotchkiss this morning and told him about my history with Africa New Life and the trips that I had participated in. I then shared with him about how the Lord has placed Rwanda on my heart and how much I would love to move and teach here. Let me tell you. This. Is. Terrifying. (In the words of Carol: If its not a little terrifying, it's probably not the right path.) 

He suggested that I spend a couple of months next summer in Rwanda where I wouldn't have a team, but I would work directly with John Africa to test the waters before making a huge life changing decision. Very wise man. Lots to think and pray about in the coming months.

After breakfast, we went to the Africa New Life staff devotional. I don't know how to describe this except the most beautiful singing, dancing, praying, praising, and joy I have ever experienced. I think this is as close to what Heaven will look like on this side of it. Within a minute I was in full on ugly crying...and then laughter when Lauren turned around to ask me something and I was already a weepy mess. It also might have had something to do with the words of the song and the conversation I had just had at breakfast. 

I truly wish every morning started with Rwandan worship. In an odd way, I feel like this is how I am most fully worshipping the Lord on this earth. Singing loudly, in beautiful harmony, with dancing and clapping going on around. 

This is Cyusa!

Going to the staff devotional also meant seeing John (my driver for the last two trips), Cyusa (a sponsored child who has graduated and is now working in the ANL offices), JJ (the team's mission director last year), and many other sweet faces we recognized. The highlight for me though was seeing John. John has type 2 diabetes, and on the last trip I found out this information. He revealed to me that the only time he checked his blood sugar was when he visited the doctor. When I got home, I mailed a glucometer to him so he could check his blood sugars. The reason this was so critical for him was because on the last trip he drank a RedBull every day. Those things have SO MUCH sugar and I wanted to impress upon him how important controlling his blood sugar is. Today when I saw him, he had lost weight and looked very fit and trim and looked so happy to see me. The rest of the team believes I might have saved his life. I don't know how extreme we need to get, but I definitely enjoyed playing a role to help extend and improve his life. We hugged for longer than an appropriate time, but I don't care. This is what true Godly love looks like. 

This was all before 9 am. Phew.

We did more observations in the school today, which went very well. I watched a teacher really struggle in her first class of 55 7th graders because of how she was structuring her checking of answers. She had one student show all the steps to a fairly long problem and also check the answer. I could tell she was bored and the kids were bored, and I just wanted to make it better. We chatted between classes when I suggested to her that she could try having one student do a step, then call on another student to work the next step, and so on. I was thrilled to see her immediately implement the strategy. She was more engaged in her own lesson and so were the kids. 

It is an encouragement and challenge for me as I go forward to be present and ready for all of my lessons even when it's hard or its May, and I don't want to. 

After lunch, we went on Ranelle's home visit to see Ange. She is the sweetest little girl who is 1 of 10 children. Needless to say, there were many children running around. Their time together was perfect and Ange was so excited and nervous that she didn't know what to say. The one question she did ask was what the football was in the pack of athletic balls Ranelle brought. All the muzungus (white people) had a good laugh. 

We shopped some more after that in the crazy Kimironko market. Pro bargaining tip: make a stink face and say NOOOO and threaten to walk away if the price is too high. I have perfected this art a little too much. 

A long but beautiful day. Thank you Jesus for blessing us with your Spirit and faithful, loving people.

#Rwandering: Day 2

Classroom observations and home visits. What more could you ask for?

So the day started a little stressful. There's car issues that my dad and I are having to deal with together being in different time zones and potentially costing me a lot of money. It's frustrating and stressful since it was a hit and run, and I would rather not have to deal with this. Getting in the van in stressed out tears and within 30 minutes would be in a classroom observing, I needed to get the emotions in check. Sweet Janet prayed over me and the Lord wiped away the stress of the morning. It was such a blessing to see God answer prayers so immediately.

On to the schools...

We split up into 3 teams and each team member did one 45 minute observation in a Kigali partner school. Since we spilt up we were able to bless three different Kigali schools. Across the board the team felt the things happening in each of the classrooms were positive and encouraging and moving in the direction of more thorough student learning. Tomorrow we will do more visits in the schools and more observations. Cannot wait!

After lunch we went on two home visits to see Carol's and Janet's sponsored children. Carol's home visit could not have been more perfect. She has been sponsoring Patrick for nine years and has been writing him regularly during that entire time. The joy on both of their faces was priceless and they couldn't get to each other fast enough to give each other a hug. This had been a long time coming. They had a lot of time to talk in the car as we drove through Kigali to get to his grandmother's house. I loved seeing the difference in what a year has done in the life of my sponsor child, but seeing 9 years of consistent love and support that Carol and her family give to Patrick was so beautiful. Patrick is the top of his class in the Kayonza school even though he lost both of his parents at a very young age and his grandmother who he stays with on holidays is HIV-positive. He wants to become a doctor.

Janet's visit was exciting too, just in different ways. Janet sponsors a brother/sister pair so we got to visit two children in one home, Sandrine and Blaze. Sandrine has grown so much in the last 2 years since I saw her and Blaze's English has improved greatly. He has also come out of his shell a lot too. Their father struggles to find a consistent job because the work he does is seasonal and their mother battles malaria regularly. She has had a fever for a day or so and will be going to the doctor tomorrow. We're all praying the doctors can help her get some relief.

The thing about home visits is realizing the reality that these are all children with dreams and families with similar struggles as you. Providing for the family, illness, and disease. Just because I was born in the United States and they were born in Africa does not mean God values them any less or they are any less human. They have the same feelings, thoughts, joys, and sorrows as we do. I say all this not to make you feel guilty for what you have, but to have you consider how you might use the blessings God has given you in a powerful way. You can improve one of these lives too by providing education and health care (plus a few other things) through $39 every month. I have chosen to advocate for a child, Yvette. The team's initial goal is to get 14 more kids sponsored while we are here. I think we can do better than that. But that's just me. I know I am passionate about this, but what do you expect after my 3rd trip and possibly having a chance to move here in the future. It's legit. It's real. It changes lives one at a time.

Update: Yvette got sponsored! YAY!!!

Click here for Xavier.

It's easy, but if you need guidance. I got the hook up. :) Once she gets sponsored, I'll add a sweet new Rwandan face.

Be praying for unity for the team as we prepare for the conference on Saturday and Sunday.

Love you all! Seriously. XOXO

#Rwandering: Day 1

We made it to Rwanda after 27 hours of travel. Our welcoming committee included sweet Yvonne who has been with me on the first two trips. LOVE HER! We both love shoes and shopping...obviously we're besties.

By the time we got through visas, getting our bags, and dinner, it was close to midnight and we were exhausted. BEDTIME.

This morning we had an early start to head to meetings with Johnson (ANLM Director of Education) and John Africa (yes! his last name is Africa and he's the liason between ANLM and the partner schools). We had productive meetings with the headmasters and lead teachers of some of the partner schools. Teaching is really the same everywhere. There's differences in available technology and paper between us, but the root of our conversations lingered around the same ideas. So interesting.

We learned in our meeting that the country as a whole has shifted this school year from a primarily lecture style classroom to "competence based" classroom. They want the students to demonstrate mastery during class rather than be talked at. Crazy how much has changed in the country in only a few months since school started in January. I am very interested in how this will actually look in classrooms tomorrow.

Lunch was great because the Executive Director of Africa New Life, Alan Hotchkiss, is staying in Kigali and ate with us. We were able to hear about the changes occurring with ANLM and the joy he has had being in country. I will be talking to him later about moving to Rwanda. Please be praying for that.

In the afternoon, we toured the Genocide Memorial. It's always a tough place to go, but I always learn something new. The Lord continues to bless this country despite the tragedy and evil that occurred 22 years ago. I love thinking about how God has laid out his plan of restoration and forgiveness for our lives so vividly in the country of Rwanda.

Then we shopped and I already spent half the money I exchanged. Who's surprised? But Janet made a fabulous point that I bought over half of the gifts I wanted to buy, so there's that. Whatever it takes to make me feel better about my shopaholic tendencies.

Into classrooms we head tomorrow for observations.

Keep your prayers coming. Love you all!

And we're off!

I wanted to write this a week ago, but alas the to do list had more pressing items.

Today we depart for Rwanda. 24 ish hours of travel later and we will arrive in the Land of 1000 Hills. I. CANNOT. WAIT.

Here are some things you can be praying for specifically:

• Safety as we travel.
• No sickness, blood sugar, dietary issues while we are in Rwanda. (There are some special needs in our group)
• Rest. We have a lot crammed into two weeks, and we are going to crave good rest.
• Week 1 we are going into 25 non Africa New Life schools in Kigali. We don't have the same level of relationships with these schools and teachers, but we want to be received well. Pray for love and grace on both sides as we try to help improve their teaching and learning. These schools may not be Christian either, so it will be interesting to observe.
• The weekend in between we are participating in a professional development conference for as many teachers that are able to come. There will be some teachers and administrators from all of the schools. Pray for our preparation and delivery.
• Week 2 we will be in the Africa New Life Schools in Kayonza, Bugesera, and Kageyo. We already have relationships with these teachers, so I know this will be a joyful and exciting time to be with dear friends.
• Before we come home, we will shop and go on a Jeep Safari. Pray I don't spend too much money! :)
• Pray for the research I will be doing while I am there of the ability to obtain insulin. If I return to Rwanda for a longer period of time to teach, this medication needs to be available to me. Terrifying and exciting all at the same time.
• Pray for the devil's schemes to be thwarted. In the last two weeks, my car has been hit twice (one minor, one major) and it has caused distractions during this preparation time. I have felt surrounded by evil and it caused my focus to be even more intent on the reason I go on this trip. I had to keep my focus on the Lord to combat whatever spiritual warfare I was surrounded by. So...please pray that the Lord will continue to guide our steps through each day of the trip.

Since we're talking about Olaf, my car, I just want to say how marvelous the Lord has worked this out despite it not being a great situation. I was not injured to the point where I wasn't able to go to Africa. I was able to drop him off the day after his tragedy and he'll be fixed when I come back. In the meantime, I was able to drive my sister's car. A friend was close by, and I didn't have to sort through shock and calling the police alone. Roommate alumni's husband works for a car dealership and is my go to car guy; he was super helpful this week. All this to say, there were lots of details, but the Lord took great and perfect care of each one. 

Thanks for your prayers! I will update here and the team also has a blog so you can follow along with the happenings in East Africa. 

Southwest Adventures

If you've known me for any length of time, you know if I'm driving or in charge of directions the trip will be an adventure.

Friday was no exception. Although this time was not my fault.

A month ago, my mother and I decide to go to my cousin's wedding in Richmond, VA. Naturally, we begin looking at flights and, of course, the Southwest 5:45 a.m. flight is $200 cheaper than the normal human wake up time flight on United. Since it's two of us, we decide that $400 was much better spent on something else, like let's say a hotel room.

Unfortunately, we were quite mistaken.

Friday morning comes, and by morning I mean the middle of the night. It's 3 a.m., and my mom and I are rolling out of bed, throwing clothes on, and running out the door...mostly on time. We get to the parking lot, to the terminal, through security (and my normal pat down) and to our gate with Chick-Fil-A in hand without a hitch. The flight is on time and we're boarding in the coveted group A. All seems to be going perfectly.

We get on the flight to Atlanta because going anywhere on the east coast requires a stop in Atlanta. I am a little nauseous, but that is kind of normal for me at that time of morning with travel nerves. We take off, and I still haven't eaten my chicken. This is generally unheard of. Food is usually consumed within minutes after receiving it. My mom knows something is not right in my tummy, and gets my barf bag and hers ready just in case. As we take off and get to cruising altitude, I realize there's no way I am going to feel better without using the little bag in my seat back pocket. Praise the Lord for barf bags! And my mom sitting next to me instead of some stranger. Of course she has extra napkins!

Minutes later the plane descends quickly and the entire plane knows something isn't right. The flight attendant even made an announcement that they needed to be seated. I half expected the oxygen masks to pop out of the ceiling. Not the most exciting thing to experience especially when you're still not feeling great. The pilot comes over the intercom stating that the cabin is not holding pressure and we will have an emergency landing in New Orleans. The only other time I have been to New Orleans is when we had an emergency landing on a trip while I was in college. Not sure I ever want to intentionally fly to NOLA now.

As all of this is happening, I realize that I might not be feeling well because my blood sugar is high. In my world if something isn't right, blame diabetes. And in this case, diabetes was partly a cause. My blood sugar was almost 400. It should be 100. Great. I changed my insulin pump site on the plane, which proved to be a challenge, but it worked and I am alive to write this. I knew I would start to feel better if my sugars levels came down and I was able to keep liquid in my system.

So we land in NOLA. We're told there's a plane coming from the hangar. We're all thinking an hour max we'll be on the ground. LOL how naive. The plane takes awhile to come, and then they announce that we will be waiting until 9 a.m. for a new set of pilots to arrive. WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR OTHER PILOTS?

As I discuss the stupidity of this with my first set of travel buddies, another mom and daughter duo, I decide getting some of my grading done would be a good idea. Also, I finally feel well enough for my delicious chicken. PTL.

At 9:30, they have us board the plane. WOOHOO! Everyone except the people continuing to Richmond have a new connecting flight. When we leave NOLA, we still have no idea how Southwest is going to get us to Richmond. Mom and I start making terrible new plans, like driving from Atlanta (8 hours). We were delirious, I think.

At 12:30, we land in Atlanta and rush the customer service desk with HOW ARE WE GETTING TO RICHMOND questions. They tell us the fastest way to get us there is to fly to Dulles in D.C. and take a Super Shuttle to the Richmond airport. The saga continues...

The Dulles flight doesn't leave for 3 hours, so we have time to eat more Chick-Fil-A and take a nap on the benches without annoying armrests. Chelsea gets credit for this because this is where she took a nap on Thanksgiving when we flew through Atlanta after the Macy's Parade.

The Dulles flight is fine with no problems, but the genius Southwest people told us that our luggage was going to be rerouted to Dulles instead of Richmond. LOL Like they're going to dig through all the luggage to find 20 people's bags and reroute them. NO.

Raise your hand if you're surprised our bags weren't in Dulles. Right. That's what I thought.

We get on our Super Shuttle with my new group of travel buddies

• Janice-Asian girl freaking out because she's missing hanging out with her friends before graduation. She graduated in December from UVA.
• Melissa- the mom trying to move her daughter out of the dorms and to a storage unit before their 1pm flight on Saturday.
• The mom and dad duo with their 2 year old and 2 month old- bless them
• my mom and me
• the crazy driver from Africa- he speaks French, Spanish and English fluently and likes to weave in and out of traffic without a blinker while going 90 mph. 

Thankfully, we make it to Richmond alive at 8:30 pm. It was a pretty marvelous sight until we got inside baggage claim and saw our bags through a glass window with the lights off and door locked. SO. CLOSE. We call the number on the window and the man is there within a couple of minutes. 

Mom and I head to the taxis where we get a ride from the first guy. He's Russian and the coolest dude ever. He escaped communist Russia 20 years ago with $300 in his pocket and his family. He tells us about the realities of Russian mobsters and what they were capable of, and immediately follows with the importance of Jesus is in his life. What?! Of course our taxi driver is a Christian and there to remind us of the real reason we are on this earth despite the ridiculous day we had.  Love how the Lord works. 

At 9:30 pm, we have finally checked into the hotel, and my aunt and uncle arrive with delicious food from the rehearsal dinner. 

Approximately 17 hours of travel on Friday and a wonderfully stupid story to go with it. I'm so glad I captured it for my Snapchat story...enjoy.

Side note: A huge shout out to Southwest for doing everything in their power to get us to Richmond as quickly and safely as possible. 

In the midst of all this crazy, I am glad I experienced it with my momma and was still able to go to the wedding on Saturday. #brightside 

Stay tuned for Ben and Kate's wedding excitement!