Emertha's Mission.

Through a friend, I met Emertha. She works for the City of Kigali, but has a deep passion to reach out to children who live on the street. She started her mission in 2005 through radio broadcast. She gathered up a group of girls, some who go to school, some who do not, some who have homes, and some who do not. Since 2005 she has been working to find most of these girls homes. Along with finding them homes she has held counseling sessions with them where she asks them about their home situations, trauma, and life. Also during the time she helps to teach them about sex and how to protect themselves against unwanted pregnancy. There are currently four girls who have either had children or who are currently pregnant. She also teaches them soccer, which gives them an outlet and a sense of hope. Like I said, I met her through a friend just by random chance. In my time here I will partnering with her on her mission. She currently has three proposals for finding ways to provide schooling, school lunches, and soccer shoes for these girls. Many of the girls cannot afford the public school fees that every student has to pay in order to learn. For those who actually can afford school fees they sacrifice their lunch and often do not eat but maybe one meal a day. We will be meeting with the girls twice a week both on Tuesday and Sunday afternoons.

Some Pics from KICS...

So here are a few pictures from KICS. The first picture is of the back of the school. All of the classrooms are located in the building shown an actually face the courtyard. The building is not enclosed, which is kind of neat, especially when it rains. My classroom is located just left of the center of the building. The other pictures shown are of my five biology students. The first one is Roland. His parents are from Burundi and Rwanda. Then there is Moe. Her family is from Japan and have lived in Africa, Great Britain, and else where. Sarah is next. Sarah and her three other siblings are here with there parents who work for Food for the Hungry. Brenda her mom is the current head mistress of the school. Camilla is next. Her family is from Rwanda and Finland. Last, but especially not least is Michael or also known as Mikel. He is Sarah's oldest brother. Not included in the picture is Corey. He left about a month ago with his family. They are currently in the U.S. on furlow. They are quite the fun students!

Joy.

One of the biggest joys of my life right now is a group of about ten to twelve, 11-16 year old Rwandan boys that I am coaching soccer and English to every Sunday afternoon in the valley. They were passed on to me by a World Relief intern who was leaving the country and heading back to the U.S. Together, the boys and I, share the love of soccer and life. They are some of the most energetic and fun-loving kids. We laugh a lot. The first time I ever asked them to start moving around and playing they all together started to dance and jog in place. It was magnetic and all I could do was laugh. Last week after practice we took some time to just talk and hang out. During that time Sammy, who we call the "translator" because he does most of the group translations, started to talk about how many muzongo (white people) here do not love Africans or black people. He told me in his own words that for some reason they just don't seem to like us, but there are some muzonogos who do. He then said to me that he can tell I love them and am not one of those muzongos who hate. It made my heart melt, not because anything I had done, but I truly believe they have seen Christ in me.

A Lot to Praise.

I feel like there is so much to be thankful for today. Today a friend and Lauren's friend Jackie arrives from Baltimore. Along with her comes a bag full of goodies from my parents! It makes it feel like Christmas day! Also, this week we officially signed a contract for a house. We finally have a permanent home to live in! What a blessing. For the last two months Amy and I have been living temporarily in two different homes. It will be such a blessing to finally move into a house that we can make our home. Our prayer, and Linda's our newest roommate as well, that our house is a place where people feel welcomed, loved, and the presence of Christ. I am so excited to finally have a home, a room where i can settle. Also, this week I had a meeting with the Food for the Hungry International country director about me teaching english to his Rwandan staff. In return he is going to help me process my work visa or permit. I am super excited about interacting and teaching more Rwandans. A lot of things to be thankful for and to Praise God for...

Teaching Me.

"So the church is not to be understood primarily as a means to the end of transforming society. This would be to trample over the uniqueness and infinite worth to God of the Christian community. Besides, the amazing and profound fact is that the Church most transforms society when it is itself growing and being perfected in the love of Christ. In fact when the Church is taken merely as a means to transforms society, very little is accomplished. For in that case the uniqueness of the Church is denied and we enter the battle on the same terms as secular and godless forces. We assume the battle for right and justice can be won by force, by technique, by doing. It can't These very clearly are not the weapons of Christian warfare (Eph. 6:10-20). Truly Christian transformation of culture comes through Christlike (and hence sacrificial) love, community, and being.

But this fact by no means cancels out the responsibilities to do, to act, to walk in the words of God. Rather, the being and the doing go together. The being is fundamental, but the doing is the natural result."
~From The Community of the King by Howard Snyder

There are two things I really feel like God is teaching me right now. 1) That we are peacekeepers. That we are to encourage peace and community amongst friends and Christians. As Christians we are to give the benefit of the doubt, to NOT talk about people when they are not there to defend themselves, and to not create walls of self-protection. 2) That as an ambassador for Christ we are to just be in Christ and to be present in the community. As Christians we are NOT to assume right and justice can be won by force, but by growing and abiding in Christ. It is solely about you and God, your relationship in Him. First, abide and then everything else flows out of that.

To Pardon.

Lord make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much
Seek to be consoled, but to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
~Saint Francis Assisi

CLA.

They aren't afraid to raise their hands in praise. They aren't afraid to work hard or take a risk. They love Jesus and truly do represent Christ and the diversity of the kingdom. The church I have found in Rwanda is called CLA, Christian Life Assembly. They are a lively Christian church that truly does a great job of reaching out to Rwanda and the community. Even though english is the main language spoken they will often do many worship songs in kinyarwanda, the language of Rwanda. It is very obvious that they love to Jesus. For the last several weeks I have been attending CLA and already feel like family. I am in the process of becoming more invested there as I pursue a cell group, a small group to be in. I think what I love most about CLA is just that people are not afraid to praise God. Sometimes in American and maybe this is true in other places as well, as Christians we start to care more about what others think and how they are perceiving us and so we become timid in the way we praise God. We begin to be afraid to raise our hands in praise or to pray out loud. We start to care more about people then God. I deeply appreciate the abundant life that is evident in this church and the mere fact that people care more about their hearts for and towards God then they do about what people think. They praise Jesus through words, prayers, raised hands, song, and dance. They are focused and grounded on Christ and Christ alone.

New Friends.

Meet some sweet new friends of mine. The picture of the crazy man with the headdress is the Ntumba's driver. We (Amy, Linda, and I) are staying at the Ntumba's house in Casse Sociale until they return from the U.S. They have been there on a long term visit. Joseph is the driver for the Ntumba's and with them being gone he has been taking care of us and driving us to the many places we need to go. He has become quite the dear friend to all of us with his African sense of humor and deep willingness to serve. He is also our translator in most situations. He says that his english is "not good" but to us he has been a blessing to have around. About the picture in the middle. All of us teachers and American's living abroad have just fell in love with a place called Amohoro Amani. The word amohoro means peace. In my opinion, this place called Amohoro is a little piece of heaven right outside of Kigali. It is a sowing shop owned by a genocide survivor and widow named Grace. With the opening of the shop Grace has provided many jobs to widows. She not only gives them a job, she gives them purpose. She loves Jesus and provides bible studies for the women. I truly believe her business is being blessed because of Grace's sweet obedience, humility, and heart for God. She is the sweetest, dearest woman you will meet and she truly does make great bags, bed spreads, aprons, and skirts and it is all for the Lord. Last, but not least is a picture of our newest roommate and KICS teacher Linda. Linda has officially been here one week and what a blessing it has been! She joins us from Houston, Texas. She is a great person and loves Jesus deeply. She is going to do amazing things here in Rwanda through KICS, World Relief, and working with local orphanages. I truly feel blessed to have her here and look forward to walking beside her and seeing how God uses her here in Rwanda.

KICS Kids.

I promise that our KICS kids really do not look like that, but I think these pictures do capture the personalities of some of our students. They are quite the fun group of kids. They are all unique with fun spirits. They just want to laugh and have fun as any student would. They also love to play with my computer as we and use my photo booth program which has the capability of changing the way you look simply by the touch of a button. Currently at KICS we have about 45 students in grades K-12. Next year we are looking at bringing in more students from all over the world. There have been several Rwandan families, specifically, who have been applying to KICS. We hope to live up to our name KIGALI INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SCHOOL. We desire to be a real international school with students from many different ways of life and backgrounds. That is our desire. We are off to a good start with us already representing 10-14 different countries.

12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by^[c] one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body. ~1 Corinthians 12:12-20