End of the School Year!

The end of the school year has finally come! With it comes excitement, but also a few tears as any end of a chapter in your life or new season does.

As much as I look forward to a break, it has been sad to say goodbye to those students who I have grown so fond of. Throughout this year, the one class I have worked with the most is the 6th grade. I have had them for homeroom, science, history, and P.E.
They are a fun group of students all having very diverse personalities and backgrounds. For instance, they all pretty much come from different countries, Russia, Ghana, Philipines, Rwanda, Canada, U.S. There is seven of them in total. I just love this group of kids. They have made me laugh so much!

With the end of the school year, KICS has many things to celebrate and be thankful for. First, we had our first ever field day that was more fun then all of us imagined it would be. Our students competed in team competitions, relay races, individual competitions, and team cheers. It all led up to the end of the day when totals were calculated and one overall winner was named. At the beginning some of our students were not that into it. Plus, it did not help that most of them had no clue what a field day/ play day was. We are not in America that is for sure. But, by the end of the day pretty much everyone, from the kindergarteners all the way up to our secondary students, were giving their best and really into every activity. They were cheering and determined to win. It was also really neat to watch the older students help the younger ones. The teams were created with each having a student from almost every grade. KICS also can celebrate because we had our first ever graduate. Roland was our only one and was the first.

Playing with the Girls.

Here are some pictures from our last IS Kigali game in Byumba. Liz and Jen came with me. It was about an hours drive. We played in a stadium that stands on one of Rwanda's highest points, so it was a bit colder then normal. Byumba is definitely one of the most beautiful places in Rwanda.
This us turning and faces the fans. We are suppose to wave at them, which i think could possibly be one of my least favorite things. I get embarrassed.
I think Jen laughed the entire time we warmed up. For warm-up the team does very interested moved. They are almost like dance moved. They also try to pick the most complicated to see if I can keep up. Lets just say I try my best. Pic of the team.
They teach me.
It was so great to have friends from home at my game to actually see me play. It was nice to have my oen personal fans. Thank you girls, your the best!

Be the Same No Matter Where...

If there is one (or should I say another) thing I am learning I think it would be this... Africa is really not as different from America as it seems. I know that is a bold statement, but let me try to bring some clarity to it. Of course, Africa is different in culture, people, ways of business, life, and pretty much everything. For some reason, I actually think we as Americans or westerners put Africa onto this pedestal where we think it is this magical, rustic place. Of course yes it is different in many physical senses, but what I mean by my statement is that the way in which we go about living, working, and praying should be no different then in America. Again, let me explain. I guess, I get frustrated when I hear some people set off on these big adventures to Africa. It is as if we are going to, like I said, some special, magical land. When we go all of a sudden we start asking for prayer requests, setting up blogs, inviting people into our lives and adventures. I guess my frustration is that what is so different about our adventure to Africa then our everyday adventures in America? Isn't it just as adventurous to reach out to and love your friend then it is to extend a hug to a African? Isn't there poverty and similar problems in America as there are in Africa? What changes? Or is it just our way of thinking? Is our calling, our walk, our relationship with Jesus, the way in which we relate and pray so different here in Africa then it is in America? Personally I think we are being fooled. My point is, I don't think the ways in which we pray, relate, invite people into our adventures should be any different whether we are in Africa, America, Saudi Arabia, China, Australia, etc. Like I said, what makes Africa so attractive when so many other countries are dealing with the same issues, struggles, problems? I think we have been fooled by who ever, maybe it is actually marketing and media, into thinking that when we take off for an adventure to Africa all of a sudden we are going to embark on this new enlightenment. I know that sounds cynical and harsh, forgive me, but I think my challenge and what my heart is crying out for us as Christians is for us to see our daily mundane lives as just as important and a holy calling as an adventure to Africa. The ways in which we pray and ask people to pray should be no different whether we are reaching out to colleagues at our workplace or loving on kids in an orphanage. I guess what I also want to say is that Africa is not all made up of orphanages and the impoverished. Frankly, I am sad that most of the western world thinks that or has that stereotype. If anything, the people of Africa that I have experienced are far different then the stereotype. They are hard working people, people who believe and live simply, they know how to love and relax, they are often committed even if that some times means they are late to a meeting. Personally, Africans, more specifically Rwandan people are just beautiful and I have so much to learn from them. I am not here to just teach, coach, and organize. I am not the boss. I am just an ambassador. I some times need to remember to step down and just listen and learn from the people that surround me. Also, when and if I come back to America it is my hope that my mentality does not change. I so deeply desire to be a woman who pursues my passions just as hard and prayerful;y no matter where I am. I desire to be a woman who loves people and encourages their value and worth just the same, no matter where I am on this planet. God's purposes, truths, communities, and desires simply do not change for me, for you, for us no matter where we are. May we pursue people, the Lord, prayer, mass emails, and blogs as strongly in America as we do in Africa. We need to remember to keep asking for prayer no matter where we are and we need to not stop sending those mass e-mails out to friends and family asking for prayer and updating them on our lives, again, no matter where we are...

Playing with the Boys.

Some of my favorite people here in Rwanda are a bunch of Rwandan boys or men who just love to play soccer. I spend almost every Saturday coaching, teaching, and playing soccer with them. We all share a love for the game and a love for kids. (Me and all the other leaders from Saturday Soccer Camp. Our friend Kent was leaving to go on a break in the U.S. for one year, so we celebrated with food and competitive games, which led to me being pushed into a torn bush while going for a football.)
More importantly we all love the Lord. Of course, I wish there were more girls in the picture and rightly so I think there should be. But unfortunately, in Rwanda, like other places/ countries, soccer is for the boys or as it is said. For women, playing soccer in Rwanda is what people call a man's sport. Women just are not suppose to play. To prove my point, it is interesting to watch the women from my club team. The way they act, dress, and relate to one another does in fact resemble what I have come to know as boyish qualities (i.e. big baggy jeans, style of clothing, the way they carry themselves, etc.). Of course, that is my western skewed philosophy and view, but I really do not think it changes too much from culture to culture. Most often, there are things boys do and things girls do, and in Rwanda soccer is definitely not yet a women's thing to do. Thankfully, times are changing. I mean, I definitely am very much a girl with liking pink, wearing very much so girls clothing, and whatever else us girls do and like. So... I guess what I am trying to say is that sometimes it just takes time to change mentalities and stereotypes that have been around for years maybe even centuries. There is no way this Rwandan stereotype will probably change in my life time that is for sure. Yet that does not mean I give up and stop encouraging the change. It actually simply means that I continue to do what I do, do what I love, and if that takes just playing with boys at times and loving on those girls who feel like they have to dress, act, and be like boys to be accepted and play then so be it. It is my job, my role to just be who I am and follow my heart in the things that I love and am called to do.