Beautiful day.

Yesterday was a beautiful day not in the weather sense, but in the community sense. In physical education I have been teaching my KICS students the fundamentals of the game of soccer. We do not have a very big field to play on, but we have made it work, and it has been a ton of fun. Many of the high school and middle school boys expressed they would like to play in a "real" game. So, through a bit of energy on my part, I was able to provide them with exactly that. I organized a game between many of the secondary KICS students and the boys team (they call themselves Wyldfire) I coach during the week. The Wyldfire team I coach were estastic to have a game and to have a crowd of people to play for! This is definitely something they do not always get. So, come game time there was about fifty people standing around the field watching. You could feel the energy. We even had lots of parents and other teachers come out to watch. It was so great to see people in the community come and support. Our Principal, Brian Dolinger, was the coach for the KICS team and I was both the coach for my Wyldfire team and the ref for the game. It was quite hectic to try to coach and ref at the same time. The game started off with my boys doing a great job of spreading out and passing. After four long months of coaching them they have finally caught onto this concept. One of the largest blessings/ problems about coaching in Africa is that you will often have many players who are really talented and have amazing ball control, but they have no concept of how to pass to their teammates. They are what we call in the soccer world "pre-madonna" (I sure hope I spelled that right). Not that they are trying to be errogant about their ball skills, but more so they just have never learned how to play as a team and allow the ball to do all the work/ running. Everyone is a dribbler here. I hope that makes sense. Anyways, so finally for the first time yesterday, I saw them actually passing and playing as a team! It was amazing. Not only that they started scoring, not just once or twice, but they ended up scoring seven times during the game! They kept saying "coach, coach we scored!" To which I responded "yes, yes you did." The final score between the KICS team and my boys team ended up being 7-2. The KICS team gave it their best shot and did an amazing job for never playing together as a team before. Also, every single person who played gave it their best shot. I was really proud of everyone. Yesterday was just so beautiful for me for several reason, most of which I just described. It was also beautiful for the mere fact that I was able to see two big parts of life here in Rwanda come together, the KICS community and my soccer boys. It was just a beautiful thing to see. I wish you could have been there.

Fighting for a job.

Another teacher and I have been waking up at 5:45 a few days a week to go for a run. During this time it is kind of cool and there is not many people out roaming around. Yet, the people who are out are out fighting for a job. One morning I noticed this big group of people standing in front of a housing construction site. I was puzzled, but as I got closer I saw them all trying to push there way forward to hand their identification cards to a man running the site. It reminded me of the scene in Cinderella Man where he was not allowed to box anymore because of his broken hand, so he went to the work yard to find a job and had to push himself up against the gate just to be noticed. It was kind of like that in the sense that people were urgently pushing to be noticed and for their cards to be taken. As I ran by I could hear a small group of men cheering behind me. They were the lucky ones who happen to be selected for that day.

Oswald.

"We think that if Jesus compels us to do something and we are obedient to Him, He will lead us to great success. We should never have thought that our dreams of success are God's purposes for us. In fact, His purpose may be the exact opposite. We have the idea that God is leading us toward a particular end or a desired goal, but He is not. The question of whether or not we arrive at a particular goal is of little importance and reaching it only comes merely as an episode along the way. What we see as only the process of reaching a particular end, God sees as the goal itself... His purpose is the process itself."
~Oswald Chambers

Deeper Appreciation.

What a blessing it is to have friends and family come visit you. For the last month Mike came to visit me and it was so great to have someone from home here to see and experience my life in Rwanda. It can definitely be an adjustment for people when they come because life here is much different then the one we live in the U.S. It takes time to warm up to people, to get use to being stared at, and constantly asked for money. There is no chicken here, so almost everything you order is either vegetarian or made with beef. Also, we do not have the luxury of a washing machine or dryer so laundry is always done by hand and hung on a line. Adjusting to life here just takes time. I think the best part of it all is that when people finally do return home they see life a little differently. Through a new perspective and they have a deeper appreciation for the things they have and have access too.

Home.

Some of the hardest things about being overseas and living in Rwanda is missing some of the familiarities, comforts, and people from home. When you are away and cannot come home for a long time you miss out on weddings, nephews growing up, and family. Some times it is easy to get through and some times it near breaks your heart. Life here is great and God is moving and working, but some times there is no place like home and the familiarity of people who really know you and love you.

Tap Water.

My Friend Mike's thoughts... I think he is on to something. It really is interesting how we take our clean tap water for granted, especially when you would be caught dead drinking out of the tap water here in Rwanda let alone collecting water from the sewer, which much of the Rwanda population does here. To them water is water whether it is coming from the sewer or not. For those who do that they are just desperate for water even though they know it will make them sick even after they take it home and boil it.

Thoughts and article from Mike:
We Americans take tap water for granted. As I watch people take water from the sewers it reminds me how good we have it. We open the tap and we drink the water - costing just pennies. Here's an article from the NY Times recently:

August 1, 2007
Editorial
In Praise of Tap Water
On the streets of New York or Denver or San Mateo this summer, it seems the telltale cap of a water bottle is sticking out of every other satchel. Americans are increasingly thirsty for what is billed as the healthiest, and often most expensive, water on the grocery shelf. But this country has some of the best public water supplies in the world. Instead of consuming four billion gallons of water a year in individual-sized bottles, we need to start thinking about what all those bottles are doing to the planet’s health.
Here are the hard, dry facts: Yes, drinking water is a good thing, far better than buying soft drinks, or liquid candy, as nutritionists like to call it. And almost all municipal water in America is so good that nobody needs to import a single bottle from Italy or France or the Fiji Islands. Meanwhile, if you choose to get your recommended eight glasses a day from bottled water, you could spend up to $1,400 annually. The same amount of tap water would cost about 49 cents.
Next, there’s the environment. Water bottles, like other containers, are made from natural gas and petroleum. The Earth Policy Institute in Washington has estimated that it takes about 1.5 million barrels of oil to make the water bottles Americans use each year. That could fuel 100,000 cars a year instead. And, only about 23 percent of those bottles are recycled, in part because water bottles are often not included in local redemption plans that accept beer and soda cans. Add in the substantial amount of fuel used in transporting water, which is extremely heavy, and the impact on the environment is anything but refreshing.
Tap water may now be the equal of bottled water, but that could change. The more the wealthy opt out of drinking tap water, the less political support there will be for investing in maintaining America’s public water supply. That would be a serious loss. Access to cheap, clean water is basic to the nation’s health.
Some local governments have begun to fight back. Earlier this summer, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom prohibited his city’s departments and agencies from buying bottled water, noting that San Francisco water is “some of the most pristine on the planet.” Salt Lake City has issued a similar decree, and New York City recently began an advertising campaign that touted its water as “clean,” “zero sugar” and even “stain free.”
The real change, though, will come when millions of ordinary consumers realize that they can save money, and save the planet, by turning in their water bottles and turning on the tap.

Somebodies Trash is Someones Treasure.

It has been a long wait, but finally all of the boys, except for two who have really big feet, have cleats!!! This is a BIG deal considering that these boys have been playing barefooted or in sandals for the last few months or even year. For one player, Vino, he had a pair of cleats, but they were not what we would consider comfortable. One day I noticed that he kept taking his cleats on and off and he was even limping when they were on. I asked him about it and then felt where his toe was to see how tight they were. To my surprise, his cleat must have been two sizes two small! I was appalled. It was through Vino and me watching them run around barefooted in a field with sharp rocks and other trash that I realized I needed to do something. They were so excited!! They kept saying "thank you coach, thank you coach." It made me laugh. I mean the cleats they received were nothing like the cleats we have in the U.S. If anything the cleats they received I bought from the market where most of our used and goodwill/ salvation army clothing goes when it cannot sell in the U.S. If anything each pair was a little worn down, had a slight smell to them, but they were completely functional. It made me think once again how for some of us what we consider to be trash just happens to be someone elses treasure.

Much to Celebrate.

On Sundays I meet Emerthe and about twenty girls ranging in age from about 10 to 16 who either live on the street or who have found temporary homes. These girls hardly speak any English and often laugh at me when ever I speak or do anything. Last Sunday was a BIG day. It was the first time for me to actually instruct them in soccer and they received cloth donations from some girls from the Netherlands. It was like Christmas. During soccer I just had them do a few passing drills and had them work on controlling the ball. Many of the girls just laughed at each other. Plus, trying to play soccer in sandals is quite the challenge, so I think they will be better once they finally receive a pair of sneakers. After practice we distributed clothing. Each girl was able to receive two items, either a pair of pants and a shirt or a sweatshirt and a shirt. It can get very cold at night here, so many of the girls do not have something to cover themselves with. The girls were very excited to receive their clothing since it will be one of the few things they own. Another celebration will come in the next week or so when they each receive a pair of shoes. Through the fundraising done in the U.S. I was able to contribute 33,000 franks, which is about $66 USD or about $3 per pair of shoes. Only 11 out of the twenty girls will receive shoes, but it is a start and at least some of them will be able to play soccer with closed-toed shoes. The other girls, Emerthe, Odette, and I are really hoping to find funding to create a sowing shop. We are currently in the process of submitting a proposal to the Netherlands government who is interested in helping to fund the sowing project for one year and get it off it's feet.

Akagera Sarfari Park.

What a day. A group of interns (Jessica, Jesse, Kendra, Adam, Sarah, and Lukkason) from Christ Church Rwanda, Dave who is one of the main missionaries of the church, and myself all took a day trip to Akagera Safari Park yesterday. It was so fun. We were in the car from 6a.m. until 4p.m. in the afternoon. It was a long day in the car, but was completely worth it to see baboons, impalas, hippos, gariffes, zebras, water oxen, etc. There is just something special about seeing animals in the natural habitat instead of cage in at the zoo. They are definitely more beautiful in the wild. Just a little history on the park. During the genocide and after the wild life was completely desomated and destroyed. The RPF who liberated Rwanda from the genocide, for some reason, decided that when they went through the park, the best thing to do would be to kill all the animals. Why, who knows, other then maybe to make room, land, and food for refugees. Over the last thirteen years the tourist industry and the government of Rwanda has been trying to restock and bring wild life back into the park. It is already a small tourist spot, but it is still struggling with only a few visitors a week. It is not expensive to go and stay and I really think in the upcoming years as Rwanda invests more time and money into the park and begins to focus more on tourism as a source of income the park will once again flourish and be a place where people will be able to not just see a few herds and packs, but many.

Young Life Africa.

Last week, I had the privilege to join about 16 African staff and 12 American committee members in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for an African style Young Life camp. It was quite amazing to experience a YL camp that was completely run by all African staff from countries such as Liberia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Uganda. The backbone of the camp was just like YL camps in America with club, skits, mixers, volleyballs tournaments, dances, silly entertainment, etc., but it was different in the fact that everything was spoken in Swahili, the countries mother language, and that everything was done with a little Africa flare or touch. The songs were slightly different, the skits were slightly different. There was about 140 campers there for the second three day camp. They came from all different kinds of homes. Some were orphans, some from homes who do not have very many things or money, and some who came from really decent homes. It was a wide spectrum of kids, but they were all from Tanzania. I can attest, Young Life Africa is doing an amazing job reaching out to the teenagers of Africa. God is moving because many teenagers at the end of the camp literally bowed down, got on their knees after their twenty minutes of quiet time, and professed a relationship with Christ. Praise Jesus!

More Soccer...

Soccer Sundays.

After practice today I had the boys over for pasta, pineapple, bread, and marcuja. We had quite the time. They ate like typical boys. Actually they piled food on their plates and combined pasta with anything that was on the table. They even threw some cashew nuts on top of what they already had. It was hilarious. I wish you could meet them. They are a really fun group of boys. They also are very thankful and kept telling me just how thankful they were for everything. More pictures to come...

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.