Christmas is coming!

This video caught my attention (thanks, Laura J!). Have you seen it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqqj1v-ZBU

After being over here for a year, this video makes my heart break.

My dad arrived in Kigali three days ago (tangent below). After our travels together in Rwanda over the past few days, he remarked that what struck him the most was how things that seem so important back home suddenly seem so unimportant.

We went off the beaten path a bit, out into the rural areas and villages, and I had forgotten how uncomfortable it can be, how unsettling....Dad was great, smiling and waving, conversing with locals when we stopped the car, speaking some new Kinyarwandan words and trying out his French (which, charmingly, he has been studying for the past few months in preparation for this trip). But he still expressed that he was a little apprehensive to be so far from paved roads, and familiarity, and anything resembling the structures and systems of safety and security from back home. He mentioned how he couldn't imagine living ten miles from the nearest paved road, like the countless villagers we were bouncing past, over the dirt roads.

And then there were other things that were surprising, too. While we were out on the back roads, we stopped to verify directions. Nobody speaks English out there, so I just said "Musanze?" (our destination) and the villagers crowded around the car and pointed in the right direction (thankfully there's only one way to go, out there). Before we took off again, we offered a lift to a woman with three children, one of them an infant ("Lifty?" is the word I used to ask her if she wanted a ride, in case you wondered). What startled Dad was that, a ways down the road, when the woman indicated to me that it was time to drop her off, I stopped the car but she didn't know how to open the car door. She started hitting the inside of the door with the palm of her hand. I had to lean over the seat and lift the handle so she could get out.

I am curious what you think of the video....

(tangent, from above: Yay!!! It's Dad's first time ever to Africa! He actually got delayed for over 12 hours in Nairobi, and as a result got upgraded to first class for his flight into Kigali. To top it off, he sat two rows in front of Mia Farrow, whom he recognized but didn't harass too much, he says. She asked him what he was doing in Rwanda and he told her he was coming to visit me....but to the frustration of everyone in Kigali to whom he related this story, he didn't have a chance to find out what she was doing in Rwanda because he was in the way of other passengers, being in the aisle and all. Anyhow. End of tangent.)

PS: I am writing this post from the Nairobi airport, and I'm hoping to post more in the coming days. Dad and I are traveling a little bit together through different parts of Africa before we return home to Colorado right before Christmas. Thanks so much for your prayers. And also, thank you for your prayers for help to wrap things up well here in Kigali! It was so sad to leave today, and it also didn't quite seem real....I'll have to write more about that later, though, as our flight is about to take off. I can't wait to see many of you really soon!!

Crazy (blonde?) antelope / travel update

Dad and I met up just fine in Johannesburg last week, and had a wonderful time together traveling! I am back in Nairobi airport now, on my way home (yes, this is beginning to feel like my second home...especially because I am here for 16+ hours today!!). But no complaints...at least I am booked on a flight, got through passport control okay, etc., etc. I am missing Rwanda but so looking forward to being home with my family for Christmas (Lord willing, if weather permits. I hear there are bad storms in the northern/central US....). We'll see!! Nothing I can do about it, so I am determined to enjoy the journey at this point.

I'll try to post some photos from our trip on Facebook, as soon as I can free up enough space on my hard drive to download my photos from my camera (!). In the meantime, in the spirit of African safari, here's a short video that Becca forwarded me from Kigali about a week ago. I laughed out loud when I saw it -- I think I watched it here in the airport, actually:



It means even more now, because Dad and I saw lions, and giraffe, and impala (kind of like African antelope) over the past few days....we even saw a snarling lion pride fight one another as they tore into a fresh kill (a water buck). Wow, what a show. But we didn't see any blonde antelope. Maybe next time. :)

a practical side of hope

I was talking with my twin sister yesterday, and she asked if I was going to update this blog and tell about my "wrapping up" activities here in Rwanda.

I wish I had time!! It has been a whirlwind few weeks trying to tie up loose ends, mostly at work, and even now there are a few of those loose ends still flapping in the breeze of goodbyes.

I will try to write more later on tonight, and post some photos of the really special good-bye parties that have been happening here (it's in the culture, to have goodbye parties, and it does really make you feel special, wow).

Talk to you soon. I hope. :)

World AIDS Day - taking action

Please join World Relief in commemorating World AIDS Day today, December 1st.

For more information about what World Relief is doing around the world to join in the fight against HIV/AIDS, please check out the links below:

Winning the battle against AIDS in Cambodia: http://community.wr.org/Page.aspx?pid=1306

HIV/AIDS in Livingstonia: http://community.wr.org/Page.aspx?pid=1313

Abstinence pledges soar in the face of AIDS: http://community.wr.org/Page.aspx?pid=1312

And here are two simple ways for any of us to take action:

The Alive Campaign - Now is the Time to Act
Add your name to Integral's message to the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon. World Relief is asking all of its staff to participate. For more information and to sign, click here.

And pray!! God hears, especially on behalf of the poor and suffering. Please join me today in taking a few minutes to pray for those who are suffering from HIV/AIDS. It's a disease that has many faces.

I have a dear friend in California, Austin, who is an actor and humanitarian worker and aspiring nurse, and who is HIV+. He has the privilege of living in the USA and embracing life and living it to its fullest, and he lives his life with a strong faith in a loving God, and he's an inspiration to us all! But I know it's not always easy for him.

Then I think of the widow Christine that I met here in Rwanda, the one who was dying of AIDS and was facing incredible hardship, but whose face shone in the darkness of her little mud hut when she talked about the goodness of her Jesus.

Then, there are thousands of children every day, innocent children, who have either been born with HIV or who will lose a parent to the disease. Children. How can they understand that it's not their fault, that they're not forgotten, that there is still a God who loves them very much??

Thank you for your prayers for each and everyone, and that God would dwell near to each hurting heart.

Happy Thanksgiving from Kigali!

It's Thanksgiving! Not really, here in Rwanda, but I feel nostalgic today for family and pumpkin pie and Cool Whip and Thanksgiving Eve services at Ev Free, and (yum) candied yams...

So in honor of Thanksgiving-that-is-happening-half-a-world-away, I am sitting here during my lunch hour thinking about how much there is to be thankful for. And honestly, I'm getting a little overwhelmed, and even beginning to feel a little uncomfortable because I know I have been blessed with so much.

Then, I remembered a great conversation I had with one of my dear friends and beloved mentors, Sue, back in June.

I was sitting in her living room and telling her how I felt so completely blessed and humbled at this season in my life by God's goodness, and I just was trying to think about what I could do to thank Him, to try to show Him just how thankful I felt.

She smiled a little bit, and said, "Yes, we often do want to DO things for God, don't we, especially those do-ers among us."

(If you don't know, that's me, a possibly textbook do-er. Sometimes I try to hide it, but it's true. Sue, of course, knows this very well.)

Then, with a voice full of warmth and compassion that I've come to love and cherish, she said, "Maybe He just wants you to receive His blessings with a thankful heart. And just be blessed. Maybe that's what He wants."

Her wisdom, like it always does, sailed into my heart like a deep breath in a wide open space. There's nothing wrong with doing things for God. It's just, sometimes, it's not what's required, is it? There's plenty of time for turn-over of blessings, for us to seek to bless God, to seek to bless others. But it's okay to let it happen when it happens, and not force it to happen. It's okay sometimes just to delight in His blessings. It's okay sometimes to just...be....thankful. Sometimes that's more than enough.

Sometimes I can hardly believe that's God.

You know, I love stars. I really do. I actually have some personal history with stars, even....embedded in the story of my past, there's something important in there about stars. Now whenever I think about the stars, they remind me of God, and His power and greatness and BIGness. But for some reason as I've been writing this quick entry, I started thinking about the stars, and it suddenly hit me that the stars don't DO anything. They're just...stars. And that's enough to inspire praise, and thoughts about God, and thoughts about God's goodness.

So this Thanksgiving, while my natural bent is to, well, DO something, instead I'd like to just...be...thankful. And my God, I pray that in this, You will be glorified.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

(PS: I love you, Sue!)

Thanksgiving....

I know it's a day early (and we don't even celebrate it here!) but I wanted to express my thanksgiving for a beautiful friend of mine here in Rwanda.



Baraka (whose name means "blessing" in Swahili) is really an exceptional person, committed from her heart to serve the needy around her. (And in case you're wondering, she doesn't usually wear a red head covering like the one above! It was a gift from Bear when he was here.)

Before I left to go see Bear, Baraka was collecting clothes from anyone who wanted to donate them, and then she held a type of yard sale in her village, selling the clothes at a very inexpensive price.

For those who could not afford to come buy clothes, she made an offer to others to make a donation to the yard sale, and then she would give that donation to needy people in the community to use toward buying clothes.

The purpose of the sale was to raise money to pay for health insurance for needy children in her community (the government has a national health insurance plan that costs about $2/year for a child....but some families can't quite afford that, or have too many children to pay for all of them). It turns out that Baraka raised enough money to cover the cost of insurance for several children in her community....I'll find out how many exactly on Sunday. Awesome!! I was especially happy because the research findings from earlier this year showed that the number one reason families don't take care of their sick children in a timely manner is because they don't have health insurance.... Baraka, you are wonderful!

I also want to request prayer for Baraka's fourth lay counseling training this year, being held this week. As part of her ministry, Gate of Hope, she has been hosting a series of trainings for 15-20 Rwandans who want to learn to help others work through psychological needs, trauma, etc. This training week is always a busy but fruitful week for her....I know she would love your prayers. Here's a photo of her from the training back in May:



Baraka, thank you for being an inspiration to us and for serving those around you -- you are a blessing to us all.

there and back again

If living in developing countries is going to be a big part of my future, I do wonder if it will ever become less strange to board a plane in a place like, say, Kigali, and get off a plane in a place like, oh, London.

The contrast is always kind of baffling. I have to prepare myself for it in my head, on the plane, somewhere in the airspace above the developed nation I'm about to visit, or I just get a little overwhelmed when I take steps outside customs and I can suddenly do something crazy like actually use my credit card (not an option in Kigali, in case you visit). And then, there are all these stores....I can buy a toothbrush (in case I, um, happened to leave it behind - why do I always do that?) or a bag of chips or a magazine in English, or a KitKat. It's so....bizarre.

It was no less bizarre this time (and yes, I did in fact forget my toothbrush, yet again, and was grateful that they are easy to come by in Heathrow!). From London I headed north on the train to a place called Shropshire, where I was to rendez-vous with Bear and his recently evacuated colleagues. There was a serious security incident in the country he was working in, targeting his org and people in his org, so the board ordered everyone out. The whole group, including board members, had gathered for a debrief and planning-for-the-future retreat there in the UK.

It was an honor to meet all of Bear's colleagues -- families, singles, older, younger -- who had simply been seeking to serve the less fortunate in a way that would honor God and bring blessing to others. It wasn't an easy time for them, as many were making decisions about their futures in ways they had never foreseen when they had started their journey of service. But there was a definite sense of God's presence and it seemed that we could just feel that many were praying for the group. It was a total privilege for me to be there, and I'm thankful for the opportunity. And I guess it goes without saying to say that it was completely wonderful to see Bear, and what's more, in a relatively safer place than he's been for a while! It was so sweet to be with him there.

After the retreat, Bear and I spent a little time on vacation (I had the time set aside already at work, as I had been planning to visit Bear for a while....just not in the UK!). I confess I felt a little bit guilty for taking this vacation, but it was really good to do it....it was a good time to process things through a little, and just spend time together after a fairly stressful month.

We found inexpensive flights to France and spent some time in Normandy, a region featuring Calvados, brie, William-the-Conqueror chateaus, and Mt. St. Michel. It's also a countryside shadowed in memories of D-Day. (Incidentally, there is a really lovely new museum at the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. If you're in the area. The stories of heroism and honor are beautifully told.) Here's the cemetery close to sunset, and a photo of the main monument from the direction of the new museum:





The nice thing about Normandy in November is that it is relatively inexpensive for a European vacation. If you're wondering, we somehow managed to bypass Paris (tres cher, even in November)! But Bear found out I am secretly waiting for him to kiss me under the Eiffel Tower so hopefully some day, maybe post-marriage, we can arrange that....

We shot through London again on our way back to our respective countries (Bear is going back to central Asia until the end of December, actually, just not to the same country) and Sunday morning we were able to attend a service at Westminster Abbey (which was lovely, if not a bit...drafty! I got really cold!). But besides that, it was really a beautiful place and the chaplain spoke about who rules our lives, or what rules our lives, and how the world might be different if Love Incarnate truly did rule our hearts. Before leaving London, we managed to eat fish and chips and a drink a pear cider (for you, Dad) at an appropriately monikered place near the London Tower called "Hung, Drawn, and Quartered." Mmm, British humor. I mean, humour.

I am back in Africa now for my final 3 weeks, and I have hit the ground with both feet running. Actually, I need to get going as my lunch break is over!! I need to email many of you and will try to do that today and tomorrow (thanks for your emails!). Also thanks for continued prayer for Bear and others from his org, as well as a specific prayer request from Bear for the in-country nationals who were left behind in the country that his team had to leave. May the work multiply now. Thank you!