Contentment-What does it look like?

Friday, and the close to our second week. Today was our second to last day at the orphanage and the team and the kids are beginning to feel it. Our day began once again to the delight of French Toast for breakfast which the team was very excited about. Pastor Wade then led devotions again where we looked at 1 Timothy 6:6-12 and talked on contentment. Are we content with Christ and Christ alone? Contentment-not getting what we want but being satisfied with what we have. If we (and you) were to have nothing, would Christ be enough...If everything were to be taken away except Christ is He enough?

After a thought provoking devotions, something we should all be striving for, we headed to the orphanage for the morning. When we first entered the gates many of the 8-9 year old girls in the first dorm came running out to us. Elaine put ribbons on all of the girls and we took a "girls dorm" picture for which we got all of them together with their smiling faces and ribbons. Pastor Wade brought a soccer ball to the orphanage with him and we spent a good amount of time in the front of the orphanage playing soccer with some of the orphans. This was all while some of the kids went through the thousand plus photographs on Scott's phone. Cali one again lent out her camera for the kids to take pictures and the kids did pass it safely, but only after Cali who has an extended vocabulary in KinyaRwandan (after hard studies) told the kids in their native tongue to be careful! We played some beanbag toss in the courtyard before we split up. Fred and Pastor Wade, once again, fed the toddlers at 10:00 am. Fred and Pastor Wade have vowed to pray for these little guys at 10:00 am everyday when we get home. They sure have grabbed their hearts. The mamas once again expressed their gratitude for us being there, they specifically told Pastor Wade that it is great to see men interacting with the young ones as that doesn't typically happen. These kids need males in their lives and we have definitely filled a gap while we have been here. Elaine, Heather, and I went to the baby room during the morning hours and held/spoon fed the babies. It was very neat. When asked how to know when the babies were done eating the mamas poked a babies stomach to see how firm it was and seemed to gauge their response from the poke. Elaine then provided ribbons for the babies. Some were put on the babies heads, others the babies played with, and Elaine hung some from the nets as well. The babies really enjoyed them and seemed to be having fun with them. Scott had the opportunity to talk to the nurse. All the babies that were having trouble gaining weight are now gaining weight following Scott's recommendations. Also, we should tell you for the second day in a row Little Flip let it loose again. He was on Pastor Wade's lap and began squirming, he wiggled his way off of Pastor Wade's lap, did a quick little run for about 15 feet before dropping his drawers and letting it go. Little Flip, aka Charles, is also a candidate for the healthy bladder/bladder control question. We now know Flip as Charles but we aren't totally positive that is his name either as that is the name that the mamas settled on when attempting to tell Pastor Wade and Fred his name in KinyaRwandan. After Pastor Wade and Fredhad a tough time pronouncing it, and as they attempted to get them to say it right syllable by syllable, they told Pastor Wade and Fred, his name is Charles.

This morning Cindy went to 41 to help and critique stockings. The ladies at 41 had twelve stocking done when she got there today. Cindy had to do a little tweaking and critiquing as some looked more like boots than socks. This was hard to do due to the the language barrier, but Cindy got it done. No 41 stated if they had known Cindy had been here for two weeks they would have really used her! But they are appreciative for the work and assistance she has provided.

Following the morning we went back to Tina' for lunch. We ate, and after being advised of a change of plans, we began packing our bags. By the end of lunch most of us had the majority of our bags packed as we have decided to leave for Kigali (the capital which is where the airport is) tomorrow at 3 pm. This is a change of plans as we initially planned on leaving for Kigali on Sunday morning. We packed, rested a short bit, and Fred and I went down to the Pfunda stand to buy some tea after everyone had placed their orders with us, but when we got there there was no attendant at the stand. After returning to Tina's we all headed back to the orphanage for the afternoon.

We were greeted by a rousing chorus of cheers anticipating our coming by the girls in the first dorm. They were holding the gate cheering for us as we arrived and as we came through the gates. It was very heart warming. This afternoon the reality of leaving began to set in and as best we could, and at least to the older kids who know some English, we began to prepare them for our departure as well. Other than that the afternoon went as other afternoons usually do. Cindy played monkey in the middle with the bean bags and Pastor Wade did some chalk drawing with some older guys. Pastor Wade was drawing a cross, as he was wearing an American Red Cross shirt, and one of the older boys named Justin drew in chalk a picture of a cross with Jesus on in it. It was a mirror of the crucifix around his neck. While Cindy and Pastor Wade engaged in these activities, Fred swung from pole to pole in the innner courtyard where the little kids are. I did not get the opportunity to witness it, but I heard that he did well! Also concerning Fred, he may have gotten a little bit too much sun today as Weetu had his hat this afternoon and was passing it all around placing it on people's heads. Anne...this one's on Weetu, but I do believe that Fred will stick up for her. Weetu has broken out of her shell once again and was finally one of the kids. Also this afternoon Elaine and I sprayed the kids with our final can of silly string. Want to talk about a way to disperse a large group of these beloved children...silly string would be the answer. It was a laugh to be had that we actually caught on video. Alot of us spent a large amount of time on the basketball court this afternoon playing basketball, playing with bean bags, chatting and tickling the kids, and talking with the local family next door. We got the opportunity to pray with the family next door which was really a blessing. A huge difference we have noticed here is that while in America you can ask somebody what they believe and it ranges from Jesus, to agnostic, to atheist, to a wide range of other things. When you ask somebody here what they believe they reply, "Of course Jesus." When the Lord says that the poor are rich in faith, he is not kidding. The blanket belief and trust in God in such an environment with nothing, makes me wonder where we have went wrong in America to stray so far even in the past few hundred years. The afternoon was great and some of the ladies recieved cards from the older guys at the orphanage who throughougly appreciated the time we spent with the orphans. An exerpt from one of the cards Elaine received from a 17 year old named Patrick stated, "I am very glad to write you this short note especially to recognize your amazing love about the motherlessless and fatherless children, you've inspired me a lot during in this two weeks you have spent with us."

After leaving the orphanage we returned back to Tina's. Some of us showered, some finished packing, while others wrote return cards or read. We had planned to have dinner with Baptiste, Tina's house help, and his family this evening so that Fred could present him and his family with the news that we will be buying him two cows. Baptiste's wish is that he can buy one cow so that he can supplement his income and get his little girl into preschool and keep her in school. The people at Dairy One, where Fred works, were extremely gracious in donating money to make this possible. Unfortunately, and for a reason we do not know, Baptiste and his family did not show up. Tina said he his very reliable and that the dinner date may have been lost in the translation. We hope to do this tomorrow when he comes for work.

This may possibly be our last blog as we head for Kigali tomorrow. Tomorrow morning we will have our final time at the orphanage and say our final goodbye's. We will then come back to Tina's before traveling three hours via bus to Kigali. On Sunday we plan to go to King David Academy which is a secondary school where about 200 orphans from Noel attend. We will be attending church there on Sunday as well. On Monday we may return to King David and we then have to be at the airport by 7:30 pm. For all of you wondering, our flight is scheduled to arrive in Syracuse at 11:17 pm on Tuesday night.

Please be in prayer for our heavy hearts as we leave the orphans tomorrow. Please pray God's will is done in our hearts as well as those of the orphans, as we depart. Also, please pray for safety in travels as we will be on busses a great deal before departing on our flights home. Please pray for God's protection in travel as we head back.

Thank you for all your prayers and partnering with us. We are greatly disappointed in leaving, but thoroughly excited to return home to our families and friends.

God Bless,

Love-The Team

The Dancing Baby, Little Flip Gets New Shoes, and No. 41!

Well we hit day 10 of our blog today and all in all we had yet another great day. The day began with French Toast for breakfast...what a treat it was. We also had some Maple Syrup from Fulton along side it. We enjoyed some fruit and hard boiled eggs as well. We, of course, had our coffee and today Scott almost poured salt into his coffee which is stored inside a creamer container here at Tina's. Good thing Cali was alert as she saved Scott from having a salty cup of morning coffee. Following breakfast we had devotions where we read aloud Philippians 3. We were urged to press on knowing that we haven't fully obtained yet and to not put it on auto pilot. And that we didn't, we pressed hard today.

In the morning most of the team went to the orphanage while Cindy went to 41. 41 is a Ministry started by Tara Clapper, from the US, which is just up the road from Tina's. Essentially, what the ministry is a burlapp tote bag ministry. Tara began the ministry and with the sale of each handmade bag a child is fed at the local Kanama School. With the sale of each bag 1 child is fed 1 meal a day for 1 year. Hence the title, 41.... (for 1 child). No 41 has 20 treadle sewing machines where 34 women are employed to make bags. Most of the women who are working are orphans and some still live at Noel Orphanage. They work on commission and have an opportunity to raise money to get them to their next point in life. The ministry also sells aprons, potholders, headbands, necklaces, and they will soon have Christmas stockings thanks to Cindy. Cindy went to 41 this morning and developed a prototype with the ladies of a Christmas stocking. She said that it went well and the head lady would translate to the other ladies as Cindy would give instructions. By the end of the day the ladies were making Christmas Stockings on their own. Thank you Cindy! What an phenomenal ministry started by one person with a vision. Jumping ahead, we did visit the Kanama School today. With an extremely bumpy ride through a market area, as 16 of us were packed into a van which is near the size of van that would fit 7 in America, we bumped our way through roadways while kids chased the van screaming Mzungu, Mzungu! We almost backed over some fruit stands as we turned around in the roadway and everytime the van needed to be started we really did not think that it had another start left in it. However, we were all put at ease through the turbulence by the Leopard Prints seats we were sitting on. When we got to the school we had a couple thousand eyes glued to us and it was like a show had come to town. The kids quickly ran toward us and we felt as celebrities as we gave smiles and high fives to school kids who were exicted to see us. We had the opportunity to see the kids eating the one meal that No. 41 provides. We also got to see the No. 41 room that the school provides for the storage of food and organization items. This room had multiple heads of cabbage, bags of maze flour, many containers of water, and many bags of beans. They had a lot of food on hand for the kids and staff. Currently, 910 lunches are being served as a result of No. 41s efforts. They are looking to expand to 1,100 meals next term (beginning in January). We were told by school executives that with No. 41 provding meals for the kids they are now able to hold school from 7:20 am to 5:00 pm as opposed to 7:20 am to 1:30 pm when lunches were not provided. The kids are now able to have a whole day of school thanks to No. 41. The school stated that they function off of governnment money for which they get little of. That certainly sounds like a lot of lunches and it is! We got to go to the kitchen area where 3 cooks work to prepare the lunches. One of the pots used could nearly fit our entire team in it. Probably the largest pot we have ever seen. They are looking to expand the school to a seond location come January as well.

What an excellent thing No. 41 is doing and we got to tangibly see the results. The school administrators were very grateful for the work No. 41 has done to partner with their school as they provide education to both primary and secondary students. If you would like to know about No. 41 and how they work please visit their website at www.no41.org.

In the morning we spent about an hour and forty five minutes at the orphanage before heading to the No. 41 house (their headquarters). When we got to the orphanage the mamas were weighing and measuring the toddlers which is done twice a week. They would simply call the names of the kids and they would march right over. On a good note, Heather's little Patrick was back from the hospital. Dr. VanGorder attempted to learn about his status, but it was difficult due to the language barrier and the person he spoke with really didn't know what medicince he would be on. Dr. VanGorder, Pastor Wade, and Fred got to feed the 1-2 year olds and help out the mama's. The mama's expressed their gratefulness to them for helping which is very reassuring for us as we don't know what they are thinking often times considering the language barrier. This morning we played with the bean bags that Cindy made and Heather initiated the photo bomb dance with the kids. While she was taking a picture a girl got in the back of the picture and Heather said, "Photo bomb. We have to take another." From this point on dances with chants of " la foto bomba, la foto bomba, la foto bomba," were heard from the young girls. It was very neat to see as they laughed and danced.

In the afternoon, after visiting No. 41, having lunch, and goings to to the Kanama School, we returned to the orphanage. Little Flip, a cute little two year old boy that Pastor Wade named, had a rough morning as he walked around holding himself for a while before finally letting his bladder loose a foot or two from me as I sat on the ground. Rough morning, and a little scary for me, but I saw it coming and told Fred that Little Flip was going to let loose any time and sure enough. But when we returned this afternoon Little Flip had new clothes on and a new pair of pink shoes on that actually fit him and looked good. You would have to see Little Flip to enjoy how cute he looked with his new kicks on. Scott held a baby which we have named the "singing baby" as this baby had her hands held high and was able to put on some moves as Scott sang to her. Scott started a nice round of Farashaka and the dancing baby lit up. Following the dance she got Scott a little wet. In the afternoon, following from Farashaka from me, she got me a little wet. The other day she got Pastor Wade a little wet as she sat on his lap. We aren't sure if she has a healthy bladder or a bladder control problem. Nonetheless, she's a cutie and can dance! This afternoon Fred had each and every hair combed. For about an hour straight the kids combed Fred's hair with a building block. Fred was thoroughly surprised at how incredibly methodical the kids were! After Fred had his hair combed, repeatedly, many of the kids (about 30 of them) met Elaine in the dining room for some coloring. We kind of left poor Elaine on her own, and like the old cartoons, after the twister had passed, Elaine came out unscaved but empty handed as the mobs had rid her of both her paper and her crayons. Cali got to hold baby Quesa and as she did they all yelled, "Quesa's Mama!" As Cali became a mama, Elaine and Cindy got to feed babies with bottles today as opposed to bowls and spoons. Many kids were outside this afternoon, including many of the babies that they let us take out, but we did miss some of the 8-9 year old girls as they were in school late this afternoon. All in all a great day!

When we got home we got washed up, cleaned ourselves, and had a short rest before eating dinner. Dinner was good again and Cindy pulled out her jar of Peanut Butter with dessert and put it on the small bananas we had. It made us think of all the lucious treats we have in America that they don't use here (milkshakes, chocolate cake, etc....). We are a spoiled people. After dinner we did worship and for the second night in a row the power went out. Thankfully, it came back on while we were writing the blog.

Please pray for the Mama's at the orphanage as they have long days with the kids everyday and seem to perpetually be doing laundry. Also, please pray for us and the orphans as we only have two days left with them. We have developed some solid relationships and are enjoying getting to see them everyday. We strive to finish strong!

-The Team

A Walk Through Pfunda Tea Company....and a walk with the Fatherless

It's Wednesday and we hit the day head on. Tired, but with God's strength we pushed mightily. We began the morning with a delicious breakfast of fresh fruit, fried potatoes, eggs, along with mango, orange, and apple juice. We then did devotions and today's devotions were a little different as we had the opportunity to share with each other our favorite verse/set of verses and the background for them being our favorite verses if we wished.

We then set out for the Pfunda Tea Company which is actually kiddie-corner to Tina's house. Pfunda is a large tea company owned by a company out of the UK. The plant and its grounds are rather large and very well manicured. We actually saw our first electric mower while inside the Pfunda grounds. One guy was mowing while the other walked behind holding the cord. Tina set up the tour with us as she has a friend named Robin who works at the Pfunda plantation. A very nice man, who explained the facilities extremely well, led us around the property. He explained that Pfunda has 230 employees. This consists of both full time and casual employees (obviously more help is needed during the rain season as there are more tea plants to be harvested during this time). Only 10% of the tea plants are on site and the other 90% are brought in from other tea plantations. He explained that Pfunda is a cooperative and that Pfunda was previously run by the Rwandan government, but was privatized in 2004. He explained that the tea plants have to grow for 18 months before they can be harvested. Once they are able to be harvested only the top two leaves off of each plant branch can be harvested (the freshest). Once these two leaves are plucked, they wait seven days to return to that plant to pluck the next two newly grown leaves. All of the workers actually live on site. They have beautiful on site living for the staff which includes pavillions stacked with cut fire wood and a playground for the worker's children. Pfunda was heavily guarded by security and the homes for the workers was in a gated community within the secure Pfunda facility. Pfunda is Rainforest certified and Tina says that they are very good to the local community. They actually donate garbage cans, tea, etc to the orphanage. Well this is some of the background of the plant, but following learning about the background, we white robed up, put on our white hats, and proceeded to enter the facility. We went to many stations within the factory. We started at the green leaf reception area, followed by the withering station (drying location which ranges from 10 hours during dry season to 16 hours during rain season), then to the sifting location where they got all of the items that weren't tea out (twigs, stones, etc), then to the cutting location where the leaves were cut up, we then went to the steamy CFU (continuous fermentation unit where it only takes 90 minutes for the fermentation process), the drying station was next which is where the tea particles go through a heat/pressurization process, they then sort/grate the tea particles into various sizes and the machine places them into their respective buckets, the particles are then weighed, sorted, and packed into large bags of about 150 pounds. We then entered the quality control area where tea is brought each hour for testing. It is brought each hour to ensure the proper working of all stations within the facility. At this point we all got to taste the tea, which was pretty tasty. Except poor Heather because she can't have caffeine...and we do want to tell you that Fred did doubel dip. It was an excellent experience for us and were able to physically visit each station within the facility. Very interesting and we thank Tina for setting up the tour...it was very intriguing.

Following Pfunda we went to the orphanage for about an hour before returning to Tina's for lunch. Cindy had handcrafted three bean bags which we brought to the orphanage with us. She had contemplated on whether to use rocks instead of beans inside the beanbags and boy are we glad that she didn't! The kids loved them and they were throwing them everywhere. She used some left over African fabric that Tina had laying around from making matress covers. Thank you for the work Cindy! Also, in the morning Dr. VanGorder saw a few kids in the infirmiry and some of the kids played with sidewalk chalk. When Pastor Wade walked by the 1-2 year old room they were sleeping however a few of them were still awake. When they saw Pastor Wade they began yelling "Papa!, Papa!" Within seconds the noise of "Papa!, Papa!" was echoing. As we are sure you can tell from the blog, the orphanage is not only emotionally demanding, but running around with kids all day is physically demanding as well. Prior to departing from Tina's house today, she entered her front porch where she encountered a large portion of the team with legs held high on the railings doing much needed morning calesthenics. We wanted to make sure we were ready.

After lunch a few of us went down to the Pfunda Tea booth which is on the side of the road just down the hill from Tina's. We arrived at about 1:00 pm to buy some of the lose tea they have for sale, however we were greeted by only a security guard and no employee. The sign stated that the booth was supposed to open at 1:00 pm, however nobody was there. At about 1:25 pm, with no employee present, we decided to return to Tina's. We have learned that time is not really of the essence here in Rwanda as it is in America. The pace is self initiated not seemingly society driven as it is in America.

We then returned to the orphanage for the afternoon. Cindy and Elaine immediately got into mischief upon our arrival. They brought chalk into the 1-2 year old cement playpen. The kids began coloring the ground, each other, and also Cindy and Elaine. It was messy! Cindy also had the opportunity to carry Mufasa (one of the little babies) outside today. One of the Mama's in the nursery said to Cindy while handing the baby to her, "You Mama!" As mentioned before, it is very difficult for some reason to get the babies out of the baby room and outside. There is an aroma of the mamas wanting the babies kept in the room and not brought outside into the courtyard area without them being covered in many many blankets. Cindy took Mufasas outside with just one blanket and Elaine took Elaina outside as well. Cali, Heather, and Chance brought some of the younger kids to the older guys area which is where the basketball court is. Chance introduced some Silly String to the young kids for which they were very confused with at first, but once they realized it would not hurt them they ran from him while laughing and wanting to be sprayed some more. Scott deployed a can as well this afternoon with similiar results. Cali, Heather, Chance, and Scott played on the basketball court playing some basketball and with our homemade bean bags. Scott had little Angelique by his side, on his shoulder, and on his back for half the day. She is a cute little eight year old girl who wears a shirt too small for her everyday, but is a very happy smilely little girl who obviously enjoys Scott. She stayed by Scott's side as he held a little singing baby for about an hour this afternoon. Cali handed out gum to the kids, Chance handed out glow in the dark paper provided by Mr. Altman, and the kids enjoyed taking Cali and Heather's water bottles and finishing them off for them. Cali also was able to get one boy who doesn't typically interact with others to interact with people today by giving him her camera and allowing him to take photographs. One thing we did notice today is that many of the younger kids don't wear any underwear. It was a unique discovery, and as Fred held a young child in his arms, Elaine explained it uniquely by telling Fred he couldn't see what she could see. Elaine expressed that what was visible from her view of the child were "little brown chocolate biscuits." As a good friend, she did warn Fred.

Chance and Heather had the opportunity to speak with a local family who lives on property next to the orphanage. Through the translation of some of the older orphans the family allowed Heather to take a picture of them. They stated that they had never had a photograph taken of their family before and Heather got to show them the photo she took. They were amazed by it (they aren't many cameras here). They then told Heather that if she didn't buy their baby any porridge it was going starve. The pregnant woman, who along with her family, was extremely happy and grateful for us being there, expressed that she had a headache which felt like a hammer hitting her in the head. She asked for some medicine, or 500 Franks (less than $1) to go get medicine. One of the orphans expressed that it would be better to give her medicine. We did not have any on us, but we plan to bring it tomorrow. Another one of the girls in the family stood and sat as we talked and as her child pulled down her shirt she openly breast fed the baby while we talked. The cultures are different. Please be in prayer for this family as they seem to be, as many families here are, very poor. The family had a number a number of children with one on the way.

Tonight we had a wonderful dinner with samboza (fried meat pie triangles) and Capati (a thick circular tortilla like item) as appetizers. Dinner was great but as we finished the power went out once again. Elaine retrieved her head lamps, Dr. VanGorder pulled out his I Phone, while others brought lights from their bedrooms. While we were without power we chatted for a while and Cali and some of the others who live at the house danced and sang to many disney songs on the dance floor (also known as the front porch). The power is now back on, it is close to 10:00 pm and we will be headed to sleep.

Thank you all for your prayers once again, please pray for stamina and strength to continue to faithfully serve and to keep our mission for these orphans at the forefront of our minds.

Do Luna Bars come in Pork flavor?

Hello Everyone....its 8:45 pm, worship is over, many have headed to bed as we are running tired. We will keep this short as we are catching up on sleep tonight. Thank you all for your continued prayers and we can certainly use them heading into the home stretch. Please pray that our strength to continue to love on these kids is steadfast, immovable, and unshakable. Thank you.

This morning we went through Luke 15 and looked at the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. We pulled out similiarites from the three accounts including how in each something that was lost was later found with great rejoicing. The passage is very practical and begins with "Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." We should begin to question, Who are we serving? Are we serving the least of these? Are we setting aside our own desires and comforts for the sinners and tax collectors?

Following devotions we set out for the orphanage. We spent the mornng at the orphanage and then came back to Tina's for lunch. We ate lunch and then went a market called Kiaka to do shopping for a short period of time. We then returned to Tina's before heading back to the orphanage for the rest of the afternoon. By the end of the day we were pooped, tired, and ready for rest. We hung around across the street from the orphanage for a while around the river and talked to some of the older boys from the orphanage who typically walk us home. Elaine provided Luna Bars to the kids for which one responded, "I like Pork." Elaine responded, "Luna Bars don't come in pork." We then returned to Tina's and rested before eating dinner. We all the opportunity to have soda's for dinner tonight. We had puchased sodas which was a nice treat. The sodas all come in glass bottles and they taste different than American soda. Granted the titles are the same Coca Cola, Fanta, and Sprite, but the taste difference comes from them being made with a real sugar as opposed to corn syrup. They are made in Uganda. It was a nice treat.

We once again closed our evening in worship and are now set for bed. The kids will once again be awaiting our arrival in the morning! Please pray for our relationships to continue to further, for wisdom in how to handle situations as they arise, for God to speak to each of our hearts, and for strength and health as we continue.

Elaine and Cindy did have the opportunity to be shown how Rwandan's hand wash their clothing today. Diana showed them how it is done. We are hoping that when we return back to the states they will be willing to help out their family and friends when they are tight on time and need laundry done. We are so glad these ladies learned this skill, it will undoubtedly prove useful! Thank you ladies.

Goodnight all. Be blessed.

Team Rwanda.

The Barking Pastor and another day at Noel

Glad it's Monday, and back to Noel Orphanage. It was nice to be able to get back to the orphanage to see the children again. Following breakfast, for which we put together a conglomerate of our protein and granola bars, we had devotions. This morning we watched a video detailing the beginnings of His Chase. An organization set up by Mark and Chelsea Jacobs following the death and birth of their deceased son named Chase. Mark had said that their baby Chase would change the world. And as they now say, he sure did. His Chase was created as an orphan support program in three different countries. They are in Rwanda, Ghana, Zambia. If you have few minutes, check out this youtube link of their touching story. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOHmfcNLTcM They talk of how God brings beauty from ashes, brings night to a noon day, and mourning to laughter. Our God is truly a God of transformation and redemption. Thank you God for the work you have done in Mark and Chelsea's life and for His Chase, which is the organization through which people donate to Tina for her ministry here in Rwanda.

Once at the orphanage we delved into kid time. Scott, Elaine, Cali, Heather, and Cindy went to the baby room to hold on and love on the babies. Scott got peed on, Cindy got threw up on, Cali got threw up on, and poor Heather had to feed a baby by spoon holding the baby in one hand and a bowl with cereal in the other. Needless to say, Heather had some cereal spilled onto her. I guess Elaine was the only one to make it out of the baby room unscaved! After the baby room the ladies and Scott made bead bracelets for the kids. All in all, by the end of the day, they had made over 140 Jesus story bead bracelets. Red for the blood He shed, Green for the grass he made, Yellow is for the sun so bright, Orange is for the edge of night, Black is for the sin we made, White is for the grace He gave, Purple is for the hours of sorrow, Blue is for a new tomorrow, The Red Heart bead is for the love we share in Christ. Very neat and we pray that not only the kids enjoyed the bracelets, but that the message conveyed and contained within will be understood and proliferated in their hearts. Please pray for that with us.

Wade, Fred, and I spent a large portion of the morning hanging out with the toddlers in a small concrete area with a tin roof on it. Once again, at first they saw white people and backed away but much more quickly today than last week they were high fiving, wanting to be hugged, and sitting on our laps. We blew bubbles, sang songs, high fived, ad in their amazement of hair we allowed them to pet our heads and grab our hair. After the kids were called to eat Scott, Wade, and Fred went and helped feed the toddlers. They ate porridge, rice and beans, some pancake type liquid mix, along with passion fruit. We were amazed at how large the portions were and how rapidly these kids ate! Following eating they all, in almost ordered fashion, hit the potty chair, one by one, which was about two feet from somebody eating.

After the morning at the orphanage we returned to Tina's for a yet another delicious meal. We had some Rwandan oranges and papayas and they were both tasty. We then walked back to the orphanage for the afternoon. As the ladies and Scott continued make braclet after braclet after bracelet (and Scott had 11 year old Angelique say the colors in KinyaRwandan to the 2-3 year old little girls which was really Scott's attempt learn the colors himself) Wade and I went to the baby room to hold some babies. We should mention that Scott does remember two of the colors. Orange-which is called Orange in KinyaRwandan and Purple-which is Mauve in KinyaRwandan. He did well! As Wade and I held babies one of the older teenage males named Patrick, a tall skinny fella, came in with Cali's camera and began snapping photos of us. Quite different as we are typically the ones snapping photos of them. He was really enjoying himself. Wade and I then went to speak with some social workers/psychologists who work for the government and had engaged me in a biblical discussion in the morning. I had to take along our resident Pastor for the afternoon session with them. We had a hefty talk and it was nice as Pastor Wade had the opportunity to speak with them about the reunifications they are planning. Pastor Wade was able to share how important it is to not only get the kids into families, but to get them into good families. He provided them an example from his life and made his comment tangible to them. They agreed with him and it was nice that they seemed to have a sensible view of reunification. Throughout the afternoon the ladies got the opportunity to have a tour of the orphanage from Patrick and another guy, in his young 20s, named Bosco. They toured the orphanage, its different areas including the kitchens, the pig area, and the hadicapped dorm. The ladies also got to see their "greenhouses" with bamboo roofs in which they grow bananas trees in (cooking bananas not sweet fruit bananas..they have two different style bananas here). What they do is they plant leafs in the ground so they will propogate more trees. They plant small sprouted leaves from the exisiting trees and stick them into the ground to continue growth. With cows, pigs, chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, and banana trees they are very self sufficient in terms of selling some for money and using others for meals. In the afternoon Fred walked hand in hand around the orphanage with his beloved Weetu while Cali and Elaine painted nails, sang songs, and gave lots of hugs. Unfortunately, they also took nails and glass out of many mouths. We have been taking many pictures and are excited to share them with everyone. We are glad to have taken pictures at the Sonrise boarding school as the kids at Noel love to see their friends at Sonrise and converage around the cameras to see them.

At the end of the day, we left the orphanage and a short time later Pastor Wade, Scott, Fred, and I went to Angel's aunts house to check the house once again. On the way to Angels, as school got out, Pastor Wade and I had collected a following of kids in blue school uniforms. Pastor Wade would quickly stop and transform into the barking Pastor and the kids dispersed (with laughter) like we have never seen a dispersion before. The adults on the side of the road got a kick out of it as well... Angel, as mentioned, works at Forty One and her mother was killed in the genocide and her father died when she a young girl. Angel has been taken care of by her aunt whose house we went to today. Angel's aunt, who is an elderly lady, was visibly emotional to once again have white people come to her house and look at it. To them it is their home. Their home had very little in it, a bed and a couple plastic chairs and two small photo frames. You had to go outside into a dirt courtyard to get to the kitchen (which was a couple stones around a fire) and a bathroom. Unfortunately, the house is in a valley where during rain season the water flows down with flash floods as it can be raining at the top of the mountain, but not at Angel's aunt house. Some exterior walls have already begun to erode away and the government has advised them that they have to move as toddlers and adults have been lost in the floods during rain reason. As we mentioned they are flash floods and also many Rwandans do not know how to swim. We had to tell Angel that they do have to move and that there is no fix for their house due to the location. Angel began to cry as did her 16 year old nephew. This has been their "home" since 2003 and they do not have money to move. It will cost them $20 a month to rent a house, and they simply do not have it. The average wage for a Rwandan is $30 a month and Angel already is the sole provider for her aunt, her sister, and her niece and nephew. The aunt was visibly upset as we left. They do not seem ready to move, but as rain season comes please be in prayer that God would bring forth the money and that they would move before the rain season hits, for their safety. It may seem of little significance to some of us, but please be in prayer for them this day as they are hurting tonight and are unsure of what to do due to their financial situation along with not wanting to leave their home.

After our departure from Angel's house we walked up the road a little bit and went down a dirt path walkway through some houses to see if we could see the river coming down the mountain. We couldn't, but we could certainly here it. As we were walking back out toward the road Fred and I saw a large pig behind a house with a handful or two of little piglets. I pulled out my camera to take a shot as they were being ushered to a different area and I was able to snap a shot of the little piglet straying behind. Following the photo we were greeted, well not really greeted, by the seeming owner of the pigs. Although we had a significant language barrier, it became evident that she was requesting payment from me for the photo I took of the little piglet. Tina had advised that this would happen as we are white. With no money on me, and knowing that Anne would surely not think that the benefit of the picture was greater than the consequence of Fred and I being held hostage, I turned the pockets of my sweatpants inside out to show I did not have any money. I then made a last effort and offered the lady my waterbottle. She quickly declined and as Fred prepared to turn his pockets inside out....we came to an agreement with simple eye contact that we needed to get out of there. Out of there we went, to a road of safety. Thank you Lord for safety. Oh, and Anne...I know you may be worried but the birdie on my shoulder (Fred) was urging me as I had my camera out to take the picture and take it quickly......

All in all we had a great day. With sugar cane to chew on for dessert and genuine time of worship this evening everyone is waiting for the blog to be finished so they can put their stamp of approval or denial on it. Please continue your prayers for these loved orphans and Tina as she ministers to them and deals with a myraid of issues while being here.

With love,

Our Team.

Celebration....Rwandan Style

Our first Sunday in Rwanda. What an exciting, yet restful day all in one. We woke up and had breakfast today at our normal time, 7:30 am. We had a small breakfast and then packed 16 of us into a taxi van to head to church. We made it to church after the poor taxi van made some gurgling noises along the way and strained as we charted up small hills. When we got to church we pulled into, what looked like a driveway, and landed behind a building to what was a one room church with some other buildings surrounding it. It looked as if we had pulled into the driveway of a Rwandan home. The pastor and the church were extremely excited to see white people. They actually brought us into a separate room prior to church starting and for about ten minutes they expressed how grateful they were that we would visit their church and that they were very pleased to have us. They treated us much like most Rwandans have...like royalty, as superiors. We told them several times that we were pleased to be there and gracious for them having and welcoming us.

The church service began at about 9:15 am and we spent the first hour and forty five minutes, until 11:00 am, in worship. How exciting it was and so different from what we have ever experienced. These people truly have a reverence for God and who He is to them. They express their love, devotion, and appreciation to Him with both liberty and freedom. With hands held high they danced, smiled, and showed great joy that was an obvious devotions toward the Lord. Their worship was long, genuine, exciting, unconstrained, yet not wild. They truly express their joy with quick smiles and heartfelt worship for the Lord Jesus. It was very interesting as they had generational worship teams. They had different age groups come up front at different times. It was neat because about 20 young children came up front and led worship with excitement and vigor as well, pointing their fingers to the Lord in praise. It was very unique and very exciting. We embraced their culture and enjoyed their freedom in worship by joining the Rwandans. We definitely broke a sweat and loss some water weight by 11:00 am. Well worth it! Praise God.

The pastor requested Pastor Wade to come to the front and pray. Pastor Wade agreed and came to the front of the church and prayed as requested. He then sat down in his reserved seat in the front row. Note: They placed all of us at the front of the church. As I mentioned they truly treat us as superior. It is tough to combat this. After Pastor Wade sat down, the church was silent, and people were looking. Pastor Wade said to Tina, "I am not sure what they are asking." Through Jeanette, one of the girls at Tina's house who was at church with us, Tina replied, "They want you to preach!" With a very minor look of shock on his face, Pastor Wade stood from his chair and proceeded to go up front. We had not told the church that we were coming, but apparently when we arrived they had changed their plans as to who would be preaching....they just didn't mention it to us. Pastor Wade delivered a sermon where he urged the Rwandan's to allow their personal relationship with Jesus to be the change in their life. That God would be Lord of their life and that they would become more like Jesus. It was a very pointed, yet graceful message spurring the church along to become more Christ like. The church was very appreciative of the message. We then turned our group from the O.A.M.G, as expressed yesterday, into an overseas Oswego Alliance Worship Team. Cali played the keyboard and we sang some songs as the church photographed us and recorded us, much like we did them. They were very excited and enjoyed our worship, however we don't think that we will make the cut with Carla, our worship director, once she receives the video footage. However, Carla can definitely keep Cali on worship team as she led the way vocally and the keyboard. But hey, we made a valiant effort for the Lord. Next missions trip, we need to bring music sheets with us. We were at a loss for words at many points, not because we were awestruck, but we simply just didn't know. But, hey, they loved it and the Lord knows our hearts. After the service we went back to the room where they once again expressed their great thanks for us coming to the service and they had actually asked us to come back tonight (during our slotted Skype time). They gave us waters as a sign of thanks and requested Pastor Wade to pray for them before we left. They said they would be praying for us and requested we pray for them. We told them we would be back next week. Please pray for the Zion Temple.

After church we decided it would be a day to rest and we went separate ways. Not before Elaine was delighted with the Rwandan birthday tradition, which is having water thrown on the birthday person. She got wet, but actually enjoyed it as we were HOT! following church. Some napped while others did other things. Heather, Cindy, Scott, Elaine, and Jeanette walked down the road to buy some drinks for Elaine's birthday and some sodas for lunch. The store where they went was closed therefore they had to go to the "bar" to get drinks. While in the bar ordering their sodas, a chicken walked across the floor of the bar. Much to the surprise of our group, yet not a Rwandan eye was batted...yet another cultural difference. While at the bar someone stated, Mzungu (a term for white people that we hear EVERYWHERE we go as there are very very few white people here). Elaine responded, with boldness and secureness, "Yes I am!" On the way back the group stopped at the Pfunda Tea Plantation across the street and Cindy bought bags of loose tea for around .50 cents for Elaine and Scott. Very cheap for us. Once back at the house Elaine decided to take an afternoon Siesta. As she took her afternoon nap Cali, Scott, and Pastor Wade decorated the house for her birthday. Many balloons, streamers, and Happy Birthday signs were put up. Thank you Cali, Scott, and Pastor Wade and Happy Birthday Elaine!

Before dinner we had the opportunity to Skype into the Oswego Alliance 10:45 am service. It was an excellent opportunity to be able to share what we have been doing and what the Lord has been doing. We give a special thanks to all that made it possible. Bob Hageny, thank you for all the special attention you put into it....we enjoyed getting to see our loved ones greatly. We then huddled into Tina's living room around the computer and watched Pastor Verlyn deliver the message. Verlyn, we love you, and appreciated your sermon. Thank you! Following the service we got to talk to individual loved ones as Bob let families and friends into the sound booth to talk to us. Thanks again Bob...and thank you everyone!

We then had another delicious, delicious dinner. These ladies use all fresh fruits and vegetables and boy can they cook! We are thoroughly enjoying the food here. We have had papaya, passion fruit, small bananas, cooking bananas, fresh pineapple, fresh avocados, and fresh potatoes cooked into a plethora of items. Very tasty! Following dinner, we celebrated Elaine's birthday with some singing, cake, and brownies. Tina had some cake mix laying around and Cindy brought brownies with her. Elaine had the opportunity to Skype her family and open some gifts that Pastor Wade had brought along from family. We also had the opportunity to SPOT Elaine and each express what it is that we appreciate about her. We love Elaine!

We then concluded our night with the ladies around the house doing some dancing along with some crazy skits for us. They were very funny...these girls have a great sense of humor. They have creative minds, a genuine love for the Lord, great voices, and a phenomenal work ethic. Alice knitted Cali a hat today all in like an hour or two. It's a very pretty hat. These ladies have been serving us morning and night all while being displaced from their rooms due to us being here. Thanks again ladies! Please continue to pray for them and us as we head back tomorrow morning to Noel Orphanage. Please pray for God to strengthen us once again and to allow us to love on these kids again this week. We know where our strength comes from.

Friday-Saturday. Orphanage, Unsettling Market, Moto Gang (that's us), Lake Kibu, and Sonrise

Still here and chugging along! We will try to give a brief recap of the past two days in tonight's post. A busy past two days, but we will try to give you a general idea of what we have been doing.

Yesterday morning we spent the morning at Noel Orphanage. The kids were extremely exited to see us once again and for a large portion of the morning we painted many fingers and toes. Gender aside, all of the kids loved to get their fingers and toes painted. Cali, Heather, Chance, and Pastor Wade painted many dirty toes along with fingers. They were either painted with Pastor Wade's patented Canadian Tip or the Rwandan dot I developed as kids who already had their toes painted one color would quickly come to me while their toes were still wet to get a second color. I simply took a bright color such as yellow and dotted each toe which was already painted with a base color. They loved it and kept coming back for more. While we were painting fingers and toes, Elaine and Cindy helped out the "mamas" in the courtyard by peeling potatoes with a machette and the dullest knife going. Fred continued his usage of sidewalk chalk, this time he wasn't in the prone position, rather he drew out a hopscotch court, with the help of Pastor Wade, and showed the kids how to play. Dr. VanGorder had the opportunity to fill in for the infirmiry and see some kids as the infirmiry was closed yesterday.

Following lunch we went to the market. The major concern for the market was both staying together and not getting pick pocketed. Tina expressed that it was very likely to happen therefore backpacks were stored on our fronts rather than backs and money was secreted in many places including both shoes and underwear pockets. We will, for your sake, keep the names and associated places undisclosed. There were many fish roasting in the sun in the market that produced a strong odor throughout. There were many different patterns of fabric for sale and we decided we would buy some as we wished to make some clothing. As whites, the prices are increased from the typical 12,000 or so Franks to 20,000 simply because we are white. As Tina, Jeanette, Deyonee, Doreen, and Alice (Praise the Lord we had those who could speak KinyaRwandan) bartered we were at awe and very confused. At one point, after a failed barter with a merchant, Fred raised the question, "Did we buy that?" Confusing to say the least. Following the market we went to the "doll house" to buy some locally stiched items and to be measured for clothing which will be made out of our aggressively bartered fabric.

Following the doll house the Oswego Alliance Moto Gang (also referred to as the O.A.M.G) went on Moto rides to The Palm (a resort restaurant) on beautiful lake Kibu. With the restaurant being right on the water with hills upon hills in the background, along with African Fishing boats floating buy...it was likely the most beautiful piece of creation we have ever seen. Picturesque. We had a wonderful dinner where we all attempted to order a rolled meat pie item that we had days previous, called Samosa. When the waiter brought out our appetizer we learned what what we ordered was actually Samboza, which we actually were familiar with as well. What landed on our table was the same whole fish that were lying out in the hot sun at the market. Except this time they had a little breading and seasoning on them....We made the corporate decision to try them anyways. They were actually tasty and we enjoyed them. At the close of the evening we participated, often without option as the Traditional Dancers would come to the table and pull people up, in Traditional Rwandan Dancing. There will be photos for a high price, and luckily Dr. VanGorder was saved by a group of whites (that being us) who attempted to spear him with the provided spears. The photo is priceless.

What a day yesterday was, but today was not as light. We woke up early to take our first public bus ride to Sonrise. We ate some scrambled eggs and fried potatores before we caught the bus a little after 8 am to head toward Musanze which is where Sonrise is. While on the way we were stopped at a police roadblock where police with rifles strapped around their neck stopped the bus. There were spike strips in road and we all had to exit the bus. They searched the bus and we had to walk up the road a short ways. Shortly thereafter the bus pulled up to us, we regained entry, and off we went. What we learned was this is a normal practice in the Rwandan culture. After an hour ride or so we made it to Sonrise. We were met with many smiles and hugs from both the Noel Orphans at the school along with the kids who attend the boarding school who have parents. All together there are 300 kids at the boarding school with 100 being from the orphanage. These kids are all sponsored (at least for now) to attend this boarding school. This is only a recent opportunity for the orphans. It really is essentially their only way out of the orphanage. Education is the gateway to getting a job in Rwanda greatly more so than in our culture. There are very few jobs as the majority of the area is self sufficient agriculture and there are very few "jobs." The only "jobs" are in the cities and most are in Hotel Management which is what most kids go to University for. Without education the opportunity for a job is unlikely. Sonrise, is hope for these kids in the orphanage. It is hope for their exit from the orphanage and entrance into society. We saw a marked difference in the Noel kids at the boarding school than at the orphange. They were healthier, with less disease, the place was much cleaner than the orphanage, it didn't smell so like Noel does, the food is better, and it provides a sense of stability for the children. However, we quickly learned that their parentless circumstances still place them in desperate need of both emotional and physical love.

Following the morning we went to lunch in town and following lunch we returned to Sonrise. We returned to a warm welcome. The kids were clinlging to the gate, loudly chanting and cheering for us upon our return.  Played soccer with them, walked, talked, sang, and enjoyed our time with them while taking lot of photo. Dr. VanGorder had a full list of patients today as he saw probably over 50 patients. Some of which simply saw an American doctor and faked an illness, but others who had some legitimate issues that he could help out with (we bought same basic medications at the pharmacy for the children while on lunch).

After a bumpy ride back to the house in a small bus taxi, as there were no more public buses running, we ate an excellent dinner made by the girls and then went to Angel's house. Angel is a part of "41," a local ministry run by Tara Clapper. Angel has been sponsored to go to University. Her family's house floods seasonally so we went to see if we could provide any input to her and her family. We went this evening (it gets dark around 7 pm) so we will be going back tomorrow to do the same. We did, on the way home from Angel's, saw our first of two active volcanoes that glowed in the night. It was really cool.

Today was a great day in terms of seeing "hope." The boarding school truly does open doors, essential doors, which previously were not an option for the orphans. It provides these kids with hope, just as we have hope in Christ, school provides an earthly hope, a possible escape for these children. It was difficult for us leaving the boarding school today as when we said our goodbye's many of the kids asked us if we were coming back tomorrow. We had to tell them no, and it was hard to leave them knowing we are not going back especially as they ran to our taxi bus as we were leaving to get their last hugs and hand touches in. Please pray for these children.

And Cali says, "Joy unspeakable flowing through her vains." And once again she says it is the best day of her life!