Friday has been wrapped up...and we are tired!

Hello Everyone, it is hard to imagine that it is Friday already. Time has went by quickly and we are tired. It is about 10:15 pm here and we just got in. No worship this evening; everybody is stirring in and out of the bathrooms at the moment trying to get to sleep to catch some shut eye before our early morning tomorrow. We will be leaving the Noel Orphanage at 8:00 am tomorrow and will be taking a bus to the boarding school that approximately 100 of the orphans from the Noel attend. The boarding school is a Christian Boarding School called "Sonrise." We will be traveling approximately one hour to get there in the morning. We will be taking a bus, so please be in prayer for both safety and no motion sickness for the many of us who get motion sick. There are many, many hills and curves along the roadway here and the vehicles are pretty old.

We will be bringing some of the items that all of you donated to Sonrise tomorrow. We will not be bringing it all at once as Tina does not feel that is the best idea and that it wouldn't result in the most efficient usage of the donations. Her living room is currently full of the items you all donated. Last night we went through all of the suitcases with donated items and these suite cases were jam packed, some literally bursting at the seams, with school supplies. Thank you all! We organized the supplies out per item and did a tally on some of the items. We thank all of you as we have a number of school supplies to donate including 56 brand new backpacks, around 50 lbs of socks/underwear, around 50 lbs worth of dress shoes for the kids at the boarding school, over 200 lbs of notebooks, rulers and paper, at least 1,000 pencils, along with glue, glue sticks, crayons, colored pencils, markers, erasers, tape, and scissors. For all of you back at home, please know that you are just as effective for these children as we are physically being here in Rwanda with everything you gave. These kids are in true poverty and we (us and you) are being Jesus to the least of these.

Due to getting home so late and having an earlier start tomorrow than normal, we will not be blogging about everything we and God did today. We will hopefully be able to update you tomorrow. Once again, thank you for all your prayers. Please continue them for strength and against weariness, for both us and Tina who has and is doing a lot of work hosting us, and also know that we are praying for you.

-Team Rwanda

Second full day at Noel Orphanage

As we headed into our second day at the Orphange, following breakfast and devotions, we were immediately reminded as to why we are here. There is a gate that separates the Noel Orphanage from the rest of the population and each morning we are let into Noel through a see through gate. Upon the gate being opened a little boy looked toward the gate, saw that it was us again and in the blink of an eye he was smiling ear to ear with his little Dallas Coybows fall jacket on, running toward us with arms streched wide the whole way until he met us and and was brought into our arms. That was the start. We entered into the orphanage to have yet another day of blessing and fun.

As we went into the orghanage we learned that somehow the water was turned back on. Praise the Lord! Rags and clothes had been washed and were hanging out on the line and kids were drinking water out of the spickets coming from the ground. Simply put, a true answer to our and your and I am sure many other individual's prayers. Please keep this in prayer as we do not know the totality of the circumstances with the water bill. Nonetheless, God is good....all the time. We got to the orphanage just in time for the ladies to feed the babies. All the babies were being fed when we got there and the ladies got to help out. Elaine, Heather, Cindy, and Cali got to once again preciously hold the babies. Elaine had the opportunity to feed a little one who the doctor was concerned about as the baby was not eating what it should be eating. Elaine, with bowl and spoon in hand, fed this little baby. Yes, not from a bottle but with a spoon. Elaine thought the baby was done eating and then the baby decided to eat some more. It was great for Elaine to be able to "fully" feed this baby the doctor was concerned about. Elaine didn't just stop there, she then did the Rwandan baby carry. I'm not sure if you have ever seen it but it is where the baby is strapped to the lady's back and the blanket is wrapped around the front of the lady and tucked in so that the baby is secure as the lady walks. When I say strapped to the lady's back, that is the norm...women carry babies in this fashion. However for some reason, a reason for which we are still trying to figure out, Pastor Wade was seen walking around the orphanage doing the lady baby carry at one point.....He is...Our Fearless Leader. We aren't overly sure how it worked out for Pastor Wade, however Elaine's blanket wrapping began to slip so she took the baby out and simply held it sitting on a bench. It doesn't seem like much but these babies have no mobility being in a 1' by 2' crib 24/7. Elaine was able to sit in, "fresh air" (possibly unmet by this baby prior to today). Heather was also able to take a baby out in the fresh air putting the baby on her back. After an encouragement from Pastor Wade this morning, in which he reassured us that, "We may be leaving Rwanda soon, but the Lord's Spirit stays...So be in prayer as you walk, talk, and pray with these kids today." Fact is, we will be leaving a week and a half or so, but the Lord will still be here working. Heather took this opportunity, while the inner courtyard of the orphanage was empty to just walk and pray for the little one on her back. Prayers that we know were heard. She, and all of us, are greatful for this opportunity.

The number of arms stretched out for hugs and lifts were innumerable. We did what we could and loved as much as we could. Pastor Wade had the opportunity to brighten the day of one of the young adult male orphan in the orphanage who wanted to have the opportunity to read an English Bible. Tina provided one for Pastor Wade and the guy was clinging to it, extremely grateful for what we had brought. Many of the adolescents and even one of the adult teachers asked with frequency how they get to America. Repeatedly they stated that, "We have no foundation, we have no parents. We want to go to America to use our skills and study." We have no foundation.....we have no parents. That is the reality for the hundreds of kids at the orphanage. However, the smiles on their faces are beyond what you could even imagine for kids in these situations. These kids are truly selfless. As one little kid had a small piece of bread (something we would probably not look twice at and chuck into garbage), the boy pulled it out, immediately hands upon hands upon hands were stretched out at this boy. The boy began to break of piece, by piece, by piece, and distribute it to the hands awaiting. Even to the point where we do not know if the boy even had a piece himself. Truly selfless. In America we often talk of the Golden Rule, "To do unto others as you would like done unto you." These kids, both young and old exemplify this. The older look out for the younger and the young truly fulfill the Golden Rule. As I sat Indian style on the ground, a little boy came next to me and sat Indian style. As you love, they love. As I had the opportunity to hang out with a little girl this afternoon and as we walked I held her hand and rubbed her back. As our walk continued and as I stopped to talk to a teacher, she began to rub my back. Amazing!

The orphanage is pushing for reunification with families for the children at the orphanage. While this sounds great many times the children will be reunified with families where they are used as house help and lose everything they know in their bothers and sisters at the orphanage along with (often times) their opportunity for education. Today, Cindy heard a girl say something about another one of the girls. Cindy asked for a translation from another girl as to what this meant. The girl said, "She is going." What this meant is that tomorrow this girl is being reunited with her family, specifically with her Grandmother. This girl did not appear happy, rather very sad. As we left today, her hands were on the gate looking at us..Please pray for this girl and this reunification.

At the end of the day Dr. VanGorder, Heather, Tina, and Chance traveled to the Gisenyi Hospital to check on baby Patrick who has HIV and was taken to the hospital last night. They took motos (essentially paid for dirt bike style rides) to the hospital. Each of them put their beautiful welding style looking helmets on (yes, the one with the flip up hoods) and ventured off for the hospital. Upon arrival to the pediatric unit, which with toughness it is hard to say...it looked like the mix between a meat hanging room and a military dorm room, God showed his providence once again. Baby Patrick, despite his HIV, 101 degree fever, and Tuberculosis, had not been seen yed. However, he was the very next in line to be seen by the doctor when we got there. What amazing timing. The room was packed with pediactrics waiting to be seen. As Heather held baby Patrick, Dr. VanGorder had the opportunity to talk with the doctor and share what he had observed upon his examination of the baby with the Rwandan doctor. What a blessing it was. Hopefully the proper care can be given to get this baby back to a stable state so he can return to the orphanage and hopefuly survive. Also, Dr. VanGorder's aero chamber was finished successfully, tested successfully, and given to the orphanage staff to be used on the littles ones. A big thank you to Dr. VanGorder.

For all of you wondering, we are thoroughly enjoying our time here and enjoying God doing His work. We meet as a group for devotions in the morning and again for worship and sharing at night. Please know we are praying for you and thinking of our respective loved ones as well. We are being well fed by the four Rwandan girls that so graciously serve us here at the house. The girls, Jeanette, Alice, Doreen, and Denea, serve us breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Their food is delicious, including the cooked bananas disguised as potatoes at tonight's dinner, and their singing is even better!

Please keep them in prayer as well. We look forward to being able to talk to everyone this Sunday. We are going to make an attempt to Skype with you all at the 10:45 am service this Sunday. For those of you who are interested that don't normally attend the Oswego Alliance Church we would love for you attend and here about what we have been doing here in Rwanda. See everyone then!

P.S. These ophans sure do know some details. As Fred laid proned out today on the pavement the kids thoroughly enjoyed tracing Fred in sidewalk chalk. These witty orphans not only traced him, but threw on the finishing touches of a moustache and glasses when they were done! :)
By: Chance Fieldson

Noel Orphanage



Our second day in Rwanda began after a much needed night's sleep due to the length of travel and the fact that we are six hours ahead of all of you back in the states. We arose at different times, some to the birds and some to our roomates nevertheless we began the day early in hopes and anticipation of God doing a work. As we stirred around the house in the morning everyone seemed to be in slow motion and doing their own thing while Tina had worship music playing in the background. Pastor Wade led us in morning devotions. He once again encouraged us to focus on Gratitude and we gave a time of thanks to the Lord as a group. We then looked at Luke 19:41-44 where it begins by stating, "As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace-but now it is hidden from your eyes." We know that Jesus provides true peace, but many Jews were blinded of this fact. Pastor Wade encouraged us to see the brokeness and to not be afraid to allow God to break our hearts. He asked us if we were broken or will we be broken as we look into faces at Noel Orphanage as Jesus did when he looked upon Jerusalem.

Following devotions we set out for a basic familiarization and orientation of the Noel Orphanage for the morning hours before we returned to Tina's for lunch. As we exited Tina's gated house we walked onto the roadway and within two minutes we were there. Who would have known that the orphanage was so close. What a blessing that Tina was able to find a house to rent so close to the orphanage. This extends great flexibility for her to minister to the orphans and to return home as needed. Upon reaching the orphanage for the morning hours we toured the children's/women's portion of the orphanage. We first went to the infant room where there were a number of infants lying in cribs with a few older ladies to take care of all of them and schedule feed them. This was the time where our four ladies shined and held those babies as if they were there own. The guy's helped too, but there really isn't anything compared to a mother's love. All of the babies were audibly congested as we held them and as Heather held a feeble and frail baby with HIV reality was there. Dr. VanGorder began speaking to the ladies the best he could through an interpreter to assist in healthcare and make recommendations as he could. One of the ladies stated that all of the babies in the baby room just got over having colds. This is because they all lay next to each other all day long in the same room with very poor venitlation. As one goes down, so do all the others. At one point, in a different case, Dr. VanGorder recommended they separate one of the children out (quarentine) them to assist in the recovery process and the lady simply stated that it was not possible (due to the way the orphanage is set up). Very sad, we take things such as this for granted.

After leaving the baby room we moved on to rooms that ascended in age group with each room we entered. At this point we were receiving initial shy reactions as as we are white, extended hands from some, and extended arms wanting to be hugged and picked up by others. Largely, those at least a few years of age were skeptical of a group of white people at first but after a short acclimation that group of white people became human jungle gyms with children hugging them and crawling all over them. As Pastor Wade played "cool dude" with his sunglasses with some of the small children others hugged, extended hands, and walked hand in hand with others. It was real, we were there, kids desperate, and I cannot over exaggerate desperate to be loved. The Lord says that, "Love never fails." It bears all things, believes all things, and hopes all things. There is certainly so much to be said about love and the power it has both experientally today and from the Word.

As noted above Dr. VanGorder spent a large portion of the day "visiting patients" and examining children with the medical equipment he brought with him. He gave Noel staff many hints and things to do and we hope that over the next two weeks he will be able to keep on pushing. However, in a reality the resources needed simply are not here. As he said, there are many sick kids, with not the things needed. The sicker kids suffer from malnourishment. Our hopes is that he continues to be an advocate and resource at the orphange (he is also lending assistance with some sick individuals at Tina's house). Currently, Dr. VanGorder is in the process of making an aero chamber out of a bottle for younger kids to be able to effectively inhale an inhaler.

For a large portion of the afternoon Elaine, Cali, Fred, and Cindy all worked with the kids in small groups using fingernail polish and coloring. Elaine, Cali, and Cindy helped the kids paint their finger and toe nails while Fred took charge with coloring. It should be noted Fred came back with half the crayons. The kids loved it. In fact, "the purple girl" as Elaine called her, painted both her finger and toe nails purple and had all purple clothing on. Not only was there a purple girl, but there was a yellow girl who did the same thing. The kids loved the polish and along with the polish they loved being able to sing with Cali and crawl all over the Elaine, Cali, Fred, and Cindy. Cali had music with her and sang with the kids and the kids even sang "Jesus Loves Me" in Kinyarwanda. At the end of the day during our group worship/meeting Cali let it be known that today was the "best day of her life."

Our time here has just begun, however it will go by quickly. We received heart wrenching news today while at lunch. The orphanage is completely without water. Their water bill is overdue and they owe about 3 million Franks. Please be praying about this. The babies bottles are being filled with rain water which is being boiled. To have this many kids in such an area with no running water only enhances the chance of illness and works against all hopes of bettering those who are currently suffering.

Please keep us in prayer and after seeing what we saw today, we do live as ungrateful human beings in an ungrateful country especially compared to what the kids at Noel have. It was encouraging to see today when we got to the orphanage that a young male named Everest was walking about with an old Oswego sports uniform that had the number 6 with Oswego on the back of it. When I told him what Oswego was he and his friends repeatedly asked how you say Oswego, I think they finally got it. A few of the things the orphans asked and told me today that struck some cords within were, "How many orphans are there in America?" and as we talked about money they told me, after being amazed that my KinyaRwandan Phrasebook cost $20 as that is REALLY EXPENSIVE, they stated that when they get money they give it to help family and their friends. To the orphan question, I could only reply that there are not many.

We made it to Rwanda

Well, after a short flight followed by two much longer flights we made it to Kigali Airport yesterday evening at about 8:00 pm. Upon coming into the Kigali Airport and having our passports checked the reality began to sink in that we actually made it to Rwanda and that we would soon be meeting Tina and her family. Upon having our passports checked we all cleared, however the airport staff advised Pastor Wade that he could not come through due to him having a Canadian passport and that he would have to go sit to the side. At this point it looked dismal as we did not know if they would let him through, especially after they advised that he needed to apply for a Visa three days in advance. What to do? Well, we went to the Sovereign Lord who sent us and has protected us. After about 30-45 minutes, after we had left Pastor Wade behind, we got news that they let him through! Miracle #1 of our Rwanda Trip. To God be the Praise!

Following a much needed night's sleep in Kigali at a beautiful Hotel we woke early for a breakfast made by the Hotel staff. The breakfast was diffierent but good, it included crape like items along with Passion Fruit, African Tea and many other items. After breakfast we met for group devotions where Pastor Wade challenged us to have an attitude of gratitude and to, as a group, spend time in prayer simply thanking God for what he had done thusfar. We were then challenged to live out Romans 12:1-2 and to present our bodies even though it might not be comfortable. We were challenged to be "All In." Please let that be your prayer as we go through these next two weeks. We will need your prayers and we are thankful that you will be faithful in praying for us. This world is totally different from what we have ever seen.

Following devotions we headed to the National Genocide Memorial to learn more about Rwandan history and the slaying of nearly 1 million Rwandans in 1994. This was an eye opening experience for all of us in that we knew about the Genocide, however the memorial brought it to real life with stories of history, pictures of mass death, along with photographs of children and the brutal methods in which each was killed. The Rwandans are still dealing with the effects of the Genocide as it occurred just a short time ago and there are many orphans as a result who still suffer from it. Also, those who were the aggressors and those who were the victim's and family members of the victims must cohabitate in Rwanda today. We have heard stories of forgiveness and the incredible forgiveness that has been shown. This is very integral piece of Rwandan culture and it was sad, but nice to get a deeper look into it.

Following the Genocide memorial we had lunch at the hotel in which Hotel Rwanda was filmed at. The hotel was resort like (with nice palm trees etc), lunch was great, and our time spent together was great as well. After lunch we went to the store (Kigal, the capital is civilized with stores, shops, gas stations etc). We bought four boxes of bottled water and exchanged our money into Franks. One dollar is 661 Franks, incase anyone was wondering. After leaving Kiglali, we headed out with four of us in a large van (with all of our luggage) and four of us in a small car. We headed on a three to four hour journey to Nyundo which is where Tina lives. I cannot describe in words what we saw along the way. We went into the uncivilized of uncivilized, yet saw the most beautiful hilly area we have ever seen with many pictures of hard work and smiles along the way.

We drove through the most beautifully hilly (mountainous) area we have ever seen. What amazed all of us was that from the bottom of the hills/mountains to the top ever stitch of land was worked. Whether it be where a hut was built, vegetation was growing, or where paths were dug this entire area was worked. It was simply amazing! I wish I could post a picture to show you what I mean. We saw many people working the fields/hills and it seemed like everyone was doing their own thing. The road we traveled was lined with people walking, biking, and on motos (kind of like dirt bikes that act as taxi's and give people rides). I would love to expand on everything we saw but I will try to make it short. Miracle #2 of the trip was Heather asking our driver if we would see any monkeys. He told us that we were not going in the right direction to see monkeys, however a little while into the trip we were about 20 feet away from 4 monkeys hanging out on the side of the road. It was great! We then saw goats and llamas on the side of the road as we traveled as well. Not only did we see these animals but in the fields (when I say fields I mean lucious green areas at the bottom of the hills) the animals and the people were like working together. Not really, but they were together in the same area. No fences, just kind of hanging out with humans. Different, but neat! As people walked the streets, we saw them carrying a multitude of things on their heads, from crops to pales of water, to vases, to stalks, wood, a door, a bed, etc. I don't know how these people have such great balance. Some of the items were 5 feet high or so. Simply amazing. I should mention that we saw people walking the roadway the entire journey to Nyundo. It is where they walk and hang out. The driver simply depressses the horn slightly to let them know we are coming and the walkers move out of the roadway and the bicyclists fall in line toward the side of the road. A neat cultural custom. We saw many people, inlcuding children walking with water jugs which all were yellow, interesting. We saw numerous kids appearing to be 4-9 years old walking alone along the the sides of the roads in their dirty clothes. It was commonplace. In fact, we stopped at one point and a bunch of little kids came up to us. Heather gave them some sour patch kids and Dr. VanGorder gave them some cookies. They were so happy. In fact, one of them knew a little English and stated, "Sweet!" We soon left these cutes ones and continued on our journey. We saw many military men walking the street with rifles along the way and at one point, when we were in front of a Refugee camp, we were stopped by the unarmed Rwandan police who simply wanted driver license and vehicle information from our driver. While he was doing this all of the kids from the Refugee camp soon swarmed and nearly surrounded our car. Smiling at the fact that white people were in the area. They stated, Muzungu, Muzungu! This means white people and following one of the kids saying this we were surrounded! It was really neat to see their smiles. On our departure one of the kids offered Heather a freshly picked carrot.

Such a different world, yet the same planet. Such different customs, yet same intrinsic feelings as you and I. We will be headed off to the orphanage tomorrow after hopefully getting through this night (as we are sitting here in the dark as the power shut off an hour or two ago). I am sure we will get through the night, it will just be a dark one. I hope this gives you all a little insight as to our beginning of our trip.

Please continue to pray for strength, God's will to be done for all of us, and please pray that this power goes back on!! We are grateful for all he has done and grateful for all of you.

Welcome

Welcome to the Oswego CMA short term missions trip blog. Eight people from the Oswego Alliance church will be in Nyundo, Rwanda for two weeks from August 18th - September 2nd. Subscribe to this blog on the right hand side, to get regular updates from the team members while they are on the ground in Rwanda!! Thanks for stopping by and we are excited to have you following along!