We love Rwanda!

Today is another beautiful day in Rwanda. Our team is doing well, aside from Michelle feeling a little sick yesterday. She is doing fine today though. Lately we have been working at a kids club in a church near by. Yesterday and today we went, and are hoping to go again tomorrow. Many of the kids who have been coming are living on the street, and have had no education in their life. The pastors at the church are hoping that these little ones will absorb as much of God's word and His love as possible. I'm glad our team can be there to help. We share the message with them with all our dramas and songs and everything, and then we play games and have a hang out time. Yesterday about 20 children made a decision to accept Jesus! Hooray!!!! It is God who works in their hearts. We are just tools. :) And we love it! At first when we got here I know some of the team was having some trouble sometimes connecting with people here. But now it is so different. Everyone is making friends and building relationships. I'm pretty sure William wants to take home as many children as he can...:) We are all doing well, for all the loved ones out there reading this. Today we also got to do some painting outside. That was fun. Some of the class rooms here needed some paint and we got to work on it this morning. I think me and Kimmie got more paint on ourselves than on the wall....:) We are learning lots and are so very thankful for your prayers.

The Children

Today has been one of the best days here so far I think. I have to share it with you. This morning, we got up, and ate some bananas and tea for breakfast (which is becoming one of William's favorite things), and then we got ready to go to a hospital to visit some children. But as it turned out, we didn't get to go because it was too short of notice for some of the people at the hospital. We were all a little disappointed, but then Didier (the man who has been planning most of our ministries here) said there was another opportunity to go to an orphanage with a pastor named Dennis. We were so excited! We gathered our guitars and stuff, and got into a taxi and headed off to the orphanage. On the way there we got off the taxi and went into a little shop to buy some food for the kids at the orphanage. While we were waiting for them to weigh everything, a bunch of kids started gathering around. So, we decided to sing a few songs with them. We did Hoochie Coochie first, and that sure drew a crowd. Everyone wanted to see what these silly Mzungus were doing:) When it was time to go, we had to kinda shove our way through everyone. We walked to the children's school, each of us with a few kids holding our hands. We arrived at the school and met the teachers and played some songs for the kids. Michelle gave her testimony and did an awesome job, and then Cory told them the gospel. It was easy to see God speaking through him. He gave an invitation for anyone to accept Jesus, and many hands went up. Praise God. I hope each of those kids really meant what they were praying. After that, we walked on, followed by even more kids. We finally got to the orphanage and were greeted by many small, dirty, barefoot, beautiful children, as well as many youth who were living there. God made each of them. It was a lot to take in, all these precious little ones who never know where there next meal is coming from. I think it broke our hearts a little bit, and that God blessed us so much more through them than we could ever do for them. But seeds were planted. We came back tired and very dirty, but so very thankful to God for what He did today. It is easy to see Him in the faces of the children.

Still alive!

Hey everybody! I'm sorry again for the long time between these posts. We are all still living and loving Rwanda! We've been really busy lately, working with the YWAM staff in their different ministries such as support groups, visiting people with AIDS in their homes, and going to various churches for kids clubs and church services. Today we all had a really good day. In the morning most of us went to a support group for widows with AIDS. Blair and Karissa stayed here to help make lunch and to rest, and the rest of us squished into a car, and got taken down the road to a small village. The support group gathered at one woman's house, and they were all very welcoming to all these muzungus (white people). What big beautiful smiles they have. They started by singing some of their amazing Kinyarwandan songs, and dancing and clapping. We Canadians try to follow, but man, everyone here can dance so well.... I always feel so white when I try to dance here.... Then we got to do a bit of a program for them. We played some of our newly learned songs in their own language, and then Cory gave his testimony. Then I shared a small message from God's word and we sang another song. Then we just visited with the women. Well, tried really hard to. It's tough when you only a few key phrases like "how are you?" and "what is your name?". Eventually we run out of things to say. :) Just seeing these people here who don't have much, but are so thankful to the Lord for everything He is doing in their lives, is very humbling and amazing to us. The team is really learning a lot, and growing. We are doing well, and God is teaching us so much! Thanks for your prayers!

We're Alive!!!

Hi everyone! I'm so sorry I haven't really been able to update this lately..... The power was out and the internet wasn't working for 2 days now. But it's working again! So, just to fill you in on everything that has been going on, we got here safe and sound, and our luggage still is not here. We have really been praying that it will come soon! Hopefully we can have our equipment for ministry before too long. But we are doing well. This team is so loving Rwanda! Even though we have been wearing the same clothes for like 4 days now, and all us girls are sleeping under ONE mosquitoe net, they love it here. It has been a great adventure! Yesterday we got to go to town to exchange some money and we also got to go to the genocide memorial. Beth didn't come because she was feeling sick (she is better now, praise God!), but everyone else on our team went and I know we all learned a lot. Just reading about the genocide and looking at all the pictures and hearing many stories was a lot to take in. We were all affected deeply, even those of us who have seen it before. It was not a fun thing to see, but it was good for us. It is so amazing to see the transformation the country has gone through since the genocide happened. The love everyone here has is just incredible!
Today we have been able to start our ministry with home visits. We went in 2 groups, each one with a translator, and got to go into the homes of people infected by aids. We visited and helped them shell peanuts on the floor. What lovely people they are. Lindsay shared her testimony, Beth read some of the Psalms, and William is just excellent at connecting with these people and loving them. The other group of us came back with smiles and stories of what an amazing time it had been. The Rwandese people are so loving and wonderful. I don't think we can help but love it. We are healthy and eating healthy food and God is teaching us a lot. My battery is running out and the charger for this computer is in the luggage which has not yet arrived, so I am sorry if communication slows down even more. God bless you! Thanks for your prayers!!!

Today: Packing

Hello again! Today is going to be another busy day. We will be packing up all our equipment/personal stuff tonight. Because tomorrow............RWANDA!!!!!! Our team is getting pretty excited I think. Some of us are nervous about the trip there and for some of us it hasn't really sunk in that we're leaving tomorrow already! Pray for us please! We've been doing lots of practicing and getting ready. Last night was our second program run-through. That is where we perform one of our stage programs for the VTI staff, and they make suggestions afterwards of what we can do better. It went well last night. One thing our team can do really well is sing! I'm amazed everyone, even the boys, likes to sing. Drama is another strong point. Kimmie as a clown is especially memorable.....:) Last night Karissa also did an illusion where she burns up a paper doll and somehow...... IT APPEARS RESTORED!!!!! Pretty impressive. Michelle did her testimony and did an amazing job, she is a good public speaker. Justin did a sweet chalk art, and Blair did the closing message, with a great deal of eloquence. We even did a high energy dance! Overall, it went quite smoothly. There's always things to fix, but that's good because it makes us grow. This morning we're having a prayer time and a Bible study before we get into practicing and everything. That will be nice. Well, I must go, but God is taking very good care of us and is teaching us new things every day. Have a good one!

TRAINING CAMP

Hey everyone! This is now the eighth day of our training. Our team is headed to Rwanda, Africa in 2 days (CRAZY!!!!!!!), and we've been devoting much of our time to practicing our programs, which involve music, drama, chalk art, puppetry, and illusions. VTI is a busy place! It is tons of fun though. Our team, though we just met like a week ago, is becoming so tight. We love just hanging out together. It's sure not hard to get distracted from what we're supposed to be doing.... :) Our team is made up of 10 people in all; each has such a unique personality and each has an important role on team. We have: Blair (our team leader), Kimmie (our ladies rep.), Karissa, Cory, Beth, Lindsay, Justin, Michelle, William, and me, Joanna. To all the parents and family who may be reading this... we are still alive! Each one of us is learning a lot already as we have to do much that is out of our comfort zone. The staff here are so wonderful and encouraging; they pour so much into each one of us. God is doing good things here. Thanks so much to each one who is supporting us and praying for us! Talk to ya later!!