alyssainrwanda

At the bank...

2010-09-17T18:32:00.002+02:00

Today I made the lady at the bank cry. Yep.

She was processing my check for me...and I made her LAUGH so hard...she was crying.

It was pretty unbelievable. I mean, usually people are entertained by the fact that I can speak some Kinyarwanda. They enjoy interacting with me, asking me questions, etc. But this is the first time that I have been SO entertaining to a complete stranger that I made them cry!

She seriously could NOT stop laughing...even after I walked away and she was trying to deal with the next customer. She would laugh, which would make me laugh, which would make her laugh more...it was as though we were best friends in the 3rd grade!

Needless to say, I caused quite the scene!!

A house FULL of joyful noise!

2010-08-23T19:03:00.006+02:00

Joel, Annie, and all four kids have finally arrived safely in Rwanda!! They had QUITE the journey getting back...one of the worst traveling sagas I have ever heard...BUT they are now enjoying be back home. Today the house has been full of the kids squeals and laughs and many visitors coming to greet the family.

It has been so interesting to watch Daniella (5 1/2) go through reverse culture shock...even as a little girl, being able to see a portion of the world and returning to Rwanda has changed her. After about 20 minutes of being very excited about ALL the new toys and things they were given in Australia, she started walking around her room and just looking at all her toys. She started telling me, "But Alyssa, we have so many toys! We can't use all of these toys. We have to give some of them away. Let's bring some to church, to Sunday school...we have SO many toys. Look at these ones, look at those ones, SO many! We have to give to the other children." I tried to capture it on video...but really this does a poor job of showing how she really was reacting!

Daniella's other wisdom she is bringing from Australia is "boys are so stubborn! Why can't they be more like girls?!? Girls they sit nicely. But boys...they stand up...and start running and running and asking for ice cream and everything!" Sounds like she had some interesting experiences!!

And Joella...sweet joella...is trying ALL her best to speak only in English. Adorable. You can't understand her...but adorable. However, she has picked up quite a few more words and the ability to REPEAT English very well...listen to her tell about her time in Australia as prompted by Annie!

Breaking the Silence

2010-08-14T14:48:00.003+02:00

Yes. I have been rather silent. Ok, so maybe 10 months accounts for more than RATHER silent...but you get the point.

Speaking of silence, Joel, Annie and all the kids have been in Australia for the past 3 weeks...our house certainly has seemed VERY silent without the 4 little ones running around!! On Friday they will return and the house will once again be filled with the joyful noises of 4 kids ages 5 and under!

Tomorrow will begin another stab at conquering the ever-failing church membership program...Sometimes I think they might have had a better idea when they were just using paper and pencils to track information!! But, I truly am excited about the potential for how our church can track and use the information of our people...great potential. Great Potential.

Joella is 2!!

2009-10-12T11:12:00.000+02:00

Yes! Lots of birthdays in our family recently!! Jonathan is now 1 month old, Daniella is 5, an Joella just turned 2 yesterday! We had a little celebration with everyone at home and she was very happy!

Daniella is Five!!

2009-10-06T16:11:00.002+02:00

Daniella turned five today and we had quite the celebration with her classmates at school! Joel and I made quite the scene of rushing around town WITH Nathan and Joella trying to get all the necessary things for a wonderful school birthday. Annie kept checking in with us by phone to make sure we were getting teh proper things, since she had to be home with Jonathan. Daniella has been talking about having her birthday at school pretty much since the day she started school and realized this was a possibility--and I think she was one pretty happy five year old!

Visitors

2009-10-04T18:16:00.003+02:00

This morning a few American friends visted my church! It is always fun to have people visiting because it makes it even more clear to me how at home I feel at church. It is great because anyone who shows up who is white is automatically "Alyssa's Visitor"--whether I know them or not!

I decided to sit with them in the service nstead of going to be with the kids and I realized how much I do love being with the kids every week! I missed them!!

The little things in life

2009-09-20T13:43:00.001+02:00

It's the little things in life that just make me very happy sometimes.

I love the way Rwanda smells when it rains.

They are fixing the road to our house which means I no longer have to drive in HUGE ditches anytime I go anywhere!

Yep. Just the little things. :-)

Jonathan Ryan Sengoga!!

2009-09-14T14:33:00.004+02:00

He has arrived safely! My house now contains 4 children 4 and under!! We are having a blast...it was a joy to be here for the birth of Annie and Joel's fourth child. The chose Ryan as the middle name because Joel has been looking and looking for a name that has some meaning like "child of the King." So, contrary to what I'm sure my brother will think...it wasn't Ryan's incredible influence on their lives that led them to name him Jonathan Ryan :-).

Anyway, life in Kigali is wonderful...normal, for me at least! I am enjoying settling into a routine here and learning more every day about different ways I can help the church.

My mind and heart are already thinking a lot about what will come after this year...which may be too soon...but I would appreciate your prayers for guidance for me even now as I start to plan towards what will be my next step and how I can pursue that!

Now...pictures of Jonathan!

Snapshots of my day

2009-08-31T08:38:00.000+02:00

Yesterday was one of those days when I wished I hadn’t forgotten my camera at home. But even if I had taken pictures, I don’t think it quite would have captured what I wanted it to. So, these were some “pictures” I took yesterday…hopefully if I write them down then it will remember them!

- A picture of me, waking up VERY alert at 5am in the morning because I heard Joel and Annie talking and the lights going on and off…hearing them be up and down again…I was sure Annie was going to give birth! But, after I heard them really go back to sleep at around 5:30 I knew I must have been wrong. At that point I was wide awake, so I got up a bit earlier than expected! (Later I found out that Joella was sick and they were trying to decide what to do J)

- Pictures of the children’s ministry! Oh my, yesterday was a great day!!

o A picture of Queen, me, and 3 other volunteers going over what the program would be for that day. Trying to explain this crazy game called “rock, paper, scissors”…except it was even crazier because it had been modified to play as “pinky, knee, toe.” Yes, we successfully finally communicated how to play not only “pinky, knee, toe” but also thumb wrestling! (It is really easy to beat someone in thumb wrestling when they don’t know how to play!!)

o A picture of the 100 some odd kids trying to all fit in this little room to hear the Bible story…and a picture of the flannelgraph we were trying to use. One of the rocks we were trying to use to make land was up in the sky, part of Lazarus’ tomb kept falling off…but hey, it was still a visual!!

o A picture of trying to split these kids into three groups and then me trying to communicate with everyone to rotate every 20 minutes to their new station.

§ A picture of these kids all trying to move at the same time to a different room, because one of our normal rooms was full of the sewing ministry things so we had to use outside as our third space…which meant the KIDS had to rotate instead of the teachers rotating like our original plan!

o A picture of these darling little children sitting so nicely against a wall, coloring to their hearts content…THESE were masterpieces!

o A picture of me standing at that back of the church, trying to see if Joel was really still preaching even though church was supposed to be over half an hour ago…and seeing him catch my eye while I was standing there and just smile knowingly! It was quite funny.

o A picture of the children’s ministry volunteers and Queen and me sitting in the room after all the kids left debriefing about how it went. Queen talking to them in Kinyarwanda and me trying to understand. Then me asking for a summary in English…then me talking to Queen in English and Queen giving a summary to them of what I was saying/asking in Kinyarwanda.

Truly, some of these pictures are things I have been envisioning for the children’s ministry for a year now! We have a long way to go, but yesterday was a step!

- A picture of Mushi telling me that he had bad news—two of the people from our church were stuck in Karenge (and hour and a half away) where we just planted a new church. They went there to preach etc, but had no transport to get back. Which means, yep, I would go and pick them up!

- A picture of my car having a small problem and stopping on the side of the road in this beautiful village. And being so excited that the same place we happened to stop, there was a woman who was selling bananas!! YAY!

- A picture of seeing this house that we are renting for this new church in the village to be meeting in…a picture of greeting this people and having them proudly show me where they are worshipping…and explaining that they already need more room!

- A picture of them giving us a plate of Pineapple to eat and me trying to stab this pineapple and try to eat it without getting juice absolutely EVERYWHERE!

So…I know this is a bit longer…but I wanted to write these things down anyway and thought some of you might enjoy some of these “pictures.”

Back in Rwanda!!

2009-08-24T10:39:00.002+02:00

Hi everyone!

I'm now BACK in Rwanda! I couldn't feel more at home and more welcomed. I didn't even make it out of security before someone was greeting me! A guy from our church works at the airport and as I was struggling at the top of some stairs I just heard him say, "Wait! Let me help you!" And from then on it has been a constant welcoming. I'll never forget coming out of security and feeling like there were just too many people to hug and greet and keep walking at the same time. Daniella and Nathan ran underneath the divider to make sure they were the first ones to greet me!!

And now I am back into the swing of things! On Saturday I taught CLASS 201, which was a true privilege. How fun to talk about these principles of growing in God that are the same no matter what country you are in. (If you thought that class was long in the States, think about trying to translate the whole thing! I just moved quickly :-)

Then of course on Sunday I enjoyed being back at church. Above all it is exciting to see people doing some of the things I did before I left to come to the States. There is a guy who is committed to being there every week to do the powerpoint. The children's ministry is growing in volunteers...How exciting to see our church members starting to do ministry!! The children have shifted to a new place and we now have more than one room so I am very excited about helping plan a schedule and ongoing curriculum!

So, once again, God has blessed me. I feel like I have returned to right where He wants me and am confident He will continue to grow me and use me in this year.

The wedding and the baby!! (Gratefully not on the same day!)

2009-07-03T01:22:00.011+02:00

I thought you all might like to see some pictures of Leah and Matt's wedding and some pictures of the new baby in my family! I thoroughly enjoyed being able to be here to support Leah and Matt as they got married and then to sit in the hospital and see baby Reese a few minutes after she was born!

Reese just a few minutes after she was born. (Thanks to Mary Rosenbaum for this amazing picture!)

Ryan, Britt, and Reese! (Again, thanks to Mary for the picture!)

"Gramma," "Grandpa," Ryan, and Reese

Aunt Alyssa, Uncle Luke, Ryan and Reese!

Me trying to calm her down!

Luke carrying all the bags like a good man!

Ryan rolling his baby down to her new room at the hospital!

Yay! Baby Reese!

Brittany and I before she had Reese!

Aunt Kay and I in the waiting room at the hospital! Anxiously awaiting the birth of that sweet little baby...

Enjoying the cafeteria food in the hospital...there were many good restaurants in the area, but Ryan wanted the experience of eating in the hospital! I don't think I have ever seen him eat so fast as he was going back upstairs to be in the room with Brittany in labor and try to finish his law applicataion all at the same time!

Luke and I in the waiting room!

NOW into the WEDDING pictures!!!

The best man, Justin, and I decorating the car for Leah and Matt to drive away in!

Leah and Matt driving away!

Leah getting ready to toss her bouquet to the girls.

Leah and her dad during the Father/ Daughter dance.

Mat and Leah!

Daddy making me laugh!

Me giving my toast at the wedding.

The bridal party watching Leah and Matt's first dance.

Leah and Matt walking into the reception

The best man and I walking into the reception.

The CAKE!

The bride and groom and best man and maid of honor!

The ceremony! Matt is excitedly waiting to see Leah for the first time in her wedding dress!

My dad and Leah before the wedding

Praying together as girls before the wedding.

Helping Leah get from place to place! It's a big dress!!

Leah and I! I'm so happy I really got to stand next to her on her wedding day--something we had dreamed about and planned on for so many years!!

Leah Christine Whittaker!! (well, she was Milazzo when this picture was taken :-)

Matt and Leah at the rehearsal dinner in my backyard.

Stephanie (Leah's sister) and I at the rehearsal dinner

A picture from above of the rehearsal dinner!! It was so cool to have it in our backyard...where Leah and I had played and played for years.

Leah and I at her bridal shower tea!

First Day Back in the States!

2009-06-12T04:52:00.009+02:00

I am going to try to keep "blogging" even though I am not "alyssainrwanda" right now. I am hoping it can be fun for people in the States and all my family and friends back in Rwanda that I don't get to see right now.

It's a bit easier to upload pictures on such a FAST internet connection, so here are a few pictures of my first 24 hours in the States!

Momma, Daddy, and Luke gave me a great welcome at the airport.

Sitting in "my room" in the States...my room hasn't changed much since I was about 6 years old! I did forget about all the great books I had from college and clothes I had left here, so that was pretty exciting.

First thing in the morning (after a great breakfast from my mom!) I got dressed in traditional Rwandan clothes and went to visit the Kindergarten class that has been praying for and sending things to my Kindergarten class in Rwanda. They all wanted me to sign their yearbooks and kept telling people "That's Miss Alyssa. She's a teacher in Rwanda and is our Missions Projects!" It was cool to be with them and teach them some Kinyarwanda!

I got to talk on the phone with Annie last night and Queen and Andrew today!! Yay for being able to communicate even when we are all the way across the world from each other! I am excited about keeping in touch with people in Rwanda even when I am not there.

Leah came over just in time to eat lunch with the crowd of Luke's friends that come over every week for a free lunch! My house has a BEAUTIFUL waterfall that I had never seen. Crazy.

I got to meet baby Cole finally!! Cole is nine months old, but I obviosuly had never seen him...It was great to play with him and have dinner with Josh and Jaime at our house!

Finished!

2009-06-05T13:12:00.002+02:00

Well, it is about 1:00 on a Friday afternoon and I am sitting in the church office, instead of in my classroom at school! Yesterday was the final day of school, so I have now completely finished my time as a Kindergarten teacher. While I am grateful for the opportunity to teach this year, it is also exciting to be able to move into the next stage in Rwanda with all my time offered to the church.

The end of the year at KICS was great with a lot of hugs from little Kindergartners. It has been a privilege to be able to influence these 15 little ones! The last day of school was a school wide field day ending with lunch. After having lunch I enjoyed leading the class in marching around the school singing the following cadence:

I don't know but I've been told
Kindergarten made us grow
We've learned to count, write, and read
Raise our hands before we speak
ABCs and 123s
Good Behavior got us treats
We've tried so hard to make you proud
We're through with Kindergarten shout it out!

Only a few more days left until I am on a plane...there is still a lot to be done but I am really enjoying my last few days here for awhile!!

Two Weeks

2009-05-26T17:44:00.002+02:00

Yep. I leave two weeks from today. My heart is starting to beat a bit faster as I think more and more about the excitement of coming home, the difficulty of leaving here, and all the things that need to happen in those two weeks in between! But even as I type this I am convicted that I must not get wrapped up in the urgency of leaving. That I must thank God that I get to come back here. That I must spend even more time dwelling in Him. Hmm, that being said I think i am going to stop trying to frantically decide what needs to be done in the church office right now and just go to the church service that is happening right now! Bye!

Annoucements and Graduations

2009-05-20T17:59:00.002+02:00

This weekend at church I enjoyed giving an announcement about the children's ministry in Kinyarwanda! I tried to memorize it in one night, but I ended up having to sort of read part of it. However, I still have parts of it running through my head. "yesu Ashimwe! Mfite intangzo nshaka kubagezaho ryere keranye na ministeri y'abana." That pharse will probably be stuck with me for the rest of my life! It was really fun to be in front of the church and try to communicate in Kinyarwanda.

Also, yesterday we had a little graduation for the Kindergartners! It was fun to ahev them sing Our God is an Awesome God, in both English and Kinyarwanda, and I am a Promise. Then I read Oh the Places You'll Go (which, it is fun to think about all teh places these little ones will go!! They have already been and come from ALL over the world and I know they will continue to spread out all over the world.) and they threw their little graduation caps made of paper bowls and construction paper...and everyone was happy. We have two more weeks of school, but I have one that will be leaving to go back to Japan tomorrow...so we wanted to have our celebration early!

There's a few happenings from the life of Alyssa!

Home

2009-05-11T18:24:00.004+02:00

Yes, in some ways a part of home will always be in Southern California. But, as I move and invest my life in different parts of the world I am finding new temporary homes. (Of course my HOME is in heaven...something that becomes more and more real as home becomes a more relative term.)

Yesterday, after the evening service, I was standing with a group of people and then was introducing myself to the guest speaker we had. After explaining to him where I was from and how long I had been here he said, "Well, welcome to Rwanda. I hope you like our country." I just sort of smiled, but someone else immediately chimed in and said, "No, she has been here for some time. This is her home."

And it is true. As I drove down the roads today I realized that in about a month I will no longer be seeing pretty much everything that I see on a daily basis now. And I will miss these things, even for a few months.

If I haven't learned or accomplished anything else in this year, the whole year would be worthwhile just to say that I can call this place, Kigali, Rwanda, home.

Ramblings

2009-05-07T17:39:00.003+02:00

I am going to try to blog more often, even if I don't feel like I have something really important to say. For many different reasons...partly because I just want to, partly because I think it is a good idea, and partly because I want to keep blogging more even while I am in the States for those in Rwanda that won't be with me! While I am definitely looking forward to being home this summer (a wedding to be in, a niece to be born, many exciting things!!), it is already feeling weird that I will be leaving this place in a month. I cannot imagine if I was leaving and not coming back. I am so grateful for God's clear leading that he still wants me here next year. Of course, the details of next year are slightly fuzzy, but that really doesn't worry me. Each day that passes just makes me more certain that I am supposed to be here next year.

The Kindergarteners and First Graders all went on a Field Trip today! We went to Cards from Africa and saw orphans who were being employed to design and make cards from recycled paper. The kids enjoyed touching the pulp and seeing how these people make the cards! (Well, they also enjoyed BUYING the cards quite a bit :-)

Other than that, life has been pretty normal...I am still working on my Kinyarwanda although sometimes it is pretty slow...It is helpful being in a house with a baby who is just learning to speak! Sometimes I feel like every word she is learning, I am too!!

Well, hopefully more frequent blogging will not always lead to just ramblings that aren't that enjoyable to read!

Two Families!

2009-05-05T17:21:00.002+02:00

Last night was very fun for me because I got to be with my two families here in Rwanda! All of my family (Annie, Joel, Daniella, Nathan, Joella, Queen, and Andrew) all went over to the Wheelers (Tom, Lori, Hannah, and Zack) for dinner. It really was cool for me to be able to mix the two worlds that exist for me even here in Rwanda. We had fun eating slightly more American food, introducing the kids to legos and trying to convince everyone that the dogs weren't going to hurt them. It just reminded me once again how grateful I am to the Lord for providing me with such wonderful relationships here in Rwanda in such a short period of time...that is something I will never cease to be grateful for!!

A Penny in my Pocket

2009-04-27T16:47:00.001+02:00

Some of you might know the Jana Alayra song, “A Penny in my Pocket.”

A penny in my pocket; a dollar in my shoe

When I give them all to Jesus; there’s nothing he can’t do

To feed a hungry neighbor; Give shelter from the cold

Take a wounded heart; And make it whole

Oh, we are one family; Oh, in the Son of God you see

Yes, he’s calling us to be; His arms of love, His arms of love

We are his arms of love; We are his arms of love

Well, these children from all around the world that have become one family, shot up their hands as soon as the song was over and had MUCH to share. Here are some of the things they said:

“Every year, when the year is beginning again, we invite a lot of kids who have no mommy or daddy to come into our house and I get to serve them food and drink and we had someone who did funny things come and make us laugh.”

“I saw a boy the other day and I told my dad to give him food but he didn’t want to, so I told him to give him money, but he didn’t want to.”

“We have visitors that are sleeping in our house right now!”

“The other day, my dad’s friend came over to our house, and she had two kids with her who had no mommy or daddy and no food. And that’s what she does. She takes care of and feeds all the kids who need it.”

“The other day I saw a boy and he asked me for money and I said, “sorry, I don’t have any money.” And my mom was up in the salon. But my brother was by me and I talked to him for a long time and he was so kind because he gave me money to give to the boy.”

“In the genocide, my dad is a doctor, and he just went around and helped people and saved their lives.”

And they continued…It was a bit different than singing it at Saddleback in Orange County! These aren’t just words to these children; this is normal everyday life that they experience.

Later in the day, one of my students asked “why did God not give Rwanda money?” Now, I have to admit it wasn’t quite that articulate. Partly because it can be hard to understand her with her accent. And partly because she was trying to explain what she had seen in her country and couldn’t understand why Rwanda was different. About half the class resonated well and also understood the heart of her question immediately. Another student immediately asked, “yah, why did God choose to give money to only some countries, to only a very few?”

So, yes, I was attempting to facilitate a discussion about the different economies of the world and the role God plays in that with my Kindergarten class!!

Yesterday

2009-04-26T17:45:00.000+02:00

I need to blog more often about my normal days because sometimes things happen that are not so normal and I forget. And other times it might be helpful to just read about a normal day! So…yesterday. Yesterday was umuganda (the last Saturday morning of every month all shops are closed and no one can be driving, so that everyone can do community work) so I woke up to the sound of the man walking around with a microphone or bullhorn or something telling me that I should wake up and go to Umuganda! Well, many people have different theories about whether or not muzungus should go to umuganda (they shouldn’t—it’s distracting to the other workers, they should—it builds community, it doesn’t matter); but, I didn’t go. So I woke up and just had a slow morning…cleaning my room, washing a few things, playing with the kids…then I went and bought a few things so that I could bake with our new toaster oven from my mom! After baking banana bread and banana chocolate chip (thanks for sending the chocolate chips!!) muffins, I hung out with the kids some because Annie was out shopping. I then enjoyed having the time to warm plenty of hot water to bathe with, dry my hair, iron my clothes…and get everything ready for church the next morning! Right after that, Andrew (who was at our house enjoying the freshly baked things and a movie) told me that someone in our church was very sick and needed to be taken to the hospital. So, I threw on some clothes and we hopped in the car to go pick up this guy. He was very sick (unable to walk, moaning in the back of my car, bad stomach pains…) so his brother and a member of the worship team were also in the back of my car helping him while andrew was in the front explaining the health insurance in Rwanda that costs 2 dollars a year and gives the benefit of paying only 10 percent of whatever your hospital bill is (as long as it is a government hospital, which of course is not the highest quality hospital in Rwanda). When we arrived at the hospital, Andrew was dealing with all the paperwork, so I was talking in broken English and a little Kinyarwanda with the member of the worship team. I see him pretty much every day, but I really knew very little about his life. He was telling me about how his father died during the genocide, and his mother died a year later. He grew up living on the streets, from about age 7-14. From then on, I am not sure all the different places he has been living. I just know now he lives with a few other people in a small room the church owns. It was a reminder that even though life feels very normal here, the people I am friends with and am sharing in life with have had very different experiences than me. Around 11:30pm or so we were on our way home and Andrew and I talked about the end of the world…He was telling me about an article he read that talked about the uniting of nations and people wanting to insert chips into our foreheads and certain barcodes that had 666 ingrained in them…and I explained how I thought you had to be careful when you read things about end times because there are so many different opinions. Then, we all went home and went to bed so we could be up for church the next morning! I have to step back sometimes to take in the things that are so radically different than how I have grown up. Living here makes those things seem more “normal”--sometimes I miss even noticing them.

"Papa Wanjye"

2009-03-12T15:04:00.000+02:00

Last night on my way home from school, Andrew called me and asked me if I could help drive someone to the hospital. This is not that unusual of a request, and often that might just mean they need to go to a local clinic. When I arrived at church I discovered that Jacquline, one of the genocide orphans that the church helps support, was in a very traumatic state. She saw her father being killed during the genocide, when she was about five years old. Every once in awhile, usually during April in the time of mourning, she relives what she saw. It was a pretty sobering experience to go to her home, watch Andrew pick her up and carry her to my car, and drive her to a counseling place. As we drive to the place, Jaquline was wailing in the back seat of my car,”My father, My father, they are killing him, they are killing him, they are cutting him, they will throw him into the river, My father, My father.” I can’t understand any of those words in Kinyarwanda except for “Papa Wanjye(My Father).” Hearing her sob “Papa Wanjye” over and over again will always be something I remember. Her sister, Gloriose, (not a sister by blood, but she is also an orphan who has grown up with her) also witnessed her parents being killed in the genocide, so it is of course very difficult for her to watch. It starts an ugly cycle of each of them reliving the trauma they have been through. This morning Andrew called me and they are borrowing my car to take them back to a medical counseling center as they are both in a bad place again. People all over the world experience from trauma and the post-effects of that. And we should always be praying for them. But today, for me, and hopefully for you, it becomes more personal. Please be praying specifically for Jacquline and Gloriose today.

MORE PICTURES!

2009-03-06T10:10:00.011+02:00

Ok, the formatting was taking a VERY long time...so this may not turn out quite as nice, but here are a bunch more pictures! Don't forget to look at the post below as well as I just split the pictures into a few posts! ENJOY!!

AND...now I am adding pictures from Lydia's wedding and dowry ceremony!

Daniella and Nathan and I--all in cultural dress!

The Wheelers and I at Lydia's introduction!

Other KICS teachers and I at Lydia's introduction (dowry ceremony).

Queen and I, getting ready to serve the table of old men negotiating for Lydia!

I am trying to help the kids to go in the right places, which is funny since it is a cultural ceremony!!

Joella and I at Lydia's Wedding.

Lydia giving Queen the final instructions before she left for the States!

The cultural drummers at the dowry ceremony.

Lydia and her husband on the day of the dowry ceremony.

Nathan riding his bike! (Yes, he rides his bike in the sitting room! That is where the flat ground is I guess...)

Andrew, Joel, and Annie in the church office.

Nathan's second birthday! (Joel, Annie, Daniella, Nathan, and Joella)

Joella and I enjoying the afternoon!

New Years is a big deal in Rwanda!! We had an overnight service at church (I was surprisingly awake for being in a church service from 8:00pm until 6:00am that was in a language I couldn't understand!) To the left is the church packed, and below is outside--we projected what was happening inside to a group sitting outside under tents!

Christmas in Rwanda! Starting from top 1. Christmas lights! Yes, one night as I was driving home with Mushi and Andrew I stopped again and again to try to capture the Christmas spirit in Rwanda. 2. The children huddled around to watch the Jesus Film for Children in Kinyarwanda on Christmas. 3. LOOK! The Church is decorated for Christmas! It made me SO happy. 4. The Children's Ministry on Christmas...being taught the Christmas Story by Queen.

My Car broke down (again) on Christmas Eve. I was quite frustrated, but luckily the guys dealt with it for me (picture to the left!) and Queen and I just happily went shopping for the children's ministry (picture below!)

Baptism!!

This is me with one of DDC's small groups. They were having a party for someone who had just been baptized!

Joel and I in the office. I love the church office. For real...it is just a wonderful place to be.

Cows on a Basketball Court!!

My family!! (Everyone except Joel)

The tailoring class at our church. They have two women to one machine, trying to give them a skill to improve their lives. Our church does some awesome things!!

PICTURES!!

2009-03-05T20:53:00.011+02:00

The Worship Team at DDC(our church)!

I took Daniella and Nathan to the "fall festival" at KICS (the school I teach at). It was so fun to watch them enjoy the bounce house, food from all different countries and classic carnival games!

The school name surrounded by many of the flags of the nationalities represented at our school.

Family Visit! Luke, Daddy and I walking into KICS.

Here is a picture of my classroom! You can see most of it in this picture. The picture is taken from the door and my desk is in the back to the left in this picture. Momma is showing Shannon (my friend and the first grade teacher) and I the things they brought for the Kindergarteners!

Here is me getting my class in the morning just like I do everyday!

Lori (Wheeler) leads worship for chapel every Wednesday and I am her faithful assistant! These weekly times of leading the students in praising God with her will always be a special memory.

Ok, yes...this is a picture of the little ones napping. But I would like for you to look extra close to see a VERY large "Kindergartener" in the middle of all of them!! Luke was pretty tired after traveling!!!

The next few pictures are all in Mutara (the Eastern Province) where our church (DDC) has planted a new church. We were doing a crusade there while my family was visiting and we all went. (And Daddy preached because Joel had just had his appendix taken out!) This picture is of Queen and I...I hadn't seen anyone from church in about 5 days (which felt liek SO long!)because they had started the crusade while I had to keep working so I was SO happy to see all of them!

My "brothers" and me! From the left: Sunday, Mushi, Me, Andrew, and Tom. God seriosuly has blessed me with an amazing friendships here in Rwanda!!

Yay! Daddy, Momma, and Luke came to visit me!! It really was so neat to be able to show them life here. Thanks again for coming!

The Worship Team praising God in the countryside of Rwanda!

The family enjoying milk inside Peter's (one of DDC's "staff members") mom's home. I simply love this home! I feel SO at peace in this place. I try to visit as often as I can even though it is 3 hours away!

Queen, Tom and I outside Peter's mom's home.

Luke teaching Sunday School! I stayed in the main service this day to watch Daddy and help him find the right verses in Kinyarwanda...so I put Luke in Sunday School!!

Daddy, Luke, and Andrew doing DriveTime Devotions in Rwanda!

Uh-oh! Something happened to my car! But no worries...Daddy will teach me all I need to know!

Time

2009-03-02T19:40:00.002+02:00

So today I overheard someone on the phone saying, "But, yes, you are meeting with an American so you must be on time! Please rush."

It made me laugh. True...haha...but it made me laugh. That's the interesting thing when you have meetings with people from all different cultures. I think I am becoming mostly Rwandan in my sense of time though :-)

Other than that today has been a fairly normal day. School happened, we had a meeting about accreditation instead of Kinyarwanda Lessons after school (so that was a little sad), and then I got to talk to my good friend Ashleyne (so that was a highlight!)

I am at the church office now, which is always wonderful and I will soon go home to see if Queen is trying to bake something with our new toaster oven that my mom sent us (thanks again!!).

Basketball Game!!

2009-02-28T22:43:00.002+02:00

I just got home from my watching my very first international professional basketball game! It was SO much fun!! It was the Rwandan national team against the Kenyan national team and RWANDA won!! Woohoo! Anyway, it was quite the experience getting into the game as the soccer game was just getting out...so crazy crowds were all around my car that was stuck in traffic that could only go one way because the President's wife was coming to the basketball game! Once I finally got in I had to push my way through a crowd to get in, get a ticket and meet the Wheeler family at the seats down on the floor (which costs 10 dollars, by the way :-). It was so fun to cheer on Rwanda and to just be at a basketball game!!

There's No Place Like Home!

2009-02-14T16:05:00.000+02:00

And right now that is Joel and Annie's house in Kigali, Rwanda!!

We moved back into our house a few days ago...and it really is so good to be home. It is raining quite a bit here, so they could not start on our roof. But we are just glad to be home!

In other news...I took my students on their first field trip!! We went with the first graders to Living Water International, a Christian organization helping to build wells for people. It was quite the site to see all my little ones trying to pump water for the first time! It was neat to talk to them about the fact that some kids even their age spend their days carrying water back and forth instead of going to school. It was fun and a good experience for all.

One of my students came in yesterday and just exclaimed, "But, Miss Holladay, I KNOW how to Read!!" He was so excited and it did my heart good.

My internet card is still broken...soo I am just waiting for new cards to come into the country! Who knows when that will be :-(

I am still loving being at the church. We talk about fairly consistently now about how next year it will be exciting for me to be there and not have to give so much time to teaching...you can still be praying for the children's ministry, for volunteers, and for the church building that is in the works (we have just finished paying off the land! Now we are looking at the next steps...)

Hope you are all well :-)

I MOVED!

2009-02-05T19:25:00.002+02:00

Well, kind of. My entire family has shifted temporarily because the roof on our house needs to be fixed. Annie's mom loving took us all into our home, so we are now all living a few minutes down the road!

Also, a few bits and pieces of life that I don't think I have ever written about:
- I get to drive Daniella to school every morning and I absolutely love it. We listen to Jana Alayra and enjoy the morning together!
- I just started Kinyarwanda lessons with other teachers from my school...so I am hopeful about that. I want to know the language so badly. Seriously, you could pray that God miraculously speeds up that process!
- My internet card is broken so communication may be a little slower for awhile. (I am currently sitting in the airport using their free internet!)
- We are really going to try to implement more structure into the Sunday School soon, so you could be praying that God will really provide people who are willing to volunteer--this is a big need!
-My Kindergartens did a chapel on Jonah and Rom. 8:38-39 yesterday and they were pretty cute. I had them draw anything they wanted about Rom. 8:38-39 the other day and one of them immediately said, "But Miss Holladay, I don't know about the lips!" I asked her, "of what." She replied, "Of God!" So so funny...they always have great things to say!

Excuses :-)

2009-01-27T21:42:00.003+02:00

Ok, so I know it hasn't been every day...but here are my excuses/ an update on the last few days:
- two days actually merged into one for me as I spent all of Friday night finishing the church finances with Andrew and Sunday cheering us on--I felt like I was in college again trying to finish a last minute project! We presented it to the church Saturday morning and I have never seen a church laugh so much through a financial report, but I guess that is what you get when the people presenting hadn't slept at all!

- Other than that I have been fairly sick and so have spent some days just at home trying to get better. I went to the doctor and had tests done and today when I went back he told me everything looked fine...but the great thing is that I got to talk to the doctor for like 20 minutes about the Lord and how much he means to me and how much He loves him...he just kept asking me questions--it was awesome!

I almost forgot

2009-01-22T21:06:00.002+02:00

But I didn't! I really hope to get into more of a routine of updating. Today was a fairly normal day of teaching, going to the market with Queen to get food for the family, stopping by the church office (for shorter than I usually do), and then coming home and helping feed the kids and send them towards bed.

Be praying for my church right now as we are in the final stages of trying to set the schedule and budget for this year. I know God is going to continue to do some amazing things in and through this church...but please continue to pray for wisdom as things are planned and then presented to the church on Saturday.

A Beginning of an Attempt

2009-01-21T14:41:00.000+02:00

I am just going to try to update my blog more. Period. You may laugh, but I am going to try to update every day. I figure that if I do that I will be able to just write about that day and not have to write long novels where I try to remember what I should tell you. And then anytime you want to check, you can always expect to be able to see some new information about one of my days!
So today is about…the inauguration! (Yes, that was technically yesterday, but give me a little grace as I get going here.) I will never forget sitting in my house in Rwanda, holding Nathan on my lap, watching Uncle Rick pray for the inauguration of our 44th president—and our first African American President. It felt like I was a part of history. The Rwanda Television station showed the CNN coverage live…and I discovered when I talked to my mom and dad on the phone that there was no delay at all! Technology is amazing.
In honor of the inauguration I also enjoyed having my kindergarten class write about what they would do if they were being inaugurated as president today. Here were some of their responses:
“I would eat cake. I would cook it first, then I would eat it. I would speak to the people about what they want. “
“I was starting to say things. Then they cheered. Then they sat down. Then I went on the stage.”
“I would write a law. I would turn the lights on with my generator and the fire on with my other generator and someone would work on my chimney. I would have a car—a speedship car. I was copying things on my computer and my computer put it on the wall so I could write down the law.”
“I was eating cake and shared with the people. We have only one cup, but we shared with all the people.”
“I can eat breakfast for cake and I would go to help people. I help people every time and every time I eat breakfast for cake.”
“If there wasn’t enough food I would give the people food. And the people would cheer.”
“My dad would let me play on his computer”
Ok…more tomorrow!

"God is alive and God is Real!"

2008-11-27T19:36:00.002+02:00

Every day in my class we start with prayer. We share prayer requests and pray together in various ways, and on this day nothing was really unusual. I asked for them to raise their hand if they had a prayer request and each of them shared their various problems one by one. "I have a headache." (Everyone has had a headache for at least a few weeks now :-)!) "My mom is sick...My grandma is sick...I have a mosquito bite (another common one)..etc etc etc." One little boy raised his hand and shared with the class that he had a stomach ache. Again, this is a fairly normal prayer request for a bunch of 5 and six year olds living in Africa! Well, as soon as the prayer was over, this little boy shouts out--"I have something very exciting to share! I have been healed! My stomach feels better! God has healed my stomach."

This in and of itself was a pretty amazing moment, but later at lunch the story continued. I was on lunch duty so I was sitting under the one tree where I could see the majority of the playground. This little boy comes over and sits near me and quietly says, "My stomach is starting to hurt again..." We talked for a few minutes about what we could do about that...he quickly suggested that he could of course pray and that he was sure God would heal him again.

(You should know that every day in class we also read a Bible story and then I just let them ask questions. A few weeks ago we had been specifically talking about the fact that God was alive.)

So after a few more minutes of quietly playing by me, he just looks up at me and declares, "But Miss Holladay, I just realized, God is real and God is alive! The class was right--God is real and God is alive!"

I was fairly stunned, but I just looked at him and asked him when he realized that. He quickly replied, "I realized it today. I realized it when God healed me today!"

It was a fairly incredible moment of remembering what child like faith really does look like.

Oh, and if you happen to be reading this when it is still Thanksgiving--Happy Thanksgiving. I am thanking God right now for the faith of this little boy and the way it pointed me to God!!

A long delayed post!

2008-11-01T09:29:00.010+02:00

It has definitely been MUCH too long since I have updated my blog. Oh my...I would really like to get better at this. Just as much for my sake than anyone else’s. So, since I am trying to update you on a few months of life I am hoping that “a picture’s worth a thousand words” will prove to be true. (OK, some of the pictures I don't have right now...I will add them later.)

1. 1. I bought a car! Yes...I have become that American who moves to a foreign country and buys a car. But I haven’t regretted for one minute that I bought it. I am glad that I experienced trying to get around without a car for a few months, but it has really really positively affected life. And I am able to bless the family I am living with through it as well...It is a stick shift, so learning to drive manual on the back, bumpy, dirt roads of Rwanda with my Rwandan friends(Andrew, full time at the church, was my "driving examiner" and Mushi, also very involved at church, was my "driving instructor"--they are in the picture to the right) will be an experience I will never forget. Here is a picture of me, my car, and some friends time at the church and getting ready to go to a wedding!

2. 2. Yes, I have enjoyed attending a few Rwandan weddings. (They have a few different ceremonies...one of them is basically like a dowry ceremony where the two families bargain the price for the Bride—in these days it is almost like a play--it is very interesting!) At one of the ceremonies my hand in marriage was actually promised to another family (all in good fun, don’t worry)!! Here is a picture of me(dressed in traditional Rwandan clothes) sitting in a little hut before one of the ceremonies.

3. 3. Teaching is still going well. It has its challenges, but I am really am grateful for the opportunity to both teach and learn from these little ones. I won’t post a picture of all the kids on this site, but they are pretty cute. Since I can’t show you them, I will just quote a few of the things that they have said. (In Kindergarten I really could quote EVERYTHING they say...but I will try to remember a few of the good ones.) On the first day of school I was explaining about bathroom emergencies, and one little girl half raised her hand and half shouted out, “But an emergency is when someone is coming to your house and is trying to kill you.” Umm, ok...you are right...that is an emergency...let me think of a different way to explain this. (For the most part, most of the kids really feel like American kids...but every once in awhile something will happen like that and I will remember what vast backgrounds these children have). All of them are always saying hilarious little comments that I can’t remember right now. And then during Bible time they say some of the cutest and most profound things. My favorite so far is when one little girl said, “But, Miss Holladay, how come I always feel Jesus knocking on my heart asking if he can come in and talking with me.” What a beautiful picture of faith and how Christ pursues us. Here is a picture of me in my classroom .

4. 4. My church, Divine Destiny Church (DDC), has planted a church in the eastern province and I have visited a few times. I absolutely love going there. Here is a picture with two of my friends (Queen, who is one of the sisters in the family I live with, and Immanuel who is full time at the church)--we are drinking milk from traditional Rwandan "glasses."

5. 5. I am still loving teaching Sunday School. Sometimes I still feel at a loss about the best way to do Sunday School here but I love singing songs with them and trying to teach through translation sometimes. Here is a picture of me singing Our God is an Awesome God with them in Kinyarwanda!

6. 6. I still absolutely love living with my family. Here is a picture of all of us. They truly feel like family...I can’t tell you what a blessing it is to have such great family and friends here.

Umm, ok...I could keep going. But if a picture really is worth a thousand words, plus all the words I have written I really better stop soon.

I am SO grateful to God for saving Jaime’s (my cousin-in-law...is that what she is called??) life. It was very very difficult for me to be so far from home, especially in the first week or so of this crisis. But God had faithfully reminded me that He knew all of this in advance and that He called me to Rwanda in spite of the fact that at points I just felt like I should get on a plane and be home to support my family. What a great God we serve. It has been neat to be able to pray with people for Jaime and rejoice over the miracles in more than one language!

I also feel very blessed because my mom and dad and Luke will be visiting in about a week!! It will be great to show them my life here and just be with them in this place that has become home.

Ok...I am now going to try to update more often so you don’t have to read another novel!

A Day in the Life of Alyssa

2008-09-18T14:12:00.001+02:00

I decided it might be easiest to give you a peek into life here if I just told you about a typical day. Especially now that school has started my days have a fair amount of routine in them, so it is easier to describe them to you!
I wake up every morning at 5:00am and start getting ready for the day. After ironing my clothes (who knew that it would take moving to Africa to make me start ironing!! But not ironing them is simply not an option here.), I usually get my bag ready and fill up my water bottle with the boiled water. When I first moved here I was worried I would accidentally pour myself water that was unboiled, but I very quickly learned where we always put the boiled water. Then I drink a cup of tea (every once in awhile coffee) and have my bread with peanut butter on it. I also get to see Queen briefly every morning as she is up just as early to go to school.
At 6:00am I walk quickly up the small hill that leads to the main road and meet the motorbike driver who has agreed to drive me to school every morning. “Mwaramutse (good morning),” I say. And he replies, “Yego (yes); Amakuru (how are you?).” Ni meza (I’m good) I say back to him…and then we are on our way! The mornings are usually cool in Rwanda, but I always appreciate the 25 minute cool ride to wake me up a bit.
So I usually arrive at school around 6:30 and wait for the guards to realize I am there and come open the gate. I exchange the same greetings with them and move towards my classroom. School starts at 8:00 but I use this time in the morning to do a lot of my preparation. I like arriving early so that I can get back to the church and home earlier.
Around 7:30 kids start arriving and I always have to remind them that they need to wait in their special spot outside the classroom instead of coming in so early. So, from 8:00-3:30 my day is full of 14 little kindergarteners. As the days go by they are getting more and more used to being in school all day and are learning more about the routines of being in school. I really should be writing down the things that they say, because they are all too hilarious but also all too easy to forget!
I usually stay at school until around 4:00. Then my motorbike driver friend comes and picks me up and I always have him drop me at church. I usually walk into the church office ( a small room attached to the church that has become a part of home for me) and greet whoever is there. “Yesu Ishimwe” (Praise Jesus), I say. This is the substitute for hi or how are you if you are greeting a Christian. I usually catch up with whoever is in the office (there is a group of guys that are basically on “staff” even though they cannot be paid) and then see if there is anything I can do to help the church. Sometimes I help with different odds and ends in the office (computer problems, recording data, etc) or sometimes with different children’s programs that are being planned. The worship team practices 3 times a week, so I love those days! I love just sitting and listening to them sing and trying to learn the songs in Kinyarwanda. Almost every day there is also someone in the office that has come to the church to seek help or prayer. So it is always neat to at least greet them and smile. The church has such a great reputation in the community of trying to help people; so, it is cool to see all the people who come for support and hope.
Depending on the day I usually reach home sometime between 6:30-8:30. Then the greeting of my family begins! I love coming home and seeing Daniella, Nathan, and Joella. I seriously miss them even if I don’t see them for one day! I try to greet the kids in both Kinyarwanda and English, so that they keep learning English. Sometimes when I come home they run into my arms and say “inshuti wanje” (my friend) or “nda gukunda” (I love you). But other days when I come home they look at me with a huge smile on their face and say “Nda Kuanz.” Which actually means I am no longer your friend. But whenever they say this to me I pretend to be really sad and start crying, which they think is hilarious. So we have lots of fun!
So for the remainder of the evening I just spend time with them or do various things around the home. Sometimes I try to help with the cooking. I love learning how to cook in Rwanda! I don’t know much yet…but I will get there. Then we eat dinner around 9:00 and I go to bed soon after that!
So…most of that seems pretty normal to me and maybe even boring to read. But I thought for those of you who wanted a peek into life, this would be the best way!

It has been awhile...

2008-09-06T19:28:00.000+02:00

Well, it has been quite some time since I have updated my blog. I am not sure what specific story to tell you since it has been so long! Also, sometimes it is hard to remember what I should share because the longer I live here the more life just seems normal!! My weeks and days have felt very full as I have now become a kindergarten teacher. Crazy. I have successfully finished my first week of school (and a week of training). I do feel a little new to this whole world, but overall it is going well. I sort of feel like I am living two different lives (my life at school with quite a few Americans and my life at home/church with all Rwandans), but I think as time goes on I will adjust to living both of those lives. I have 13 Kindergarteners right now, with one coming sometime in the near future, and two coming in January. One of my favorite parts of teaching is the fact that the children are from all over the world. I have a few from Rwanda, a few from America, one from England, one from Tanzania, one from Japan, one from Uganda, and one from somewhere else that I can’t quite remember! That is where they are “from”, but it was pretty funny going around and asking the kids where they are from. One of the Rwandan girls said “Canada!” and one of the American boys said “Africa!” You see, a good number of these kids have lived most of their lives in places that their parents are not from. Some of them weren’t even sure where they from! Anyway, it is fun to think about how to teach these children from all different cultures. One of the highlights of being here is still living with my family. I love coming home at night and just being with them, helping them prepare dinner for guests, or playing with the kids. I am also still really enjoying being a part of my church here. I always stop by the church every day after school and help with little things or just say hi to the people there. Oh! I also really enjoyed going to a Rwandan wedding the other day!! I will have to write more about that later…it was quite the experience. Please continue to be praying for me as I learn to balance teaching and the rest of life!! These first few weeks have been a little long, but I am still doing well.

A Story from the Market

2008-08-15T11:27:00.002+02:00

Yesterday I went to the big local market with Annie, Joel's wife. I had been wanting to visit the market for some time so I was really looking forward to this shopping adventure! When we arrived I was pleased to observe ALL the people selling all sorts of food..it really was quite interesting. But, the most interesting part came about 10 minutes into being there. I had been feeling a little bit thirsty, but I thought I would be just fine. All of a sudden I got very dizzy...I said to Annie, "I am feeling very dizzy and a few seconds later I fainted! The next thing I remember is a large group of Rwandan people standing over me and Annie saying "Are you ok?!" over and over again. However, hearing the story from Annie for those few minutes I was passed out is really quite hilarious! She said as I fainted she tried to catch me a little bit. Then a large crowd of Rwandan people immediately surrounded me and started saying things like, "Look! The muzungu (white person) is going to die! Look at her! Look at her!" Meanwhile Annie was trying to yell at them to help her and to back away so that some air could get to me. She asked one of the guys there to try to help hold me up a little bit, but the man was afraid that I would be mad if he touched me, so he wouldn't help. After about a minute I woke up and another man was willing to help me stand up and sit in a chair. Annie ran to get some water and juice, while I sat there in the middle of the market creating quite the scene! They moved me to another little shop outside the main market where I sipped my juice and waited for Joel to come pick me up. Meanwhile, the people that were buying things from this shop kept staring at me, trying to figure out who this strange looking girl was. One customer asked the shopkeeper who I was and he replied, "Inshuti Wanje," which means "my friend" in Kinyarwanda. Since this is one of the phrases I have learned, I smiled and said the same thing back to him. Anyway, it really was quite the experience and I'm sure I provided a great story for everyone to bring home to their family that night! I am feeling stronger as time goes on and am just continuing to drink plenty and rest.

"Snapshots"

2008-07-29T14:10:00.003+02:00

After trying for some time, I have decided that my internet connection is simply not fast enough to upload pictures right now. So, instead I will just give you a few "snapshots" of living in Rwanda.

- I visited a church members home and they gave me a gift of a rabbit. Well, I don't actually have it yet. They want it to continue to grow for awhile, then they will invite me back and cook it for me! It was quite an experience for them to grab this rabbit running around their home, pick it up by the ears, hold it out in front of me and have them explain that this was a gift for me. In the midst of translation I actually thought they wanted me to take it from them right then, but we quickly got that detail worked out!

- Riding the motorbikes is one of my new favorite things to do in Rwanda!! Don't worry, I am trying to only ride them in places where there is not as much traffic. There have been times where all I can think of is the song that says "my life is in Your hands!"

- The children I am living with are still very cute and full of energy. One of the only English phrases they know is "Bad Manners!" So, they are constantly running up to me and saying "Bad Manners, Alyssa! Bad Manners!" It makes me laugh every time.

- I am still enjoying the food. For those of you who like the details: Every morning we have bread (with peanut butter or honey etc etc) and tea. Most lunches we have rice, vegetables, and beans or some sort of sauce for the rice. And most dinners (which, by the way, are at around 9:30pm) are fairly similar to lunch often with some kind of cooking banana. A couple times a week we have salad (cabbage, carrots, avocados, cucumbers). The fact that avocados are common here is simply wonderful!! Then we usually have African Tea, which is one of my new favorite things. It is just tea boiled in milk and other spices, but I love it. We also have the treat of FRESH juice a couple times a week!!

- And things are still going well at the church. I have been helping them input a bunch of information that they don't have on the computer yet. (For example, I have started with trying to create a good system for recording all the information for the children who are being sponsored.) This Saturday I will be teaching CLASS 301 (a class about discovering your ministry)! They have done CLASS 101 and 201, but this will be their first 301. So we will see how a four hour class being translated goes!!

Child Sponsorship

2008-07-19T16:15:00.002+02:00

Today I met the 32 children who are sponsored to go to school through my church. Joel had some connection with a pastor of a small church in Scotland. So now the members of that church are sponsoring children in the community of my church. They all come to the church once a month and bring their school reports and write letters to their sponsors. It was a very impacting moment to watch them write letters to these people in Scotland. I have become so familiar with child sponsorship on the other side of things, but to see these kids and spend even a few minutes with them really affected me. It was so cool to see it working from one church to another! Half of me wanted to gather all the money and sponsors as fast as possible to send more kids to school, and the other half of me was a bit overwhelmed thinking about the magnitude of children who would love to have a sponsor. My mind raced as I tried to figure out how this could be most effective and how I could help this program to grow. My heart really was affected by these kids...so now I will continue to process and see how I can be helpful to this church that is reaching out to their community in such great ways!!

A Great Birthday in Rwanda!

2008-07-16T12:16:00.001+02:00

I am now 21! Thank you to SO many of you who sent me emails or other forms of birthday wishes yesterday. I had a wonderful birthday here. As soon as I woke up the kids started singing happy birthday and saying "Happy Birthday, Alyssa" over and over in their cute Rwandan accents. Later in the morning (after making up some story about why I needed to put on some clothes that could get dirty) one of the girls from the church came in and started marking me with charcoal and saying all sorts of weird things to me. I obviously knew it was a joke, so I was laughing as she was pulling me towards the outside door. Well, as soon as I reached the door, some of the people from the family I am living with jumped out from around the corner, shouted happy birthday, and dumped two HUGE buckets of water on me!! It was very funny, but I don't think the Daniella and Nathan (the kids I am living with) thought so because they got soaked as well! According to them, that is a traditional thing to do on someone's birthday!
So I quickly changed back into dry clothes and left to go to town to pick up a card from my family that I thought someone had left at the front desk of a hotel. So one of the guys from the church went with me to help me find the place. After riding the public taxi for awhile, we got out and walked for quite some time. I thought either it was just really far away, or he was lost. However, when I arrived home I found out that he was just trying to keep me away from the house because they were planning a surprise party for me! I walked in my room and all the people who live in my house and the Wheeler family all surprised me and sang happy birthday! They even had a cake that said "Happy Birthday, Alyssa" on it. So I blew out the candles and we then had an huge Rwandan lunch. It was so fun to celebrate with them.
I decided to go back with the Wheelers and we went to the Bourbon Cafe (almost like a Starbucks) where we relaxed and got on the internet. I ended up just spending the night at the Wheelers last night instead of trying to figure out transportation at night. And now I am sitting at a hotel using their free internet!
Pastor Joel joked the other day that since I am now 21 I am mature enough to start more of my ministry here. He has been very busy with a team that is here through Hope Rwanda (he is the country coordinator) but will be more available to meet and plan in this next week. It has actually been neat to be able to observe what it is like on the other side when a team from America is here for a week or so. It has also been good for me to simply continue to get to know his family and settle into Kigali. Of course, my nature is usually to always be doing something, but I am learning a lot about the value of slowing down!

My first few days in Rwanda

2008-07-06T23:53:00.000+02:00

Kigali is treating me well! I just finished my first day at church, and it was simply wonderful. It was SO good to be back in this church that I love so much. I truly do feel at home. During the morning service I stayed during the singing time, then I shared a few words with the church, and then I went into the children's service. There were almost 100 kids in one room of all different ages! So you can pray that we can figure out a way to be able to split up the kids into smaller groups according to their ages. My primary ministry will be in the children's ministry and I am VERY excited about that. They just started a Sunday school about 3 months ago (it is not that common in Rwanda), but they really believe in investing in it. So, it is a wonderful situation to step into! The morning service was about 3-4 hours long, so after coming back to the home to eat lunch, it was about time to go back for the evening service! Their evening service is in both English and Kinyarwanda. So I am really looking forward to being involved in the Sunday school in the mornings and then being able to go to church for myself in the evenings! God really has continued to confirm that this is where he wants me for this year. It is so wonderful to be able to tell people that I am not leaving in a few weeks, but that I am able to stay for a year! They always look shocked. Thank you all for your continued prayers and encouragement. It truly means a lot. I wrote an update on July 4th, but I wasn't able to post it...so I will post that below.

Friday July 4^th

I arrived safely in Kigali!! Around 4:30pm on July 2^nd, I arrived in Kigali and Pastor Joel picked me up at the airport. We went to his home (which is now also my home for these next few weeks!) and ate a meal with his family. His children (Daniella: age 3, Nathan: age 2, and Joella: 8 months) were very excited to see me and immediately began telling me all sorts of things in Kinyarwanda! Daniella and Nathan are always wanting to play, sit in my lap, play with my hair, look at my things, etc etc etc. They really are very cute and it is fun to feel so loved by them.

My room is very nice…with a very comfortable bed, and even mu own outlet to plug things into! I feel very blessed. For these first few days they want for me to just be able to rest and adjust to being in Rwanda. On Monday we will begin to move forward with my time here this year. I really do feel like they have made their home my home. Of course it can still be a little difficult to figure out how I fit into their family routine, but so far it really is going well.

Yesterday I went to the church with Queen (Joel’s sister-in-law who also lives in this house) for worship band practice. It was SO wonderful to just sit in the church and listen to them practice. I just love worshiping God in other countries!!

So…I am looking forward to continuing to get settled in and learn as much of the language as possible! Right now I have to use Joel’s computer any time I want to use the internet, so I am not sure when I will be able to post this…but I thought I could at least write it and then post it once I am able to get connected!

Waiting in London

2008-07-01T21:30:00.000+02:00

Well, I have now been in the London airport for nine hours...and counting! My flight continues to be delayed, but honestly it doesn't feel like I have been here that long. I sprung for the internet and have found a wonderful nook that amazingly continues to be open every time I get up and come back again!

Taking off from LAX was a strange experience. In many ways it felt totally normal as I have flown quite a bit back and forth to college. On the other hand, it began to hit me that I was actually leaving to go live in Rwanda for a year. I like saying that--live in Rwanda. I know it is only a year, but it is comforting and exciting to think about attempting to live there instead of just visit. We'll see if I am still saying that a few months from now!

So, I am not entirely sure when I will be arriving in Kigali...but I will get there eventually! I talked to Pastor Joel about my delays and since the church is just across the street from the airport he said he will just watch out his window for the plane to come into Kigali. I'm not sure how he is going to tell from the sky if it is MY plane or not! But, considering the fact that there are only a few flights into Kigali per day, I think it will all work out just fine :-).

I am very new to "blogging," but my cousins told me I should be funny. Unfortunately I don't think I have lived up to their recommendations, but maybe I can blame that on the fact that I haven't slept much! (Although, it seems like if there was anytime I might have something really hilarious to say while blogging it would be in this semi-incoherent state...Oh well.) Anyway, we'll just have to see how it goes. Feel free to check back for updates. I am not sure how often I will be blogging, but I'm sure I will get into a rhythm after awhile.