Living with your heart in two places

   A week ago today Bonnie and I touched down in Boston and Denver returning to the families, churches and friends we love. But there is also a part of us that remains in Rwanda with the brave men and women we know who are pushing back the darkness and bringing hope to so many people, one at a time. It is a slow and deliberate process, but that is what makes lasting change possible.

  
   There are some faces that will stay with me for a long time. This is Theresa. She had two disabled children when she first came to Love With Actions (LWA) a year ago.  Her husband has been abusive, she had been rejected by the community and her life was incredibly hard. In February one disabled son, Pascal, died from pneumonia. Valens, pictured here, is 15 years old. Theresa found an advocate in Gilbert. An advocate for her and for her sons. She has now been trained as a weaver and a seamstress and is joining with new found friends producing beautiful products that allow her to provide for her family. She has confidence. She has hope. She knows that she and Valens are safe and loved at Love With Actions. Just look at her face! We even told her she looks a lot like Michelle Obama.
       .                  

  Theresa shows what is possible when we support LWA and allow Gilbert to do what God has clearly called him to do.

   The good news about LWA is spreading. Gilbert just shared with me that when he arrived at the Bumbogo Center for Family Empowerment yesterday ten new families were waiting.... having finally come out of hiding, each with a disabled child, each hoping Love With Actions will include them in their program. LWA is not really equipped to say yes...but how can they say no. It is a reason for much prayer and discernment.

   An image that comes to my mind is Jesus, in Matthew 9, walking through the towns and villages that were just like Bumbogo. "Seeing the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd." And Gilbert said what came to his mind was Jesus, in Matthew 15, looking out on thousands of hungry people and again "having compassion on them" and using His power and the hands and feet of his disciples he miraculously met their need. We are now asking God what His plan is, and how he wants to use Gilbert, me and you to make it happen.

   The same is true in Rubavu where Shalom Ministries is receiving many, many requests from schools, churches and community groups to come and share their message of hope and reconciliation. People desperately want to be healed from their wounds and to find the freedom they see in the people whose stories we have been sharing with you. Again, we call on God to show us our responsibility in being his hands and feet in Rubavu, and the world.

  Thank you for your faithful prayers and loving support to Bonnie and I, before during and after our journey to Rwanda. Bonnie is so gifted in many areas, and the knowledge, tools and love she left behind in Rwanda will be a blessing for years to come. I learned so much from her!

   If you would like to be a part of a future journey to Rwanda just let me know......

 

A fun way you can support Love With Actions mothers

   We just wanted to let everyone see some of the beautiful products, hand made by the mothers of Love With Actions, that we brought back from Rwanda. We will have them for sale in Colorado and New Hampshire and you can buy without any shipping costs because we were able to bring them home in our empty suitcases.

   I am especially pleased with the grocery/shopping bags you see in the third picture. No more plastic bags for me! As the LWA mothers earn more income from their own hard work Love With Actions will no longer need to provide as much food or rent support, so more families can be helped. And imagine in the pride in knowing they have done it themselves!

Beautiful selection of hand woven baskets
and hand sewn items in gorgeous African fabrics

Each item includes the photo and story
of the mother who made it

Imagine replacing all those plastic grocery bags
with these beautiful shopping bags!
some even have plastic liners

Large and small baskets trivets and sets of coasters
all hand selected by Sally & Bonnie

Compassion child visits and Debriefing time

   We both love the work Compassion International does in helping to "release kids from extreme poverty in Jesus' name" through education, spiritual development, health care and skills training including how to set and achieve goals. Tuesday morning Bonnie was able to visit her sponsored 17 year old girl Liliane who lives right on the Congolese border in Rubavu, and Wednesday Sally visited 21 year old young man Tuyiringire who lives 12 km up the road. She and Jim have sponsored him since 2004 when he was 7. Both days also allowed us some much needed time for debriefing all we have experienced. On group trips I always plan a couple of days just for team debriefing, but this has been a "working trip" and we will squeeze in debriefing where we can.

  On Tuesday morning Bonnie was picked up by Emmanuel, a Compassion translator, who accompanied her to meet her sponsor child, Liliane, for the first time.  With a little bit of nervous energy in tow, they first stopped by Liliane's Compassion Project office and spoke with 5 members including the Compassion staff and the Parent Committee.  After looking through Liliane's file which included her scholastic, compassion and medical records Liliane walked into the room and gave Bonnie a huge hug with a smile from ear to ear! and shouts of joy were heard.  Liliane's mother accompanied her and Bonnie was pleasantly surprised that her mother spoke French! No translator needed for Bonnie to speak directly with her mother.  What a wonderful visit Bonnie, Liliane and her mother had together getting to know each other, visiting her home, seeing her bedroom with the pictures sent by Bonnie and letters nailed to the empty walls and going out to lunch. Bonnie left her with some simple games for her to play with her friends and even taught her how to play "Cat's Cradle".  Selfies were taken like any American teenager on the way to lunch together in the car and after lunch under a beautiful large leafed tree about 40 feet high! For Bonnie, this visit was essential to understanding how to write to her child and what things Liliane is really interested in. Bonnie and Liliane both agreed to communicate with letters including questions to have each other answer in the following letter.  With the span of time between letters, we decided to both taken out the previous letter prior to writing another one to make sure we answered the questions.  Everyone likes getting letters especially when they are personalized to you!

Bonnie and Liliane

Tuyiringire 2004

   Sally and Jim began sponsoring Tuyiringire after her first visit to Rwanda in 2004.  He had lost his father in the post genocide conflicts and his mother was left to raise Tuyiringire and his twin sister as well as a brother one year older, by herself. At age 6 the little girl died and Tuyiringire was enrolled in Compassion. Today both boys are on their way to completing secondary school which is a huge accomplishment. He told us his grades took a big jump after I brought him a solar light so he could study in the evening. The things we take for granted! Tuyiringire loves to sing Gospel music and he sang and played the drum for us. His plan after graduation is to find a way to attend a two year program in mechanics and driving. This is a good way for a young man in Rwanda to earn a living. There are now many more Rwandans graduating from university, and not nearly enough jobs for them all. . You can enjoy his singing in the video below (sorry I don't know how to trim videos) I knew visiting Tuyiringire would be emotional, because he recently turned 21 and will graduate from secondary school next month. Then he will have completed the Compassion program as well. In addition to sponsoring him for 14 years I have visited his family in their tiny Rwandan home 7 or 8 times as well. He is a part of our family. The good news is, once he has completed the program we will be able to exchange emails and continue to stay in touch.

  

    As we left his home we saw so many children who are clearly not in school, not getting enough food and dressed in rags. The women looked the same, with hopelessness in their eyes. All I could think was "this would be Tuyiringire and his mom if Compassion had not stepped in." Wow. Thanks to those of you who also sponsor kids - even if the letter writing is sometimes frustrating, real change IS happening. Look in the faces of his entire family - they all love Jesus and have reason to hope for a good future.

        Wednesday afternoon we drove back to Kigali and stopped at the LWA workshop where we filled our now empty suitcases with beautiful baskets and fabric items (including, according to Bonnie, Vera Bradley-like accessories and bags) made by the LWA moms. Bonnie and I will both have these for sale at our homes and in our churches when we speak about Rwanda.

       Thursday morning we drove 2 hours to see Ildephonse, the 16 year old young man with new prosthetic legs thanks to Love With Actions, at his boarding school in Gatagara. The school has 600 students, 250 with disabilities. No longer are they seen as "different," no longer are they the subject of taunting and rejection. At this school everyone belongs. Conditions are still rough, but classes are a reasonable size, there is a bed to sleep on, porridge in the morning and two meals of something like beans and rice every day. Ildephonse will grow and learn in this environment.

Ildephonse - a young man full of courage and talent
Thanks to Love With Actions for opening the doors to his future

   It is Friday morning for me (Sally) and I am in the Brussels airport en route to London and Denver. Bonnie is flying KLM Amsterdam to Boston. Thank you for sharing in this journey with us. We will each make one final blog post when we get home and can pull our thoughts together. It has been a journey with God and for people he loves. Let's be honest, God can not be pleased to see some of His children suffering so much when His body, the Church, could be alleviating some of that suffering... one child, one widow, one family at a time. To God be the glory.

Sally & Bonnie

More work for Bonnie in Rwanda & Sally is in the garden

   Monday Bonnie and I played to our strengths: She went to the Ubumwe Center and did significant physical therapy work with Ngabo and his PT tech, Michael. I went with Jean Paul and Eliane to the demonstration gardens recently built by Shalom on the grounds of the sector office (Rubavu sector has 43,000 people).

  Teaching nutrition has been an aim of Shalom because malnutrition is still very prevalent in the area. Chronic malnutrition, resulting in stunting, is still present in 37% of all children 5 and under in Rwanda. In both Bonnie and Sally's experience on this trip this number is significantly higher especially with children with disabilities.  For example, approximately 50% of the children Bonnie saw for physical therapy at Love With Actions in Kigali outskirts were malnourished. Many groups come to visit the Shalom demonstration gardens to learn how to grow healthy food in small spaces using a minimum of water. They even have national and international groups coming to see what they are doing so well.  Over the years I have brought several new varieties of seeds for them to try, working with a Christian tropical agriculture group in Ft. Myers, FL. It is called ECHO (echonet.org).

   In addition to kitchen gardens Shalom has seed beds to raise plants and harvest seed that women can take home for their own gardens and also a nursery area for raising avocado, fruit and shade trees. Planting trees is a big focus of the government to prevent erosion in the "Land of 1,000 Hills" and to reduce global warming. Shalom is working to introduce Chaya plants and Moringa trees which both have a perennial supply of very nutritious leaves. Shalom means life in it's fullness - that includes spiritual and physical health, and Shalom brings them together so well. 

   All of the work we have described is being done by Shalom with only 2 full time staff, dedicated volunteers and an annual budget of about $30,000. When we give to Shalom we are having a HUGE impact with every dollar. Thank you to Windham Presbyterian Church and St. James Presbyterian Church for being faithful partners.

Eliane and Sally checking out a new variety of papaya
grown from seeds brought last year

A successful kitchen garden - one of many in the Shalom display gardens
located right on the main road so everyone walks by it often

   While Sally was working with demonstration gardens, Bonnie started her work with Ngabo Alex at Jessie's Place/Physical Therapy office at Ubumwe Community Center (UCC).  When Bonnie and Sally first met Ngabo Alex in 2010 he was a very emaciated 16 year old whose means of locomotion was crawling around in the dirt on his hands and knees.  He was considered a second class citizen in the community and given left over scraps to eat.  He was not attending school and could not stand.  In 2010 Bonnie and Sally had visited a center called UCC which helped to train people with disabilities a craft or skill that could potentially help to support themselves.  We have lots of centers like this in the USA, but we have to remember that having a center such as this one is at the forefront of changing ideas and mindset in Rwanda.  It is common place for family members to think that the child or mother are cursed or that the father of the child is not the husband.  Many fathers leave their wives and children with disabilities with no support, emotional or monetary and children are locked in a room so as not be seen by the community.  In 2010  after meeting Ngabo we connected him to UCC and he started attending first 3 days a week and quickly progressed to 5 days a week.  I was able to connect with Michael, his trainer, to consult and give him some advice in working with Ngabo after a careful assessment of his impairments and gait.  We returned to the basics and focused on sit to stand training.  Ngabo Alex is now a very strong man and can beat me doing pushups without a problem! 

   Next, Michael and I focused on stretching his legs and looking at quality of movement versus quantity.  Michael is trained as an acrobat and is very interested in learning the art of kinesiology.  I worked with Ngabo Alex for 60 minutes which included stretching, sit to stand and walking. UCC is lucky to have a successful internship program where students attend from various European countries.  I met three women from Holland studying kinesiology and design, fabricating assistive devices for patients who need them.  What a blessing to a physical therapist to have them on site!  Ngabo Alex was next on their list to create a walker.  Before I started working with him the women needed  his measurements to create a platform walker.  

   The three women were eager to know my opinion on their design.  My first question in looking at this "three-wheeled walker" was, "Is there a reason why it only has 3 wheels?"  They responded with the following: "Our original design had four wheels, but we were unable to located a fourth wheel!"  The four of us chuckled as none of us experienced such issues in our home countries, but at the same time realized this is what makes working in countries like Rwanda challenging.  You get what you get and you don't get upset and more importantly you use your creativity! After working with Ngabo with stretching and quality movement in sit to stand and walking, I asked Michael to go across the street to the office of the women from Holland and remeasure him for his newly formed.  Shortly after, the three women came back and to everyone's surprise he had gained 10 cm (4") in height!  It is a good thing I asked them to come back and remeasure! Ngabo Alex was finally standing upright on his own. I finished the day training eager staff in pediatric motor development.  I enjoyed working with Yvonne, Michael, Jean Baptiste and Claude.  

Remember the video of Bonnie teaching Kagabo how to hold a pencil?
Here we are in the "papeterie" buying crayons and paper for him to practice.

   Our day ended back at the guest house where Bonnie trained Jean Paul to take blood pressure readings for some of the older women who are known to have high blood pressure. We learned from them that drinking beet juice is a proven way to reduce blood pressure - I even looked it up, and it's true. We learn from them as well. The cuff and stethoscope now belong to Shalom.

"Dr. Jean Paul" learning to take blood pressure readings
with stethoscope and cuff donated by Bonnie

  As we publish this post we realize we have only one more full day in Rwanda (Wednesday), and then we will be heading home Thursday night. What an amazing two weeks.

Worship in Burinda, Rubavu

  Sunday was a day of worship at Burinda Baptist Church - a typical 3 hour plus Rwandan service with 5 choirs, introductions of visitors, sharing of testimonies, dancing and preaching (by the way...no one has yet developed a deodorant strength for preaching in a packed Rwandan church).
   I chose to preach on Luke 4 and Isaiah 61, focusing on how God comes to exchange our brokenness for his abundant life. Isaiah says that once we have been forgiven and healed we become "oaks of righteousness, for the display of God's splendor." I brought along some oak leaves and acorns from my back yard, because oaks do not grow in Rwanda. We are healed in order to live to bless others and to display God's splendor, especially to those who do not know Him yet. And then the passage says that the very ones who were broken and wounded, once healed, become the ones to rebuild the ruined cities...to change things that have been wrong for generations. It will not be the Americans, or the government who change their communities, it will be them! They were encouraged to go out and simply enter the home of a lonely neighbor, the mother of a disabled child, any person they know is isolated or wounded, and to introduce themselves. To learn the name and listen to the story of their neighbor. It starts that simply. I said that if some were feeling isolated or wounded, in need of healing, they could talk with Jean Paul or other Shalom team members after the service. I learned today that a number of people, including several men, had come up to Jean Paul to learn more about the healing ministry he offers. Praise God!
   After a visitor preaches the pastor always gets up to summarize, and often improve on, the message. He told the congregation that next week he would be asking who had acted on something God said to them today. What a great idea. We should try it in our churches too.
   Both Bonnie and I noticed that the pastor looked very thin, and we were concerned for him. Jean Paul said it was probably "poverty" meaning that he does not get enough to eat. Sobering.

Joyful worship in Burinda Baptist Church with Pastor Emmanuel
and many visitors from the local Shalom Women's Clubs

Preaching on Luke 4 and Isaiah 61
Jesus would have been very at home in Burinda
He declared he came to preach GOOD NEWS to the poor,
to bind up the broken hearted and to set the oppressed free
He is doing that now through his servants

At the close of worship we received a lifetime supply of bananas
because they felt we were looking a bit too thin to be a good Rwandan women
and yes....there was another large chicken involved

   After worship we went to the home of key Shalom team member Eliane, who is the primary person reaching out to the women and youth of Rubavu. She has a powerful story of healing and transformation that began in 2010.

arriving at Eliane (key member of Shalom staff) and Eliphaz' home for lunch

Sharing a meal and fellowship together
yes, a familiar chicken was involved, but Bonnie and I went vegetarian

Presenting a complete study Bible in Kinyarwanda
to Eliane and Eliazar who is a tailor but also
trained as an evangelist

Elaine's family in 2010 when I first met them

The same family today (2 sons were not at home)
a transformed family by the power of God!
ready to change their entire community now
What am I doing with the new life Christ has given me?

  Bonnie and I brought a gift to the family of money they could use for any family needs, particularly school fees because I new school year begins Jan. 1. They wept when they opened the gift and said "the Holy Spirit spoke to you" because the day before their two oldest children, about to enter the upper secondary grades, had been expressing their dreams; Providance wants to go on to a good boarding school and Ephraim wants to do a two year program for electricity and plumbing. In order to move on in school they must have all school fees from the past three years paid in full. No matter how great a student you are you do not get your certificate to move on unless these bills are paid in full. The parents had outstanding debt for both children. With this gift they will be able to pay off those debts and have some left over to pay fees to begin the new school year. 

   Over and over we have seen God go before us. The Sermon on the Mount says "let your light so shine that others may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Truly God gets all the glory around here. He knew the heart's desires of those kids, and their parents. 

  We thought we were headed home after a full morning of 3 hour worship service and 2 hour home visit, but instead the car headed further out in the countryside so we could watch a few minutes of the Shalom football (soccer) team competing in a local tournament. As usual, the Shalom group includes young Christian players of all three ethnicities. In a culture where football is very competitive and causes real divisions between communities, Shalom is different. The team prays with other teams and shares their message of "peace through sport" during half time. Hundreds of people come out to see every match, and hear their message.

The scenery is beautiful, in the shadow of the volcano,
but on the football pitch you must beware of goat and cow pies here and there...

Halftime for the team - big crowds always gather for any football match
and hear Shalom's message

Captain Ngabo asked us for some of our water before the start of the second half
We think that made all the difference as they came right out and scored a GOOOOAL
winning 4-0

   Weary, but knowing it had been a very good day of worship and celebrating all God is doing, we  dropped into bed. Thanks for following our journey. Sharing helps us to process the emotions of the day.

             

Just for the foodies - what do we eat in Rwanda?

Buffet prepared by Jean Paul's family

more of the buffet!

Bonnie's "Chief Pizza" at our guesthouse topped with hard boiled eggs,
carrots, red peppers, and lots of onions

Our morning routine at the guesthouse...a plate local fruits
passion fruit, tree tomato, watermelon, pineapple and small bananas

Simple omelette and lemon crepe to go with the fruit for breakfast

buffet at Elaine's home - all cooked on a charcoal fire
fish, rice, plantains, fruit, greens & eggplant, and, sadly
 a strangely familiar chicken last seen in the back of our car (alive)

a little dessert treat tonight of chocolate crepes

A gift of bananas - right off the tree- given to us by the church this morning
to "fatten us up" as American women are clearly too skinny :-)

Saturday in Rwanda

    We spent Saturday at the Shalom Office where immediately we were greeted with a celebration of school age dancers as we walked thorough the door.  These children are hired out for weddings and other celebrations and with the proceeds from dancing they are able to pay their school fees. Every time they dance they also share messages about peace, unity and reconciliation. The morning was a true celebration of ethnic unity between the three original tribes of Rwanda (Twa, Tutsi and Hutu) as each group was represented in the dance group. The young women danced the richness of cattle with their arms in the air to demonstrate the horns of the cows and the young men danced the strength, courage and fierceness of lions while each tribe bantered back and forth.  What a celebration of all ethnicities becoming one! We have been blessed with only a few thunderstorms even though this is the start of the rainy season.

     We then heard from 6 women who are rising up as leaders in the Shalom ministry of reconciliation. Women are moving quickly form being healed to becoming healers themselves.
     Rahab and Nyirakazuba: In 1994 14 year old Rahab watched as her Tutsi parents were killed by a neighbor. Twenty four years later she had still never shared that experience with anyone. Last March a Shalom healing workshop created a safe space that allowed her to break her silence and to begin to find healing and a desire to actually forgive the old man who is now in prison. First she went to his wife, Nyirakazuba, to share her desire to forgive the husband. Nyirakazuba then shared that she too had lost all of her 9 children and with her husband in prison her only "children" were the little mice in her house. She was a terribly lonely woman. The Shalom staff accompanied Rahab to the prison as she met face to face with the killer, and then stayed close by her side in the following days until the resurfaced trauma gradually subsided. Rahab has no parents, and Nyirakazuba has no children. Now God has created actual love between them. They consider each other mother and daughter and Nyirakazuba comes to watch Rahab's six children. They now live quite a distance from one another, and sometimes one would walk to the other's home and find them not there, so Jean Paul gave them each cell phones so they can talk and arrange times to be together. He has such a great heart.
    What a privilege it was to listen to all 6 of these women tell their story and how it has affected their lives, but more importantly the transformation they have had over the last 6-18 months with the help of Shalom Ministries in reconciliation.  Each woman had her own story of tragedy, triumph, horror and peace.  Each one of them stated that this new found peace would never have been possible without the love of God and of the Shalom staff.  For me (Bonnie), this was the first time I had heard stories in the first person about the Genocide.  It was an emotional day and God shone his light again in the history of darkness.

Julienne, Nyirakazuba, Rahab, Bonnie, Sekinah, Mukamurenzi, Sally, Alphonsine

Sekinah, a Muslim who knows she has been healed by Jesus, and Julienne

   We finished off the day with a stop at Shalom Director Jean Paul's home to enjoy time with his three children while wife Judith was at work. She works in housekeeping at a high end hotel on the lake to help support his ministry. She works 6 days a week and earns about $120 per month. Yes, that's less than $5 a day. This ministry is a calling and an act of love for Jean Paul and Judith.

Lucky (9) adopted daughter Rachel (18) Ryan (4) Jean Paul