Lake Mead Christian Academy

Emma and I left Kigali, Rwanda for Nairobi, Kenya Friday morning. We were greeted in Nairobi by Pastor Isaac and his wife Robby. We spent the afternoon touring their ministries including the slum of 80,000 people they are hoping to reach, mostly single women and moms many of them with HIV. We also went by their church in a neighborhood in need. We met their family and visited their home and talked ministry.

Later we met up with the Kigali team at a restaurant called Carnivores. It has a big BBQ pit where almost any meat you can think of is cooked. They just bring around big skewers of meat hot off the grill and fill your plate. They keep doing that until you have had your fill. I liked the ostrich best and the crocodile the least. What a cool experience.

We were all on the same red-eye flight to London and arrived at Heathrow at 7:00AM. We said our final good-byes and headed our separate ways. It is hard to believe our adventure is over. and yet exciting to see what God has planned for each of us to do now as an extension of our experience in Rwanda.

The Internet has been down at the guest house for the last 2 days so there has been no blogs. As of this moment I am sitting in Bourbon Coffee at the Kigali Airport drinking amazing coffee and trying to digest the last two weeks. It is always emotional to leave any place and then a bit of depression follows and then clarity and finally application…but that all takes time. Right now I just want to skip the sadness and move to the application, which of course is not what God wants.

Emma and I were just talking about how she wishes she wouldn’t have gone to all these places because now she has to be torn between them instead of just being happy in one place. How often we look for that place of “comfort” and avoid the stretching of our hearts. But how might we be changed and be instruments of change when we enlarge our hearts and God’s territory?

The other thing that happens at the end of a mission trip is the realization of how polluted I was before I came. I feel like one of those old buildings in Paris with soot and bird poop all over it except I don’t realize it. Then 3 maybe 4 days into the mission trip I suddenly feel clean, more the authentic “spiritual” me. This time it took the whole first week. Serving others, being flexible, and being completely at the mercy of God’s direction chips away at the routine, dutiful life I get sucked into at home. And now the challenge is to stay connected to God at this level, to go deeper, to listen for His voice, to build hIs kingdom in any way He directs…no matter how crazy.

Our last day was spent with the Street Kids in Kigali. Relationships were truly formed as the children searched out particular people that they had already bonded with. We did a David and Goliath skit which the kids thought was so funny. We had our team pastor, Matt, share about facing your fears with God at your side. One of their kids prayed a blessing for our team and we said tearful good-byes. Emma received some last minute marriage proposals which I said I would have to think about (LOL).

Our team was an amazing act of God. To have that many different groups with VERY different dynamics come together in such a remarkable way can only be God. The divine appointments he brought our way required each person to use their own unique talents at one time or another during our stay. It was an honor to be chosen by God to be a part of this trip and God’s work here in Rwanda. And God is really working in Rwanda. There are many plans in place to expand the ministries at the Dream Center, The Christian School in Kayonza, and the ministry to Kageo. All the ANLM staff from America and Rwanda were all together this week (which is a rare thing) so we had the chance to hear many of the things planned.

Thank you all for your prayers and for reading and commenting on our blog. We are off to Kenya for the day where we will meet a pastor there and tour his ministry. We will meet the rest of the team (except Geoff and Casandra who are staying in Rwanda) at Carnivores tonight. Then we all fly to London together where we will say our final good-byes. Emma and I will stay in London for two more days before returning to Las Vegas. I will blog when I can.

Blessings – Rachel

We went to church this morning. Worship was amazing today. Pastor Charles is a powerful speaker. Today he continued his message from last week on dreaming God-sized dreams. This week was about figuring out your purpose.

After church we headed out to do home visits. We went to Sonia’s house first. We parked and began to walk through alleys in between houses, down dirt slopes, through a courtyard of chickens to her small 2 room home. We met her mother Clementine and her two little sisters Rachel and Jocelyn. We brought her a mattress and sheets and gave her the blanket from the LMCA 2nd grades. She was overwhelmed with joy and put her hands over her face. People just don’t have blankets like that here. It was a very special gift.

John Mary Justus lives in a very similar poor neighborhood. If you have seen Slumdog MIllionaire you can imagine the winding walkways and narrow alleys we had to walk to to get to his house. When we got there he was taking a nap so he was a little groggy but managed a smile when he saw his new soccer ball.

Both homes were without electricity or water or bathrooms. All cooking, washing and bathroom stuff is done outside. We were able to bring mattresses to both homes along with a set of sheets and a blanket. I will give money for food so that the ANLM staff can buy groceries for the families for this month. Thanks to the families at LMCA these two kids will have a chance to finish school and eat regularly. Pray for them because the challenges are many but the hope is great.

Amanda and Todd also went to visit their sponsored kids today.

Today we went to the AIDS clinic and helped with the kick-off of the Hope Rwanda month. We helped divide food into bags for each child to take home along with bars of soap. The vice-mayor of Rwanda was there and many of the 380 city pastors who are sponsoring this event. There were 135 children with AIDS at the event. Each child has been diagnosed with AIDS and is receiving medication from the clinic there. Most have the chance for a fairly long life thanks to the care they are receiving.

In the afternoon we went back to the Dream Center and had a party for the sponsored kids in Kigali. I was able to meet the LMCA sponsored kids, Sonia and John Mary. We had games, took and printed out pictures of the kids, and had cake with them.

Today we went to Kyonza to the Orphanage homes and the Christian school. We gave our Las Vegas presentation in a couple of classrooms and played games all afternoon with the little kids. The most impacting part of my day was meeting my sponsored girl, Ishmwe. I cannot tell you how amazing that was. She was so excited to meet Emma and I. As soon as she saw us she just bolted for us. It was an emotional time – but very cool.

It was a long and tiring day. There were so many kids and all of them in such need of personal attention. I can see why Jesus looked to get away across the lake after ministering to the crowds. We had some great discussion tonight during our group debriefing.

A note about our team. It is an amazing thing God has done. There are 23 of us from 4 different parts of the world; Korea, Las Vegas, Portland, and Idaho. The ages of our group range from 11 to 75 years. You would think there would have been a period of time that was awkward as we began to know each other but there really wasn’t. Within three hours of being together you couldn’t tell there was any difference between the groups. We have all bonded. The Portland team still has 13 bags that have yet to arrive (lost in India somewhere was the last report) but everyone has pulled together and have been able to get them what they need. We are truly a family!

Thanks for your continued prayers.