Friends on a Thousand Hills - Rwanda 2016 Part 7

“I don’t know why God loves me so much.” These are words my friend Beatrice says to me often. Now they are also my words. On Saturday I visited Beatrice’s grandmother (Tate) in her home in western Rwanda. Again. For the second time God has brought me to visit with this wonderful grandmother. This time I brought Kevin.

Greeting Tate and I didn't even cry this time - well barely

Oh, what a day! I’ve decided I love second visits best. Last year was wonderful and fun and tear-filled and overflowing with joy, but this year I knew everyone’s name. We laughed together about our previous visit. We were at ease together. Tate said she remembered last year I said I wanted to bring my husband and here he was.

As promised I brought Kevin

A lot of the visit was the same. We sat close together in the same small room of her home. We drank Fanta. I shared photographs. She has a new grandson, Gavin and stared so long at his photos. I gave her the gifts her children sent. She was so grateful.

Before we left Boise, her grandson Kamana had said, “Please will you FaceTime me when you are with my grandma. I want to see her face again.” And that was the very, very, very best part of our visit. Watching them look at each other’s faces. Kamana who loves his grandmother so much. I’ve never met a person who loves his family as much as Kamana does. Twenty-three year old Kamana. A new father. Works full time. Is a university student. Yet, still he takes his four nieces and nephews to the park or the fun center in Boise most Sunday afternoons. I think his son Gavin is going to have a pretty sweet life.

Tate and Kamana FaceTime while Uncle Theo looks on

We gave Tate our gift, a warm sweater, and I told her the story of the sweater. At home in Boise, I asked her oldest grandchild, 13 year old Celestin (whom I love so very much), “What should I bring your great-grandmother?” I was having trouble thinking of something special. He thought about it and said, “Bring her a sweater because she will be cold.” So we brought a warm sweater, and indeed it is cold where she lives. When she heard the story of the sweater, she smiled her most beautiful smile.

Telling Tate the story of the sweater

As we looked at photos of her great-grandchildren, Celestin, James, Simbi, David, Gavin, Tate said to me, “I think you are their grandmother too. You are their grandmother in America.” And we smiled together.

Celestin

We sat a long while in Tate’s little house and talked about how good God is. She said she thought she was going to die last year because she was very sick but God healed her. I asked her to be strong so her grandchildren can visit her next year. Her grandchildren who will be American citizens next year! I laugh when I think of them needing a Visa to visit Rwanda.

Kevin talked with Uncle Theo, Tate’s son with whom she lives, about farming and what crops they are growing and how life is for them. I asked if all their children are in school. They are. All four of them. This is a huge blessing.

Cousin Gentille married since I last saw her and I was so excited to give her a hug. She looked radiant and confident as a newly married woman, and so changed from the shy young woman I met last year.
As we prepared to leave, we stood together for a family photo. Because we are a family. 

Some of our Rwandan family

Tate, making sure the family photo is a good one

Afterwards, Tate sat down on her little bench to rest and I hugged her again and said, “I hope God blesses us with another visit here in Rwanda, but if not, we will be neighbors in heaven.” Then she said, “I am not strong enough to walk so far, so I will let the others push you to the car.” As I walked away I smiled at her wording and my heart was bursting as Beatrice’s words played in my head, “I don’t know why God loves me so much.”

When I arrived at the car Kevin was surrounded by children he was teaching to play hacky sack. They caught on quickly since they play the same game with soccer balls.

Next to the car, our fantastic driver and good friend John was playing with a dozen neighborhood children. Children flock to him. He had them all in a group singing. Rwanda may have a heartbreaking past, but today they love big. They love children, and I learn so much from them about love and generosity.

Indeed, I don’t know why God loves me so much and has brought me twice to this beloved family.

Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. 1 Corinthians 13

Read Friends on a Thousand Hills - Rwanda Part 8 here

Friends on a Thousand Hills - Rwanda 2016 Part 6

Thank Two are better than one because they have a good return for their hard work. If either should fall, one can pick up the other. But how miserable are those who fall and don’t have a companion to help them up! Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

It is not all pain and heartbreak traveling through the poorer areas of Rwanda. Wednesday was also a day of great joy. We saw our own sponsored child, Umulisa. Again. When we picked her up from her school, I hugged her so hard, I thought she might break.

Umulisa and her Parents

We drove together to her home where her parents were standing outside impatiently waiting for us. Umulisa’s mama and papa, Francine and Jean Bosco greeted us with hard hugs. They were thrilled to meet Kevin and when we entered their small living area, Jean Bosco immediately took a seat beside Kevin. Naomi was wearing her best dress. Jean Bosco was wearing the (now faded) orange Boise State t-shirt I brought last year. He made sure to point that out to us and we laughed. We sat close together on the short, narrow benches lining the walls of their small living space.

Jean Bosco and Kevin - Prayer Partners

Umulisa and I squeezed in beside each other and while I know from her letters she writes English beautifully, she is shy to speak it. Her smile more than makes up for it. I brought gifts again this year and we have started a tradition. Last year I brought Umulisa sturdy, purple Clarke sandals. She loved them. As I received photos of her throughout the year, I saw her wearing them. In one photo I could see they were getting worn. Wednesday as we sat together, I pulled out a pair of the very same sandals, but teal colored. She smiled hugely, covered her mouth and looked at her mama with joy. There were other gifts for her siblings and her parents, but the sandals won the day. It will become an annual tradition for sure!

That Smile

Last year when I visited we were all a bit subdued. It was my first home visit to one of our sponsored children. I felt awkward. I’m sure they did too. But this year, there wasn’t an ounce of awkwardness in the room. We laughed and teased. Jean Bosco said to Kevin, “Now that we have met, we can pray for each other.”

Naomi told us a few months ago while she was cultivating in the field, she stopped and prayed to God that he would bring me back to visit them. Then she looked at us and said, “And just after that we found out you were coming.” She raised her hands up and praised God as we sat together.

We talked a long time about Umulisa’s education. We told them we will support Umulisa through university. Her mama looked at Umulisa and happily told us Umulisa wants to be a nurse. Francine and I have  much in common as our own daughter Rebecca is studying to be a nurse. I like this added bond.

Next year Umulisa will move into grade P7 which means she must change schools. It means a one hour walk to school - each way. After consulting with the sponsorship director in Kageyo, Kevin and I bought Umulisa a bicycle via Africa New Life’s online store. Now Umulisa can make the journey in half the time. I cannot wait to receive the letter I know Umulisa will write and see her standing next to her new bike. I can already see her smile.

Bicycles change lives in Africa. These aren’t your average kids’ bikes. Kevin refers to them as a truck-bike. Every day I see men pushing bicycles loaded with water-filled jerry cans weighing nearly 300 pounds. I see bananas pilled high on them on the way to market. Everything we would transport via car is transported via bicycle in Rwanda. This bicycle will get Umulisa to school, but it will also change her family’s life.

It seemed our visit passed in minutes. I wanted to stay the entire day but it takes three hours to get to Kageyo and it isn’t a drive you want to make in the dark. 

Yet I still have so many things I want to ask Umulisa and talk with her about. I’ll have to be satisfied with letters for now, and pray God takes me back to Rwanda another day.

For now, my heart is happy this bond of friendship and family continues and will continue for eternity.

God is so good to me. I will remember that when the days are hard.

Please sponsor a child. Join me in this journey of joy and change the world. Africa New Life Ministries Child Sponsorship.

Read Friends on a Thousand Hills - Rwanda 2016 Part 7 here

Friends on a Thousand Hills - Rwanda 2016 Part 5

There is a certain point each year when I travel to Rwanda that I break down. Today was that day. I thought I had created an itinerary this year that allowed for more rest, but that was a joke. Every day is a race, and not a sprint, a marathon. It begins early because I push myself to do a lot, running, prayer time, writing, and social media updates, because experiences this big, that involve so many people deserve to be shared.

Tuesday we spent the day at the Gihembe Refugee Camp. It was wonderful and hard and exploding with joy, and imploding in sadness and despair.

Today we drove to Kageyo in eastern Rwanda. We left pavement and drove hours on red, hard-packed dirt bumping bumping bumping along. All the while passing small settlements of the poorest people you will ever see. People living in mud homes that are crumbling around them. Children wearing only a torn t-shirt. I know I wrote about it last year, but the pain of seeing it doesn’t get easier. The land here is experiencing a drought, which means this already difficult area to farm has become nearly impossible. How they survive, I do no know. My last letter from our sponsored daughter Umulisa was a thank you for food we had sent. She said, “How did you know we had almost no food?”

Yvonn's Family

We visited the daughter my own mom sponsors. Her name is Yvonn. She is a delightful fourteen year old in grade P5. Her father is too ill to work, so they survive on what her mama can cultivate and earn. Her mama has seven children. The youngest one month old. As we gathered in the front of their little home, I held baby Jean Pierre. I told Mama Yvonn he is a beautiful baby and she replied, “I would give him to you if I could.” I could only smile at her in return, but inside I was hurting.

Yesterday as we left the refugee camp an older teenager boy stood next to the car, tiny children swarmed around him as they each tried to slap my hand before we left. The teenager said, “Give me money.” I shook my head knowing it is forbidden and would cause chaos and certainly make me uninvited in the future. As I sat in the car waiting to pull away he kept saying, “Help us. Help us.” I could only look away in pain, because I could not help him.

After visiting our two children in Kageyo this afternoon we drove to the Akagera Game Park. A modest, aging lodge/hotel within the wildlife park. It sits atop a hill overlooking the second largest lake in Rwanda. Baboons scamper about. Exotic birds I’ve never seen sing outside our window. We’ll stay here two days to rest and go on safari. 

The paradox is not lost on me. As we entered the hotel, attendants came out to take our bags and freshly squeezed passionfruit juice was brought to us. A television was on reflecting the election cycle in the United States has become no less grotesque since we left home. After fives days of constant emotional upheaval, I became a whining, cranky, crybaby. 

Finally, after Kevin did his best to cheer me, I went into the bathroom, laid down on the floor, covered my face with a towel and sobbed and sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. Because do you know how many hungry children whose faces I looked into today? How many near naked toddlers raced after our truck as we bumped along the roads in front of their homes? If you can come to Rwanda and visit the homes I’ve visited and not lie down and cry for a long while, you’re made of stronger stuff than me.

Tomorrow I know I will have recovered. I will sleep in a comfortable bed. I will wake early and pray and write and talk with God. And I have a lot to say to him! Tomorrow will be good and my mind and body and heart mostly recovered, but for tonight I sit here in this sadness and anger that this is a world where unkindness and cruel words reign in the United States news cycle, and I drive my expensive car to Whole Foods to buy fancy food, beautifully packaged just for me. And in this same world tonight the children in Yvonn’s community will go to bed hungry.

Kageyo

This is the world we have allowed. This is the world we’re okay with. As long as I can do my next thing, hang out on the lake, go to a movie, buy the newest iPhone. Well then that’s okay. Carry on.
There is a lot of guilt in these words, because I doubt those families who are going to bed hungry, those strong mamas and hard working papas are having a cry-fest or temper tantrum. But then they don’t have that luxury. They were dealt a different life.

This morning I prayed these words, “Oh, Jesus, Kageyo is so hard to visit, it’s so hard to know such places exist. Please may all my hope and glory come only from you. May I trust you completely, knowing you are my granite strength. Always my safe-harbor. Be all my strength.” (From Psalm 62)

Please, please change a life and sponsor a child. Our sponsored child, Umulisa, will move into secondary school next year as she continues on with her dream of becoming a nurse. This is happening. Her life is being changed for $39/month. You can change a life - Africa New Life Sponsorship.

The Children of Kageyo

Read Friends on a Thousand Hills - Rwanda 2016 Part 6 here.

Friends on a Thousand Hills - Rwanda 2016 Part 4

Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Romans 12:10

How do I turn our day spent in the Gihembe Refugee Camp in northern Rwanda into words? It seems impossible. The day overflowed with emotions - joy, heartbreak, love, relief, contentment, sadness, impatience, anger, hurt, worry, guilt. What is appropriate and sensitive to share? What words will honor my friends?

We spent Tuesday in the Gihembe Refugee Camp in northern Rwanda. Gihembe is home to 15,000 Congolese refugees, many of whom have lived there since 1997. They have married there. Raised their children there. Managed to create lives in conditions we Americans cannot imagine. Lives spent each day in small homes made of mud, dirt floors and no electricity. Benches or the ground their only furniture. Yet you won’t meet more hospitable people. These are generous people. Their love is big.

ADRA Rwanda Headquarters in Kigali

Our day began early. Representatives from the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) arrived in the tallest SUV I’ve had to climb into (in a long skirt) and first drove us to their Rwanda headquarters in Kigali to meet the associate country director, Geoffrey Kayonde and field officer Epiphanie who accompanied us through the day. Without ADRA obtaining official - and I mean official rubber stamped letter official - permission from the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (MIDIMAR), we could not have entered the camp. Outsiders are not allowed into the camp without authorization and a guide with them at all times. This is for many reasons. One is for our safety, but also maintaining order in a camp with that large a population, in that small an area is no easy task, and when foreigners enter the camp we immediately create a mob of followers.

Our first stop in Gihembe was to greet the camp manager of MIDIMAR. The purpose - for him to lay down the law - to tell us, “This is what you can do.” And. . .  “This is what you cannot do? No pictures of groups of people. We could take pictures of the school and school children and the families we came to visit, but nothing else.

Primary Classrooms in Gihembe

Next we toured the primary school. We went into the P2 classroom (second grade). Oh, the delight of those children. They begin learning English from P1 and love to talk in English, although we did have a translator explain our BIGGER thoughts. . . We introduced ourselves. Kevin was funny. I was funnier I’m sure. The children asked us questions: What is different about America? Do you have children? Do you like Rwanda? Troublemaker Kevin asked, “What is your favorite football team?” Then egging them on, Kevin said, “Who is better Renaldo or Messi?”

P2 Classroom

As we left the primary school and climbed the hill to the P7 classrooms, children swarmed around me saying, muzungu like they needed too point out that I’m white. I smiled. I asked Epihanie, “If I am muzungu, what are you?” She laughed and said, “African.” So I decided every time they call me muzungu I will reply “African.” As we walked, the children began touching me (this always happens in a crowd of children; it doesn’t bother me, but it is awkward), some children were lightly pinching me. One older boy pinched me harder and I looked him in the eye, gave him the mom look and said, “No!” All his friends laughed at him. Struggling up the hill amidst a swarm of children, I saw Kevin looking back with a  worried look on his face or maybe he was just jealous. . . 

We arrived at P7 where the children asked not to have the translator interpret. Their English was perfect. These children were more comfortable with us, asked lots and lots of question. We laughed so much with them. We told them we have friends their age in Boise who sat in this very classroom. I said, “Does anyone know Justin Karangwa?” Nearly all the hands in the classroom shot up. We showed them pictures of our school age friends in Boise. “I know that one. I know that one.” They said.

P7 Classroom

Then they asked, “What church do you attend?” We replied, “Seventh-day Adventist” and to our surprise they all cheered and clapped. Kevin and I looked at each other quizzically then asked, “Which of you are Seventh-day Adventist?” Every hand but one shot up. We laughed and I reminded them God loves all his children.

I prayed for them, asking God to bring them to Boise so we could be neighbors. As we left I said, “Remember you are important to God. You are loved. Study hard. Maybe we will meet again in Boise.”

We were blessed that day. It is not normally allowed to visit an individual family in their home. It can create danger for them if it appears they have rich friends. But we had come to see Agnes’ mama and papa (we call them Mama Agnes and Papa Agnes), but Papa Agnes was too sick to walk to the ADRA office. Our friend Dada (whose family has already been resettled to Boise), argued long and hard with the ADRA representatives and the director of MIDIMAR. And, well, I’ll just say we visited Mama and Papa Agnes in their home. Later I told Dada he should attend law school when he is resettled to America. He replied, “I do like to win every argument.”

Dada led us through a maze of homes until we reached their home. There were so many family members waiting for us. As I stood there a bit overwhelmed, a woman came and stood before me. Dada said, “This is Mama Agnes.” Mama Agnes looked at me, grabbed onto me and I said, “Oh I’m going to cry.” And then we hugged the hardest hug. We share a daughter, you see. Earlier this year when Agnes was preparing to give birth to her daughter, she talked with her mom on the phone and her mama was so worried about Agnes being alone in Boise. But Agnes replied, “Mama it’s okay. I have found another mother here.” Mama Agnes told me this as we sat in her home together. Tears came to my eyes as I responded, “We will share her now and she will have two mamas.”

The family of Agnes and Justin

I don’t know what to say about this. This strong woman was sharing her daughter with me. This strong woman who raised an incredible daughter, the most generous and kind woman whose laugh can bring joy to the saddest day, this daughter is now mine also. I am humbled. My life has been easy. I cannot know the struggle she endured to raise Agnes into the person she is today, but I am so grateful to be a part of this family.

As we gathered in their home where benches lined the walls, Mama Agnes pointed Kevin and me to the chairs in the room but I said, “No, I want to sit beside Mama Agnes.” And so we squished together on a bench, never letting go of each other.

Later, Papa Agnes slowly made his way into the room. He was very sick. I could see it in his face, but he had put on his best suit to join us. When I saw how painfully he walked into the room I wished he had not risen from his bed. But I could see the joy of being in the room, the honor he showed us, was greater to him than the pain of his illness. The hospitality of African culture is beautiful. We can learn much from it.

Papa Agnes

We pulled out photographs Agnes had sent - beautiful photos of her little family, two month old beautiful, just learned to laugh, Rachael and her big brother Justin, who also is pretty cute but can’t compete with Rachael. Sorry Justin, but I’m sure you know this already.

We then settled into visiting. We stayed for hours, drinking Fanta and eating the delicious tiny bananas. We shared stories about Agnes and Justin. Good stories. Mama Agnes said, “Justin says he is always at your house.” We showed them pictures of Justin being baptized and Kevin brought out the video Justin had made especially for his grandma. He had a long message for her. I don’t know what he said. It was in Kinyarwanda, but grandma listened to it three times and then passed it around to each family member. Great grandma held it against her ear so she could hear his words, nodding her head all the while. Then grandma recorded a message for Justin. I don’t know what she said, but I’m pretty sure it was a lot of love and reminding him keep following Jesus.

As we sat there loving each other, children began pouring into the room. Young children ages five, four and a little two year old. Each came directly to us and hugged us. When the two year old cutie hugged me I said, “Oh! I’m taking this one home with me.” The room roared with laughter. But seriously. . . 

Family

As our visit ended, we gathered in front of their home for a family photo - because we are a family. We crowded together and Dada said, “Shawna stand by Kevin.” I said, “No. I’m standing by Mama Agnes.” Then ensued a ten minute laughter infused photo shoot. At one point Dada wanted me to hold Agnes’ baby niece, but she was having none of it. She fled back into her uncle's arms and gave me a look that said, “I heard you were going to take one of us home with you and it’s not gonna be me!”

Talking to Agnes

During our photo shoot, Agnes called her brother Jackson on video chat. Can you imagine the joy of standing next to her mama while seeing the face of Agnes (in Boise) on the phone and both of us talking to her. One of us in English and one in Kinyarwanda? What crazy world is this where such technology is possible yet her family lives in the harsh reality of a refugee camp?

Praying with Papa and Mana Agnes

As we said our goodbyes and walked back to our ADRA vehicle, I hugged Mama Agnes and tried not to cry.  We got into the car and as we waited for our driver, tiny children came in droves to my open window, said “Hi” and wanted to shake hands with me. An older teenager stood beside the car. His eyes were sad as he said over and over, “Help us. Help us.” I could only look at him and say “Sorry.” It is a paradox that to spend time amidst poverty you must have both a soft heart and a hard heart. But I know if I absorb too much of another’s pain, I will not survive. 

Today, I’m holding on extra tight to these words from Jesus in Matthew chapter 5.

You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.
You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.
You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.
You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.

Read Friends on a Thousand Hills - Rwanda 2016 Part 5 here

Friends on a Thousand Hills - Rwanda 2016 Part 3

Yesterday we met sweet, tiny six year old Yvette. Yvette is a little girl in Africa New Life Ministries’ sponsorship program and is sponsored by our awesome Boise friends Michael and Shea, who were also awesome enough to send about twenty pounds of gifts to Yvette and her family, because why not bring seven bags of luggage across three continents. . . 

Sweet Yvette

Of all the children I’ve met in Rwanda Yvette is the shyest. I could see she wanted to hide behind her mama, but she bravely took a seat between Kevin and me on the sofa. But while she would sit with us, she spoke only a few whispered words. When asked she whispered she is in P2 (second grade) and math is her favorite class. As we pulled the gifts one by one out of the bag (and there were many, because if anyone has a bigger heart than my friend Shea, I haven’t met that person), Yvette stared but no smiles. Yet. Finally we took out the football, the American football, and in my expertise developed over years of watching Boise State football I demonstrated how to throw and explained, “You throw the ball to your teammate and then everyone on the other team runs after that person and tries to knock them down!” This brought her first smile.
But what really got her laughing was my husband. The always willing to be laughed at Kevin whom children adore because he is silly. He is really good at silly. He took the drawing pad and crayons sent by Shea and Michael and drew a self-portrait. As he finished the drawing she began to laugh, and her mama Rose laughed.

The Master of Silliness

As our visit came to an end Kevin prayed for them. He prayed for many things but he prayed they would have enough food. I’ve not visited a family in Rwanda who were so obviously food insecure. These were hungry people and so grateful for the food pack of maize, beans, oil, and soap Shea and Michael sent. When I asked where Yvette’s papa was Richard, Yvette’s social worker, replied he was out looking for food. The area of Bugesera where Yvette and her family lives is not easy living and the ground is not good for growing food. And while the future in Bugesera looks encouraging, as industry and factories are setting down roots, for now life is hard.

As we walked outside and said goodbye, I knelt beside Yvette and told her when I was a little girl I was the shyest girl you would ever meet, and I never wanted anyone to talk to me. But I grew up and now I’m a mom and I’m bossy (she laughed) and I’m not shy anymore (mostly). She smiled so big and I hugged her goodbye.

When we walked back to the car, Yvette and Rose followed us all the way. As we drove away, Yvette and I waved and waved and waved until we could no longer see each other.

Two Shy Girls

Our newest friends, Rose and Yvette

I’m so grateful Michael and Shea sponsor little Yvette, for I would never have met her otherwise. I would never have seen her smile or heard her laugh at Kevin’s silly antics.

Poverty is hard. Most of us in America have only the smallest understanding of poverty, because we haven’t looked into the faces of it. But if you want to take a stand against poverty. If you’re willing to look into the face of poverty, into the face of a little girl or boy like Yvette, please join Michael and Shea and sponsor a child. Bring one of these children into your family. You will be rewarded with a joy I cannot really explain as you receive letters and photographs from your child. The days when mail arrives from Africa New Life with photos and letters from our own sponsored child Umulisa (whom I cannot wait to see in two short days!!!), my heart feels bigger all day. I smile all day! I read her letter over and over (usually while crying) and think, “How is it possible to change a child’s life so easily?” Yet it is. And you can. 

Do not be overwhelmed by this world. Changing the world is really not that hard after all. It is just a click away.

Africa New Life Ministries Child Sponsorship is available right here.

Yvette's Home

Read Friends on a Thousand Hills - Rwanda 2016 Part 4 here

Friends on a Thousand Hills - Rwanda 2016, Part 2

In two days Kevin and I will travel to the Gihembe Refugee Camp in northern Rwanda. We have a long list of friends to visit. Friends we have never met. Friends we love. Many refugees from Gihembe have been resettled to Boise. Refugees like our friends Agnes and Justin, and Lucy and her beautiful, energetic children. Refugees like Calvin and Jackson, twenty-something year old brothers who arrived three years ago, leaving mom, dad and siblings behind. Refugees like our friend Louisa and her beautiful daughters, Giselle and the rambunctious twins Agisa and Agisaro. It is their families we will meet in Gihembe. We have been planning this day for so long.

Agnes, Justin and Rachael

Giselle, Agisa and Agisaro

Weeks before leaving Boise I began receiving messages from friends in Gihembe. Messages like, “I will be eager to see you. May God protect you during this journey.” And another, “My family tells you that no matter when, we are available to welcome you.” And always this, “May God bless you.” And “We welcome you.” Do you know how humbling it is to be loved by individuals you’ve never met? It overwhelms me and simultaneously makes me feel incredibly special.

Here is what I know. Friendship changes everything. It can relieve loneliness. It can bring joy. It can cure hatred. It does change the world, one person at a time.

When my friend Agnes arrived in Boise in the winter of 2014 with her son, they arrived alone with no family to protect them from loneliness or help them learn a new culture. When we discovered they had arrived and were living in a hotel while awaiting permanent housing, Kevin and I brought them to church each week. Justin (now 14) recently told us he was amazed the first time we picked them up. He thought, “White Americans (muzungus) are driving me to church!” This was incredible to him. As they languished in that hotel room for several weeks (the housing market is very tight in Boise), we took them to the mall for a small excursion. Nothing exciting, a stop at the Apple store to play with the iPads, a fruity Frappuccino from Starbucks, and a lot of window shopping. When we returned to their hotel, Agnes spoke to Justin and he translated these words for her, “My mom wants you to know this has been the best day of her life.” Friendship changes everything.

You guys, be friends with the men, women, boys and girls in your cities, in your neighborhoods. Love them like your own family. Love them like you want to be loved. We don’t know what sadness lies inside each other, but we do know how and who to love because Jesus showed us how to do exactly that. This is the way of Jesus. This is the way of Christianity. This is how we bring heaven closer to earth.

“God’s will be done, God’s kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6

Let’s bring heaven down friends. Let’s love so well and so widely that heaven is seen on earth more and more and more and more. Let’s bring it down so our neighbors are lonely no longer - hurting no more. Let’s bring it down so your neighbors, your city know you by your love. Know Jesus by your love.

As we visit our friends, please pray we bring God’s kingdom down in Gihembe as it is in heaven. 

Historical Note: Gihembe was established in 1997 to host Congolese refugees, most fleeing the aftermath of the 1994 genocide which began in Rwanda. More than 15,000 people live in Gihembe. Over fifty percent of them children.

Read Friends on a Thousand Hills - Rwanda 2016 Part 3 here.

Friends on a Thousand Hills - Rwanda 2016, Part 1

It’s hard leaving home when life is full of people to love. Family, friends, our kids’ bible study, and so many babies! Do you know how hard it is to leave those babies who need me to hold them? Two month old Rachael and I just perfected our own language (note: there are a lot of vowels)! How can I leave so much sweetness?

Yet here I am again in the little city of Haarlem in The Netherlands on my way to beautiful Rwanda. This time my sweet husband has joined me, and I’m eager for him to see with his own eyes the beauty of Rwanda and meet our dear friends there.

After a week of goodbyes to our Boise friends, in the midst of weekly children’s bible study and back to school preparation for the kids and visits to hold those heart-stealing babies, finally we left Boise Tuesday morning. We, along with our seven suitcases filled with clothes and gifts from our Boise friends to their families in Rwanda, boarded the first of several fights which will take us the nine thousand miles to Kigali, Rwanda.

My dear friend Lori drove us and our seven fat bags to the airport Tuesday morning. As we stood at the curb, Lori prayed blessings on our journey. And her prayer brought tears. I’ve always struggled to explain why we go to Rwanda. We aren’t on a mission trip. We aren’t aid workers. We aren’t building anything. We aren’t making sick people well. We are just Kevin and Shawna. But as Lori prayed she thanked God we were going to Rwanda. She said thank you that Kevin and Shawna are going to show the people of Rwanda - especially those living in refugee camps - they are not forgotten. She prayed those family members left behind in the camps would know they are never forgotten. They are loved. They are remembered. They are missed. They are valuable. There is hope.

Lori’s prayer made my purpose clear. We go to Rwanda because we love our Rwandan and Congolese friends in Boise and their families in Rwanda are a part of that love. We go because our friends in Boise cannot go. We go to take tangible love to our friends in Rwanda. We go because hope is everything. We aren’t just taking seven overstuffed pieces of luggage with us to Rwanda. We’re taking hope and love and remembrance.

Romans 12:10 “Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.”

Future Presidents of the USA

Ivan and friends

David

Dorcas

Gavin let his parents be in his photo

and Miss Rachael whose language I speak

Read Friends on a Thousand Hills - Rwanda 2016 Part 2 here

Always One More

Kevin and I spent the last two days camping in the Sawtooth Mountain Range in Idaho, a place so beautiful all the other states are jealous. . . We camped on the shores of Redfish Lake and went paddleboarding with our three month old puppy, Daphne. Yes, we have become those “dog” people. . .  Standing on my paddleboard, with Daphne at my feet, and staring at the beautiful mountains, I had one of those, “This is so incredible. How can it be happening to me” moments.

And then we drove home, and as we drove home and re-connected with the world, we began seeing news of another mass shooting. This time in Florida more than 50 people killed in a gay nightclub. I thought of my gay friends in Idaho and wondered if they were ok. I texted a friend to ask, “Are you okay? We love you" I remembered how vulnerable I felt when the attacks happened on 9/11. I remembered the strange feelings of, “Why would someone want to hurt me just because I live in this country, just because of who I am?” And I realized that is how my gay friends are feeling right now. Attacked, vulnerable, scared, sad, heartbroken and a lot of emotions I have no inkling of, because I am just me and there is so much I don't know.

I sat down this morning to read my Bible and talk things out with God. I read Psalm 140, “God, get me out of here, away from this evil, protect me from these vicious people.” I felt just like this. “Please God, get me out of this evil all around me.” I started thinking about the sad state of American politics and how our country is not likely to improve any time soon (sometimes I can be pretty cynical - my husband can confirm this. . . ). I began to feel pretty sorry for my country and myself.

Then I started listening to God and my next prayer was, “Please God, help me not let fear win. There will always be people to love, no matter my situation, no matter who is president, no matter what horrible thing occurs next. There will always be people around me to love. Help me do that - exclusively.”

It’s so easy to let fear win, especially when something as evil as a mass shooting happens. I know the only way fear will not win in me is if I choose to believe Jesus is who he says he is, and I am who Jesus says I am. There is great power in knowing this.

Today, I see my country living hard into fear and I am sad, although I understand it. I see the news reports, and it’s so easy to let fear worm itself inside me. If I am going to keep fear at bay, I must acknowledge fear is always a threat and I must consciously work to thwart it. The only way I can accomplish this is to walk every step of every day arm and arm with Jesus, because I know I will never chase fear away on my own. It is not possible.

Rick McKinley says, “I would define true freedom as the ability to live fully, love boldly, and fear nothing, and if you want to know what that looks like in action, then you have to look at Jesus.” The Answer to Our Cry

I want to live fully, love boldly, and fear nothing. There is always someone to love. All I have to do is look around and there they are - a neighbor, a friend, a newly arrived refugee - always, there is another person who needs my love. Who needs your love. I’m going to focus on that, because anger and hurt and hate cannot chase away evil. Only love can.

“But here within the framework of a heart captured by the love of God, I see a world of possibility, a world in which the rain of love is everywhere breaking in and the noise of futility fades. Here I see with the eyes of faith that I am the beloved and he is mine. I see that I have been set free and brought into the Father’s house of love. I see the Spirit’s cry within my heart that God is my Abba Father. And there in that moment, I am fully alive with the bold love, nothing to fear, and a Father who embraces me in the face of Jesus through the presence of the Holy Spirit. I am home.” Rick McKinley, The Answer to Our Cry

Stay in the Story

On Saturday I spoke at my home church about our need as Christians to stay in our story with God, to stay in our story as followers of Jesus, living engaged with our world. I spoke about the need for us to keep pushing into the pain and suffering and joy and laughter that surrounds us. I challenged each of us to stay engaged and not look away or hide from the hard things in our world.

“This is our vocation: to take up our cross, and be Jesus for the whole world, living with the joy and sorrow woven into the pattern of our days.” N.T. Wright

And then Brussels. Brussels, a place I have visited, an airport I have traveled through. Belgium, a country that has been a delight in every visit, the people helpful and polite and the chocolate heavenly. 

Cruel, ugly, frightening death and terror. Again. Kevin and I are scheduled to spend two weeks in Europe in April, including Brussels and Amsterdam. Yesterday, we woke to the too familiar news of yet another terror attack.

If you would like to judge me for not writing about the near constant terror attacks that occur in other parts of the globe, I hope you’ll pause. Because for many of us who react with more emotion to certain places when harm is done to them, I would just say this: We have visited those places. We know people in those cities. We have eaten in those restaurants, ridden on that metro. The same was true of Paris. Those are familiar places to us and that they could be the recipient of such horror and death, shocks us. It doesn’t mean we care less about death in Turkey or Syria or Nigeria. It is simply that we can personally relate to Brussels and Paris and London and New York, because we have memories there. And perhaps because we have been in these places, it scares us more because it could have happened when we were there. This brings our mortality front and center.

This world pushes me into prayer more and more. The apostle Paul wasn’t kidding when he said, “Pray without ceasing.”

All this is happening while Kevin and I are tucked away in the Idaho mountains enjoying a last hurrah of fresh powder and XC skiing in surroundings so beautiful it takes away my breath. It is a surreal thing to be texting a friend in Europe, checking on her safety, while staring out the window as snow gently falls to earth. Our world is getting smaller.

I was reminded today while gliding along fresh snow, surrounded by white-frosted pine trees and the sound of a distant woodpecker, of the need to get outdoors into nature. I was reminded of the craving of my mind and body to experience quiet and peace and beauty in nature. In Idaho we are spoiled. There are few people and a lot of mountains, rivers and deserts to explore and experience.

Let’s stay in the world, in the middle of the mess and walk arm and arm with Jesus, because that is the only way to survive. And when you do, when you stay engaged, when you relentlessly continue to push into the pain and suffering and joy and laughter in this world, you will see Jesus working miracle after miracle. And it will change you. You will discover that what you started out to do (being Jesus to the world around you) has really changed you the most - that the person who received the biggest blessing is you.

“The Spirit, however, gives you joyful fearlessness by making you more aware of reality. It assures you that you are a child of the only One whose opinion and power matters. He loves you to the stars and will never let you go.” Timothy Keller, Prayer -  experiencing awe and intimacy with God

“Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8