1 Year Anniversary

Wow! It’s amazing to think that a year ago today we stepped off a plane and onto the continent of Africa. We had just left our home, our family and our friends to answer God's call and move our lives to Rwanda. And what an amazing experience it has been. We have learned so much over this last year. Things about food, travel, language, raising children in a foreign country, driving in a foreign country, living without an HEB down the road, the list goes on and on. So many things. But more importantly, we learned more about ourselves. And even more important than that, we learned more about our relationship with our God and Savior. We learned how to put our trust in Him. How to lay our worries at His feet and leave them there. All it took was a move across the world to learn that.

For the most part, this past year has been very positive and filled with amazing experiences that have deepened our faith and brought us closer to Jesus. However, there have also been the inevitable bad times that have tested us. Thankfully, those bad times have also deepened our faith as we continually found that we need to rely on and trust in God to get through.

If we could sum up our first year in the mission field in five words we would use:

• humbling 
• conviction 
• amazing 
• challenging 
• lonely 

Humbling: Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted -Matthew 23:12. Living among and seeing poverty first hand is emotionally and spiritually difficult, and has opened all of our eyes to how truly blessed we are. As Americans, there are so many things we take for granted. When we think we're having a bad day, all it takes is a short walk to remind us of this. This has been the most humbling experience of our lives, and we know we will never be the same again.

Conviction: “A belief is something you will argue about. A conviction is something you will die for!” -Howard Hendricks. Without our constant trust in Him, we would never make it here. Spending time in his word and prayer each day has made all the difference for us. God is good and He continues to be with us and hold each one of us up daily. We are constantly reminded that He is here with us helping us along the way, and our faith in Him is stronger now than it has ever been.

Amazing: This place is beautiful. Pictures do not do it justice. I have heard many people compare it to what they think the Garden of Eden would have looked like. The people are amazing. They are strong physically, emotionally and spiritually. They endure so, so much every single day, and we are constantly surprised by what they can do here. There are so many things that we have seen, heard, learned, and felt that could be described as amazing.

Challenging: We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 2 Corinthians 4:8-9. There are many challenges, with the most obvious one being the language barrier! We have loved trying to learn Kinyarwandan, although it is tough! All of our kids are also learning Spanish in school. Our hats go off to them for learning two new languages at once. Then there's the challenge of balancing between doing all that we can and not trying to do too much. There are so many things we wish we could do to help the people of Rwanda, but simply can't because of financial or time constraints. It's easy to get caught up in doing all you can to serve, but forgetting that your family needs you as well. It has been very challenging to balance these things. 

Lonely: Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand -Isaiah 41:10. We currently have an amazing missionary community here, but it's not always that way. There have been many months that it was just us and one other missionary. Needless to say, loneliness creeps in often, especially for our children. We make a conscious effort to spend time together as a family. We truly miss our family and friends back home each and every day. 

The last year has been everything from amazing to amazingly difficult. The one thing that remained constant is God's love for us and for the Rwandan people. It has been such a great experience, and we are so happy to have experienced it.

As many of you know, we will be headed home to Texas near the end of July. We will spend the next year on furlough and will be raising support before we join the mission field again. We don’t know what God has in store for us next but we can’t wait to find out!

Thank you all for your prayers and your financial support! We couldn't do this without you!

Please join us as we pray for the following:

-For God to give us clear direction and guidance as to how He would like us to serve Him next

-That each day we are able to bring God glory

-That in our remaining time here we will be witnesses to God's glory and that each day we will shine for Him

-For Macy's safety as she returns to Kenya for school (especially in light of recent events) and for comfort and peace for the rest of us at home to know God is taking care of her

-For Zach, Brandon and our niece Hailey, that they would finish out this school year strong (homeschooling has not been easy)

-For a desire for each of our children to know God more

-For the many patients at Kibogora Hospital, that they will feel God's love and experience His healing power, that we will be able to touch their lives in some way and bring them closer to their own relationship with our Almighty.

Hello, Goodbye, & the Amazing Community at Kibogora

Term 2 at RVA is complete, which means Macy has returned home to Rwanda! We picked her up at Kigali International a little over a week ago, and she will be spending almost the entire month of April with us! We are so excited and filled with so much joy to have the family back in the same house again, and we are looking forward to spending time together this month.

A day after Macy arrived we were back at Kigali International as we said goodbye to the boys' teacher and a family friend, Jaycee. We didn't know Jaycee too well prior to her arriving in September, but she has practically been living with us for the last 6 months, so she's become like family in that short time here and it was hard to see her go. As Jaycee went through the outdoor security and into the airport, Stephanie, with a tear in her eye, said "It's like sending one of our own children off."

Saying hello and goodbye has become a prevalent part of our lives here in Rwanda. Our hearts are always filled with joy when we welcome family and friends or when we meet a new individual or group for the first time. We have met and become friends with people from all over the world... Off the top of my head I can think of new friends from the US, Canada, England, Scotland, Holland, France, Germany, South Korea, Australia, South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Kenya.

Many of the people we meet are only here for a short time, maybe 2-3 weeks on average. While that
may not be enough time to develop a deep bond, we have made many friends with these short term individuals/groups. Other than Julie and our family, there was a 3-4 month period that short term groups were the only ones coming to Kibogora. It's very difficult to form a feeling of community as "the community" is constantly changing. These individual and groups have been hard, as we would just be feeling that we were getting to know them and friendships were developing when it was time for them to leave. Goodbyes were always hard, but not overly difficult.

Then there's individuals and families that are here 3 or more months. The Bergs, the Greens, and Julie were all here for our first 3 months, and all helped us tremendously as we settled in. The individuals that we have been with for 3+ months not only have become close friends, but many will be lifelong friends. We feel there's a certain bond that you develop with others that have followed the same path as you and are serving along side of you halfway around the world. We work together, worship together, pray together, eat together, relax together, and have fun together. Our children all play together. We share our problems and frustrations with each other. The only downside so far is the goodbye's. Goodbye's are very difficult.

Currently, we are so blessed to have a mission full of individuals/families that are here for 3+ months. The Olsons, the Peters, The Albertsons, the Wongs, the Carpenters, Julie, the Greens (who have returned for 3 months), Lauren, Rachel, the Bergs (who have returned), and the Parks are all currently here serving along side of us. 32 people in all that are here and that make up the Amazing Community at Kibogora. It has been so awesome having all of these people here with us, and such a great change from just a few months ago when it was only Julie and Sheila here with us.

I'm definitely not looking forward to late May and saying goodbye to the Greens, Lauren, Rachel, and the Albertsons. I'm also not looking forward to early June when we say goodbye to the Olsons & Peters. I am, however, looking forward to the next month and a half of building stronger friendships, becoming stronger in faith through each other, and having a great time with this group of people God has brought together to do His work.