AIC visit to the Children's Home!

Last Thursday the AIC (Africa International Club) Charity Committee

took a very short trip to the Urukundo Children's Home! 

Six of us went with Kirsty's driver and he joined us for the tour, too! 

This was the first time I had been there during the week to see the

preschool in action! And that they were... I think our educational jargon

would be that they were in the "active learning" stage.

This class was learning objects in the room and
what colors they were.  All the teachers are Rwandan and
all of them teach in English. 

 Note the simplicity of the room.  The kids all wear the same 
smocks as uniforms.  Everything was in order and the class
size was 20 in each room. Most of the kids come from the village.
Only 15 of the kids are from the home.  There are a total of 120 kids
in the program!  It is a great outreach.

THIS is my kind of school...  Leave your shoes at the door! 

 Even large group/small group priniples are used here
in the classroom.  The kids were working on their colors. 

This little one was writing a captial "B".  He did a very nice job, too!
Resources are limited but what they have is used.

This was half of the class working on letters and writing them. 

 Satu, Arlene and Kirsty

Our group.... Anne, Ceren, (Mama Arlene) Satu, Kirsty and Bea!
Mama was filling them in on how everything runs. 

 This class sang 3 songs for us and they sounded great! 

"Head, shoulders, knees and toes!"

Once again....

I wonder if they line them up like this everyday or just when they have visitors?
I was impressed overall by the order in which things are done. 

Then we headed down to the newest project.

Mama realized in the spring that oh... no... the little ones would be
graduating from preschool and then what?   So, she started praying
for a donor or a few donors that would help contruct the new
primary school.  Well, those donors haven't stepped up yet... BUT...

the contractor said he would build and
she could pay him when the money came in.  That's faith!!!!

Bruce and I were at the home the last week of July... right before I
came back to the States to visit.
THERE WAS NOTHING ON THIS SITE AT THAT TIME
AND LOOK AT IT NOW.

I was truly surprised.  The group with me was surprised, too, but
I don't know if they really realized just how fast this building has
gone up.  The school year starts in January and it
looks like it will be up and running.  We, the AIC are
hoping to contribute to new furniture or other needs that
this building might incur.  The electricity is in already. 

Oscar, Mama's right hand man (and a linguist) took a rest and i thought
the backdrop was just too beautiful to miss..  

From another angle.  Looks like the roof will go on next!
This building will house 6 classes.  

Learning more about the building and all the
needs that are present.  Alon...the driver was taking 
it all in, too! 

 Walking back on the pathway of learning... to see the little
toliets and sinks in the preschool building.  This picture
will give you an idea of how nice the other building will be....
It is a little bigger though...since the children will be growing, too.

The building wasn't the only new addition to the 10 acres
that was empty when purchased in 2008.  
Yes, all the buildings and farm and everything
has been done since 2008.
A new playground has been constructed.
New Swings!  Check out these seats!

Cool designs for the swings!

A new sandbox... with a drainage system in the bottom.
The kids were really digging in!

Recognize the lollipop girls???  

Looks like they are still eating together...They are really growing.

 We finished our tour and walked back to the car... alongside the garden.
These little flowers were pretty as a border for the whole garden.

Although our time was short.. Arlene had given us a great
picture of what goes on at the Urukundo Children's Home.

And I thought you would be interested in the progress
that has taken place.

If you know anyone or a group of people that would like to help
Mama Arlene pay for the new school... please let me know and 
I'll put you in touch with the right people.  

We have all been praying for the Lord to bring in the necessary funds
so if He is speaking to you about this.. please follow His lead!

all for now,
love,
margie

Grief, Joy and the Future!

Earlier in the week a new friend of ours, named Faith and her husband Roger flew to 

America to sell their home there.  These are the folks that have the beautiful fish farm that i wrote about earlier. 

 They had only been gone a day or so when Faith received word that her mom had gone to be with the Lord.... or here they say, she passed. 

Faith had taken care of her Mom for sometime so this was really difficult...not only because of her mom's passing but because they had just gotten to the States. 

A week later they returned and held the funeral in the Anglican church
where her Mom had attended.

 The funeral was to start at 11:00 but it took awhile for everyone to get there.

This is Brian and Brett from our church.  As we were waiting for the service to begin

music was piped in.... All music that we knew..old hymns and songs from our

past in the church... but they were all being sung in Kinyarwanda.  The people sitting

around us were singing along so we joined in --in English.  It was amazing how those songs are songs of comfort in every language!

At 12:15 the service began.  Traditions are different here.
The family took care of all the flowers being arranged and
everything that needed to be done at the church.

This is the only picture I have of Faith....taking one
of the flower arrangements that would sit in one of the four pretty
wooden columns surrounding the casket.  The man behind Faith
is carrying one of the columns.  We had tried to help her make these
arrangements the night before at the house but ours were too small.
What she had was beautiful.  

This is Philippa, Faith's sister.  She spoke on behalf of the immediate
family. She lives in the States now and we had met her last July when we were
here.  Her talk was so uplifting.  I wish I could have known their Mom before
she died.  She sounded like an incredible saint. One young man spoke of how she had changed his life... by taking him in, helping him.  He had come to just "see her" as he often had done.. only to find out that she had left this life before he arrived.
She had been a mother to many and was a tremendously generous person. 

Geoffrey Rugege also spoke about their family connections and  how
Faith and Phillipa's mom had touched their lives over the years.
They aren't blood relatives, but their families were very close!

There were many others that spoke.  Some in English and most
in Kinyarwanda.  All is know is that I wish I would have had the
opportunity to know her.
 I believe the service ended at 2:30.  

We did not go with the family for burial, but the service had
been one of tribute and joy for who their Mom had been here
on the earth.   All though their hearts were grieving and still
are... there was still great rejoicing in who their Mother is
and was.  She loved the Lord and lived a life to honor Him
and love all of those He put in her path.   

 The sky was so unique when we exited the church...

looking out over the valley... 

A day and time of grief... shared space with the joy 

of knowing a saint is in the arms of her Maker! 

Her future is eternal now... and in a totally joyful eternity! 

On Sunday Brett preached about Paul and the joy he experienced

in the depths of his circumstances. 

He rejoiced in all things!   Listen to what he said.... ,


¹⁸ But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every waywhether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, ¹⁹ for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.^[d] 20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹ For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ²² If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! ²³ I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; ²⁴ but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. ²⁵ Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, ²⁶ so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.



So after two days of thinking about all of the above... Monday arrived.

 The staff of CMU threw a surprise party for Nadine...
the woman from RDB (the Rwandan Development Board)
who has worked hand in hand
with the development of the program since its inception.
Nadine was the project manager from the
Rwanda government for the CMU program.
But she has decided to go back to school
and get her masters at McGill in Canada.

Nadine was surprised!

 Really, Congratulations, Nadine... we will miss you!

Nadine filling us in on her plans.

Nadine's interim replacement on left and
 Johnson on the right. 

Hedda, Innes and Crystal 

 Hedda, Innes, Crystal and Lillian the party planners.

 Nadine...thank you for all you have done to make
CMU/Rwanda a reality.  You will be missed but
we are so happy for you and wish you all the best
for your future!


So whether in life or death-- past, present or future....

Let's take Paul's advice! 

Phil 4:4
"I wish you joy in the Lord always.
Again, I say...all joy be yours!"


love,
margie

From the Village to ABC

Things just keep changing and progressing here in Kigali.

When we arrived, the building on the right was the only part standing. 

Now...Betty, the owner of Woodlands Grocery Store

is building an addition that will house a bakery and a coffee shop! 

This was not even started when I left in August and now

it is going up very quickly.  

These trees are all around Rwanda but these happen to be next to the Golf Course....
They have suddenly started popping out all over with these beautiful blossoms. 

Yes, Doug.. there is a golf course very near our house....so no more excuses.
You and Barb must come visit!  You can bring the girls, too!
And anyone else that wants to come!!!!!

Don't know what these are called but they are so lacy and delicate.

And then there is the place just a few houses down our road.
They came in and dug a hole big enough for an Olympic size pool and then
just stopped.  Nelda and Kristi and Amy got to see the hole!

There is much building going on around us... but this fence that went up in
just a couple of days... indicates that the building process will soon begin.
The hole is apparently a basement that they call a "CAVE".
Very few houses have them.

So... when our car was being repaired we had a little automatic Rav4 so
I could drive it without any trouble.  Innocent needed a couple of things
so we took off to the market area behind Kagugu... I don't remember the name.

While Innocent was shopping for a new pan in this store... 

 (Our home depot that seems to have everything.... even a storage center on the top floor)

...I was watching this young mom trying to tie her baby on her back..
with the help of another women.... right across the street from the store.

When Innocent came back to the car I asked if we could go see the baby.

She seemed so small to be put on mommy's back. So, we went over 

and asked if we could see her.  This is baby Rachel and her Mom..

Rachel is one week old in this picture and very tiny. 

They were quite excited to show off the new little one and 

we had fun taking a picture of her and giving her a love. 

Mommy's Bible was right there, too. 

Finally, ready to leave and these guys came flying down the "road" in their truck.
This is a common sight here.. and often the guys are up on huge
stacks of bean bags or rice hanging on for dear life.
 They were very friendly, too. 

This sweet little house near the village was so serene and well kept.
I noticed it and Innocent said.. oh.. that's our pastor's house.

 But he didn't mean the little one.. he meant this one up
 behind the smaller house.  So, he took these three pictures for me. 

Next to the road was this store front selling Jesus articles.  I don't know if
this was in conjunction with some church or just an independent place.
We had a great time... watching all the people and talking to them as we drove
down the road.
   I should have taken more pictures of this great road leading
back to the market because it was very picturesque.
But I guess I didn't because I was driving. ( Which was a real treat!!)

 The next day was Saturday and we decided to go to visit ABC for breakfast.
ABC is African Bagel Company.  So, Innocent opened the gate. 

He went with us since this place was near where his worship team practices on Saturday.

We also picked up Hedda.. well, i should say that first, they all went to buy some tools at one of the local shops since Hedda is getting her house set up.

She is a CMU professor who is
now settling here.  She just got her motorcycle, by the way.

 This sweet couple is Kirkwood and Donna.  They are the ones managing
ABC.  Recently, they took over from a family who headed back to
Boston.. the ones who originally opened this great place.
Not only do they sell great food but they are building women for the
workplace and helping them get off the ground...in every area of their
lives. It is always a joy to be with them.

And that is the line I want to remember.

  It is always a joy to be with them.

Whether in the village, with moms, workers, shop keepers
or in resturants or church or the work place...

JOY is what is exhibited.  

I know that all these people go through
difficult days and have tough circumstances but their 
JOY always shines through.

It is fun to be with joyful people, isn't it?

When you are out and about.... in your world this week
stop and look at the people around you.

Are they joyful... or are they drained?

Looking with the eyes of Jesus.... what would He see?
Needs are all around us everyday but when folks that have little
emit much joy... It truly doubles the enjoyment!

 We all have so much to be joyful about! 

Show it to those around you.  

It really will make their day!
 and yours, too!)

love,
margie