Tuesday Evening March 6, 2012

I've experienced so many emotions since the last time I wrote. Joy, excitement, anticipation, and anxiety, are just a few. On Friday I enjoyed traveling around the mountains and the valleys as we made our way north.  The land is so green and beautiul. A slight haze hung in the distance giving a misty view to a string of rolling  hills. The journey brings to mind the travels on this same route during the past trips, with so many Rwandans. Each have shared their stories and left their fingerprint on my life.  Their relationships have given ma a greater understanding of Rwanda, of this people and their history, and of myself.

My thoughts wondered to how Tuyisengi would meet me. It was my first time to meet him then. Understandably, he was shy.  Would he smile this year? How would he respond?

Tuyisengi and Me

Three hours after leaving Kigali,  I get to see him once more.  His jeans outfit with OBAMA embroiderd on the trousers and jacket was probably new just for this occassion. After meeting the Pastor and program staff, Tuyisengi led us on foot along his normal route to travel each day to school and each week to the Project office. The path, lined with banana trees, is filled with lava rock and is not easy to walk on.

Neighborhood Children

We all tightly squeeze into his small house.  The children who live close by stood in the doorway to watch the muzungu (white person).  John, the Compassion International liaison, helps me to engage the people in conversation and of course serve as our translator.  These are the times that I wish I could speak the language, Kinyarwandan. I would love to communicate without a translator.

Frisbee Time!

After I gave small gifts for his mother, a piece of beautiful material and a bag of rice, Tuyisengi was given small gifts as well...pencils, markers and paper, Daleville T-Shirt, bubbles and a few sweet treats. As soon as I could,  Tuyisengi and I went outside to play frisbee. We enjoyed playing together  we even engaged some of our observers (the neighborhood children). i just LOVE laughing with the children!

A 45-minute visit seems so short and at the same time it seems long because of the language barrier. Soon we had said our goodbye until another time.  I tear up even as I write because I do not know if I will ever see him again. I never know if God will call me to return to Rwanda.  When you live by faith you realize that you never REALLY know what tomorrow will bring. You only know that you have been given today. One increasingly learns to live in the present, not the past or the future.

There is no greater joy I can experience than to be used my God in the lives of people like Tuyisengi and his family, the students at the college, and the orphans and widows I've met along the way.

There is so much more to share but it's time for me to pause in my writing. Night has fallen in Rwanda and the sounds of crickets and frogs fill the air.  I need to try to sleep so that I will be rested for tomorrow.

Praying that all is well with your soul and in your life.