Les Milles Colline - A thousand hills

They call Rwanda the country of "a thousand hills" and today as we visited Butare, in the south of Rwanda, we found out why. God seemed to have rolled out the red carpet when he created this place. The hills presented themselves filled with work (of man and God) and absolute beauty. Flowers here and there were brilliant red, yellow, white and pink! Bird songs just stopped us in our tracks and we walked a path (sometimes narrow, sometimes wider like the one in this picture) singing Rwandan songs together about Jesus. Today was very special for me (Joy). It was the day that I met Mukanyandwi Jacqueline for the first time! This is the child that we have sponsored for the longest and the one who we knew most about, and who knew most about us.

We felt so special today! When we first arrived at the Compassion International school, they sat us in the front of the church, with pews filled with children (253 to be exact, 3 of which don't have sponsors yet) and invited us to sit facing the crowd. We met Jacqueline (!!! who glowed from the time she came in!!!), listened to the choir sing and then dancers came in with the leader singing in a beautiful loud voice and playing 3 drums that looked a lot like the djembe. We were led through the sea of smiling, very happy children into the main office there at the school. We heard about the inner workings of Compassion (go to www.compassion.com) then we were off on a long walk through the most beautiful setting I have ever seen to visit Jacqueline's home.



We heard that her brother and his wife who was living right next to her, had just given birth for the first time to twins and today they are 4 months old! A boy and a girl! When we arrived, we had the joy of holding each of them. Here's Nancy will little baby Marissa. And Jacquline's precious Nephew who's name I can't remember, but it means "sent from God".

When visiting their home, we were amazed that it was through the sponsorship of compassion (and a gift of $50) that constructed the very house we were sitting in, from the ground up! There was no running water or electricity, but there was a sitting room, a kitchen, a store room and a bedroom which is more than most have in those parts. Look at what God has done for them through this ministry. If you haven't thought about it, look into Compassion International. Make a difference in the life of a child! I have now seen with my eyes what I knew was happening in her their lives through this ministry. They are given a chance to have a bright future for Mukanyadwi because of it. I've seen the school, met the directors, met her peers and her family. Her manerism, her joy, her thoughtfullness for others and her full, sincere smile has said it all. She has hope, because of Jesus and she is blessed through Compassion.



The visit was cut short by the oncoming of rain, yet we managed to get this picture. Above the doorway reads "Numa RiUmana" which means "After is God". After everything, there is God... Thank you God for hope when everything else fails us.
Since the roads that would bring us back to the city were dirt roads, rain posed a serious threat for safe travel! We ended up making it back to the main roads just before the rain fell, we had dinner with our translators and driver, and boy we had a terrific laugh then! We have loved making new friends in this very beautiful, friendly world over here.

Tomorrow we are taking in a much needed morning of rest. We'll be journaling and writing until about 1. Then we're off with Marcel, again. We have no plans, but please pray that we will be filled with God's unabashed love for the people, confidence in His word, a desire to be patient and a quickness to listen.