The Replacements and the Penultimate Folkdance

Lenten Devotionals:  Oren lighting a candle on Sunday night as we are memorizing a Beatitude each week during lent.  

Too many days without an update and this one should really write itself.  Life is going very fast, and it is hard to set aside the time to reflect.  Actually I had envisioned the title for this blog more than a month ago as we anticipated the arrival of the new MCC Reps. who will do a 5 month hand-over with us.  But now that they are here, I don’t feel like I have much time to write.

Nothing makes it more clear that your leaving as having your replacement show up in town.  I would say we are moving into the ‘end game’ of our term, but life here is so busy and everything seems so focused on the present that it is hard to project more than a week into the future.

The Stoner-Ebys (Scott, Anne Marie, Samuel and Luke) arrived on Brussels Airways one week ago (Sunday night).  They got here without a hitch and were actually waiting in the airport with all of their baggage when we pulled up with our car. 

It was about 9pm and we brought them to our house for dinner.  (We had gone a family to pick them up.)  We have arranged for them to live in the flat beneath our service worker Jennifer’s house, but we thought they might want to eat before settling in for the night.  We had a nice visit together and the four kids (ours and theirs) jumped on the trampoline for over an hour before we got them all back to their house.  Not the ideal school night, but Oren and David did do well making Samuel and Luke feel welcome.

The next day, orientation to life in Burundi for the next several months for them began in earnest.  We had them over most of the day Monday to talk about basics, how to get around, get money, find places, etc.  We provided them with one of our cars (the Raum) so we are back down to one car until the end of term. 

On Monday evening we had a small gathering of Bujumbura team members and Felix to meet them.  We went to Ubuntu, which was the first place we were taken out to dinner as newly arriving Reps. when we began, and it is a great place to take in the charm of Bujumbura by the lake at sunset while enjoying good Italian pizza.  The kids enjoyed seeing the crowned cranes which we have become so used to, but are really quite spectacular to see up close, walking around the grounds freely.

Tuesday, I took them around to visit the Kings school and other venues.  It was also a good orientation for me as our kids attend the Ecole Belge.  For any Anglophones thinking of moving here, the Kings school really offers a very impressive curriculum complete with computer courses, sports, African drumming and other activities.  It is the British system so getting used to some of the vocabulary is different ('form tutor' instead of homeroom teacher for instance). But on the plus side for Americans, the kids are put into ‘houses’ for the year for sports competitions.  Samuel was quite pleased to be put into “Rusizi house” with another kid his age named Harry (the headmaster’s son).  From what I can tell though, Quiddich is not one of the sports offerings and the headmaster’s name is Jeremy Wisdom, not Dumbledore.  

The kids started school on Wednesday and Scott and Anne Marie began language study.  I did accompany them on their morning commute on Wednesday and Thursday to help them negotiate the best shortcuts through rush hour traffic, but by Friday they were on their own and able to do it all themselves.  They even made a trip on their own to the zoo on Friday afternoon.

Rebecca did a lot of work holding down the fort at the office and also getting our kids to their normal activities.  Since we are at the end of our fiscal year there has been a lot of extra reporting to do, and there have been quite a few meetings for her to attend and let people know she will need to be replaced in the near future.  She has asked to step down from the church Elders committee among others.   What is interesting to note though is that saying you are leaving tends to mean people want to double down on your workload and social obligations rather than lighten them, so this has all proved to be a bit stressful.

Among the highlights for activities with the kids was a Birthday party for David last Saturday that we all went to.  Imanzi is one of David’s Rwandese friends who invited the families to a party.  They had a very nice gathering with several of their colleagues from Pakistan and Somalia.  Among the games was a live version of Angry Birds featuring a giant slingshot, tennis balls, and empty cereal boxes as buildings.  It was quite a bit of fun that even the parents enjoyed.

Another exciting highlight has been the long hoped for reopening of the pool at Entente Sportive.  The pool was a favorite of Rebecca and I for a morning swim in a 35 meter pool, but also a favorite of the kids because it offered some cool features like a 3 and 5 meter platform.  We were told last October (2012) that they would close for two months for renovation.  True to form the renovations took 16 months because of delays in receiving new tiles (and probably many other reasons.)  I did not think we would see it reopen before our departure.  But it opened a couple of weeks ago and after trying it ourselves, we took the kids last Sunday.  Oren and David were delighted to go back after a year and David swam in all of the smaller pools that connect to the larger pool with the platforms.  Oren, to my surprise walked right up to the top of the 5 meter platform and jumped off.  He had been afraid to do that a year and a half ago.  He then proceeded to jump off another 30 or so times after that over the next 2 hours.

The pool is a bit shorter as they added a wall making a smaller pool for beginning swimmers at the shallow end of the larger pool, but I am just happy to see it open again.  Sadly they are still using the archaic heavy metal vacuum system that they have had since the 1960s to clean the pool.  It was the main reason that the tiles pre-renovation were being damaged at the bottom of the pool.  I realize now though, that I can’t change the world, so I am learning to accept small positive changes--at least we can swim there again before we leave.

Rebecca also took the Stoner-Ebys over there with our kids again this past week, and they all apparently enjoyed it together.  There is a certain pleasure in showing someone new to a place all of the fun things to do there.

The main highlight of the week though was the Penultimate Folk Dance we hosted at our house this past Saturday. 

It is not often in life that one gets to use the word penultimate, but Rebecca and I do know that we want to host one more dance at the end of the school year before we leave.  We did see a window to fit one in this month so we sent out an email to let friends know about it.  At times this has been a very well attended event drawing friends and friends of friends from far and wide.   This one was no exception to the rule as we had, counting children, at least 70 people at our home for dancing and a potluck dinner. 

The dancing was a lot of fun, some of it led by the kids who really like the line dances.  We did several square dances, a cotillion, and Strip the Willow.  Despite the work that goes into preparing these dances (which we have down to a science now), I realize how much we will miss these when we get back to the US.  Even if we wanted to, we would never be able to host a dance in our small living room, nor do I think could we gather a group of 50 close friends to come and join us on a Saturday afternoon.  It is definitely a labor of love and a way that we have been blessed, and hopefully been a blessing to our community of friends here.

We cleaned up the house Saturday night and were ready for church on Sunday morning.  I appreciated being able to hear Emmanuel Ndikumana preach again, whom I have written about before.  He is a prophetic voice in Burundi in my opinion and preached on the Beatitude:  “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”  I could not do the sermon justice in a synopsis but did point out some interesting points including the fact that the word for righteousness in French is Justice.  But he went much further than that and connected it to the story of the Pharisee who prayed thankfully that he was not a murderer, adulterer, thief, or even a tax collector.  While the tax collector beat his chest and prayed, “Lord have mercy on me a sinner.” 

Emmanuel pointed out that despite the tendency for us to think of Pharisees as ‘hypocrites’ he took the prayer as sincere.  The man was thankful that he was not like those men and probably was earnest in obeying the law.  BUT he was ‘filled up’, not hungering, for righteousness.  He challenged us with the fact that many of us who are Christians tend to be like that as well—We may feel better about ourselves than others because we are not like ‘them’ in their weaknesses.  We are ‘basically good’ and do not ‘hunger and thirst’ anymore.  But Jesus makes the point in the beatitude and the parable that it is in fact those who earnestly desire that are blessed, not those who feel they have arrived at righteousness.

Avril greets Sam and Luke to Burundi

Sunday afternoon we took the Stoner-Ebys out to Pinnacle 19 to enjoy the beach and also for the kids to see the free roaming chimpanzees.  Avril (the baby chimp) did not disappoint as she gleefully played with them, climbed on them, and cheekly stole their shoes.  The kids had a great time with her, then we all played in the Lake after lunch.  Rebecca and I got home just on time for small group.

As I begin the search for a new job near the house we are returning to in Maryland, I become more and more grateful for what we have here.  I will profoundly miss the routines here when we are gone.  To swim, read the Bible and pray with Rebecca every morning before work, to come home for lunch with the kids before going back to school and work in the afternoon, to have most weekends for family time.  These are the things that are hard to find in a culture that is bent on success and efficiency.  I have complained of the work ethic here when I needed to find a bank or store open at lunchtime, but truth be told, I would trade away much of our American work-ethic for less stuff and more leisure time with family.

The week ahead will prove to be challenging for work and hospitality as well as we are hosting a regional meeting at our house and our cook (who is pregnant) was in a bus accident is on bed rest until at least midweek.  Prayers are appreciated.

Bonus video:  Oren conquering the 5 meter platform.

Oren's Perfect Day

This is Rebecca, pitching in to write a short blog this week, since Paul is spending much of his “free time” in the evenings applying for jobs in Baltimore (when he’s not answering work emails).

So, last Monday, we arrived in Kigali in the evening. We immediately had a meeting with our agronomist in Kigali. (Here David, play with this; Oren, here’s the iPod) Following that meeting, let me just say that Paul and I had a lot to discuss, ponder, search MCC policy about, check with HQ about. At any normally unscheduled point during the week, we found that we had a lot of processing to do from that first meeting. We went to dinner at a coffee shop, because the kids love the ice cream there (David, you have to keep your shoes ON in the restaurant. No, you can’t climb on the couches, even though I know you just had 6 hours in the car. And you absolutely can’t run on all fours through the restaurant! Oren, don’t knock over your drink! Here, let’s come read this story while we wait…)

Team dinner with visiting parents

The remaining two full work days in Kigali (with kids in tow) were along the same lines. Fortunately, the next morning visiting parents of a volunteer entertained our children wonderfully while Paul and I were able to sit together in a meeting with all our Rwanda partners. It was a very necessary and productive meeting, and we were glad to have all brains on deck and to all be on the same page at this stage in the beginning of the fiscal year. It is this group of partners that works together on our new Conservation Ag adoption program, as well as a project to encourage community savings groups.

But from there, off to the bank (Oren, David, while daddy’s in the bank, let’s go buy some more MALARIA MEDICINE! Isn’t that fun! No, wait don’t crash each other’s heads into the pharmacy mirror!!!) And then a meeting with our Rwandese consultant facilitating INGO registration (I know David, why don’t you pick up colorful bottle caps off of the stony restaurant ground, and then enjoy your buffet lunch with your dirty hands!) From there, another meeting with a partner about one particular education project – at that point, it was obvious that the boys would not sit calmly in someone’s office, so Paul took them back to the guest house and I handled the meeting. Good thing they had a little time of liberty because for dinner we were off to enjoy Ethiopian food with our Kigali-based team, a favorite choice among the adult set (What! I thought we were going to have pizza, mom! I hate that funny bread!)

Wednesday we had an early meeting about a new, exciting project in Discipleship for Development. Fortunately again, we met at the home of the Friends’ missionaries which has a trampoline and an excellent book cupboard, so the kids were not too hard to handle. But immediately afterwards, we had other partner meetings (So, here are your markers and paper David, draw me something nice in the corner of this office. OK, fine Oren, you can rot your brain watching Mickey Mouse for a while.) 

Those were not the most fun meetings either. We did treat the kids to a great pizza lunch (not shared by us since it was the beginning of the Lenten season) before dropping Paul off at another Peace-building partner meeting.

Finally I had a little time with the kids not in meetings, so of course we celebrated by going to the dentist! Everyone’s favorite activity! David was scared, but Oren was brave and good thing, too. He had the beginning of his first cavity to be dealt with. I was glad we had worked that into the schedule. 

And then we did something else the kids love (no, really!): the Elephant store. No elephants for sale there, just a big bronze statue at the door, but it is a novelty for the kids to go into a real Kenyan-style supermarket (Nakumatt). I needed to get a few missing household items for our arriving Rep replacements and tried to turn it into a scavenger hunt. But we just can’t seem to get the idea of all being on the same team, rather than being in a brotherly competition. So that errand involved much whispered screaming from me as the kids crashed their carts together and nearly mowed down a pair of Slovakian nuns. And it was hot. And we were thirsty. Ice cream and coffee respectively became necessary at a certain point. 

But there was still a burned out computer power cord to replace. (Oren, David you can’t run in circles in here, there are BREAKABLE things in here! OK, go in the hallway. No, don’t run in the hallway! Oh, have mercy, let me get that cord and get out of here!)

Back at the guesthouse, I frantically tried to finish a few work emails I’d promised partners while David and Oren played in the garden (Mommy, we’re playing this game that it’s the end of the world! Come play with us! It’s fun!). Then we picked up Paul from his 4 hour meeting, bowed out of another dinner out with different team members, and just had burritos as a family to try and decompress. There was still lots to do in terms of responding to partners when the kids were asleep, and we didn’t get it all done.

On the drive back to Burundi, I sat with Oren for a while (we were transporting 3 partners back to Burundi). We had already decided that Friday would be a comp day, after the loss of the previous weekend. And we decided that we would give Oren the chance to design his own perfect day of rest. 

So this is the day he came up with:  

1.  Breakfast: pancakes with butter and syrup
2. Play Sorry
3. Go to the zoo
4. Make your own cardboard pet
5. Lunch at home: Ham sandwiches
6. Play Candyland
7. Treasure hunt
8. Go to the “cold pool beach” (Bora Bora)
9. Dinner: Indian restaurant (Koh-i-Noor)
10. Family Movie Night: Peter Pan

Two weeks ago was our last day of rest as a family (and we were even missing Paul because he was preaching up-country). So it was so wonderful to wake up in the morning and to know we could just be us for a day. And also, we’ve almost never had a completely open day since every weekend involves hosting yoga on Saturday morning and going to church on Sunday. Even better, we parents didn’t have to make any decisions because Oren had already made them for us, and he was happy with all of them!

feeding Kita

I must admit that I didn’t get up in time for the Pancakes myself, but the game of Sorry was really fun. The zoo was wonderful – we’ve never been there as early as 9:30 am. Paul and the boys made a video walk through of the zoo, so that we can remember this favorite place when we leave. I really enjoyed feeding peanuts to Kita the chimp. After a bit, the zookeeper brought out a basin of weird breakfast mush and handed it to me so that I could feed that to Kita also. I asked what it was, and he said, “well, of course, it’s bread soaked in tea!” It was very fun to spoon that into Kita’s mouth as she sat there blissfully folding her arms and sticking out her lower lip. I guess everyone enjoys a cuppa to start the day!

cardboard pets

The cardboard pets activity sounded too hard to me, but I decided to be supportive, and we did end up making some pretty fun things. I helped David design a stand-up bald eagle. Paul made a cat. And Oren worked for two days on his leopard (he had to admit that it would be better to go to the beach than just stay home and finish in one day). Oh, but first he designed the treasure hunt, which was truly ingenious. He made a map of our yard and marked a spot. Then he cut up the map like a puzzle. We had to re-assemble the puzzle, find the spot, go outside – and there was another mini-map leading to yet another clue…and another…and another… until the treasure. We each won 100 Mommy, Daddy and David dollars, respectively!

Oren working on his leopard

So then, on to the beach. It was after 3, the perfect time to be there. And the day had gone from being cloudy and overcast to being stunningly clear on all sides down the lake. We enjoyed the pool, playing with friends from the kids’ school, having cool drinks, reading more of Lloyd Alexander with Oren. 

Oren and school friends

As the sun started to set, Oren and David frolicked in the sand for a while. I thought about rushing them off to dinner, but it was so absolutely, stunningly beautiful. They were having a fantastic time. They were finally out of the parentheses of our lives into the planning as full-fledged family members. It was good for me not to rush, but to really savor having such a fully restful day together.

As the sun set, we left the tropical paradise for our favorite Indian restaurant. Oren decided that he wanted to try at least 1 new dish, and it could be spicy, showing every indication of finally becoming a culinary adventurer.  Indian isn’t David’s favorite, but he enjoyed his juice and French fries. We agreed together that the next free day of rest could be planned by David, so that he could choose the things he really likes, too.

Our last movement of the day was back home for family movie night. Peter Pan was great, but Paul couldn’t make it all the way through. Even I struggled. It had been a very full day!

We had some nice moments in the weekend proper, particularly a time to catch up with our friends Courtney and JJ. We also had a visit to the neighborhood pool, where David became more confident at swimming down underwater to collect dive sticks. It’s been so fun to watch him progress in his swimming skills week by week.

Indian Dinner

The unsettling part of the weekend happened on Saturday afternoon while we were with Ivaska’s. We suddenly started hearing a lot of gunfire in our neighborhood. One of our volunteers called to say that the shooting was just down the street. Apparently a group of women from an opposition party had gathered to celebrate International Women’s Day together. This year, all such gatherings were banned in Burundi unless they were hosted by the ruling party. I’ll make no comment – you can judge for yourself on the justice of this. So the police came to break up the gathering. The opposition party closed the gates of their HQ and there was a serious confrontation involving tear gas, fire, and at least 10 people injured. The police tried to capture the leader of the opposition party, but he fled somehow into our neighborhood. The search was on for him over the next 24 hours and some members of our neighborhood bible study were shut into their homes over that time because no one was allowed to come or go from certain streets. So, this is the nature of election preparation in Burundi at this point, one year away from the actual polling day: step 1, in order to guard power, neutralize the opposition using any means necessary. And are things in the USA all that different? Enough politics, but I really hope that the Church has something to say about the necessity of all parties using legal means.

The other part of the news roundup is that our sister-in-law Christine was released from the hospital last Friday and she’s home recovering. She still had pneumonia because of the stress on her lungs through the ordeal, but is so much better than she was. Thanks again for praying!

The God Who Suffers with Us, a Team Gathering, and a Resurrection

David taking a rest with Avril at Pinnacle 19.

I have many friends who are not theists.  But I have at least as many who believe in a powerful God who does mighty acts every day.  They live life going from ‘strength to strength’ and cling to the promise that we are ‘more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

The God I have come to know here, though, is not the one who always delivers us from suffering, tragedy and adversity, taking us from 'strength to strength', but rather suffers with us.  He is the one who abides despite poverty, famine, genocide, unimaginable acts of barbarism, but in our personal failings and weaknesses as well.

While I am more rationally comfortable with a suffering God, I have occasionally had a glimpse at the God of miracles, who heals our diseases.  In fact, I feel I was privy to a resurrection, this time not metaphorical, but quite literal.

It began at 4 am--a time I find is the preferred hour of bad tidings.  A skype message on my ipod from my youngest brother told me that my sister-in-law (of my other brother) was in a coma after an accidental overdose of medication.  She had been found by my brother, blue, not breathing and no pulse.  He started cpr and called EMS.  They were able to restore a weak pulse and took her to the hostpital on a ventilator.  She spent 3 days in a coma, completely unresponsive, and it appeared she might be ‘brain dead’.  It did not seem possible that she could not have suffered severe brain damage after so much time without oxygen. 

But then, she suddenly woke up!!  Although could not talk, because of the ventilator in her throat, she wrote on a paper asking how long she had been asleep.  When told 3 days, the next thing she wrote was ‘’I have an exam.”  She was fully cognitive and had all of her motor functions.  It was a real resurrection in my opinion.

For me it was even more dramatic because on the third day I was beginning to look for plane tickets in expectation of returning for a funeral.  To hear the news of her waking up really felt like God un-did history!!  She was gone, and then she was back.   I think I know now how the family of Lazarus must have felt.

I received the good news this past Friday at about 5 am.  I can tell you I cannot think of any day that has ever been better than that one in my life.  We were having a team meeting and I joked that no matter what any of them said to me, or no matter how bad things might get at work, there is nothing that could make that day a bad day.  It had started too impossibly well!!!

I have been living in the bliss of this wonderful news for several days now.  I suppose it will eventually wear off.

When I had heard the news, about the coma, I did ask many of my praying friends all over the world to pray.  And I can see that our prayers were answered.

But I did notice that not everyone was equally blessed that day.  My nightguard came and told us that one of his closest friends in town died quite unexpectedly.  My cook also told me that same day that a pastor in her church, one who had been supporting her family with tuition for several years, was senselessly shot to death by a bandit breaking in his house.  He died about the same time my sister-in-law recovered.  Because of this, I rejoice at the miracle we experienced, but I continue to put my faith in the abiding constancy of the ‘God who suffers with us’.  Miracles can happen, but they are not entitlements to us as believers, and we don’t control them.

Because of the turmoil of the past week which ended so well, I was a bit delayed in writing any report on the past two weeks, so I will backtrack here to some of the highlights.  I am writing from Kigali where we have come with the family because the kids have this week off for the pre-lenten vacances de Carnaval.   They were very excited to come and really feel like it is a vacation.  They meticulously pack certain toys and games they want to take with them.  Their current favorite activities are drawing and watercolors.  They immediately spread out on the floor of our guesthouse suite and went to work. 

We brought Teresa and Julia our SALTers back from Burundi with us as they had come down for a team meeting and retreat that we held at our house.  It was great to have everyone down for the annual meeting to discuss MCC values.  We do this every year because new people join each year and it is good to revisit the motivations behind the work we do and the way we do it. 

I appreciate MCC’s commitment to a holistic approach to international development work.  We, as Christians working in the field of relief, development and peacebuilding, are expected to ‘live’ our assignment.  That is to say, we attempt to live simply, learn language, behave in ways that are culturally appropriate, work through local partners rather than implement our own programs, etc.  We believe the ends are only justified by the means.  We are not here just ‘doing’ our work, we are ‘being’ our work as well. 

We have an awesome team and they enjoy getting to together as much as we do.  We had Melody, and our new service worker Sata down from Gitega, Jennifer and Matt from Bujumbura, with Felix our program assistant, Teresa and Jennifer our SALTers in Kigali came down, and Patrick and Michael from Bukavu joined us as well.  Matt Gates was not able to come because his parents were visiting him in Kigali during the week.

It was not all work and no play.  The team did enjoy cooking together, we watched a movie one evening and went to the beach on Saturday afternoon when we were done.   We went to Pinnacle 19 on the beach day where our family enjoyed spending about an hour on a porch with Avril the chimp.  The kids played with her and had a ball.  I have some very nice pictures of David and her lying around together.

The team retreat was the culmination of a fairly busy 10 days, which kept me occupied through two weekends without a break.  The previous weekend I was upcountry for several reasons.  I was asked to preach on the theme of reconciliation at a Friends Church upcountry (the legal rep. would like me to visit several churches in the next 3 months to share as we are leaving soon.)  I got up at 6 am on Sunday and drove with the Legal Rep. and Matt Alan, our SALTer who wanted to see what it was like, to Mutaho.  It took about 3 hours.  We were lucky we had been warned that rain had made many roads muddy and we took a longer but paved-road way.  The service started at 9 am and I started preaching around 12:30.  We were done a bit after 2 pm, afterwhich we were invited to share a meal.  It was a pretty typical upcountry service.

Despite the length, I did not mind it really.  There were about 8 choirs that sung, a youth choir, an adult choir, a mens choir, womens choir, young mens choir, young womens choir, prayer intercessors choir… I think at least 400 of the 500 people present were in some choir.  The other remarkable thing to see are the hundred or so kids who sit quietly through the whole thing without complaining.

I feel the sermon went well, I preached on the passage about Jesus coming with a sword, to divide families.  I used this to talk about generational sin. How belonging to Christ is taking on a new identity.  Not that we change physically, I am still white, male, etc. but that these identities are must be redeemed as we are adopted into Christ’s family.  I used my own example as coming from a family of slave traders, now myself a ‘slave of Christ’ in Africa.  But I said that standing here requires that I renounce that identity and even ask for forgiveness from African brothers and sisters whose ancestors my ancestors may have harmed.

By the same token I challenged them as Hutus and Tutsis, to renounce the generational sins of their families, the hatred and prejudice that they inherited along with the good things that they were given by their families of origin.  When this is done, you become available now, to go back to your identity as a redeemed individual, able to forgive your enemies, and then share the gospel of peace with those with whom you share a common background.

We left around 3 and headed to Gitega where Matt and I stayed the night.  I needed to do a field visit to the Hope School so stayed upcountry rather than return to Bujumbura.  We took the opportunity to drop in on Melody and Sata who live there.  We had a nice evening with them, shared dinner and conversation.  Sata had just finished a kind of village ‘live-in’ where she spent 2 weeks with a Burundian family as part of her orientation.  She said it was a bit challenging but OK.  Matt and I stayed the night at a Catholic guesthouse and left the next morning.

We headed to Hope School, close to the church we were at the day before.  We took Innocent and Beatrice, our partners who run the school with us from Gitega.  I was going to see the completion of a new water project that collects rainwater off the roofs of the buildings.  The project looked great and they can collect about 5000 liters per rain for the school to use for drinking and cleaning.  It is even filtered when it comes out of the tank thanks to new technology.  This was a project sponsored by the Foundation for Hope in Africa.

I also had to do an interview with a student for some reporting to MCC and met with the teachers to discuss challenges with meeting our objectives of high success rate for students continuing beyond grade 10.  Because this is a Batwa school, in a very impoverished community, factors like hunger and illness make success difficult.  Girls are particularly vulnerable as they often do not have family support as well.  Currently only 2 of the 15 10^th graders are girls and they face a difficult road to the end of the year.  Passing the national exam is a challenge as well.

The meetings did go well and then Mat and I headed back to Bujumbura again.  It was raining on the way down and we took the longer paved way to get home.

I was very happy to be with the family again although Rebeca and I had only two days to get ready for the team retreat.

It was on the night of my return that I received the bad news about my sister-in-law.  I still can’t believe how the dark cloud of grief that day gave way to the bright sun of resurrection three days later.  I was glad we have a team who was able to be compassionate and understanding when I shared the bad news and were able to rejoice with me at the good news.

I am also blessed to work in an organization where we work, play and pray together.  Every morning and evening of the team meeting we had singing, prayer and went and brief liturgy.  I feel God in our midst when we are together and it is a blessing to be with them.

Thanks to all my other praying friends around the world who interceded for my family and I during the past week.  Our prayers were mightily answered!

Bonus Photo:  David and Avril