Today was our final day in the Butare area of Rwanda. We visited a few more groups and a few individual families. These are all in their first year of Zoe and they are filled with hope for their future. Each are working on group farming projects and beginning their individual businesses. We met with…
Category: Rwanda
Rwanda day 6
Everything in Zoe is done through working groups of 80-100 children. At their first meeting they elect a chairperson, a secretary and a treasurer. They also select a few mentors from adults who have been kind to them in their community. Then, they have regular meetings and decide how to distribute resources. They attend trainings…
Rwanda day 5
God’s house is big. Today we joined our Rwandan friends for worship in a local church here in Butare. This is not like any church I have been in before. It was open air, on the top of a small mountain, with a gorgeous view. One of the Zoe staff told the church leaders we…
Rwanda day 4
It is truly amazing what children can do. At one of our stops today, we met with a large group who have co-op projects farming corn and rice. They are in their second year of the program, but told us today that they are ready to graduate from Zoe. Later, when our host Gaston explained…
Rwanda day 3
Today, I was surprised by God. I don’t know why I am ever surprised by a God so big and so good, but he is working miracles beyond what I thought possible. In our visits today, the theme seemed to be one of orphans giving back to their community and to other orphans. These kids, who have…
Rwanda day 2
It has been a day full of stories, prayers, singing, dancing, celebrating, and cow-chasing. Yes, you read that correctly — cow-chasing. We were to present one of the orphan groups with cows, but the cattle were not cooperating. So, there were some “muzungoos” (the name for non-Rwandan people) running around, chasing cows and looking pretty silly. We visited three villages…
Rwanda day 1
It’s Wednesday evening, 7:00 p.m. here in Butare, Rwanda. We arrived at our hotel after two days of traveling by plane and bus, with little or no sleep. I’m pretty sure I’m delirious at this point, because I can’t quit laughing. After spending most of two days on a plane, you can imagine what we all smell like. So, we…
Rwanda!
Tomorrow I leave with 8 others from our church on a trip to Rwanda. This is my first trip to Africa and I am beyond excited! Zoe Ministry is an orphan empowerment program in Rwanda that our church has been supporting for a few years. In fact, today we celebrated the over 1000 orphans who…