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| Well, it’s about 11pm now, but I’m just not tired, so I’m down here by the pool by myself. The weather is absolutely perfect right now, and beautiful nature is everywhere around me. I thought this would be a good time to share a bit about what we’ve been doing.
I’ve being enjoying virtually every minute here in this country. We got here on Saturday night, and it was I think Monday when we were like, “it feels like we’ve been here forever now!” It’s just ridiculous how fast time goes on trips like these. Something even more ridiculous is the fact of how much we take for granted (by “we” I mean generally everyone who comes from cultures like mine in the U.S.). I guess I should really say me, not we, since I can’t speak for anyone else other than myself, but I think if you thought about it, mostly everyone reading this would agree that we all take mostly everything we have for granted. Let me tell you about Living Water International. As you can probably see, it is an organization that drills clean water wells for people in countries that do not have access to clean water. Can you imagine if the only water that came out of your faucet everyday water undrinkable? Or much less if you had to walk three miles to fetch the dirty water everyday and then carry the full containers all the way back home? This is a job for the woman and children, and many times girls cannot go to school because it takes so much time to get the water.
We got to visit one of Living Water’s wells near Kigali. All day people are there getting clean water, and it is Living Waters’s hope that they will be able to build enough wells so all the people who need it will have access close to their homes, and the little girls will have the time to attend school. It is so much more than going into a village with no water and digging them a well. First of all, in Rwanda, the land of a thousand hills, it is very difficult to find a location for a well. Secondly, if you’ve been drinking dirty water your whole life and you never knew anything else, why would you want to have to pump the water instead, especially if it tastes different than what you re used to? The people in these places have no idea that chronic diarrhea is unusual or unhealthy. That is all they’ve ever known. They have to have an understanding of what the dirty water is doing to them and how the clean water will change their lives. Checking the water periodically to make sure it is still clean and making repairs is also is a big part of it. So these are just some things that Living Water has to do in order to be successful in making long term effects in the lives of those they help. The absolutely most important thing Living Water does, though, is share Jesus’ love and hope. After all, what is the point to get all the clean water in the world but lose your soul?
 pumping clean water!
Dodd and a local man had a contest to see who could fill a container the fastest, and the local man beat him 40 seconds to 35 seconds, which is no surprise since this is normal work for him! We were actually told that the only reason all these men were around is because we, being foreigners, drew their attention. Normally one would only see women and children around the wells.
After this little fun visit, we continued on our way to Lake Kivu, two and a half hours west from Kigali. The lake covers an area of 1,040 square miles. It is absolutely more beautiful than words can say. We took a boat ride, and three of us, Ashley, Micheal, and I, ventured to jump in and swim. Ashley and I made sure to ask Johnson, our driver, if the lake was free of anything dangerous, mostly snakes, sharks, piranhas, and tsetse (TEET-see) flies, which cause the deathly sleeping sickness. He assured us it was very safe and clean, so after we boated way far out, we jumped in. The water was warm, and it felt so nice and refreshing. After a while, Michael climbed back in the boat, leaving Ashley and I in the middle of the lake. They boat driver claimed he needed to go back to get more fuel, so they tossed us one life jacket and zoomed off towards the shore. Ashley and I though it was a joke at first, but seeing all of them in the boat laughing as they went further and further away made us think they were really going. Sure enough, they went all the way back to get fuel before returning to us. I could have easily freaked myself out, having nothing but one life vest for two of us in the middle of this gigantic lake in Rwanda, but I was having such a good time swimming and taking in all the beauty that I really didn’t mind them going. We were nervous about another boat not seeing us, though, and getting hit. We kept checking to see any boats were coming, knowing that our two heads were very easy to not see in this vast lake. Still, if I got hit or attacked, it’d make a good story :). I'm all about good stories. When we got back in the boat, we went to a little island on the lake where the owner of the boat lived. By now it was dark, and the moon was full. Tons of bats began to come out, which Ashley and I weren’t fans of. Someone made a joke about them being “titsi bats” which didn’t help! We got off at the little island, and they brought out the pet monkey. It was pitch black, so being near a half-wild monkey was not so exciting. Surprisingly, Emily, who’s not the biggest fan of animals, was the only one to pet it.
Our long ride back made us quite late for dinner, but swimming and boating in Lake Kivu is something I’ll never forget. I am so blessed beyond words to be able to have shared such great times with such great people.
 on the way to Lake Kivu
 "pushing" the broken down van on the way to the lake
 em, haley, and me with our sweet ride for the week; the land cruiser that i loved so much! this thing never broke down; for those of you who were on the trip, it was tote aus.
 the whole group at lake kivu
swimming in the lake!!
kivu after sunset
 the "young people" of the trip. L-R: George, Dodd, Ashley, Michael, Haley, me, Emily | | |
| Hello friends, family, and those who of you are neither (which I’m sure none of you are or you wouldn’t be reading this). Emily and I left Newark, New Jersey, On Friday evening, and about 26 hours later (36 for Em) we arrived in the beautiful country of Rwanda! Emily arrived sleep deprived, I just with a hurting neck from sleeping in terrible positions in the airplane seats. The process of flying to opposite side of the earth is not a exactly a fun experience, and it makes me wonder why this planet isn’t smaller! When we finally arrived we were more than ready to stretch and breathe fresh air. We met up with our group at the hotel for a late dinner, and it was great for me to see familiar faces from previous trips. We soon headed to bed for a restful nights sleep, and thankfully neither of us had jetlag. The next morning in the daylight we got to see how amazingly beautiful our hotel is; they call Rwanda the Switzerland of Africa, and that is a perfect description!
So, since I don’t have the time to tell in detail all of our wonderful experiences thus far, which is only Sunday and Monday, I will share a brief overview for right now. Sunday Morning we attended a great church which we were told would be about a four hour long service… it wasn’t quite that long, but we did end up leavin before it was over. After we had lunch at the home of Dwight Jackson, who is the Country Director for Food for the Hungry Rwanda, and his wife, Brenda, who graciously prepared the lunch for us as well as Sara Groves and her group, we went to the Kigali Genocide Memorial (I’m sorry if that was a run-on sentence; I probably don’t care about grammar as much as I should, and it’s late at night…). There are about 100 genocide memorials in Rwanda. Seeing this memorial was something I will, unsurprisingly, never forget. It is indescribable, and seeing it would really be the only way to understand it. As sad as it is, it’s real and I’m thankful we got to see the it. I wish I could say I brought something out of it, but I’m still trying to process the whole thing.
We shared a great dinner with Banda and his wife. He is the Vice President of Compassion’s Africa Region, and is a brilliant man with a PhD. He has an amazing story. His wife has three homes for babies of survivors of the genocide. She doesn’t not call any of her 30 babies orphans but rather her own children, which is very touching to me. She has had 34 babies, four of which have been adopted.
our group (minus Craig) at the Genocide Memorial
So that is a summary of Sunday, our first day here. I can’t possibly write about all of today, as I don’t even know how late it is and I have to be up early tomorrow. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this, and I’m sure I’ll be back with more soon (by the way, this is the first draft of this an is unedited, but I’m sure you get the picture of what I’m saying)
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| Check out this video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTZ5PzPNgz4&feature=channel
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| I went with an organization called HOPE International to Haiti last November, and below I posted a link to this great video that shows what they are doing in Haiti. While I was there, we visited some of HOPE's associates and their businesses. (This video is particularly special to me because I've been to Haiti and have seen this work in real life, plus Katie, who became my friend on the trip, is in it!) It's such a great organization; they work in many countries, and I'll be going with them to Rwanda in a couple weeks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrKQZeoAzyI | | |
| I recently returned from a trip to El Salvador and Honduras with my friend Kerry, my mom, my sister Abby (12 years), and Brian Luwis and his daughter Sophia (12 years). While we were there, Kerry and I kept a blog on her site of what we did while we were there, and it was then that I realized the importance of keeping a record of events during my trips while they are happening and fresh in my mind. If you want to see the blog Kerry and I kept while in Central America, you can go to her site, kerryhasenbalg.typepad.com, and on the left hand side you will see the three entries we made: News from El Salvador, El Salvador- Day Two, and Hello from Honduras. It was a great trip, and I definitely can’t wait to go back.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
– James 1:2-4
Now that I’m back in the States, well, it’s not that easy… the culture here is so extremely opposite from that of Central America, and I’d much rather be there than here. But I am learning to trust God wherever he has me, because I know that His thoughts are higher than my thoughts and His ways are higher than my ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). It’s not that I don’t like my life here on the East Coast of the States; it’s just that when I am thrown back into this way of life after being in such a different culture, I feel confused as to how these two so very different worlds can exist. I've gone to Central America many times, and I've experienced many different cultures before, but recently the times I've returned home from various trips it's been difficult, I think because when I see how most of the world lives and then come back home where mountains are so easily made out of molehills, there is so much stress on appearance, being on time, and so on, I think what really matters gets lost in the shuffle, and I just want to go back to the places where I really feel used by God. All my hope and trust is in Jesus, though, and I want to be wherever he has me. I will always be immeasurably thankful to Him for leading me to the places He has and always being right there with me.
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