Off To Work

A thought came to mind one day, early in our mission work, while I was working with the team helping build Joseline’s house. The work was quite demanding. I just finished hauling a bunch of mud bricks that weighed about 30 pounds each to the masons who were framing up the walls. I wondered quietly, when during your time on earth are we finished doing God’s work? This question that that tugged at my consciousness was more than likely posed because I was exhausted and I felt I knew first hand how difficult sometimes it can be doing God’s work. Fortunately I knew the answer before I finished asking myself the question. We are never finished doing God’s work. The beautiful thing about doing God’s work is at the end of the day it always leaves us wanting to do more. We realize the reward we receive far outweighs the benefit we give. So tonight I will go to sleep. But my alarm is set. See you in the morning.

Tim Colgan

Getting in touch with your inner child in Rwanda!

· Creating mud from the earth: using a hoe to loosen the dirt/clay and mixing water
· Playing in the mud hole… making mud balls with our hands
· Getting gooey mud on our gloves, or with no gloves, deeply into our hands and fingernails, looking at it with curiosity, feeling its cool texture against one’s palms, and smiling

· Slapping smaller parts of that mud ball against the side of the house [like throwing ripe tomatoes up against a barn!]
· Putting lots of mud into a ‘form’ to make a 30 pound mud pie!
· Getting ‘down and dirty’, messy and getting even more messy
· Playing and singing with others – “Hokey Pokey”, “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”, “Iyo Mana Nzizi”, lots of ‘oldies’ and more

· Reciting our “ABC’s” and “Numbers”
· Slapping cement onto the mud walls and laughing as the wet cement splatters all overthe place and on one another
· Lots of laughter… and even more laughter
· Playing ‘Fooootball’ [soccer], baseball, catching and running after the balls that got away
· Skipping, dancing and singing while holding hands


· Hugging, smiling & more laughter

· Eating Dum-Dums and loving those sweets, more dancing and singing
· Reaching out to touch and hold someone’s hand, to experience the feeling of white skin next to black skin, to embrace another tentatively one moment and with abandon in next moment -- giving and receiving love unconditionally

“Truly, I tell to you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3
"...Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs." Matthew 19:14

We were blessed to enjoy the many ways we connected with the children and they connected with us. And as we shared these times with one another, we experienced the joy of being unencumbered and childlike ourselves. And perhaps in those shared moments we caught just a tiny glimpse of heaven right here on earth.
Peace, Stacy

Responsible Children

I have been home just over a week and have been thinking about the journey to Africa and how it impacted me. Today is my son, Josh's, 19th birthday. My thoughts go to the number of heads of household in Rwanda younger than Josh with tremendous responsibilities for themselves and their siblings. Thanks to the Giving Hope program, Epiphanie and her staff, they joyfully accept their responsibility and all that is rewarded to them as a result of their work. In many cases, they will take in another orphan. These children truly touched my heart and soul by their beautiful smiling faces and their prayers for God to bless us. We were there, many miles from home, to help them, to reach out and share God's love with them and yet, as I have experienced in the past when I am obedient to the prompting of the Holy Spirit, I am the one who is blessed beyond belief.
We visited one of the genocide memorials the last day we were in Kigali. There were around 300,000 people buried there. As we journeyed through this memorial, there were pictures (faces I could put with each of those numbers). I must say this experience broke my heart. Rwanda has come a long way since the genocide and is on the right path. I was approached by a couple of people prior to the journey who questioned my motives for going to Rwanda when there is so much to be done in our own back yard. I believe God calls us to be aware of the pain and suffering of His children all over the world. My eyes were opened and my heart touched so deeply by this journey. I will continue to pray for these wonderful children and the Giving Hope program. I ask that you do the same.
I appreciate the financial support of our family at HBUMC and especially the many prayers lifted up on our behalf. THANK YOU. Peace, Donna

God at Work.

Hello,
I will do my best to keep this to one stream of thought as I try to harness everything I'm feeling since leaving the beautiful country of Rwanda.

You've been reading about our experiences in Rwanda and a few reflections since we've returned. Friends, this is where the mission truly begins. Our mission now is to spread the word: God is doing amazing things in Rwanda, He's doing amazing things through the ZOE ministry that we all support and He's working in a truly amazing way through our beloved Epiphanie. A HUGE "thank you" goes to all of you who support HBUMC missions, without you these experiences would not be possible. So, thank you! Ok, there's one stream, now let me row my boat to another...
I have been very blessed to take part in several missions through my school and the church, each experience holding it's own place in my heart. One of the greatest gifts is the team itself. We are 14 people (some of us knowing each other, some not) called out of whatever we were doing here in our own lives, to be a part of each other's lives in a foreign land. It amazes me the bonds and relationships that can form within two weeks. Bonds that last the rest of our lives. It speaks volumes about God's work within each one of us, having the ability through Him to drop all sense of being an American, and just being a human. Being real. Real with one another, having that great power of humility and being open to the new experience each day brings. That opens us up to form similar bonds and relationships with the people in Africa ("stay with me!"). Language barrier? I don't think so. The children, the adults, we, everyone was on the same page over there. It's a line of communication that only receives signal through Christ.

As we all know, we have a true blessing in our pastor, Rick. I think I take for granted his spirit, the way he's able to communicate with people in our church, his love for everyone and his ability to recognize the spirit in other people. Folks, I can't express in words what it is to watch him "minister" to the people in Rwanda (but of course I'm going to try). You think he inspires you on a Sunday morning? He takes one of the children aside and within 2 minutes their faith is restored, hope is in their eyes and Rick is beaming, tears in his eyes, over-joyed with the love of the Lord. It is a true gift to be able to have any spiritual connection with anyone, but the power to be able to reach someone who knows nothing of the words you speak, only of what you hold in your heart is what being a MINISTER truly is. I think Rick would tell you that it works both ways. Be on the lookout for his new reality show, filmed in Rwanda. We're calling it Pastor Ricky Loves The Kids! Ah, c'mon, gotta throw a dig in there just to keep him in check.

Secretly, I'm trying to see if I can have a longer blog post than anything Will Bynum has written. Maybe next time...
-Michael

Everybody Works

My mind is still somewhat in a jumble (not a jungle) from the 22+hour trip home and all of the wonderful children, countryside, sounds and colors that we experienced for about two weeks. Quite honestly, I was ready to get home, but let me assure you all that your prayers and funding have been well appreciated and carefully spent.

I'm happy to report that your generosity will help to build two more homes that we hadn't even counted on. Way to go! This was a real bonus for the ZOE program.

Our team of 14 people from our Church worked on two different houses that are being built for the orphans of that horrible Genocide and deaths due to AIDS. Just as important, we visited other homes that had recently been constructed. Anything these "family" units receive has to be earned. The community works together to build houses, fences and look after each other. Too many heart-touching stories to relay here, but trust me, you should all feel proud of yourselves to be a part of this effort by the Zoe Ministries.

One story that typified the "everybody works" approach follows:
We were helping to dig the foundation for a larger house that would house the 63 children ( I'm not exaggerating) that were sleeping head to toe like cord wood on straw mats in a much smaller house. After the digging was done (all work is by hand with some hand tools), everybody daisy-chained small stones like rip-rap to cover the bottom of the foundation ditches. Next step was to cover the stone with moist clay that had been mixed on site by hand. The women started carrying "hub caps" or anything else to move the mud (as we called it) to the masons. The mud pit was pretty far from the foundation. At home, I would think in terms of using a wheel barrow to make the most of my trip. here's what got me....I looked up and noticed a woman carrying one shovelfull of mud at a time. To top it off, a baby was strapped to her back. Talk about dedication...that sight still gets to me.

Again, thank you all for helping us help these children. If you could see the smiles on their faces, you'd know that there is hope in Rwanda. Best regards, Mac

Coming Together

As reality sets in, the transition from Rwanda to Raleigh feels like a jigsaw puzzle; all the pieces are there but now the time comes to fit them all together. Thoughts and images are constantly surfacing about the incredible bonds that were made on our mission trip. As a team of 14 we are ready to share the experience with you even further through the blog as well as conversations. God was surrounding us at every point of our journey and we have all of you to thank for the continual prayers.

The last image that comes to mind from our trip would be Joceline’s house as the orphans ran barefoot across the dirt path toward the white bus wanting just one more glance at the Muzungos! As a piece of our hearts were left with each orphan, we took with us their stories to share. As you can read below from other members, all of us experienced different God moments during our journey.

Over all, the God moment that is most prevalent in my mind would have to be seeing God through them. God was in their touch, their smiles, their laughter. The children’s eyes would speak to me and move me in a way that is almost impossible to describe. Their smiling faces and kind spirits were a true act from God. When holding the children they would wrap themselves around our bodies as if we were one. Arms were clinched together around our necks and legs were tightly crossed in the back. When it was time to depart for the day, the children would hold on for that extra second to feel that security one last time knowing we would be leaving. God was continually holding all of us together as we are all children of God.

Please pray for the continued success of the Giving Hope program. Incredible things are happening in Rwanda and we are excited to share more stories with you.

God Bless! Alyson

Back Home and All Is Well

Our team arrived in Raleigh on schedule at 1:30 this afternoon, happy to 'touch down' and be back home, greeted by family and friends. It has been quite a powerful journey to this 'land of a thousand hills'. Our team will continue to blog here in the coming weeks sharing reflections of our experiences with the Giving Hope mission.

God is at work in profound ways. Part of our mission was to witness the many ways in which our support of ZOE's ministry is truly Giving Hope, making a difference in the lives of these orphans and vulnerable children. It was an opportunity for these young people to personally offer their gratitude, through us, to you for your support of this worthwhile ministry.

On behalf of the team, thank you for your prayers. It has been a privilege for us to serve. Blessings, Stacy