Our team made it safely to Kigali, as did all of their luggage- thank God! Among other things, they brought with them TTI t-shirts to give away. At the feeding program they lined the kids up & allowed them to go through & each child got their own new t-shirt. I will let Jill, one of the team members, tell you about it:
“We had 385 of varying sizes. Upon one glance in we continued to pray the “loaves and fishes” prayer, but to be honest we were all skeptical after seeing the many boys there of varying sizes. We told them that if they wanted a shirt they must be in the church. This way we believed we would have better control so one boy wouldn’t get more than one shirt. We ran out of the youth smaller size very quickly. Even though all did not fit correctly, as the last person came out of the church we gave out the last shirt …… Why do we doubt God will provide when it is for His glory of what we are giving? We took pictures of all the boys that we gave the shirt to, first it was single pictures but as it was taking so long we would put 2 together, then 3. We did get a picture of everyone.
On this day we got to see a little boy, who entertained us last Spring with his dancing at church. He had not been there on Tuesday, not sure why. We saw so many of them because their face had made such an impression on us before. As they came through to have us put on their shirts they were bare chested as they had taken off their own shirts. It showed the many scars of their lifestyle, many were very shy about no shirt but all seem to like the fact of a new shirt and that it was being put on by someone who cares. I got lots of thank you’s (some in French), God bless you’s, but the smiles were irreplaceable. It gave us also a chance to give each one an added pat or touch just for them.”
Thanks Jill! I am amazed there are so many children at the feeding program now- when we were there over the summer there was only about 200 tops! Mike said when all those kids got out into the yard it looked like a sea of orange!
Mike is still working on the paperwork for getting TTI registered, it is still slow going & can be frustrating at such a slow pace. We pray for God to help get that paperwork done.
The team also visited the Acres of Hope property. Here is what Jill said about that:
“We looked for the trees that we had planted but only found a few out of the many we had planted in the Spring. Some had even had their places changed which is not helping for their survival. They are lacking in water too. The villagers have planted almost the entire plot of land but their crop too is having difficulty without water. Several of the villagers came out to see what we were doing. Kids and women were cutting grass with small scythes in order to feed their cattle. Such a hard working people every day just to survive.”
I asked Mike about it & he told me that he is not sure how many trees are still alive, because Bosco (person who lives there on the property) has planted crops all around them. The avocado trees are all still there and he thinks they will survive. The rainy season is just ending, but apparently it has not rained enough. That is what the neighbor said. He said he and others planted several crops on our property, but they do not think they will be able to harvest much if anything. It did rain a lot yesterday and last night, so hopefully that will make a difference.
Mike and John will be leaving Rwanda December 2nd, while Darcee, Jill, & Karen stay on, working with Ngoga to get more information on children in the feeding program. Thank you for your prayers for both parts of our team- for Mike & John as they return and for the rest of the team as they continue on. We pray for each to be able to be productive & accomplish much. And I should not need to tell you that I am very excited to finally have Mike back- and the kids can’t wait too!
God is faithful, and we trust him to continue to bless & provide for this- His work. The Home of Innocence, the Acres of Hope, Ten Talents International- it is all His. Thank you for believing & praying with us.
God Bless You,
Lisa
