Just yesterday morning I woke up & realized it was the 14th- which meant that we are almost half way through the month- which means that we only have a little over two weeks left here. How did that make me feel? Panicked! 😉 We still have so much we want to get done in what is now very little time! Mike is working this week on the ANLM Dream Center Chapel- he is helping them get the stairs done. He did have his meeting with the lawyer about establishing TTI as an NGO here. Of course the NGO process requires money to pay the lawyer for his time, so nothing has been set in motion for that quite yet.
On Saturday we were back over to visit the Acres of Hope. We had two more boys from the Faith Home come to visit us, Michael and Jean Claude. We took them to see the property. They are all amazed at how big it is. We talked to some of the neighbors who had gathered around us there. We told them about our plans for putting in a well there that will provide water for the community, so they don’t have to make the long walk like they do now. We asked them to pray for us to find water there. We asked one of them, a grandma at least, if she had a church to go to, but she said the closest one is too far away to walk. When we talked about maybe having a church there, Michael, Jean Claude, and Christine (also from the Faith Home) all got excited. Jean Claude said he would preach the word, Michael would play the keyboard, and Christine said she would lead worship. I get excited too when I think about some of our kids, former street children, working with us in ministry someday. It would not surprise me in the least, in fact I can see it in my mind’s eye. We prayed there with them. We did not have Simon Ngoga with us during this time, so Michael (from the Faith Home) was interpreting for us with the neighbors. He did a great job!
We had a very Africa experience this last week- we ran out of water on Sunday morning. (You see everyone here has a large water tank & although we are connected to city water, that water only runs at certain times & fills your tank then, and you live off that reserve tank of water.)Thank God this house collects rain water (though it may be dirty & in an underground tank), and thank God for a portable water purifier Mike has so we were able to have enough clean water to drink, cook, wash dishes. But still, not having easy access to water was a definite hardship- especially with 6 people in the house. As I carefully measured out & used water, or had to choose not to use water for certain things (washing clothes for instance), I had to think about the many people you see everyday here who are carrying jerry cans of water back to their homes, and that is the only water they have. They will boil it if they have enough for drinking and cooking, but many times they do not. I am constantly amazed at how hard the people here work. Carrying heavy loads (on their head most of the time it seems), walking long distances (in flip flops usually). It has been said to me several times that life is hard here, and hopefully you can understand some of what I am talking about. We (our family) has things easy compared to so many (a vehicle to take us places, running water, a water purifier). Let me also say I was praising God when the city water started running on Tuesday night & our water tank began to refill!
Thank you for praying for us and for the country of Rwanda. Now is the time for Rwanda. Now is the time for a move of God on a people who are ready to receive. Pray for the Lord of the harvest to send workers into his harvest field. And pray for the provision for the work God would have us do. We will be faithful to do it.
Together with you in Christ,
Lisa, Mike, KaLia, Nate (and Michael & Christine)
