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my true love gave to me… 3 bicycles! (And don’t forget: 2 dozen mosquito nets, and a propane cooker with taaaank!)

A bicycle is something not taken for granted in Rwanda.  It is a blessing.  While we may view a bicycle as something for pleasure, for many people in Rwanda a bicycle opens up whole new worlds to them.  If you do not have a car and take yourself most places by foot, a bicycle would save so much time!  There are even bicycle taxis in Rwanda- you ride on the back and they take you down the bumpy dusty side streets that the public bus system does not visit.  But with your own bicycle you can get yourself places without having to pay someone else to get you there.

Of course, there’s nothing saying that bikes in the Home of Innocence woudn’t also afford the kids the opportunity to just ride for fun like kids the world over do!  Kids deserve to just be carefree & have fun sometimes too!

Can you help provide a bike (or bikes) for the Home of Innocence? 

 3 bikes, cost: $100 each or $300 total.  I can imagine the looks on the kids faces if we delivered bikes to them- I guarantee you it would be worth every penny!

Please visit our giving page and under general fund indicate “12 Days of Christmas” and the item you are giving towards.  The items from day one and day two are still available to purchase also – see previous posts.

God Bless You!

Lisa

P.S.  Remember to look for Ten Talents International on facebook & “like” our page to be connected with us there.  Thank you!

my true love gave to me… 2 dozen mosquito nets!

Most of you have probably heard of malaria. In case you don’t know much about it, let me borrow this information from the World Health Organization: Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells.

Symptoms of malaria include fever, headache, and vomiting, and usually appear between 10 and 15 days after the mosquito bite. If not treated, malaria can quickly become life-threatening by disrupting the blood supply to vital organs. In many parts of the world, the parasites have developed resistance to a number of malaria medicines.

A very cost effective and simple way to help prevent malaria is to sleep under mosquito nets.  The Home of Innocence needs new mosquito nets.  Can you help fill this item from their wish list?

2 dozen mosquito nets.  Cost $4 each, or $96 total.  Buy one, buy several, or buy them all.  Instead of giving a candle or tin of popcorn to someone, why not buy a mosquito net to help protect a former street child in Rwanda? 

Please visit our giving page and under general fund indicate “12 Days of Christmas” and the item you are giving towards.

God Bless You!

Lisa

P.S.  Look for Ten Talents International now on facebook & “like” our page.  You will get our updates & you can easily share these with your friends.  Thank you!

my true love gave to me… a cooker with a propane taaaaank!  (You’re singing this in your head, right?)

Right now, the Home of Innocence auntie cooks for the boys using the traditional Rwandan method- over charcoal outside.  Providing her with a propane cooker would not only give her an option that is easier and cleaner than charcoal, but propane also costs less to cook with and would save the Home of Innocence money. 

One cooker with propane tank: cost $100 — warm Christmas feelings and satisfaction from being generous come free!

Can you fulfill this item from the Home of Innocence wish list?  Please visit our giving page and under general fund indicate “12 Days of Christmas” and the item you are giving towards.

This is going to be a great Christmas!

God Bless You,
Lisa

Today is 12-12, what better day to kick off a very special “12 Days of Christmas”?  We would like to give everyone the opportunity to make this Christmas one to remember, both for you and for the boys in the Home of Innocence.  Each day, for the next 12 days, we are going to be highlighting one area that you can give towards.  Most are items needed in the Home, with the wish for the 12th day being that our “true love” would provide sponsors for 12 more children (the children waiting for sponsors are not in the Home of Innocence, but children in our “At Risk” program).  

Are you ready?  Join in the fun with us!  Just go to our giving page (see tab above) and give under the “general fund” just make sure that you write, in the note section “12 Days of Christmas” and what the donation is for.  Donations can also be mailed (see our address under the “contact” tab).

Here’s a sneak peek of what each day will look like- who doesn’t like to get a peak at their presents early, right?  (More information will be given on that specific day).

1st day: one propane cooker and tank, cost- $100

2nd day: two dozen mosquito nets ($4 each, or $48 total)

3rd day: three bicycles ($100 each, $300 total)

4th day: four cooking pots

5th day: 5 couch cushions

6th day: six gerry cans (for transporting and storing water)

7th day: seven place settings (plates, bowls, cups, forks, spoons)

8th day: eight sets of bedding (sheets, pillow, pillow case, blanket) 

9th day: nine backpacks (cost $6 each, or $54 total)

10th day: ten towels for bathing

11th day: eleven bags of charcoal (the main cooking fuel they use, cost $10 each, or $110 total)

12th day: twelve children sponsored (cost $35/month…  eternal benefits: priceless!)

Which of these items sounds interesting to you?  You don’t have to give all of a certain day’s item, but a part is fine too.  Subscribe to our blog (see the left sidebar) and you will get each day’s update.  Stay tuned for great reports and lots of fun to come!  This is way better than heading to the mall!

God Bless You,

Lisa

Another team was here last week from Texas and coordinated by All God’s Children International.  It is always a blessing to be able to share with visitors the work going on here in Rwanda.  We enjoyed our time with this group of 7 people, both children and adults, and we were even able to host them here in our home.  They have safely made the journey back across the ocean now & we pray that God continues to seal in their hearts the things he showed them while they were here.

Out of the many activities the team did during the week they were here, two made a special impact on our Ten Talents sponsored children.  The first was they took several hours one afternoon to host a mini- Vacation Bible School for the sponsored kids.  It is their long break from school right now, the time between when they have finished one school year and are waiting for January to start the next one (like the summer break we have in the US).  We invited all sponsored children to come and participate, and by the showing of around 40 kids (including those in the Home of Innocence) I would say just about every one of them was there.  They had a great afternoon of crafts, activities, songs, and Bible teaching.  As the afternoon was winding down, we had the (almost) daily rain storm come in.  No problem, the kids just moved under a covered area next to the Home of Innocence and someone brought out the big drum.  They started singing and dancing.  It was a great sight to behold everyone, big and small, just purely enjoying themselves.

Another project they worked on was done alongside a few of the older boys in the Home of Innocence.  Together they built two rabbit hutches.  Our intention is that the boys will eventually be able to build them on their own and be able to sell the hutches.  We also are going to give them rabbits so they can start raising rabbits both for themselves and to sell.  We hope that both of these projects will be a great investment and benefit to the Home.

I would also like to add that we have brought two more boys into the Home of Innocence.  Alex & Frank are total orphans, brothers, and although they had been living with a man (unrelated to them) they were about to get kicked out.   These boys are about 13 and 14 years old.  Please pray for their transition into the Home, as well as for all of our boys in the Home.  We are praying for God’s guidance as we look to add more children to the Home, but we want to make sure it is in His timing & under His direction.

God Bless You,

Lisa

Last week we finished another time of ministry with a team from the US.  This team came as a part of the Embrace Missions ministry of All God’s Children International (AGCI).  16 people, including 5 boys ages 9 to teens.  They were a blessing to work together with and they got to visit many different ministries going on here in Rwanda.  We joked with them that everything either has to have the word “hope” or “home” in the name.  For example: Home of Innocence, Acres of Hope, Esther Home, Hope for the Future, Home of Hope, and so on!  I was thinking about it & how maybe there is a reason why those two words resonate.

Those two things: a home (a safe place to live and grow) and hope (the belief that things can & will change for the better) are basic & essential needs for everyone.  To be denied either or both of these two things is to find yourself in a very bleak and desperate place.  It is our prayer that every child currently living on the streets: sleeping in drainage ditches, unsure of where their next meal will come from or when it will be, would be able to be in a loving Godly home, and because of that they will give themselves permission to hope again.

We have emptied the rooms formerly used as offices at the Home of Innocence and very soon we plan to be bringing more children in.  Please pray with us for God to guide us, to lead us to the children that he has planned for this new phase, and to provide the donors and sponsors needed to supply their daily needs.

Here are the boys of the Home of Innocence now: lives which have been forever altered.  I firmly believe they will grow to be a blessing to their country in huge and amazing ways- no small things for these boys!

God Bless You,

Lisa

Our two teams worked very hard and were very busy for their time here. They completed a basketball court at a local elementary school and then finished the week with a basketball camp. Here is some of the team trying out the new court!

The teams also had time to experience different ministry going on here in Rwanda.  This included the feeding program for street children (you haven’t experienced worship until you’ve been a part of the worship with the street children!), as well as a women’s training center, and the Home of Innocence.  They also got to meet a young man who is a competitive bike rider here in Rwanda- with only one leg.  He lost his leg from a grenade after the genocide- but that has not stopped him & he is amazingly fast!

He shared his story with the team and they donated so he could buy new tires for his bike.  We also appreciate the generosity of the team in sponsoring five more waiting children.  They got to meet these kids, and even their parents in most cases, and know personally who they are helping.  Praise God for the new opportunities each of these kids will have!

Please continue to keep the ministry of Ten Talents International in your prayers.  We have another team coming from All God’s Children International that we will be hosting the second half of this month.  We look forward to more great times in ministry with them and connecting people with what God is doing here in Rwanda.  We desire to increase our impact and continually do more to advance God’s kingdom here & in the hearts of those who partner with us around the world.

Whether you come, pray, give, tell others, or all of the above- your involvement is essential.  Thank you!

God Bless You,

Lisa

It is hard to believe we have been here for almost a month now.  We have been really busy!  Besides just the normal getting our routines down and getting into the swing of things here, there is the ministry going on, making changes, adjustments, and catching up with everything since Mike was here last.  We have also been busy getting ready for our first team.  They (3 of them) arrive EARLY Tuesday (like 1 AM early)!  And will be staying in our home with us for about 12 days.  On Saturday the Courts for Kids team arrives (14 of them) and they will be staying next door to us at the ANLM Guest House.  Our 3 will join the Courts for Kids for a very busy week of building a basketball court at a local elementary school where several of the TTI sponsored children attend school.

The primary school where the basketball court will be.

Of course in addition to all this, our daughter KaLia is attending school full time (which requires us getting her there & back), I am homeschooling our son Nate (pray for us!), and our other Rwandan daughter Christine has now left boarding school and come to live with us (and we are praying she will be able to get into KaLia’s school).  Whew!  We sure will appreciate your prayers for us during this very busy time!  Of course, this also means we will soon have lots of great things to report to you as much ministry is going on.

Please also pray for a new boy that was brought into the Home of Innocence on Saturday.  He had been sponsored to attend school, but even though his school fees were paid he was still taking to the streets & running away from home.  His mother brought him down to the Home on Saturday & asked us to take him in & hopefully the structure & influence of the other boys in the home will help him to start making the right choices.  Please pray for him & for all the boys in the home.  These boys have been called out of the streets for a reason & a purpose.  We pray we are able to be used of God to help accomplish His purposes in their lives.

God Bless You,

Lisa

We have now been in Rwanda one week, and we are just now getting to the point where our bodies have adjusted to the time change (9 hours ahead).  We are also getting into and used to our new routines here, including our children who started their school on Monday (after arriving Thursday night).

One of the first things we were able to do was visit the Home of Innocence.  The boys are all well, including Benjamin.  Both Benjamin and his brother David speak English quite well and they help us to communicate with the other children in the home.  I was asking them about school, including how far they have to walk to get to school.  They told me it is about a 20 minute walk- about 1 mile.  I asked Benjamin if it made him tired to do the walking to and from school (they also walk that far when they go to church on Sundays).  He replied that it did not make him tired at all- it was no problem.  So, praise God that it sounds as if his heart is doing well & is strong!

For comparison sake, I would like to remind you of how Benjamin looked in the hospital in Rwanda last May (before his heart surgery):

And this is how he looks now:

Now that is great to see!  Praise God for letting us be a part of his miracle!

God Bless You,

Lisa

The news we have heard is that Benjamin has gained 25 pounds already since his heart valve replacement surgery!  That is amazing!  He is well on his way to a new healthy chapter in his life.

Our family leaves for Rwanda this Wednesday the 18th at 8am.  Please pray for us during our travels, as it will be about 28 hours of traveling before we reach Rwanda.  It is grueling.  I would love just to be able to get some sleep during that time!  And I would pray for all of our luggage to arrive safely with us as well.

Donations continue to come in from so many people & we are only a couple thousand away from what we need for our first 3 months expenses there.  We are confident that God will supply and take care of all our needs- it has been amazing to watch thus far.  When you think that just a few weeks ago we had basically $0 of the money required, but we just prayed and trusted and were obedient.

The word that just keeps coming to my mind is our God is amazing!

Talk to you soon from Rwanda….

God Bless You,

Lisa