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It is such a relief and we praise God that the shipping container has finally been released to us from customs. Yeah! It has been delivered to the Africa New Life Ministries property (sitting on a nice level piece of ground next to one of their containers). This property is not very far from the Acres of Hope & we are thankful for that. Now we are in the process of unloading, organizing, sorting, etc. We have the tractor out & ANLM will be using that for some septic system projects they have going on. We also have the ATV out that we will be using to get around the 7 acres of the Acres of Hope. Nate was super excited about that!

To get the tractor & the ATV from the customs lot to the ANLM property, Simon Peter Ngoga drove the tractor and Mike drove the ATV behind him. It was a slow process (slow tractor) and boy did they get lots of attention as they went! (I don’t think there are 4 wheel ATV’s here- so it is a big novelty.) At one point, as they were getting ready to leave the customs lot, it started to rain, but thank God that passed quickly and they were soon on their way.

We have some much needed items in that container and we are thankful to finally be able to get in there & have access to them. Thank you for your prayers for the container throughout this long process!

Thank you to Heritage Church for hosting a house warming party for the Home of Innocence. Through the generous donations given last Sunday we will be able to buy some much needed furnishings for the home. Praise God! Another boy has joined the home also. His name is Emmanuel. He is an orphan that is about 10 years old. Please continue to keep the Home of Innocence in your prayers. For God to surround these children with his love, to pour out his goodness on them, & to bless this home. The children living in the home are: Yvie, Celestin, Emmanuel, Theogene, Yvie (another one), and Karace.

I look forward to sharing more good news with you soon!
God Bless You,
Lisa

We have had a wonderful personal praise in this last week that I would like to share with you. On April 1st we moved into a rental home here in Rwanda, and at this home there is a young man who lives there & works to take care of the yard, house, etc. His name is Domasin and is a good guy. We have our Rwandan children staying with us and through them we were able to invite Domasin to attend church with us on Easter Sunday. We were so excited when, at the end of the service, he went forward to accept Christ! You can see the genuine joy in his face & when we were able to ask him about it later he shared how he felt “fresh” (clean). We know the angels in heaven all rejoice every time someone accepts the forgiveness of Christ, and we join in the celebration with them! I am thankful that God led us to this house because he had a plan and a call on Domasin. Pray with us that the seed that has been planted in his heart will continue to grow strong, that the enemy will not be able to snatch it away, and also that the next people to rent the house (we leave May 1st) will also be Christians and allow him to leave to attend church on Sundays.

On the business side of things here we have not had very good news this week. We thought we were very close to having the tax exemption granted for our container, when we went to a different office to get the approval we were told that they want more paperwork, and the things they are asking for make us feel like we are starting all over again. It has been a long and difficult process. Please pray for God, who is our provider and our champion, to be at work on behalf of Ten Talents International. The devil does not want us to get this work started here & is trying to do everything he can to discourage us. Let’s together pray through this resistance- I know in the end, it is all going to be so worth it.

We stand in Christ’s strength- together with you- and we know we will share in Christ’s victory in all things.

God Bless You,
Lisa

Today my heart has felt the grief of this nation. This day is called The Day of Mourning. April 7th,2009 is the 15th anniversary of the beginning of the genocide here in Rwanda. It was on that day that 100 days of killing began- taking the lives of an estimated 1 million people, and leaving countless others broken- both mentally and physically.

It has been some time since I have been able to update the blog- we have moved to a new place that does not have good internet access. One of the nice things about our new place is our view- we look out over the hillside of the city. Today as I looked out on that view I was reminded of when Jesus looked from the hillside down onto Jerusalem and was grieved for the lost contained within there. As people are grieving for the pain of the past, we continue to pray for this country’s future & for them to find the hope & joy that can only come from Jesus. With Jesus is healing & restoration!

We had some of our newly sponsored children meet at our office last Saturday. They just finished their second term of school & many of them brought their report cards with them. We had good news that one of them – Patrick was 1st in his class (grade) already! We are so proud of him! Many of our other kids are doing well & are very proud of their new ability to be in school. Also, our kids who are in the Faith Home have performed very well. One of our boys, Cyprian, was 1st in his class (6th grade), and Michael was 3rd (in that same class). We are very proud of our kids & how hard they are working to make the most of the opportunities before them.

Our family is doing well- we are enjoying spending extra time with the kids from the Faith Home who are in 5th grade – same as we did last year. We have had them with us for the last week & they are such sweet kids. We always pray for God to bless and prosper them.

Our container is very close to being released- some steps have been made forward, but business has been put on hold for a few days because of mourning. We look forward to giving you a good report on that soon. Jeanmarie, the boy I wrote about in the last post, was brought back to his mom’s house & we left it in their hands to come back & meet with us if they wanted him to be sponsored. We have not heard back from them yet. We pray that God will lead us to those children that he wants us to help right now, and maybe the bit of time we had with Jeanmarie will be a seed that bears fruit at some later time.

Thank you for faithfulness to pray with us- for the ministry & for God to continue to provide so that his work will be accomplished.

God Bless You,
Lisa

Mike was driving out of the campus where they have the feeding program for street children. Just outside the property he saw a young boy, about 10 years old, sniffing glue. It is common for children who spend their time on the streets to get into the habit of sniffing glue. They start it because getting high makes them forget about their hunger pains. Mike could see that the boy was holding a bottle of glue under his shirt, and putting his face down inside his shirt to sniff the fumes. He stopped and called the boy over. He wasn’t sure if the boy knew him (he could from the feeding program, or maybe not) but he motioned to him to give up the bottle of glue. At first, Mike could tell, the boy was not sure what to do. Should he run? But after a moment’s hesitation he gave the glue up. Mike took him to the Home of Innocence. Once there he was able to talk to him as our house Uncle can translate for us. Mike offered to let the boy stay in the home, as long as he promised not to sniff glue while there. The boy said, “I can’t stay here forever, but I’ll stay here for a week, ” and he promised not to sniff glue. His name is Jeanmarie.

Jeanmarie did stay in the home for several days, but then Saturday morning he took off. Theogene, one of the older boys who stays in the Home of Innocence like a big brother, went out to track him down. Eventually he was able to find him, but he was sniffing glue again. Theogene brought Jeanmarie back to the home, and he stayed again Saturday night as well as going to church with all the house members on Sunday morning. We are praying for Jeanmarie, as well as all the boys in the home. We hope he stays, and that God will work in his family so eventually he can live at home.

I mentioned in a previous post that we were looking for a house to rent for the month of April. We are very thankful for God has provided a good house for us! It has enough room for us to have some of the children from the Faith Home come stay with us, as well as being not very far from our office, the property, and the church. Thank you God!

Thank you for your prayers for us and for the ministry here. God has great things in his heart for this country, and we are blessed to be a part of it.

God Bless You,
Lisa

You may not be able to tell, but this is me at the feeding program. One boy showed me an open wound he had, so I got out my little purse size first aid kit, and before I knew it I was surrounded by dozens of children with wounds. Some were old and scabbed over, some were new (these kids can get pretty banged up out there). Some of the scabs looked pretty gnarly, and I doubt that a little bit of ointment and a band-aid really did any good, but it is a way for me to show care and a loving touch to these kids.

Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy. (Psalm 82:3) This verse reinforces for me what we are doing here. We have signed up so many children to get sponsored who are growing up without a father and in extreme poverty. God has a mandate for us to act on things like this. We now have profiles of children who are waiting to be sponsored on our website- look under “get involved”- but don’t say I didn’t warn you that these kids may capture your heart! Pray for many more sponsors- these kids deserve a chance!

We praying for many things, and we would appreciate you agreeing with us for these things. We are still working on getting the container released to us, and hope to see it actually released next week. We are also still working on getting registered here.

We have boys now living in the Home of Innocence & doing well- praise God! However, we do not have the home completely furnished. We bought one set of (3 high) bunk beds, a bed for Uncle, mattresses, blankets, and other household items. However, the only other furniture in the house is a dining table with chairs that is borrowed- it will not be able to stay forever. We do not have living room furniture, like a couch, chairs, side table. We also need more beds for bringing more children into the home. Please pray with us for God to provide so the home can be fully furnished.

We are also still praying for God to provide the full amount of funds needed for the development, phase 1, of the Acres of Hope.

Our family is doing well. Everyone has stayed healthy and we are thankful for that. We are staying at a guest house, but we are looking for a house to rent for the month of April that will give us more family time together.

Thank you for your prayers & for being a part of what God is doing in this part of the world. God is faithful & we look forward to sharing with you the wonderful answers to these prayers!

God Bless You,
Lisa

We had a great time with the street kids on Thursday. Chris painted a picture for them while they worshiped, a picture of people walking a path to Christ on the cross. The kids really appreciated it- seeing someone create a painting was something they most likely had never seen before. He gave them the painting as a gift, and the plan is that they will have it on the wall in their chapel. Chris also left them the paint & brushes, which they were very excited about, so some of them can explore their ability to create with that.

That afternoon we also spent with the kids in Kayonza (Faith Home). We were really blessed to have them sing for us. They worshiped and we just enjoyed it very much, as we got to watch them just focus on the goodness of God in their songs.

Our boys in the Home of Innocence are doing well. They call the house father “uncle” and he has been sharing the Bible with them and praying with them in the morning and before bed. They get to play soccer together, have regular meals, wash their clothes, all these things which we consider basics, which were once considered luxuries to them. We continue to have more moms & kids showing up at the office hoping to get their kids sponsored to go to school. We can not register any more at this point, until we get the ones we have registered all ready sponsored. Hopefully we will be able to help more children soon.

We had to say farewell to Chris & Jerid on Saturday (we miss you already!) We are still working on what’s needed to have our container released, as we have not been able to get the paperwork for registration yet. We pray & are believing for that to be released soon, as the amount of time has passed now that they are able to charge us for having the container sitting there. We pray God will work it out soon!

Thank you for your prayers!
God Bless You,
Lisa

the street children who show up for the feeding program in the morning get to have some porridge for breakfast before they wash their clothes & then have church service

Tomorrow we will visit the children at the feeding program. There are a lot of thoughts that go through my mind about the street children there. I know many of them pray and ask God to help them out of their situation. Sometimes I wonder, why does it have to be like this for them? How can this be? But I know that God has given it to us (all of us) to be His ambassadors, the ones to do His will. If we are His body, He is the head, and we are the hands and feet. We must be the ones to bring good news to the hopeless. Some verses I read in Psalms 10 today gave expression to my feelings: “Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless… But you O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it and take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless… You hear, O Lord, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.”

I pray that we can make a difference to these children. That we can show them that their hope is not in vain, and that they are not forgotten by their God or by His people. I pray we can see a generation changed- families changed, lives changed.

Thanks for partnering with us & joining me in this prayer.
God Bless You,
Lisa

P.S. Mike is still working on securing paperwork required for the release of the container. We are allowed two weeks of “free” storage before the facility it is at will begin to charge us for it being there. It has been a week and a half now, and we hope and expect to have it taken care of before the two weeks has lapsed. You can pray with us for this as well!

Wednesday Mike, Simon Peter, Chris, and Jerid participated in a community meeting at the Acres of Hope. Mike shared with the community our plans for providing access to water, assuring them that no one would charge them to obtain the water (which made them very happy). They have decided to form an association to sell the crops that they are growing on the property. They met under a large tree on the property and below I will post a picture of everyone walking back up to the road.
Thursday we spent with the children at the feeding program in the morning. It was a little nicer day and brought out even more kids than the week before. They were full of energy and rejoicing that day. We brought them words of encouragement, even KaLia shared with them and Nate greeted them (most times they both feel too shy & overwhelmed to do so).

After that we bought supplies that enabled us to move the first boys into the Home of Innocence (a rented home). The youngest is Celestin, and he is joined by two older boys, Theogene and Evie. We praise God also because we have found a House Father to live with the boys in the home. He was recommended to us by an Australian businessman we met here at the Mission House. He recommends him as a Christian, completely honest and trustworthy, as well as a hard worker. Upon meeting him we find he has a very gentle spirit and we trust that he will be a good guiding hand for these boys coming into the home. Tuesday we will move another boy into the home as well. It is very exciting to realize the “Home of Innocence” is actually in operation- even if it is not the permanent home we envisioned (yet)!

Today we met with the newest children who have been signed up as wishing to be sponsored, as well as those who are already sponsored who were not there last week. We got to talk to their moms and find out more information about their home situations. Friday Simon, Chris, and Jerid had traveled out to many of their homes to interview them there as well. It was a real experience for Chris & Jerid, going out into very poor areas. Seeing small mud homes, maybe 10 ft. x 12 ft, some of which had a family of 7 squeezed into them. We look forward to helping the children attend school, and eventually also helping the parents to find ways of improving their situations. Most of the families provide for themselves by finding odd jobs when they can, like doing laundry or gardening for neighbors.

It is hard to believe that we’re already looking at the last week that Chris & Jerid will be here (they leave Saturday afternoon). The container still has not been released, though we are slowly getting closer to that goal.

Thank you for keeping us all in your prayers as we trust God to take and make this time profitable.
God Bless You,
Lisa

This picture was taken at the feeding program. I don’t know if you can tell here- but the TTI T-shirts look a lot different now after just a few months of being worn heavily by the street children- all are faded and some have holes already. Not really that surprising to see- if you consider it may be the only shirt they have worn for the last few months!

Friday we were able to visit the TTI property, “Acres of Hope”. The people in the area have planted a new season of crops on the land there, so it looks a little different, but we were able to find several of our trees still growing & getting quit a bit bigger for only being planted 9 or so months ago. I will post a picture below.
Saturday our plan was to meet with the children who are sponsored now through TTI (to play with them and help them write letters to their sponsors). We arrived there to find Christine, Simon Peter Ngoga’s wife, leading the children in a Bible study. We also found even much more than we were expecting! You see, not only did we find a few of the children there who are sponsored, we also found there was about 20 more children who were hoping to become sponsored. We got some basic information on these children, their pictures, and told them they need to come back this Saturday so we can find out more information. These children mostly have a home, with either a relative or parent, but whose family is too poor to afford to send them to school, as well as afford nutritious food, adequate clothes, etc. It is not hard to fall in love with these children and want to help them. And although shy at first, they soon warmed up and several of them had fun playing with Jerid & Chris. If you know of anyone who is interested in becoming a child sponsor please contact us. We have children of all ages available for sponsorship. We will endeavor to encourage regular contact between children and their sponsors, so it is not just “mailing a check” but an actual relationship.
Sunday we were in Kayonza to visit the children of the Faith Home, as well as the children of the Kanombe Home who were recently moved to that same compound. We shared in church service with them, presented them with gifts, and enjoyed their love and smiles as we visited with them.
This week has been a little bit different- and a bit trying for the guys on the team. We are still working on getting paperwork and other things in order so we may receive the container. Mike has been in meetings and trying to get things settled.
Our team was hoping to have been able to get to work on the property long before now, but we trust that God has a plan beyond ours & beyond what we can see. We persevere and keep our faith in Him. Please keep praying for God’s provision for us, the Acres of Hope, and the sponsored children. Please also pray for God to work in & through our time here, as well as for our health.
This afternoon Mike is having a meeting witht he community at our property. As a show of good will towards the community we have agreed to find sponsors for 10 needy children in the immediate area of the property. Tomorrow we will be with the children again at the feeding program. Jerid is going to share a word with them.
Thank you for keeping us in your hearts and prayers. We believe for what God is wanting to do here & that “now is the time” for Rwanda- even though it does require patience on our part in many ways!

God Bless You,
Lisa

Mike showing off the “first fruits” of the trees on our property.

One of the children who showed up on Saturday asking to be sponsored (all children were given a new TTI T-shirt).

We arrived in Rwanda late Monday evening after 28 hours of traveling (about 20 or so spent in an airplane). And all our luggage arrived with us too- which was an answer to prayer right there! Rwanda is 10 hours ahead of Pacific Coast Time & the jet-lag has been pretty difficult for us this time. This is partly because we have not been as active during the day as in past trips, as we have been waiting for the container to arrive. Then, today, ta-daah!, the call finally came that the container was here. Mike & the guys went over & checked it out & it is still full of everything we sent! The bad news is that we still have been struggling to get the letter from the local district here that we need in order to be registered as an international NGO. At this point we will be looking to Africa New Life Ministries, a local partner ministry, to receive the items in the container. At this point the container is still in the receiving facility in town & we expect to have it released this next week & transport arranged to our property.
Thursday we spent at the feeding program for street children. Even though it was a cold and rainy day there was a good turn out. We enjoyed sharing in their worship and encouraged them that God does have his eye on them & that they have a reason to hope. That afternoon we got to spend some time with Celestin. He is the boy whose story was in our most recent newsletter, and will be the first boy to enter the Home of Innocence (temporarily in a rented home until our development on the Acres of Hope is ready). Celestin has already been able to return to school and enjoyed receiving the pictures and letter from his sponsor.
Tomorrow we will have the children who are currently sponsored through TTI come to our office (same property where the rented home is). We will spend some time visiting with them as well as helping them with writing letters to their sponsors. Sunday we will spend in Kayonza with the children from the Faith Home, and that is also where the Kanombe Home is now located.
We thank you for your prayers for the ministry here, as well as for our health, and for God’s supply for the ministry. We are thankful for all that God has done thus far & look forward to more!

God Bless You,
Lisa