One week. That is the time remaining for living in Rwanda. We’ve pretty much wrapped up all the packing and logistics and now it’s just down to the hard part:  the goodbyes. Words really cannot describe or explain the experience we have had these past 26 months. Memories of leaving the U.S. to come to Rwanda came flooding back yesterday and it was really hard to believe that any time had passed at all. The best part is we really leave with a sense of completeness that now is the time we were meant to leave. The scariest part of leaving Rwanda is not knowing where or what we’re going back to. Of course we are excited to be reunited with family and friends, but five months of job hunting have led to very little at this point. The search continues, but could settle us in a few different spots. Hopefully, we will be able to update you on the final destination soon. Anyway, enough about going back to the U.S.;  since this will probably be the last post from Rwanda, let us give you some highlights from our time here.

1.       Living in Africa with Beau and having complete strangers act like he’s the first baby they’ve seen in a month. Beau has enjoyed this and will miss the attention  J

2.       Watching people dance for joy, because they are truly filled with joy

3.       Hearing about how lives have been transformed through simple ideas and God’s love

4.       The beauty that is the “Land of a Thousand Hills”

5.       Trips to Zanzibar and Cape Town

6.       Being the first “white” people to visit our guard’s village (and of course meeting his entire family)

7.       Having a nice tan year-round

8.       Freshly laid eggs from our chicken

9.       Passion fruit and really sweet, little bananas, huge avocados for 30 cents, fresh pineapple for less than a dollar, the list goes on…

10.   Exotic wildlife everywhere

11.   Seeing incredibly large objects being carried on the top of people’s  heads

12.   Garrett getting to play ultimate frisbee twice weekly and Rachael getting daily, long walks with Beau

13. Building unforgettable relationships with friends here

on Camp's Bay beach for a early morning walk

These are just a few, but hopefully they give you a little taste of our life here. Sure, there have been some hard things and hard times, but the good is what we want to remember and cherish. We feel so blessed by the experience we’ve been able to have here and want to thank you for sharing in it with us. Rwanda will always live in our hearts.

Our sweet baby Beau- 6 months old

we love Cape Town!

beautiful sunsets in Cape Town- an amazing first trip with Beau

Beau's first time in the ocean

Beau and Bernard's son, Fabrice meeting for the first time

Garrett with some kids from Bernard's village

making the long hike up to Bernard's house

the many kids who came out to receive clothing (in front of Bernard's house)

some of the kids from the village and their new clothes (that were brought over by Garrett's mom)

Garrett and family on safari

special mornings with his Muti, reading books 

Garrett's family (minus Graham) came to visit Rwanda!-- all of us at Inzu Lodge in Gisenyi

"day in the village" (through Azizi Life) weaving with a cooperative of women

Beau with our dear housecleaner, Clementine

with some of the local wildlife

Camp's Bay Beach with daddy

a beach baby

more fun in Cape Town

The Beginning of the End

The plan is to return to the U.S. this summer; ending our time in Rwanda for the foreseeable future. The bittersweet feeling gets stronger and stronger as the time to move home draws ever closer. We are trying to cherish every moment that we have remaining here and will dearly miss the relationships that have formed and grown over the past two years. It is at times overwhelming. The paths of our lives and to an extent, Beau’s life, have been changed forever. I don’t believe there’s any place in the world where hope and promise live so intertwined with tragedy and heartache. It feels like there’s so much that could be done. Yet, part of taking this faith journey to Africa was the knowledge that the Lord was going to call us back. Once again, we are trusting that the good work that was started in us will be carried out until the day of completion. The challenge to trusting is that there is so much that has to happen between now and the time we arrive back in the States. 

My current job is going well. The program continues to grow and expand; improving more and more peoples’ lives, both economically and spiritually. We have also brought on a few new staff members whose areas of expertise are a great enhancement to what the team can do. Personally, it is a little stressful thinking about everything that I want to accomplish before heading out. One of the key lessons that I’ve learned in Rwanda is that this job, this time, was never about me and my abilities, but always about offering what I have to God. As long as I can keep this as my focus, I know I will be able to end my time well. I’m finding it difficult to transition this same focus to the job search process. In trying to prove that I’m the best fit for the position being offered, I’m on a pendulum swing between being overconfident and cocky and being self-conscious and self-doubting. I guess the right place to be is blessed assurance, but resting in this is always easier said than done. 

Part of this message though is to ask for your assistance. If you know of any openings that seem like potential matches, could you please let me know? I’m pretty open for what’s next. We would consider anywhere on the West Coast and I’m looking both at nonprofit and for-profit organizations. My resume is updated and ready to go, so if you would like a copy to share, I’d be happy to pass that along. 

We can also use prayer for the transition itself. We are now in the process of selling our possessions here as well as trying to find jobs for our guard and housecleaner, both have been like family. We also need to find new homes for our dogs, Jumu and Itunda as the steps to bring them with us would just be too much. 

I’ll leave off with 2 Corinthians 1:10-11, as an encouragement for us all:

“He delivered us from so great a risk of death, and he will deliver us. We have set our hope on him that he will deliver us yet again, as you also join in helping us by prayer, so that many people may give thanks to God on our behalf for the gracious gift given to us through the help of many.” - NET

The Here and Now

Officially, the communication has gone out that our time in Rwanda will come to a close. We are heading back to the U.S. on August 4^th, 2014. It was not an easy decision and one that comes with a lot of sadness to be leaving. Ultimately, the desire to be close to family, especially with the arrival of Beau, is what takes us back. Our 20 months in Rwanda thus far, have been filled with up and downs and challenges of all kinds, but most of all, they have been the biggest blessing and have been full of the most life-changing experiences. We have thoroughly fallen in love with the people and country of Rwanda and the Christian community that we are able to be a part of here. The memories and spiritual and emotional growth that have taken place will stay with us for the rest of our lives. The time remaining in Rwanda is now limited, however, the work that is happening forges ahead.

At the head office we have added two new staff members. Isaie Ndayizeye is the Spiritual Integration Coordinator and Celestin Habumuremyi is the Lead Trainer for the program in Rwanda. The enthusiasm and positive energy of both is infectious and has given the rest of us renewed passion for the program and the clients that we serve. We currently are hosting/participating in a training session for HOPE SCA program staff from around the world including the Philippines, India, and four countries in Africa. Following the training, a new and improved training strategy will be rolled out to all new HOPE savings clients. In addition, our staff will undertake a re-registration exercise to verify and enhance the information we have on the approximately 9,500 savings groups in our program. This exercise will take place over the next four months. We will also be looking at building stronger, deeper relationships with our Church Denominational Partners (Anglican, Pentecostal, Methodist, and Presbyterian), with whom the program is implemented. I shouldn’t forget to mention that we will also be hosting groups of visitors who are coming to see the work that is being done in Rwanda through the program. These are just some of the items on the 2014 agenda, although there are so many more that will need to be addressed.  It will be a busy final few months for me, but the work will continue on for the rest of the staff. Prayers that God will guide us in all things will be greatly welcomed and appreciated. 

For us personally, we would love to be covered in your prayers as we look ahead. I will soon begin the job hunt without much inclination as to what I want to do next. The strongest desire at this point is to be close to both sides of the family in Washington State. Rachael is excited to jump back into nursing when God opens the right doors (hopefully on a part-time basis) and will be applying for a program in the fall in which she hopes to specialize as a certified wound-ostomy nurse and pursue a more specific area of nursing.  Beau is now four months old and is doing incredibly well in Rwanda. He loves looking at trees, music and being held.  I’ve been thankful to be able to come home most days for lunch, as our new house is very close to the office, so I’ve been able to see him a good amount each day. Rachael loves her time at home with him and is so thankful for the slow days that they have together. Beau is a strong, healthy lad who has a happy disposition and a heart-melting smile. We are thankful every day to God for this complete miracle of life and the joy that he brings to the family. The grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousin are begging us to share this blessing with them in person, which we desperately want to do. Please pray for our transition back which is not an easy process for expats and the numerous decisions that will need to be made. Pray for safe travels and health throughout the process. Pray that God continues his good work in us and that we can use this time in Rwanda for His glory as well as bring back the lessons we’ve been given and further use them to bless others. 

Here's some photos of a recent savings group visit:

 And just some fun at home...

 

2013: What a Year!

As I look back at this past 365 days, I realize that it has been a year full of change; the biggest for me being the birth of Rachael and my first child. As I write this, my baby son is sleeping peacefully in the next room. The past few months seem like an absolute blur of activity, but not everything was easy peasy. At first, we debated having the birth in Rwanda for many reasons, not the least of which being financial. Thanks to the generosity of our families, they made the decision to come back to America a no-brainer. This was fortunate as we learned early in the pregnancy that the baby only had a two-vessel umbilical cord, which could lead to growth restriction (and an early delivery). Returning to the U.S. for the birth ensured that Rachael could maintain the perfect diet for baby’s growth. The ability to have a more diverse diet also would prove critical as Rachael learned late in the pregnancy that she had gestational diabetes. The hardest part (for me anyway) of this whole pregnancy was that Rachael and I were separated for eight weeks in her third trimester. We have promised each other that we shall never endure that kind of separation ever again. The pregnancy and childbirth ended in a C-section, which was followed by a second surgery to stop internal bleeding caused by the first. Fortunately, while all this was going on, Beau was healthy and we had our families right there with us (in fact Rachael’s mother is an L&D nurse at the very hospital where we delivered; she was working when Beau was born and helped in his delivery!). 

During Rachael’s time away, I moved us into a new house. Moving is always a stressful ordeal, but doing it in a developing country has to be the most stressful. Thanks to our friends here in Rwanda who were more than willing to lend a helping hand, the move was made very brief and painless, which is amazing considering there is no such thing as a moving truck here. We now feel very blessed in our new home; a perfect place for Beau to begin life. We are very happy to be back in Rwanda, where there were many people anxiously awaiting Beau’s arrival. After having a very blessed time at home (in Washington) with minimal distractions from just being together as a young family and soaking up time with our families and friends, it was hard to jump right back into work, but there are many things to be optimistic about as we move into 2014. 

The program continues to grow and develop. We now have four Church partners as we added the Methodist and Presbyterian Churches in 2013. We also had a wonderful staff retreat in December, where we recounted the many blessings the Lord has shown us over the year. The field staff (employees of the Churches) has never seemed more committed to the work that they are engaged in and willing to use the program to impact people’s lives on a spiritual, social and economic level. At the Rwanda head office we are getting ready to bring on two additional staff members to continue to make the program the best it can be and to hopefully move the program closer and closer to the goal of self-sustainability apart from HOPE. The testimonies of what the savings program has done in people’s lives continue to flow.  Of course, this is the most rewarding part of my work!  I’m really excited to see what God has in store this next year. As I reflect on all the changes it is encouraging to know that no matter what happens, it is all for the best. Being confident that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. – Philippians 1:6

Happy New Year!!!

Unto Us a Child is Born

You will have to forgive the long absence from the blogosphere, but I believe I have a pretty legitimate excuse. On October 5^th, we welcomed Beau William to the Fujiwara family. At 8 pounds and 7 ounces, he was a healthy baby, despite some complications with the birth which I will let Rachael describe in her own post. Thank you so much for your prayers and words of congratulations. We could not be happier to be together as a family and have some very special time with grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousin and friends. We are blessed to be able to culminate this time at home with Thanksgiving, because certainly there is so much to be thankful for. We will then head back to Rwanda on December 1^st. We are a little anxious to travel back with our infant son, however, we are excited to trust God in everything and to have this special time with Beau in Rwanda (my boss, Erisa, has given him the Kinyarwanda name Shema, which means one who brings pride). We are also very excited to get back to a place that we can call home. It has been an overwhelming and incredible blessing to be hosted by our families while in the States, but I look forward to putting the days of living out of a suitcase behind us. While we are also sad to not spend another Christmas with family, we are glad that we will get to spend it with our dear friends in Rwanda. 

Even though we have now lived in Rwanda for almost a year and a half, returning there will be a whole new experience. We not only return with a third person in our party, but Rach will be going back to a house that she has never lived in. I had to move us into our new house after she left to prepare for the final stage of childbirth. Hopefully, it doesn’t have too strong of a “bachelor pad” appearance to it. Despite working remotely, I’m sure I will have a long list of things that I need to catch up on at the office. I hope to use what is a quiet December and January to prepare for a busy spring. As a Rwanda office we are looking to add more staff and bring more standardization and quality measurement to the program. We want to say thank you again for all the support and Happy Holidays.