Sorry, to have not
posted in quite some time. Things have been pretty busy here. We have been
engaged in working on a special project, one that was unexpected. As a
marketing project, our main office was hoping to sell “Made in Rwanda” ceramic
clay mugs at an upcoming Christian leadership conference in the U.S. I only
received a week’s notice about this project before one of HOPE’s senior grant
writers came to Rwanda to help oversee this project. Fortunately, the number of
mugs we wanted crafted went from 13,000 down to 1,200 in a short period of
time. While this project kept me fairly busy in tandem with my other tasks
here, it was a fun time to explore different parts of Kigali and the country and
meet a number of Rwandese craftspeople. It was also very fun to host and get to
know Hope grant writer, Becky Svendsen as well. The project went as smoothly as
is possible for Africa. The mugs turned out great (see pictures) and are now on
their way to the U.S. We are now praying that they arrive intact and on time
(need to be in the U.S. by the end of the month). 
This past week the
Country Director, Erisa, my boss, was out of the country in Zambia for some
training. That left me by myself to man the office. Needless to say, work was a
lot busier this last week. I’m now exhausted. No rest for the weary though as
we are now hosting five (three from the U.S., one from Belgium, and one from
the Philippines) HOPE visitors this next week for a conference and retreat.
This will mean back and forth from the retreat center (one and a half hours
away) every other day. Let the games begin.
As the title of the
post may suggest, it is also rainy season. This brings a nice relief from the
summer heat, but it also brings crazy and unpredictable thunder and lightning
storms. I was foolish enough to take my first moto (motorcycle taxi) ride this
past week. It was fine until it started raining at which point we (the driver and
I) got soaked, we stopped and waited at a gas station with 30 other
motos/passengers for an hour, then proceeded again before it stopped raining
and got soaked again. Fortunately, I didn’t have any meetings after this event
and was able to dry off sitting at my desk. Just another day in Rwanda!
I took a survey taken
by the Graduate Management Admissions Council the other day. Some of the survey
questions asked about my financial satisfaction. Has you graduate degree
increased your earnings potential? How much has your salary increased since
your previous job? How much of your student loans have you been able to pay
off? These questions recalled a sarcastic comment by one of my relatives before
we left, “you got an MBA and now we’re financially supporting you?” That stung,
still stings. It now is hitting me that I haven’t made a temporary sacrifice,
I’ve made a lifelong one. I’ll never be a captain of industry. I guess that
also means I’ll never be a robber baron either. A verse that has been a key
part of being here is Matthew: “Whatever you did for the least of these…” yet I
constantly need to be reminded that the verse does not end with “I’ll do for
you also” but with “you also did for me.” I need to tell myself that my
response to that shouldn’t be “that’s all?” but that is all. In our Sunday
night Bible study we keep singing the song “Heart of Worship.” I don’t know if
any song captures it better: because "it's all about you, Jesus.”
Perhaps my last post
left you wondering if I still enjoy being here. The answer to that is yes. I
work long hours and there aren’t western conveniences that take the edge off
life. However, the community here, both expat and Rwandan make up for it all.
I’ve talked about the expat community, but not enough about the Rwandan one
that we experience. Our guard and housekeeper, Bernard and Adrianne, are two
wonderful and amazing people. Both have families and children (our guard’s
family lives two hours away). Yet day in and day out they diligently work hard
to provide a better life to their loved ones. Our guard is even
enthusiastically taking English lessons now! I’ve also hired an intern at work.
Danny is a student with a program called Bridge to Rwanda, which is a select
program that is preparing him to gain entrance into a U.S. university. This
program also provides logistical and financial support to help these students
go have a completely unimaginable experience. Danny, however, affectionately
known by his peers as “Pastor,” comes from a small village. It is only through
the grace of God and his own hard work and ingenuity that he has this rare
opportunity. Danny though refuses to take any of this for granted and took this
internship to improve his knowledge and skills. Through it all he has an
incredibly gentile spirit. Without this community, God knew that we could not
make it here. Yet the Father of Lights, knows all and hears our prayers.
