Last week, I had the opportunity to go gorilla trekking with
a group of HOPE donors visiting from the U.S. It was easily one of the coolest
experiences I have ever had in my life. It was a moderately challenging 1.5 hour
trek up into the mountains in northwestern Rwanda, but the end result was an
hour with 14 Mountain Gorillas, including two Silverbacks.
The total gorilla population is less than 900, which is far better than the
estimated 254 that remained in 1981. I have to admit that I was a little jealous
of our guide and the trackers whose jobs are to spend time following and studying
these creatures. I was also thankful for Dian Fossey, whose research and
conservation efforts made seeing them even possible (see 1988 film
Gorillas in the Mist).
The family of gorillas that we visited was
named Kuryama, which means to sleep. They were aptly named (see picture below).
They entire family seemed to take a nap together, but that’s after one them
decided he wanted to make his presence known by aggressively coming at us a
couple of times. All in all, an amazing time.
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| Kuryama Gorilla Family |
One would think that this experience would be hard to top,
but in about five weeks I will become a father, which I’m sure will top even
seeing Mountain Gorillas. I couldn’t be more excited, but currently I’m in the
midst of being separated from Rachael and my unborn son. Even with all the
technology that allows us to connect, this has to be the hardest time, emotionally, in my life. Thankfully, I will head to the U.S. in three weeks. So
far, everything with the baby looks good and so on or around October 4
th, we will be able to announce some great news! Please continue to pray for my heart (and Rachael's) during this time of separation as it is challenging for both of us, although we see God's hand and perfect timing in it all and continue to trust in this.
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| Our baby boy at 31.6 weeks |
Fortunately, to take my mind away from being lonely, and unfortunately,
because I’m exhausted, I have been extremely busy with work the past few weeks. We hosted a group of donors two weeks ago and I spent this last week almost
entirely in villages in the Southern Province of Rwanda facilitating and
overseeing trainings. It was a pretty stark contrast to go from eating in the
nicest restaurants in the country to being in places where there are no
restaurants. It was a good reminder of how truly blessed I am both in terms of
quality of life and the opportunities I have. Little by little though, the
lives of the people in the villages are improving and it is an immense blessing
to see God’s work happening through HOPE in Rwanda.
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| There were 60 people at this training, most were outside at time of photo |
In case you haven’t heard (and you probably haven’t because the
media tends to ignore everything that happens in this region) Rwanda has
been shelled recently by rebel forces in the DRC, resulting in the deaths of
some Rwandan civilians. Just to note, I am no way in any danger from the
shelling. It’s tragic though, that peace can never seem to fully exist in this
region and that politics, ethnic tensions, and valuable resources, are causing
innocent people to lose their lives. Pray that the conflict does not escalate
and that peace could truly be found here.
