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!!!
