Gilead House (Rwaza children)

What happened to the Rwaza children?

Many of the children were tired of the constant exploitation and lack of permanent intervention to stop the abuses and suffering they endured. Some of the children were chased away from the orphanage by the old nun as they stood up against the injustices done to them.
It had started with Jean Paul, (see earlier blog entries) who almost died, and other children too were put at the side of the road like bags of garbage.
At first 5 of the children asked Stella where to go as they had no place to sleep nor to be fed. At that point we had withdrawn from the orphanage as all we provided kept being stolen by those we had employed and in order to open a home for the children in a nearby town, knowing they were contemplating escaping the bad people, as they so mercifully call it.

The first 5 arrived in May. In June 5 more followed as they too were chased away. They went to the local government representative and reported the situation. The man offered to help them go home. Do you know where you belong, he had asked. Yes we do replied the children as they led the man to the safe house we had opened for them! This is where we belong, this is our home, they said.
Stella in the center. Stella is amazing and very skilled at what she does. She is God's gift to us and the children.
All 10 children are doing wonderful! They are blooming open and both the child and us are amazed at the inner beauty and character that is being revealed.
They all love to play drama plays and we use it as one of the ways for them to express what they went through. Sometimes we just have to ask them; this really happened? As what they act out is so extreme. Though they laugh when revisiting certain memories, it takes only one question or comment that expresses sadness that they had to go through this all, to expose the true pain of the events. Healing is coming and joy fills the house they live in.

Traditional dancing; the girls cannot get enough of it.

We provide them good nutricious meals. The children are looking healthy and strong.

The safe house is called; Gilead House. Gilead was an area in biblical times where a special miracle tree was found. It's balm was a healing balm. Gilead also means; Heap/mass of testimony/witness.
We believe that the Gilead house will indeed be a place of healing and of testimony and witness, as God heals, delivers and saves the children!

Proverbs says: Raise a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. A child in those days were those under 12. We believe that this applies also to the spiritual / biblical principals. So we do what God's word says. The children are quick to worship and pray. They hear the voice of the Lord and obey Him. It has been such a delight to have these children. I am so proud of them.
We are still working with the local government to also receive the remaining children that are in Rwaza. Some that were there were brought back to their families. Others are still there. We are ready to receive them. Their beds are made!

We have 3 full time staff to care for the children, one house mom is in training.
Please continue to pray for the Lord's provision for the children and for the building of Heaven Touching Earth, the children's village where they will also live when the village is ready.

Home is where your heart is

It was great to see our friends and family.
It was nice to eat yummie foods and live in luxury. To drive in a place where people keep the rules and respect each other. To enjoy cleanliness and the consistency of water and electricity.
Though people seemed a bit pale, it was wonderful to see those who have our heart and to visit places we once poured our heart into and used to call home.

Here I am again, the last drops of water available to us were used to flush the toilet that started to stink from a day's use without flushing. I wanted to quickly print a document but didn't succeed as electricity was off.
I though I would pour a quick glass of milk for my daughter but forgot that I had to pasteurize it first. I wanted to make a phone call only to find the network to be down and oh, even with network it would not have worked as my phone minutes were finished and the guys in the little shop in our valley didn't have any minutes for sale.
Crazy enough, I call this place my home.

After all; Home is where your heart is.
And my heart is in Rwanda.

Special Rwandan Friends

The Bruton 5, our friends from Rwanda who returned to Canada back in 2006. They traveled all the way from Canada to spent just one day with us!

In Chicago we reconnected with John en Courtney who also left Rwanda in 2006. It has been amazing how deep our conversation could go and how the heart connections remained though years had passed.

San Francisco

Meet: Daniel and Corrie, board members of Sozo Ministries Africa, and very dear friends that also served in Rwanda 3 years ago. Now they live in San Francisco, we drove down to stay with them.
Being with them makes us realize how much we have missed them these last years!

San Francisco traffic.

The famous Market trains down town San Fran.

Water front with the piers.

We are enjoying ourselves, time is flying for sure!

Funny San Fran story:
Travis and I decided to walk down town, enjoying walking without strollers to push and children's hand to hold. This being our first time in San Fran we used a city map to find our way around. Instead of wondering about safe and unsafe neighborhoods, we just took the shortest road and enjoyed all we saw around.
Sure enough while walking on Eddy we looked around and realized we enjoyed the people around us and were drawn to conversations with them. We stated to each other how we could enjoy living in a city like this, how we enjoyed the street life around us and how the people were fun and different.
It took a while before realizing that we had been the only white people around....
Later we heard that this was the tenderloin district, the area most whites will ignore and walk around..... the area where we felt at home... hmmm... what's up with that!

Photo Update on our R & R in Europe and States

Zoey's 7th Birthday, celebrated at Red Robin with friends and the Red Robin staff singing to her!

Fun at the park.

At our condo in Lincoln City, at the Oregon coast, Pacific Ocean.

I think my kids have not been this clean in years! As the chemicals in the hot tub removed all the (possibly) remaining dirt from 3 years in Rwanda!

At the Oregon Zoo with Joel and Ali. (Dear friends in Rwanda... they are back together!)

Roasting marsh mellows with friends.

With uncle Chad (Travis's brother) and his dog, catching bubbles.

Lots of fun at our friends, Curtis and Barbara's house.

Reuniting of old friends. Girls with Rachael and Kelsi.

Going shopping at TARGET... Woohoo!

Mount Hood, beautiful view from down town Gresham.

Our time in the Netherlands:There is nothing like celebrating our national Dutch holiday called Queens day in the Netherlands.

At the North Sea, the Western coast line of the Netherlands.

Keukenhof; enjoying thousands of bright colored tulips and roses.

Day at an Amusement park with our friends Ruben & Christine.

And of course a day in Amsterdam.

The switch

Just the though of it used to give me chills down my spine, while a fear of losing controll would come over me. But here I am today finding that it really is not that bad after all. Furlough... no it did not come with a well organized and planned itinerary nor with plenty of time to pack and prepare. In retroperspective this may have been the better way.

The thought of choice and wealth, being respected and in comfort, which all has been so foreign for 3 years, scared me, as I feared to be overwhelmed and nothing but an emotional mess upon receiving it.

Yaida and Jasmin enjoying a nice meal

It has been a little more than 3 weeks that I have been bathing in a structural culture, with clear cultural do's and don'ts that are all to familiar to me. Where healthy meals come out of can's and freezers and juices are vitamin C enriched. Where I can do the wash, dry cloths, do my dishes and download emails all at the same time. Where people are so respectful that they do not yell Halelujah during the church service afraid for the opinion of their more respectful, conservative neighbor.

Where I can speak freely and my thoughts may be heard.

A place so different than my home.

A people so truthful and opinionated that it makes me speechless.

here there are no poor, no needy as I know from my current home country.

Yet people complain about the tile in the sidewalk that sticks up a bit and might be a potential trip hazard.

Both have been my homeland. Both are nations I love, both have people I love. Yet... the two have absolutely nothing in common. No similarities, except this one thing...

It's people are looking for love, acceptance, security. In both nations people are crying out for a mighty move of Jesus in their land. For Him to restore it's people and for His glory to be poured out.

The switch, that is how this feels, the quick switching from one nation to another, which such extreme differences. Yes, i was overwhelmed with the overstimulis of choice and ease to comfort. But looking at it from kingdom perspective I see a people hungry for Truth and Love to enter their life, their nation. So really, it is all the same on the bottom line.

My work did not stop when entering the plane departing Rwanda, to reflect Christ is a life-style. It means being on call 24/7. Switching is no longer nessecary, we all need Jesus, we all need Love and Truth.

Silence, storm and now what...?

While hanging over the engine of my car, trying to assist my husband as the steering once again stopped working (thank God we were in a parking lot when we discovered it!!!), I receive a phonecall..."I think it is all stolen..." a sad and shaken voice tells me, ..."What do we do now?"

"Nothing"is my reply. Really what would be the thing to do? Here we are trying to fix our car, 2,5 hours away from home. We would be the ones who had to identify what was stolen... nothing could be done until we would get home.

disappointment, anger and sadness flooded our emotions as we drove home, knowing what was ahead.... we thought.

A bright rainbow appears in front of me. I am immediately reminded of God's covenant with menkind, with me, if you will. As we continue our drive we come to the start of the rainbow... the Rwaza village centre. the arc of the rainbow bends north... I am awestruck, in tears, as I know what this means.

The Lord has told us before to move north, there he will fulfil his promises, where we will build our fine houses. (Deuteronomy 3 and 8).

As we drove on we went through the rainbow as you would go through a door into another place. The doorway to the fulfilment of the promises of god, his covenant. in this case his covenant with the Rwaza children, it is coming, we went through the door...

Coming home we learned that our office was completely stripped and that our personal electronical items were also stolen from our home. The damage... around $12,000.

While cleaning up the mess made by the thiefs I heard myself singing:

"Jesus, Jesus, how I love Thee,

how I prove Thee over and over.

Jesus, Jesus precious Jesus,

oh for grace to trust Thee more."

And a joy flooded my heart in the midst of loss and chaos.

While all this is going on a big miscommunication happens as we were asked to leave the country in 48 hours. This news did not surprise us but caused us to act like whirlwinds, re-arranging our lives, packing like maniacs, organizing many logistical issues and delegating responsabilities while deciding which cloths to take.

Many friends from all walks of life jumpd up to help, and shared our load. We are so blessed!!!

An hour before leaving to the airport news came that this message had been a great misunderstanding, we did not have to leave and were welcomed back when we decided a break would be appropriate at this time, after almost 3 years non stop working in Rwanda.

So here we are. In a very cold the Netherlands, surounded by friends and our home church whom has amazed us with their open arms of service and help. My dear friends, you make us all feel so loved and precious! Your acts of love to us are of indescribable value to us!

We will come to the U.S. beginning of May, where we will share about the wonderful things God is doing in Rwanda and the role SoZo Ministries Africa plays within that.

I am enjoying the luxeries and blessings that come with living in a 1st world country, but my heart is at home... in Rwanda.

I am curious to see what is coming as God so clearly spoke about his promise coming... i can't wait to tell you more about the Lord's heart for Rwanda, for Africa.

I hope to see you in the Netherlands or in the States.

When all you have is you...

With our country's wellfare and insurance systems in place, with professionals to assist when others can't, with laws to protect you and demand you receive proper care in difficult times. With volunteers that have golden hearts and family that desires the very best for you, due to my life in safety, care and love, I had not entertained the reality of life without any of this. Until now.

One of our children, Jean Paul had become very sick. The doctors say it was witchcraft that caused him to look in the eyes of death. "The boy from the hopeless family" they called him at the hospital, other called him the "dead-boy". His features reminded me of the pictures on tv from the 1984 Ethiopia famine. Big eyes laying deep in their hollow eye sockets. Hip bones pointing through the cloths. Arms and legs that are no more than bones with a thin layer of skin to make it look human. Mouth and teeth crusted from dehydration.

An empty IV bag by his bed. Other patients begging me: "Take the boy for he wil die tomorrow."

After a more than 6 hour fight with lazy medical personal who did not show any concern nor care for their patients, and especially did not care for "the dead boy" we had convinced them to get an ambulance readu so we could transport Jean Paul to Kigali, where we could care for him and make sure he would receive the care he needs in order to save his life.

Jean Paul will survive! He is recovering from a double surgery, where maggets and other "black things" that are related to witchcraft (according to the doctor), were taken out of his stomach. He is eating well now and will soon be released form the hospital.

As Jean Paul is recovering he has made some conclusions that break my heart:

"Nor my father nor my mother have visited me, he said with tears in his eyes. My brother stole from the children and spend the money from sold items on prostitutes, not my medicine. My sister wears my cloths and buys buscuits for herself all the time, and I lay here naked and hungry.

The people who have received money to support me over the last years have not asked about my wellbeing, nor visited me in all these weeks.

I do not dream about my future, because to want, means to get hurt."

When we asked him what stood out as postivie to him within the current situation he replied: Mama and Papa Nani and Stella are the only people that have ever cared for me and loved me. To be together is what makes me want to live and dream!"

What can I say... When people around you are so busy to survive their trauma's and poverty and simply can not care about those around them as it hinders their own survival, and all you have is you...

I know that some of you know these feelings, I know those feelings. When you cry for help and no-one seems to hear you. When you stop dreaming because your dreams have been crushed too many times. When you suffer yet no-one reaches out to help you.

May Jean Paul's final conlusion of truth become your conclusion and testimony of truth:

"I know God loves me and has plans for my life, because when I was going to die He send people to make sure I was going to come back to life. I have seen God, I know He is true!"

For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans of hope and a future. Jeremia 29:11

This is what it is about!

Trauma relief they call it here. Freedom from the consequences of genocide, of war, freedom from the pain of severe trauma. You may think this works mostly with adults and only after long counseling sessions. Yet the contrary is true.

Let me share with you the most amazing work I have seen God do in the 2,5 years of living in Rwanda.

Due to chaos inflicted by the former primary care giver on the children and even the Rwaza community, I had to make an urgency trip up to be with the children and spend a long weekend with them. One night as part of the weekly program, Stella, our Program Supervisor who lives full time with the Rwaza children, lead us in a simple Kinyarwandan song inviting God to touch us and meet us during the time of intercession. And HE DID!! As the children started praying simple selfless prayers the presence of the Lord touched many of us. Some of the children and myself became emotional. As the prayers became more fervent and specific many of us poured out our emotions to the Father. Than all of a sudden one of the 14 year old boys asked Stella: “Why is mama crying as she prays for us? Not even our own mothers have ever cried for us!”
Needless to say a new wave of emotion filled the room. I took the opportunity to remind them of their prayers way before we knew them, prayers for change and hope. How the Lord called us specifically to care for them and bring justice, even before we knew what was truly going on in the place and so answered their prayers. I shared how we have grown to love them like our own children as we have come to know them so well, how Jesus truly loves them and he keeps answering their prayers.

It was a message of hope that God has answered once and will answer again and of love of the Father expressed through us and Stella.

Tears started to flow freely, some children even grabbed towels to scream and cry in. The tears changed to a deep mourning and of grief, sadness just filled the tiny room we were in. It was so heartbreaking. Their grief was so heavy, their cries so intense. Sobbing children on their knees expressing the pain they carried for so long. The injustices and abuses they have experienced, I know I saw but a glimpse of the pain of it all in that moment. I cried with the children as we geared our cries to our Heavenly Father. Asking Him to intervene and to replace the pain of the bad things with His truth, to take our sadness and replace it with hope and peace, and again HE DID. Within 5 minutes all children were clapping, dancing and singing with hope and joy. We all laughed and hugged that night.
That night all children slept extremely well and all without nightmares! (has not happened before). The next morning I woke up at 5 am to the sound of the 14 year old boy interceding passionately for all the children, for the prior caregivers still living on the compound, for the Lord to give SoZo Ministries Africa land so we can build for the children and take them to a safe place. He thanked God that though many people claimed the kids in the past, no-one had ever claimed their hearts, but now he has a hope for a future of love and care!

You know these kiddos are anywhere from 2 through 14 years old. When God comes and touches people he will set them free from pain, from trauma, from nightmares and oppression. Physical healings will happen.

It is called trauma relief by those who do not understand what truly happens when they encounter a touch from the Creator of Heaven and earth.

The joy that filled that same room only minutes after it was filled with grief was a very strong reminder to me of the initial visions with which God opened our hearts and eyes for Rwanda. Reminding me, it has nothing to do with my ability or lack off. It was as if God was winking at me, letting me know; this is only the beginning of the move of My Hand through Rwanda! Get ready!

When life gets shakey.

Take the title of this blog literaly. You may have heard on the news about the earthquakes in our part of the world. Many people died and even more were injured. During our weekly bible study I received a phonecall from the Dutch Embassy, at the same time people received phonecalls from the German and South African embassy. All sending warnings to their citizens: There is a large posablility of another large earthquake or heavy after shocks. You are adviced not to be in your house between 8 pm and midnight. Fill your bathtubs in case the quake cuts of water supply to the city. Stay with your children, by the time you would be able to gather them from their rooms it may be too late.... ...Camping next to our house...

Taking it as a big adventure we pitched our tent next to our house, blew up the airmatresses and got our first aid kid, water and a few personal items in the tent. We found rocks to put behind the tires of our car to prevent our car from rolling down our steep drive way.

Though Jasmin and Yaida loved the adventure, Nani and Zoey had picked up on some of the information and cried as they feared to die. Reminding them of the promises made by the Creator of Heaven and earth himself, praying with them and singing songs, they fell asleep peacefully.

Do we try to get some sleep, do we stay up, how far do we go to get ready in case of disaster, how many times do we have pray for safety and protection, how do you prepare for the unknown?

...Zoey and Nani...

Though every little sound made us sit up straight in our tent we tried to sleep with the kids. When we woke up at the early day light we all laughed as we realized no earth quake had come.

You know you serve an amazing protecting God when...
We come to the office and receive word from a fellow missionary; at 12.20 last night another earth quake hit and Kigali was shaking for a while, about 300 people are believed to have died from it.
Yet we did not feel a thing nor was there any sign in our house of damage!!!

I am amazed at our Creator. This event caused me to fallin love with him even more than before! Another God-story to add to our book!

Under Attack

After visiting our 24 kids in Rwaza and some very productive and pro-active meetings with various people that day, all leading to the betterment of the future of the children, we drove back to Kigila, satisfied and knowing the attack would come.

You see almost every time after we have made progress concerning our 24 children we find ourselfs under attack. Something will always happen to discourage us. We know that has we taking these children away from witchcraft, abuse and traditional medicins (is form of wicthcraft), we are taking them from a dark spiritual situation and bring them into light and freedom that Christ offers them.

Hence we know who is the one is trying to discourage us, even to the point of trying to cause us to die.

We had warned the two pastors who we network with that attck would come as usual. And sure enough, about an hour's drive before reaching Kigali the steering of our car broke. Travis was able to stop the vehivle just in time before crashing into a valley. It was a matter of less then an inch (2cm) before we would have crashed down.

The far left child is standing on the tire track of where we came to an abrubt stop.

We were in the middle of no-where. Curious children looked on while Travis and Pastor Joseph came up with a temporary fix to get the car to a place where more tools were available.
The joint had snapped and was in need of welding. With a temporary fix of some rubber string tied to keep the joint somewhat in place we drove at super slow speed to the nearest village.
The welder used to weld the joint together!
Pastor Joseph and Travis working together on a car part. We jokingly called this time a Godly Bonding time. But really that is what we thank God for.
A little "garage" behind the market place. It was yet another scary event with yet another breakdown that is called "odd". We thank God that the steering stopped where it did. We see the miracle of God's protection basically every time we go on the road. Sometimes in small ways, other times in very big ways as this day.

But really, if I would have to give up my life for the sake of those 24 children... Would I? Is it a sacrifice I am willing to make? God asked me to "bring justice to my children" as I was visiting Rwaza the very first time. Now I am the primary caregiver of the children. I did not understand what God was asking of me at first, but as I stepped out in obedience and found the truth concerning the children, their lives and the ongoing abuses I started to see what God was asking of me. Now the spiritual war is on over these children. Knowing they all know what true love is like now as they all know Jesus and have the full time care of someone who truely loves them as they are, I feel I would indeed be willing to lay down my life for these children. They are Rwanda's future. A generation of God fearing, tribe ignoring, reconciled youngsters! I thank God for the attacks. As pastor Jospeh said yesterday: where satan is not afraid, he does not attack!

P.S. We do need a new car , suitable for bad roads, very badly though!!!