Another wedding...

Today our house girl, Kayitese got married. She had her civil wedding.

When She came into the hall, I teared up and it took me everything to not be a blubbering mess.

 

We're the first job she has ever had. She came young, naive, wondering if the kids would learn to love her and more than a bit scared about working for a 'muzungu'. She's been with us for 1.5 years and she's great. The kids love her. They were begging to come to the ceremony today but they so don't understand the boredom that their mom and dad spared them! :-)

She has become like a daughter to me somehow ... she's an orphan and has a rough life. We just wanted to make sure that she feels like she belongs somewhere and that people care about her and I think we have accomplished that.

 

So... hence me tearing up. SO grateful that Isabella won't be getting married for MANY years and I have forbidden Prince to get married before he's 40... but I back down to 35 when he rolls his eyes at me! Not worrying about Beni just yet.

Kayitese and her husband Jean Claude

Interns - Yes or No?

So a conversation I had with a fellow missionary here a week or two ago keeps rolling around in my brain.

 

She had come over to pick up a few things and we caught up with life. We got into discussing interns.

 

Definition - An individual who joins our ministry for a period of time up to one year is called an intern.

 

Are they worth the hassle?

Are they really worth the time and effort needed to orientate, lead, participate in meaningful ministry...?

 

International Teams Rwanda, whom we minister with, will host up to 4 interns per year. We`re getting three this year for periods of time from 6 weeks to one year. Looking forward to having each of them here for sure.

 

BUT there is always the risk.

Will they turn out to be all that we think they should and can be?

 

As we look over the years, we only see a few blips along the way in all the interns we have hosted. Most have been incredible assets to the ministry here - while they were here and after. We do know that hosting interns is part of who we are.

 

Our friend is just getting into hosting interns but thinking they`ll have more in the future. If they`re all like the current one, they are having second thoughts!

 

As we chatted, I reminded her that yes you need to screen them hard, it is okay to say no when they don`t seem to fit for one reason or another and that also God sometimes has other plans for that person - maybe they were brought here, not to fulfill all that you had planned for them but to speak into their lives - to allow them mature and grow up just a bit more in themselves and in their faith. Not a waste of time or money... just different than what we had planned.

 

I have no idea who said it ... `Make the interruptions - God interruptions.`

 

Sometimes they just last for more than a few minutes...

International Women's Day

‘Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women’

That is the theme for Rwanda this year.

They want to sensitize people in Rwanda to the ongoing need to promote girls education in the country.

As I reflect on our ministry here, I too have seen that need since the beginning. Girls can easily get jobs here as house help. They quit school, or more like, they are forced to quit school to work as house help to bring in some extra money for their family.

It's been a year or two now that Rwanda has mandated that ALL are to be in school for at least 9 years. That is good.

But just the other day I was sitting at my table talking with Liz about the refugee camp. Education there is a mess these days. They had a handover of leadership for the education in January and to say the least - life is not happening, and it's not the fault of those living in the camp. ARG! That said... Liz and I were talking about the Nathalie's dream. Nathalie is a go getter woman to say the least. She lives in the camp as a single mom with 5 kids and constantly and consistently does all she can to better the lives of others. Her latest...'Now there are even more girls who cannot go to school. What can I do for them? What skill can I help give them so they have something to try to earn a living to keep their dignity and self worth?'

That is what Liz and I were spending some time sorting through. I have no doubt that with Nathalie taking the lead, Liz working alongside her and the rest of us supporting as we can, the lives of girls in the camp will be changed.

Girls who feel they have no option but to prostitute, have no worth, no value, no purpose in life, will gain some and become the women they were created to be - women with purpose, women who are light.

 

Who knows how many girls will be impacted .. that doesn't matter. What matters is that we're doing something and will continue to do something until the world is just and there is no oppression.

 

Thinking it's called ... job security on our part!