Movin and a Shakin

Hey all!
Just thought I'd say a hello to all of you and whoever else reads the blog. Nick and I finally completed our trek across the country and are now safe and happy in our New York basement home... hmmmmm(it sounds really good if you say that last sentence in a sweet high pitched girl voice). We have been shopping for furniture the last couple days and we now have a bed! Its a good thing we kept those sleeping bags in our car because we slept on sleeping bags our first two nights in our new home.
I hope you all read Phillip's comment on the last post. It was quite wonderful and inspiring. I hope we all can follow up on his words and how we were affected by our trip to Rwanda. So word up, Philip. that was great!!

Also, I'll try and get all of your email addresses through Facebook. Then maybe you guys can post on this blog about what is going on in your lives. Nick and I would love to hear about what you all are up to. Cheers, and bye for now.

~lindsay chappyhappy.

Night Before the End

This was the last night of fun and excitement as we begin to say goodbye to the Thomas Family and think about heading home.

A little bit of excitement on an off road trip.

The Dancers

We went to a Museum and watched some traditional dancing. They were all incredible.

Here is Lindsay: On our way to the museum, we had our first experience with Rwandan fast food. We stopped by a roadside stand that sold roasted goat kebabs and maize (corn that is much tougher than our much loved sweet corn in the States). We also picked up drinkable yogurt, pink or white, and passionfruit juice. We then proceeded to eat all this in the car, smashed side by side, 4 in the back seat, a corn cob in one hand and a beef kebab in the other. The goat was delicious and the corn definitely gave my jaw a workout.
The dancing was incredibly expressive, as you will see, but my favorite part of the presentation was when the native dancers grabbed a few of the YCEW kids and were trying to teach them how to dance Rwandan style. Much said, I was definitely smiling, and grateful that it wasn't me they grabbed to try my hand at Rwandan dancing. :) Hope all is well in the States. We love you and miss you.



This Picture is of some Kids up North... We all found it funny that the kids is getting an elbow in the eye.

More Pics

A Note from Ingrid about last week:

Last week was probably the most out of my comfort-zone I have ever been. The students at the high school decided that it would be a good idea to feed me during lunch(literally) and we got made fun of a lot, I'm not entirely sure for what reasons, but at least they were entertained. We also had a major GIANT-Spider problem, they pretty much were trying to eat us the entire time, I saw the light flash before my eyes quite a few times, but I achieved in killing my first spider. However, through this last week I learned more about Rwandan Culture than I have the entire time here. Rwandans are more comfortable around each other and being close to ones they don't know. They also have very different ideas when it comes to family and relationships than we do. I learned a lot, however I was quite relieved to get back to Kigali.
PEACE OUTTTTT

Finally Back in Kigali

We are back in Kigali after a long week of being rock stars and crowded so you can't even breath. We visited two different schools and several churches. We got to play Volleyball in the rain, and some soccer. The spiders where big, and the food was amazing.
Here is Anna with her perspective on the week:

Since I really and I mean really like my space there was a time this week when I needed my space after being a celebrity for less than a week. Let me tell you, all my childhood dreams of being a huge superstar in hollywood and having a pet chiwawa that I could carry around in my purse were totally dashed...When the clock struck 4 we all groaned 'cause that meant that once again we would have to go appease our fans by playing soccer with them. We also knew that we were going to make fools of ourselves because they are soccer stars and we're definentely not! Before play commenced, play with the kids was happening whether we like it or not. We didn't have enough hands to be held and I had two plastic balls wrapped in rubber bands being kicked and thrown at me with the expectation that they would be returned.
We finally started the game but as we had thought they were AMAZING! At half time I had had enough of the constant blur of bodies and got a replacement so I could hang out on the side lines. Earlier I had been so against hanging out with people but the adrenaline from the game had made me excited to go find the kids I had been playing earlier. So I did and I was soon surrounded once again but this time I really enjoyed getting to know some of the kids personalities.


A note from Drew:

Greetings to all our Oregonian/Hawaiian brothers sisters mothers fathers sinners and Josh Reid!

One the challenges that I have consistently encoutered in the course of our trip is that of communication. A typical conversation usually entails a couple of languages, hello, how are you, do you speak french, and do like obama or McCain and will you give me money? During this past week , as the tension began to build within me, I became frustrated about my inability to communicate with the locals. But after a couple days up north, we finally started speaking the same language; the language of sport. As we traded high fives, smiles and cheers, I finally felt a deeper connection beyond the level of "hey, how are you." Who needs french anyway?

A note from Amy:
Joshua Reid, i am quite offended that Drew has replaced me as your "main man." we'll take this outside when i get back.

More Pictures will be posted tomorrow, with some more notes about the last week. It;s just too much information for the internet out here to handle.

We all are looking forward to our own beds and our loved ones. Thank you all for your Prayers and comments... the Kids love them.

Off on our way

We are about ready to leave for Butaro and Ruhengeti. Please pray that our trip will be safe, and that the hearts and eyes of our youth will be opened and molded.
I know that the kids are having a great time, and are asking lots of questions and learning a lot. As we are north, we will be interacting more with the locals and spending a lot of time playing with the students of the schools we are visiting.

Thank you all for your prayers and continuing faith that God knows the way.

Blessings to all, From Rwanda

Prayer Night

Saturday evening the Youth of the church have an all night prayer time. With singing and worship. We joined them from 8pm until midnight (they continued until 2am).
Here is a note from Amy:

helloooo everyone!
we're all having a great time here, it's been amazing to see the difference in cultures. the "youth group" all night service that we went to was very different than i was expecting. you are a youth here if you are not married, so rather than worshiping with people our age, it was more with 20 year olds. but it was still very fun :) the singing and dancing here is incredible! all of them are amazing singers, and rwandans in general are famous for their dancing. church the next morning came WAY too early, but it was impossible to fall asleep in such an intense church service. it will be a huge change going back to the much more traditional services in the states.
i miss all of you, you're all in my prayers.
MUCH love
-Amy Rose

And a note from Emily:

Mwaramutse!
The traditional Rwandan greeting for the morning :) The all night prayer was a little bit daunting at first what with there being only ten of us, none of us really knowing what was going to take place and being very tired, but once we got there and the party started, so to speak, we had a blast. It was really fun and intersting to experience the dancing that the Rwandans do as part of their worship, I was very proud of myself for being complimented a few times on my dancing :) The next morning the group split up and went to the separate churches that we had attended choir practice earlier in the week. The service we went to was two hours and forty five minutes but very full of energy and great analogies of God's love and the need for us to be in a deep relationship with Him.
I miss you! and am looking forward to at the end of the trip!
Loves,
Emily

Umuganda

A Note from Jessy

Every last Saturday of the month, Rwandans are required by the government to go out and work in local community service projects. So as a part of our time here in Kigali, we joined with the crowds today to dig a new road through a nearby neighborhood. Beginning at eight in the morning, we used shovels and hoes to carve out the road. Though we only worked for two hours, the rest of the group will continue working until midday.

Personally, this seems like a good idea to bring back to the States -- require everyone to clean up their neighborhood every month to improve the aesthetics of the cities. I'm not sure our government could ever motivate anyone enough to actually do that though. . .

But anyway. . . we worked for two hours digging through red African dirt, which I'm convinced is different than American dirt because African dirt (amazingly) gets everywhere and soaks into clothes and shoes and hair and everything. The experience was so cool though, because all of the neighborhood people come together and, while they're working, they talk and laugh together. We got some good pictures of us among all the people, but it's still hard for me to feel like we can connect with people because of the language difference. It's pretty funny, actually, because we know a few phrases in Kinyarwanda and then we (hopefully) know English and a little bit of French, so we try to carry on conversations throwing out various languages. I have to laugh when we use this method. . .

The Safari

Today we went on an African Safari. We had a great time riding on top of cars and watching the wild life. We didn't see a whole lot of animals, still we had a good time with the Giraffes.


Here is a note from Gabby

Hey ya'll!!! I have to say, its pretty hot here. But a great day for a safari! We saw all kinds of cool animals, zebras, impalas, hippos, and my personal favorite giraffes. It was dusty but worth it too see my favorite animal. I think we were all excited as we got to get right up next to them. I know Amy was stoked to see a glimpse of the zebras and Anna got to see the hippos. No crocs were seen by any one but Ing, luckily. Dust is everywhere here and we all look a shade darker, happy with our fake tans. Missing our beds but happy for a new experience,
we love and miss you all!!!
Gabrielle and the rest of the gang.

Short clip of Activities

Here is a clip of the first day we arrived in Rwanda, just clip on the video, you should be able to see it.

Today we are attending some classes at one of the local High Schools, and then attending a chapel with them. The Kids are in good spirits. They are sleeping well, though some of them are up at 4am and wide awake. The weather is great, an average 75-80 degrees, so it's not too bad. Thanks for all your prayer, and support.

The Start of the Trip is Here

From the Airport we leave
Needing you to Believe
that God knows the way
and protects us each day

Pray for each mind
and what we may find
We will be back soon
Just like the great moon

Nine Travelers and Their Families

In the cases of my friends, husband, and myself, it has always been the families back home who have worried more than the travelers themselves about venturing abroad. Inevitably I think this will stay true, but I hope that at least through viewing this blog you can worry less and maybe even smile and laugh. You know we will!! You can expect some good stories, a few pictures, and maybe even some video for the three weeks we'll be in Rwanda. So make sure you don't miss it! As always keep the team and the Thomas family (the missionaries we will be staying with) in your prayers and thoughts. You will be in ours.

Below is a synopsis of the who and what of this trip:

YCEW 2008 Rwanda

This year 7 youth from NWYM will be visiting David and Debby Thomas in Rwanda from June 21^st to July 13^th. The trip will be led by Nick and Lindsay Chapman of Newberg Friends. Nick and Lindsay both work in the Newberg school district and have met with the team through the spring to serve and learn about the ministries in Rwanda.

Team Members Include:

Emily Cropper – North Valley Friends

Amy Saxton – North Valley Friends

Ingrid Stave – Eugene Friends

Drew Miller – Newberg Friends

Anna Thomas – Newberg Friends

Jessy Hampton – Newberg Friends

Gabrielle Horttor – formerly Newberg Friends, now lives in Hawaii

Nick and Lindsay Chapman – Newberg Friends