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