9:00 AM Central Africa Time - Hotel Dian Fossey; Gisenyi, Rwanda
"He will yet fill your mouth with laughter"
Job 8:21a
There are roosters on the property at the Hotel Dian Fossey. They have not hurt my sleep too much up to this point except for jarring me a bit. [The alarm on my phone that I use to get up for work is a rooster sound.] Well... this morning was different. The "special" rooster [I call him "special" because he has an incredibly irregular crow. It almost sounds like a cat in writhing pain. Combine this crow and this crow, and you get the "special" rooster's crow.] decided that it would be awesome to camp out on our doormat this morning. The first time he crowed, I practically wet myself because it sounded like something was dying in my bed! The front door opens into my room so my feet were literally 4 feet from the rooster. Not to mention, two of the walls around my room are glass windows with only a screen (no glass) across the top section and a good one inch gap of open air between the floor and the bottom of the window. So, he pretty much was in my room. It was quite a hilarious experience to say the least. When I get to customs and they ask if I have been working with livestock, I wonder how well it would go over to say, "no, but I shared a hotel room with a rooster." :o)
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| "Hey, guuuuuurl!" |
5:40 PM Central Africa Time - Gisenyi, Rwanda
"Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:
If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!"
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
I bonded with one of the team members quite a bit today. This morning when we were having the team devotional, she mentioned being overwhelmed by the physical nature of the kids. She said that she was starting to feel claustrophobic at times. Some of the kids are incredibly touchy-feely and love being in physical contact with us. Sometimes it is hard to find a moment where there isn't a hand hanging onto you, whether it be your arm, leg, or side. It is a germophobe's worst nightmare to be in a third world country at a huge orphanage with a sick kid who is touching you all up and down your arms and hands.
Her boldness led me to admitting I had been feeling the same way. I was ashamed that I had been feeling that way and assumed that everyone else on the team was fine, so I was not going to say anything... until she did. It is so wonderful how God seems to place people beside us to share in our struggles so we see that we are not alone. A friend of mine recently ran a half-marathon with a couple of her friends from college. She mentioned that she would have run the race much slower if she had done it on her own, but since she had friends to run with, they all stuck together and pushed each other. I love that God does that for us. He knows our needs so well that he can pair us with others who will push each other.
On a lighter note- what do you get when you cross cows, sheep, goats, rocks, and a soccer ball? A little something I like to call "landmine soccer." While watching your feet to avoid the "landmines" (mainly rocks, animals, and cowpies), you also had to watch the ball and your teammates to make progress up the field. I only played for a few minutes, and it was tough (especially in sandals)! Today was our second day at Noel Orphanage, and it was a blast! In the morning, we played some landmine soccer, threw an American football for a little while, and just hung out with the kids. Even our bus driver, Alfonse, got in on the action!
I also thought it was pretty cool to see a kid in an Upward Basketball t-shirt!
I witnessed my first case of bullying at the orphanage today. An older girl came up to Brigitte, took the small tear in the back of her shirt, and ripped it almost completely off. I was shocked that someone would do that, upset and embarrassed for Brigitte, and angry at the older girl. I felt terrible about the situation, but Brigitte shook it off- no tears, no grudge. What a sweet girl she is! As I was pulling my thoughts together, a beautiful thing happened; another one of the older girls, Noella, instinctively took off her jacket and put it on Brigitte to wear temporarily while the three of us went to go get Brigitte another shirt to wear. Suddenly my hope was renewed. While there is bullying that occurs, they have people looking after them. They might not have mothers or fathers, but they are still receiving motherly and fatherly love from their friends. And they are most certainly receiving Fatherly love from God.
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| Noella (left) |
In the afternoon, we spent our time playing worship music in the special needs wing. I sat and sang with my sweet girls Belize (bay-lee-say) and Kazuba (kah-zoo-bah).
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| Kazuba and I singing in the special needs wing |
Ten-year-old Kazuba is quickly stealing my heart. She is very shy, but she has a way of showing affection without showing it at all. She does not show physical affection very often, but she will grab my hand every now and then, and when I look to see who it is, she just looks up into my eyes and smiles. She will disappear for several minutes at a time, but she always finds her way back to my side. She loves to listen to music and dance, and I love watching her do so. She has the prettiest smile in the world (at least I think so).
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| Amanda (left) & Kazuba (right) |
As we sang in the special needs wing, it was so cool to see the residents bobbing back and forth to the music. There is so much power in music. Bob Seger was really onto something when he said that music "soothes the soul." Of course, he was specifically talking about rock and roll, but I happen to think that all music has soul-soothing properties. In fact, this article shows that music can help jog the memory of Alzheimer's patients! There is just something about music that will always be a part of me. Beautiful music flows through me like oxygen flowing through blood. It makes me feel alive. It makes me feel closer to the Lord than I have ever been before. Our worship time in the special needs wing was perhaps some of the most pure worship I have ever experienced.
After we left Noel for the day, we went to the store at the Presbyterian guest house as well as a couple other stores to buy souvenirs. They had wood carvings, bags, purses, paper beaded jewelry, rugs, and baskets. As we were in the shops, I was talking with Jane about her baby boy, Gideon (who is the cutest baby I have ever seen).
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| Nom nom nom! :o) |
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| Jane and Gideon |
He is also the most well behaved baby I have ever seen! He rarely cries or even fusses! She also said he has slept through the night since he was born three months ago; she even has to wake him up to feed him! I found it hard to believe this, but she said that all five of her children were easy babies, just like Gideon! She also said that she is very blessed because of it. I was joking around asking her to send me some of her good genes, and she just laughed and said, "I prayed over all of my children when I was pregnant with them. I prayed for them to have peace." What an incredible mother she is!
In my favorite psalm, David says,
"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be."
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be."
Psalm 139:13-16
"Momma Jane" and "Baby G" are living proof that these words are 100% true. The Lord knew us so intimately before we were even born. In fact, he even knew us before we were even a thought. It blows my mind to think how well He knows us and how much He cares about us. I think this is one of those concepts I will never fully grasp. His love is amazing.
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