Compassion International

Today we went to visit Zakayo Nyabyenda, the Compassion child the mid-high sponsor.

It was pretty much awesome. Our driver from yesterday who took us to the World Vision site drove us again today. He doesn't know English except for a couple words but he did know French so John (who took only 2 semesters of French in college) got to use it a lot! I (Ellie) am really surprised at how much he understood and spoke. So that was fun.

We were greeted once we got there by all the kids in Zakaya's school --a whole bunch of them singing in the church and then they started coming out of the church to face us for the rest of the song. Then we came into the church and they had a special service just because we came there (which we were totally not expecting). The kids all sat in the seats and there was a table up front with a lacey tablecloth was spread on top with vases of flowers on it (like a communion table). They had our interpreter, John, me and Zakayo and the director of the site walk down the center isle and sit right on the stage with the table. Then the rest of the class greeted us again with singing and dancing and then a guy had his back to us to face the children and gave a sermon-like message with scripture and then we prayed and asked us to say a message to the group. It was pretty crazy but cool.

Then we went out of the church and into the office that Compassion works out of at that site. They gave us the history of that site and what it has become and then told us all about Zakaya. He is 15 (I thought he was 17 but I guess not). He was really stoic at first, even when we struggled through telling his a message in his language but we were expecting that. We were told that Rwandans have a culture that does not look surprised or shocked. But by the end of our time with him he was smiling and shaking our hands like a happy kid :) After we ate a snack, we headed to Zakaya's home where his HUMONGOUS family greeted us and gave us a gift of 2 pineapples (sorry, mid-high, we can't give them to you--we will have to eat it ourselves!)

We gave him the gifts we brought from the mid high as well as food and other supplies for his family that we bought on the way there. We have pictures to put up later. Anyway, we saved the soccer ball til the end and his face lit up completely and he stood up fast and his eyes just about popped out and gave us a HUGE handshake :)
and then, the very last, we gave him the scrapbook...... wow was he impressed --he couldn't wait to open every page and his family was so happy. we showed him the photo of snow (I forget who included it) and he was amazed and studied it hard. It was a great choice to put in there!

He also gave us 2 woven baskets with lids. He said for us to keep one and the other give it to the mid-high. So mid-high, look forward to a new offering basket or whatever you make it to be! I told him you would write him and tell what you will use it for with a photo. He was very happy to hear that.


Overall, John and I are super impressed with Compassian's work here and the staff we met were very lovely people that you can tell are doing wonderful things for the children they do ministry with. I feel really happy with how it all went!
last summer as we were thinking about Step Into Africa stuff, I felt strongly that Zakaya should have a visit from someone from HHBC since he has never had one in the 10 years he's been sponsored and now it could be possible with our Rwanda connection. I totally didn't think it would be me, just someone more connected with him. But I guess you have to be careful what you pray for! I didn't realize it would be me. But I'm really glad this happened, he's a great kid and his fmaily was great to meet too --in their small house (which we can post of a photo of) inside there is a wall with a verse from Isaiah written across it --it was like stencil and it was amazing to hear of such a godly family living in such poverty and how much God has blessed them and Zakayo

Well, I will leave you for today but I wanted to post this specially for the mid-high and senior high who have over the years sponsored this cool guy and written letters. So now you can hopefully feel more connected with him and inspire you to write to this special teen!

hope all are well, we love and miss you. Goodbye from Rwanda!

Ellie (for John too)

Speaking of John, John here is going to upload a few pictures for your pleasure.

first, those hills I was talking about in the last post. Here are a couple that are good.




Second, a picture of us with Zakayo.




And third, a picture of Zakayo's house and the field that he helps his family work.




As always, click on the pictures to see a bigger version

Peace.

Hanging out in Rwanda

Hey there readers.

I am writing this in the capital city of Kigali, at the house of some World Venture missionaries that we had a random connection with, so we're staying with them.

We got to have dinner with the entire World Venture Rwanda field last night, which was fun. They are good folk, and they were grilling us on our plans, and kidding around with about having a great place for us to come back to and plug in to. It was encouraging to be seen as a potential good fit for missions on their field, whether or not we end up anywhere near Africa.

Ellie and I rode the bus for 11 hours on sunday to get here, which was exhausting to say the least. It was quite an experience on many levels, in terms of facing death in the form of the oncoming truck vs. the cliff edge, being the only muzungus (white people) on the bus, (it being the budget form of transport), getting checked for ebola, and spending the first couple of hours trying not to lose my stomach out the window. As our missionary friend in Kampala says, "riding the bus does wonders for your prayer life." And it does.

We saw the genocide memorial in Kigali, which is hard to explain. More on that another time. Today we woke up very early to drive to Nyaruguru, which is the district that the kids that HHBC sponsor are located in. It was a long day, but good. We have lots of fun and amazing pictures. The country is strikingly beautiful. "The land of a 1000 hills and a 1000 smiles." The hills are hard to explain, and even in pictures it doesn't do them justice.

Being white (muzungu) out in the country is an interesting experience. In the city, most people and kids know enough english to ask you for money, or they just stare. In the country, the kids go nuts. MUZUNGU! MUZUNGU! MUZUNGU! They run after the car, wave, and in the case of one very cute little boy, just jump up and down in place shrieking MUZUNGU! It is strange to be a complete and total novelty to people. When we were riding the bus, one girl reached out and rubbed my (john's)arm and whispered "muzungu." I later found out it was probably because white people have arm hair, and africans generally do not.

When we got the same school that Mike and Ken went to, the children flock around us like iron filings on a magnet, in a way that is almost disturbing. You feel like 'i do not deserve any special attention' but they heap it on you in spades, both the kids and the WV staff. We were in one classroom interacting with them, asking them trivia in exchange for candy, and by the time we were finishing, the other 600 kids in the school were trying to force their way in the door and windows.

There are so many stories to tell, but I need to fix the Bennet's computer and watch some Andy Griffith with the kids. More another day, when we get more regular access to Internet.

Tomorrow we visit the mid-high compassion child, and we go to New Hope back in Uganda on the 4th.

Ta-Ta for now

Peace

Leaving on a jet plane.....again

We've just finished up a few days in England on our way to Uganda. We knew had a layover in London, so we'd planned on taking advantage of that by extending the layover to about a week.

John's grandma lives south of London, so we got to see her for a few days which was great. We got to sleep in a lot and catch up on jet-lag, which was great because when we fly to Africa the time-change won't be so bad, only 2 hours. Then we took the train to London, where we stayed in a very nice flat (that's an apartment for you non-british-lingo-savvy-folk) that some family friends let us stay in, right on the Thames river, next to Tower Bridge.

Quite a view, eh? Right from the apartment balcony.



Then we went and visited some friends that Ellie met last time she was in Uganda, (and who will be spending a year at New Hope quite soon.) which was great.

Then a kind a generous soul and relative of John's wanted us to have a nice time in London, and gave us some spending money, so we got to go on the London Eye, and to the London Aquarium, which was way fun. I hadn't been to an aquarium in years, and Ellie in particular was transfixed by the little fishies. I was more partiarl to the big ones, like this:






We did see Nemo and Dory in the same tank, however, and that was fun.


Then we met up with Jill Clark for tea, and then spent the rest of our time re-packing our bags.

So, we're off. Next week we'll be in Rwanda, so pray for more safe travels, both as we get there from Uganda, and during our stay and return.

For those who are following the situation in Kenya, don't worry about us, we're not even going to leave Nairobi airport during our layover.

Click on the pictures to go to the album that they're in.

Peace,

The collmans

Leaving on A Jet Plane.....

I sit here writing the last few thank you notes, thinking about the things that I've probably forgotten to pack. We leave the ground in just about 10 hours, and of course there are still things to do.

I keep telling myself "Less is more, less is more." Being the boy-scout/hyper-prepared type of person that I am, I would bring my whole toolbox, power tools, rollerblades, and snowsuit just in case if I could. Of course we cannot.

We are at over 100% of our support goal, which is awesome. We may have additional financial needs during our trip, but we'll keep you posted. I just realized that some folks are going to be giving their gifts to us after we leave, and we will have no way of tracking those gifts, or even knowing who you are. So if you supported us in any way, and you don't get a thank you note from us in the next week or so, (indicating that we know that you supported us) please let us know via email. Not just because we'd like to send you a note, but also so we know who's behind us. It is very encouraging to know that we have a bunch of folks who love and care for us and are praying for us, and we'd like to know who they are. We know that some of you were not called or able to support us financially, but are with us in spirit and through prayer. We'd love you to send us an email, or comment on this post, so we know who's "got our back."

love to you all

John

Almost Time!

Well,

We are almost ready to go, with only $630 left to raise. We are starting to actually put things in our bags, which is crazy. It seems surreal that in just a few short days we will be leaving for 101 days, and shortly after that we'll be in Africa.

Peace,

John

Two Weeks to go

Hey everyone!

So we are leaving in less than two weeks, and we still have a lot of things to do, and a long way to go in terms of financial support. We are at about $4000 as of right now.

If you have been following the news, you probably know that Kenya is a bit unstable right now as a result of the rigged election. That could affect our trip; not whether or not we go on it, but how much travel we are going to be able to do. Uganda gets most of its diesel and petrol from Kenya, which has coastline on the Indian Ocean. So a few days ago the fuel prices doubled and tripled in Uganda, and many gas stations and even the airport ran out of fuel.

This could affect our ability to travel to Rwanda, and make it difficult to get to New Hope from the capital city.

So pray:
Pray for peace and resolution to the ethnic violence and a return to political stability for Kenya.

Pray that Uganda will be able to absorb the refugees from Kenya, and that fuel supplies would be available and well-managed.

Pray that we would have safety in our travels

Pray that we would be able to lock down all the details that we need to before we leave.

Pray that Ellie will feel better: the tetanus vaccination was not kind to her, and she has been feeling pretty low for about a week now, with aches, headaches, fever, etc.

Love y'all

John and Ellie