Thanksgiving in Rwanda!

Back in November 2012 I had the incredible privilege to travel to Rwanda to meet Grace, our first sponsored child through Africa New Life Ministries (ANLM).  We had been writing letters back and forth with sweet Grace since March 2011, so meeting her and her family was truly surreal.  I got to see firsthand how our sponsorship money was being used, for this precious, shy, beautiful girl named Umwiza Grace.  Her whole family benefits from the shared hope that Grace will complete school and have the supplies that she needs. On top of that, Grace’s medical needs are cared for, and she is being discipled by the dedicated Rwandan staff of ANLM.  What a joy it was to be welcomed into her home, hug Grace and her family, pray with them, and hug Grace some more! 

Just before we said our goodbyes, Grace asked me if the girls would be able to visit.  Without giving any thought of how we would make that happen, I quickly said YES!  So, here we are nearly 3 years later, ready and willing to go.  We will get to share our lives and love with the people of Rwanda, and allow our girls’ eyes and hearts to be opened to an entirely different way of life.  Some of my prayers are that our two sponsored kids (you can read more about Jean Claude here) will know they are so loved, and that our family will forever be changed by this experience. 

Rwanda is a place where material poverty is everywhere, yet those who know the Lord have an indescribable joy and dependence on God.  The people of this small country in East Africa have so much to teach us about forgiveness and reconciliation after surviving the genocide of 1994.  The more I learn of their realities, the more I am challenged in my own life.

We have a desire to advocate for the families in Rwanda by going, learning, and coming back to share our experience here.  We would love for you to partner with us.  Your prayers are needed as we prepare to go and finalize all the details of traveling with the girls.  If you would like to support us financially to make this trip happen see the info below.  While my side business has provided enough to cover the cost for Chad and I, we are looking at a remaining cost of $8,700 for the girls (our total trip cost is $14,498).  As a family we are also raising funds through some of the girls’ entrepreneurial projects and fun events.  We appreciate any amount of support with extremely grateful hearts!

There are two ways to give financially toward our trip:

1. Go to www.AfricaNewLife.org.

2. Click on Donate in the top left corner.

3. Set up an account (so that they can send you a tax receipt).

4. Click on "Make a donation".

5. Select "Give to a mission team member" and select "The Perry family" in the drop down menu.

OR 

Mail a check made out to Africa New Life (but don't put our name on the check, simply write Perry Family on the back of the envelope or on a separate note) to:

Africa New Life

Attn: Team Trips

7405 SW Tech Center Drive. #144

Portland, OR  97223

Thank you ALL for for sharing in the excitement with us.  This is something I have dreamed about for years, and to know that we are soooo close to going has me losing sleep because I'm just so excited!!  

Joyfully,

Lisa

 

 

Years ago I remember asking for prayer from a couple of friends because I felt a stirring within me for more.  More of Jesus, more purpose, more direction.  I didn't want to get caught up in the busy-ness of life and miss the point.

At the beginning of this New Year, I was praying for God to give me a word for the year, and the word I got was ETERNITY.  I had been weeping for several friends and acquaintances who are walking through very hard times.  Our time on earth just seems so short, and at times the suffering feels unbearable and confusing.  But God reminded me, He designed us for eternity, and desires a relationship with us here on earth AND together with the whole body of Christ in Heaven, forever.  That's the direction we're headed, and our lives here on earth are meant to lean towards Him and His glory in all that we do.  Yes, there will be sadness and suffering along the way.  And we won't understand the "why" behind so much of that.  But God is good.  And there is HOPE.  He is hope, we hope for an eternity without pain, without loss, without sadness.  We cling to the fact that He is working all things together for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).  We surrender to the knowledge that He has a perfect, well thought out plan, and if we are willing, we get to be a small part of that eternal plan.  And Lord-willing, that means we'll be heaven together with the beautiful extended family that He weaves into each of our lives...not just our biological families, but each and every person he puts in our paths for a reason, a purpose.

Last March we hosted a Sponsorship Sunday at our church to help get children in Rwanda matched with sponsors.  God wove together the lives of over 75 families in New Braunfels Texas with the lives of over 75 families in Rwanda that day.  How amazing will it be for all of us to rejoice together in heaven some day!  It'll be the BEST family get-together!

These two were snatching up the first couple of kids before the crowd came out!

Rwanda and Texas have over 8,000 miles between them, and God placed each of us in the exact spots we live with a purpose, yet through this sweet gift of sponsorship we are now connected.  I love that!!

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.  And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.  From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.  God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us."  Acts 17:24-27

Above and beyond...

At one point during our November 2012 trip to Rwanda with Africa New Life, we were in and out of the ANL office at the Dream Center in Kigali, and I saw a young boy at an empty desk, just sitting there quietly.  He was so solemn.  Truthfully, he did not smell pleasant.  I learned pretty quickly that he was the one the staff had requested colostomy bags for, which our team had brought from the U.S.   I wrote this about him in my journal that week:  

One of the many things I appreciate about Africa New Life is that they will go above and beyond for special cases when the right resources are there and when it’s clear that they have the tools and the people to make it happen.  Some of the ANL staff took an interest in Jean Claude and started the process of getting help for his medical issues.  When I asked if he was up for sponsorship, they said at the time he wasn’t.  They needed to attend to his medical needs first and foremost.  A family in New Life Church decided to take him in to help address his needs.  Jean Claude had been abandoned by his parents, and his grandparents were no longer able to get him the medical help he needed.

 

My roommate Betty and I both had a place in our hearts for this boy and once we were back from our trip we continued to reach out to our new friends in Rwanda to see what could be done for Jean Claude.  ANL came up with a budget so that he could get the care he needed and we recruited others to commit monthly for Jean Claude’s needs, and as of February 2013 his extended family grew!...Betty, a friend of hers, my parents, both of my brothers and their wives, and my family all sponsor Jean Claude.  This sweet boy is loved by many!

Photo by Natalie Green, February 2014

Jean Claude’s medical records show is birth date to be April 3, 1999, which means he just turned 15.  He was born without an anus and has a surgically created stoma.  Until those colostomy bags arrived in November 2012 he had to just use a rag at the site of his stoma.  He was in extremely poor health, and from what our friend who just came back from Rwanda said, Jean Claude would likely not be alive today if it weren’t for the care that he has received this last year.  He has come such a long way and I can’t wait for our whole family to meet him!  Our kids pray for him and he is on my mind daily.  We are so blessed by the opportunity to get to be a part of his life.

Photo by Natalie Green, February 2014

Here are stories of a couple of other special kids that Africa New Life has helped with.  I had the pleasure of meeting Jovanus and visiting his home in Kageyo.  He had surgery on his legs in Uganda and then came to Austin for rehab.

Jovanus before his surgery

Check out this video of Jovanus walking after his surgery.

Natalie giving Jovanus gifts from the family that hosted him in Austin

Riding on the bus with us in Kageyo

  

And then there is sweet Rebekah who came to Austin summer of 2012 for surgery on her feet.  Lauren, Madeline and I got to meet Rebekah at her host family's home, and then on my trip in November I was able to visit with her family in Bugesera.

At Dell Children's, photo by Meredith Davis

Bringing news to her family Nov. 2012, while she was still in Austin

Rebekah headed home in June 2013, able to walk on the bottoms of her feet!  Photos by Simon Ross:

Africa New Life has stories of other special cases as well.  Sometimes staff on the ground in Rwanda advocate for these kiddos to begin with, other times people have gone on trips and come across a special case and then began working with ANL to get needs met.  I love seeing how the body of Christ works.  

“I don't want to live in the kind of world where we don't look out for each other. Not just the people that are close to us, but anybody who needs a helping hand. I cant change the way anybody else thinks, or what they choose to do, but I can do my bit." - Charles de Lint

Nearly 20 years ago...

You may or may not be familiar with Rwanda’s history, but if you’re like me (up until a few years ago) I actually had no idea that one of the worst genocides in history had taken place there.  In 1994, nearly 1 million people were killed in less than 100 days.   That is truly hard to believe, right?  To put it very simply, one tribe built up the idea that the other tribe needed to be eliminated.  A civil war of sorts had been raging for quite some time, but on April 6, 1994, the unthinkable began.  Militia and rebels tore through the small country killing men, women and children, leaving complete devastation.   I encourage you to do a quick search if you aren’t familiar with the history.

At the Kigali Genocide Memorial...built on a site where 250,000 victims are buried.

This is Jane, who at the age of 5 witnessed her mom being killed in the genocide.

Jane shared with us that she fled to the Congo, and was gathered up along with other orphans by the Red Cross and was brought back to Rwanda.  They lined up and families picked them one by one to take them in, but Jane did not get picked by anyone.  She ran from the Red Cross and hid, sleeping in the fields at night.  She began hearing dogs and was afraid to stay in the fields so she found a house and slept behind it.  She intended to wake up early and leave so they wouldn't find her there.  However, she was so tired from many sleepless nights that she didn't wake up early.  When she finally awoke, there were several people standing over her.  She was overcome with fear as the memory of how her mom was killed flooded her mind.  She thought they were going to kill her.  But one woman reached out and said she would take her in.  She brought her home and told her they were going to worship at New Life Church.  Now she is thriving and full of HOPE! 

When I met Jane in November 2012, she was in the sewing program with Africa New Life.  70 women a year learn tailoring, giving them a chance for future employment and an opportunity to escape the cycle of poverty.  They also have weekly devotionals and daily discipleship, transforming their lives in so many ways.

Everyone over the age of 20 in Rwanda has been directly affected by the genocide.  Even some younger are still being affected, as they were born to HIV infected mothers (a tragic, intentional war crime by the rebels).

Despite the mark of pain and loss in their history, the people of Rwanda have been able, through forgiveness and what seems like impossible grace, to move forward in unity and rebuild their country in peace.  

If you’d like to learn more about Rwanda, here are some books that Africa New Life recommended to me before traveling there:

About the genocide-

*Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust

by Immaculee Llibagiza

*We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from

Rwanda

by Philip Gourevitch

Lead by Faith: Rising from the Ashes of the Rwandan Genocide

by Immaculee Llibagiza

 

About Rwanda-

*Land of a Thousand Hills

by Rosamund Halsey Carr and Ann Howard Halsey

A Thousand Hills: Rwanda’s Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It

by Stephen Kinzer

*books I was able to find at our public library

  

We also read When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor and Yourself  by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert.   I highly recommend this book for anyone who does any kind of outreach.  Even if you aren’t involved in outreach to the poor, this is a great read.  It will get you thinking about our own country and how our own welfare system is affecting our society.  What I love about it is the idea that sustainable change for those living in poverty has to come from the inside (not from the outside).  While temporary handouts in times of emergency are vital, people in the cycle of poverty have to be empowered to help themselves.  That is one reason why the ability to receive education in countries like Rwanda is key.  

I'll be writing more about how you, yes YOU can be a part of that kind of change and empowerment for someone in Rwanda, so stay tuned!