Coming Home

Our last two days in Rwanda were sweet.  Sunday, we were very blessed to attend a church service not only in English, but with a pastor from the states.  That meant a wonderful morning with no interpreter! 

We then had lunch with a new friend of Kenny's, the best man at Egide's wedding.  He had a hard time believing we not only had ten children, but that they were schooled at home.  How did we got the housework done?  How did I teach them all?  Wasn't it hard? I assured him that not only were my children well beyond their years academically, but that my house was always impeccably clean and tidy.  Just kidding.

I learned later that many families, rich or poor, have house-help. Rwanda is big on community, and country and family pride, and you just don't do it alone. Sounds good to me!  Where can I get me some of this house-help?

Monday was our last day in Africa, and it was a very sweet one at that.  We got to meet our 3 sponsored children from Compassion, in the morning.  They each came with an adult, and they brought gifts.  In fact, between the graduation, wedding, and this meeting, we came home with seven wonderful handmade presents to grace our home and remind us of our new friends a half a world away!

We got to take the boys shopping for treats, and then came back to our hotel to visit and have lunch.  The hotel had a big buffet, and these boys really piled it high.  Little Solomon wanted to use two forks to eat, and said if he had another arm, he'd use three!

Seven year-old Solomon clung to Kenny much of the day.  Solomon wants to be a doctor.

Jacques is 18 and left the program recently because of a misunderstanding of his age.  Usually they will stay until 21 or 22. Jacques is very very quiet.  He hopes to finish his studies and go to University.

Our oldest sponsored child is Isaiah.  He is 21 years old, and just about to leave the program.  He hopes to go to University next year. He is very affectionate.

We loved the time we got to spend with these young men.  Kenny had seen the older two about nine years ago, and he was pleased to see how they had grown.  I wanted to stuff them in my suitcase.

Around 3:00, we were all packed up and checked out of the hotel.  Kenny and Egide had made plans to meet in the lobby so we could visit before our shuttle to the airport at 5:00.  We sat and waited.  And waited.  And then around 4:00 we started to pray.  We really didn't want to get on the plane without seeing the new couple once more.  We had only seen them briefly on the wedding day!  By 4:30, we were praying hard.  And God answered our prayers!  At 4:50, we stood up to head out to the shuttle, quite sad, and in walked the newlyweds.  Thank you, God!  We were able to change our shuttle time, and headed out to the restaurant for *just one more warm bottle of Fanta*. This hour of the trip was really the best one. 

Our plane rides home were nice and uneventful until we got to the states.  Our connecting plane had problems and they booted us off.  We weren't able to get onto the last flight out that night from Chicago, so sadly we went down to baggage claim to get our things for the hotel.  Little did we know that back home, the family was praying for us to get home that night.  As the woman down in baggage claim tried to find our bags, she asked why we didn't just get on that last flight out?  We told her it was packed full.  She said no, that there were two seats open.  We just kind of stood there and stared at each other, and then gladly grabbed our boarding passes!  We were home on Colorado soil by 10:00!
This trip really has changed my life in so many ways.  Truth be known, I went almost kicking and screaming. But I knew I would always be sorry if I stayed home. I fell in love with the people of Rwanda. We made some very special friends who love the same God we do! And I got to just relax and travel the world with my very best friend.
BUT, after all of that, I was so very happy to see my pale children and my new home.  We chatted about the hand of God on all of us, and gave gifts and just really enjoyed being back with everyone.
And we dropped off to sleep with no mosquito net.