Psalm 73: 23-26

Mwiriwe! (Good Afternoon)

I greet you with this picture of Adele- one of the beautiful women of the training center prepping the stove for the day.

I hope that this post finds you well. :) One week ago I started my journey here, to Rwanda, and today, I am beginning to feel more comfortable with the ins and outs.

It's been a lot to take in- between absorbing the cultural differences, to learning about the ladies at the training center, to learning how to run a business (orders, deliveries, inventory, bills, overseeing, quality control, creativity, finances...) Thankfully there are a couple of wonderful Rwandese women in place, one as a manager, and one who is helping with finances, who will help me out. :)

THEN, there's navigating the roads- learning where things are- "where the streets have no names." Trying to remember the parts of town I want to go to, the parts that I don't... Discovering that in Rwanda there is no "I'll take that list to the market and get it all." There's "well, I'll try X first" then I'll go to "Y" and then on the way back swing into "Z." Yet, I use the phrase "swing into" VERY loosely :) I think Rich said it well when he said driving down here is like a video game- talk about being alert CONSTANTLY! :) And hopping curbs to park... Oh Boy...

Each day I come home kinda speechless in a way. I know God is at work, and He wants me here- but I am learning that I am going to be clinging tightly to Him. :) Not out of panic, rather, in a good way- a way I should be feeling at home- out of need and gratefulness with thanksgiving for His constancy.

I am so thankful that, in the moments when I miss loved ones at home, and feel homesick for the familiar- I can go to God, and He does comfort me. Today I read in Psalm 73:23-26

Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

Isn't that beautiful??? And it's so true. His is the wisdom that I seek when I don't know the answer, His is the hand that I hold onto on unfamiliar streets- His is the heart I want to please by loving His people who are so in need... His is the truth and love I pray for others to receive- both here and at home. He has never failed me. :)

Today I had the opportunity to go over to a meeting of "The Hope Group" a group of women with HIV/AIDS who gather once a week in the afternoon to make paper beads to sell. They get counsel in the truth and love of God, as well as help with their health bills. These women prayed and while I have no idea what words they said, my whole body was overcome with goosebumps, and the feeling of the love that God has over them. It was beautiful. Women from our ABC training center go over during this time, and I am excited to have them display and sell their beads in the shop. A small way of sharing their story and helping their needs.

There's always so much to share... Thank you for following in my journey. If you could pray my time here would indeed be a blessing to others and according to God's Will, I'd be grateful.

Murakoze cyane! (Thank you very much)