Tomorrow is take-off!

Muraho! 

Well, tomorrow is the day. I sit here this morning in Concord, NH with the snow falling outside my window. We have a 2-hour delay this morning which has been a gift. I worked my tail off yesterday getting things packed and ready, but this morning I have had time to read, pray, and ready my heart for the unknown that is ahead.

I will certainly post soon after I return on March 6th. I do, however, want to make you aware of the blog site that our team will daily be posting to- www.manchesteronthemove.wordpress.com

Thank you for your prayers and support. I am excited to see what God reveals to me and our church!

God Bless!

Rachel

18 days...

This morning as I woke up I thought, "Only two more Monday wake-ups before I am waking up in Rwanda." I used to do countdowns like that when anticipating summer vacation, Christmas, back-to-school, etc. Now my heart and mind are focused on Rwanda. My prayer is that over the next 18 days God continues to challenge me, and shape me, and prepare me for what only He knows the team and I will experience.

This past weekend I went to see Slumdog Millionaire. It was a hard watch for me. Mostly due to the scenes of the children and how they can be forced to live. In all honesty, the bigger picture of the story got lost to me as my mind just kept returning to children. Children doing their best to get by, whatever the cost. Also ingrained in my mind were the images of corrupt adults using children for their own advancement. It truly depressed me. 

Sometimes being prepared for what is to come involves challenges and pain. Prayers to see the world through God's eyes are going to invoke heartache. As I think of my students in America who have their own battles, the children in the slums of India, and the orphans of Rwanda, God has been showing me that this is the area that my heart breaks for. I also know that God is showing me only as much as he has made me able to handle, and I know it is a percentage of a sliver of what He sees daily. I can't comprehend how His heart must break. It truly motivates me to discover my piece and to do my part.

I am still unsure what my piece is, but I believe that God is showing me that it involves children, and it involves shedding some of His light amidst people in need. I am so grateful for the opportunity to take this journey, and I truly view it as a beginning step in what God is doing in my heart. 

Thank you for your prayers, both current, and while we are on the trip. I truly believe that the children and adults of Rwanda are going to teach me more about what it means to love than I currently understand; and I am humbled to have the opportunity.

Blessings,

Rachel

40 days...

I hope that this post finds you well as we are 11 days into 2009! Happy New Year.

As of today, my team is 40 days from heading to Rwanda, Africa! I haven't posted in awhile because I haven't been sure how to put my thoughts into words. Two of the books that I have read recently have put names and faces to the area where we will be heading. I read Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza and Land of a Thousand Hills by Rosamond Halsey Carr. Both books showed me deeper realities of the pain and tragedy that resulted in the genocide in the 90's as well as previous conflicts. Of the two, I highly recommend Left to Tell if you're looking for an eye-opening read. The distance that Rwandans have come as a country in terms of reconciliation can only be attributed to God's love. I am anxious to go and share that.

I have purposefully tried not to think too much about what the day to day will be for our team while we are there. I don't want to establish expectations. I simply want to go and see what God has for us. Our team website will be updated most frequently. It has a recent post by one of our trip leaders. It can be found at www.manchesteronthemove.worldpress.com

As of today our team is 40% of the way to raising the funds needed. I will continue to post updates regarding this progress. Thank you for your prayers and/or financial contributions. This is a God-sized task!!!

Blessings to you.

Thanksgiving

It is Thanksgiving Eve... Yes, not exactly a hallmark holiday, but a grand day nonetheless. A day of cooking, baking, and anticipating time with family and friends. I love Thanksgiving due to the emphasis on time together. Following Thanksgiving comes all of the commotion that goes with Christmas. I am choosing to avoid it this year, however. My church is embracing advent conspiracy which totally jazzes me. I am not against showing someone that you care about, or appreciate them through a gift, but I am against a meaningless gift just for the sake of it. 

We have a trading post set up at our church which is selling Fair Trade products from around the world through Trade as One. This is awesome to me! If I am going to spend money, I want it to go somewhere needed. Now, I write this as a hypocrite I realize, because all of the clothes on my body were likely factory produced. But, I am saying that I want to begin to be aware, and make more conscious and sustainable choices. Why not start with Christmas!!!?

A bit more revealed.

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." Psalm 119:105

This verse has brought me great peace in the last ten years. In school the next thing always seemed a bit predictable. After 6th grade comes summer, then 7th grade, then summer... etc. Since high school, however, it has been a bit more random. And the randomness is a beautiful thing. If you know me, you know I am organized. God has taught me over the years, however, that I need to hold lightly to what I think I know about my present circumstances. As I pray each morning for Him to direct my day, He does; and it wonderfully isn't always the way I would expect. God just shows me enough to light my steps in front of me for the moment, and in doing so, the path ahead comes into light.

The last time I posted I had accepted and understood that it was only going to be a week that I would be in Rwanda in February. Something inside, however, had me ask my administration for a week's leave following my February vacation. It was granted!!!! God has enabled me to go and be on the soil I long to have my feet on right now for two weeks. I am so thankful and quite speechless actually. Thank you God for lighting these next steps for me.

Patience...

So... Tonight I have been reminded of God's time and my time and how they are very different animals...

As I have been thinking and praying about Rwanda, what has "made sense" to me is a February trip, followed by a summer trip. To me, one week just isn't enough... That's where I'm faulted though, the "to me" part. See, I don't understand much about the Big Picture, and thankfully, what "makes sense to me," isn't what always happens. That's a God-sized job. Not one for me. 

After meeting with a PEACE team member tonight, I am seeing that it is looking more like February will happen, but not the summer. February, however, will be an intentional, focused trip where we, as a church, seek out the needs of the community we are serving. We then return home to train purposefully before returning to assist. So, while one week doesn't seem like "enough" to me, one week is what God is appearing to give us to begin a process. A process that will be intentional, sustainable, and Lord-willing, last beyond 2009 for me. So while my time on African soil will be shorter than I anticipated in 2009, I see God's hand at work. I see His timing, and I trust that He is working good in all things.

World Vision

Today I went to a World Vision Africa Experience I went on my own and it ended up being a good thing because I left with a lot to process. Check out the on-line experiences if you are unable to go. There was something about being there, however, that spoke to me more than if I were sitting at my desk at home. I feel if I break down the experience of being there in written words it will be inadequate. I do, however, want to write about what the experience continued to do in my heart.

If you've read my earlier blogs you know that I am prayerfully seeking God's purpose for me. I am truly starting to feel however, that He has shown it to me, and now it's a matter of me being able to act on it. This afternoon I spent time at the bookstore and picked up resources that have been recommended to me as I prepare my mind and heart and overall understanding for Rwanda. I feel honored that God has placed such a desire, call, and passion in my heart. I can only hope that He is going to continue to unfold the "how" as the days and weeks go on. 

I pray that I won't let myself, and what I think is best, get in the way of His plans.