An Interesting Day

1 Chronicles 16:24

"Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples."

((Attention: There are several Kirundi words in this post, I do not know if they are all spelled right. I apologize in advance for any spelling errors!))

I have never felt so humbled before. Experiencing church here was amazing, even with the language barrier you could feel the spirit moving! Today was palm Sunday and just like at home they had palm branches. Instead of having the children walk with them they handed them to the choir members. They all walked up to the front and sang songs of praise to our Lord and Savior while they waved branches around. Everyone was so joyous and in awe at church, for people who have so little they still have so much. Walking in you would never think of all the awful things these people have been and are going through. Through all the pain they come together truely as one. They are a great vision of the body of Christ. Even as us Mzungu (Mah-Zoon-Goo), this means white people in Kirundi you hear it often when we interact with them, entered they all just smiled. There was some staring because there is a big group of us but they still welcomed us into there service and continued to praise God without any judgement. Many of the sweet little Burundian children sang their hearts out, with true meaning and without falter. The music, oh the music, it was enchanting. Though I couldn't understand some of the songs, hearing them was just as great. They really get into their praise and worship. I can't wait till next Sunday so that I can take my camera and film them singing! Today after church some of the adults and kids from our group went to the local field to play frisbee. As we were doing that there was a HUGE soccer game going on! (and I mean H-U-G-E HUGE!) Not only was basically the entire community there to watch, but there were also people who drove a bus full of others to come watch as well. There were hundreds of people! It was great to see how into the game they were! Try and imagine your husband or dad and how he is when it comes to football, now think of that times 10 when it comes to Africans and their soccer! While many of the adults were occupied watching the game most of the teens and children were watching our group play frisbee. Some of you may know this already, but I am one of those people that doesn't participate in sports. I would much rather sit and watch! So as I was watching the frisbee game I had some very interesting interactions! They are listed below: 1. A group of children came up asking for bracelets (some of the Willis kids had given bracelets out the other day to a couple of the village kids and word got around, unfortunately they ran out of bracelets :/ ) I had to try and explain in Kirundi that we didn't have any. This involved me pointing at my own bracelet and saying Oya (no) over and over again until I think they understood and walked away. 2. Another group of children came up to me, pointed at my skin, said Mzungu and tried to start a conversation with me. I had to switch to French and let some of the older kids know that I didn't really speak Kirundi. I felt bad not being able to talk with the kids but there really wasn't anything I could do about it! 3. An older woman came up to me out of habit I said ' Amahoro Niswah (Nee-Sah-Wah)" which translates 'peace, are things ok?' which she then responded with "Niswah" which can also mean 'things are ok' (Kind of like the Ca va? Ca va. concept in the French language.) She then proceeded to grab my wrist and twist my bracelet around looking for the clasp. I had to pull my wrist away and say Oya several times! I love my bracelet but I don't think wearing it will be the best option for the rest of the trip. It's a beautiful silver bracelet with Ohio, Michigan and Africa charms placed on it. My parents got it for me before I left. I love it to pieces but must part with it so that it isn't taken. 4. There were two teen guys watching the frisbee game, they slowly approached me. One started speaking Kirundi while the other spoke to me in English. He said "you come here." I explained that I couldn't and must stay with my group. They just smiled laughed and walked away. 5. This final one was during half time. Of course, as you can probably imagine, we are stared at alot because white people aren't usually found here. When it was half time guess where all those watchers ended up? You guessed it! They all quickly surrounded us. To the point where all of us were in the middle of one giant African circle! That is when we decided to leave, not because we were uncomfortable, but because we could no longer play the game without risk of hitting someone with a frisbee! 6. Oh! I almost forgot! Remember that little girl I talked about? The one who walked up to Kibuye rock beside me? I was able to see her again today and surprisingly enough she remembered my name! It was the sweetest thing! She quickly ran up with her friends coming right behind her. She approached me and shouted "Nina! Nina!" It definitely put a smile on my face! On a side note, it was great to talk to my mom on the phone today! I really missed her! I even got a hello from the girls which was nice! We talked for a while and got to catch up, it was great to hear all their voices! I will admit that when I had to say goodbye and hang up I broke down. Thats another thing I've learned on this trip, sometimes you just have to let it all out. In those moments of hurt you feel yourself clinginging closer to the Lord. I've definitely been talking to Him a lot more since I've been here! It reminds me of the song Blessings by Laura Story so with that I leave you these lyrics to read! Goodnight all!

"'Cause what if your blessings come through rain drops? What if your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near? What if trials of this life are your mercies in disguise?"

Some Thoughts and Some Fun!

Amahoro!! It was yet another great day! Today we packed up and went to Gitega to do some shopping! We left some of the kids behind with some dads who were willing to watch them and got some time to explore this interesting place! The stores here are so different then back home and it was fun to see how they work. The one thing that surprised me most was that one of the owners was willing to let her employee leave work to get on a motorcycle and show us the way to the orphanage we were going to see. It was very kind of her to do so and we really appreciated it!I also noticed that while we were shopping if our basket became full they would come up to you, take your basket to the register, empty it and then return it to you. The workers also put everything in a box after the cashier rang it all up and carried out to the van. We also had someone pump our gas and carry out our pop crates! In America there are few to no stores who would be willing to do that, once you're employed there you stay there. If someone needs help to get somewhere you either tell them to use mapquest, their GPS or you tell them directions they have to try and remember. If they need help with something, you help them, but only to a point. I wonder if businesses would be more connected with customers and be more loved if all of them were nice enough to lend their employees to help others? Just something to think about! Being here has really opened up my eyes to how selfish and time oriented us Americans are. I will admit that I can be that way a lot as well! The people here have no sense of time, they walk along the roads at whatever speed they please saying hello to everyone they pass by. They stop to talk to friends and/or family. Many workers help their customers in ways you've probably never experienced and owners take time to learn several languages so they can communicate with everyone who comes up to the register. Once again I can't help but wonder how much better businesses would be if we all took time to do that. After we shopped we made our way to a local childrens orphanage. It was great to have a tour, hand out bracelets and meet many of the wonderful children that were there! I made friends with an especially cute little boy named Benny who was about 4. He even let me take his picture which he giggled in delite at! Watching the volunteers definitely made me think about my dream to work at an orphanage in Haiti after graduation! I could definitely see myself in their place! On the way home I was able to have a very good conversation with Heather and Hannah and tell them about my incredible family! I explained how both my mom and dad have encouraged and supported me as well as fueled my passion for what I feel led to do! It was great to share stories and such. We also talked about adoption on the way home, it was a great conversation and gave me some insight on the part of a parent in an adoption. I'm still excited for the day that I can adopt, its always been something I've wanted to do and it was great to talk and ask questions about it! So as you can see today was pretty productive! Thank you Lord for surrounding me with these amazing people and giving me this awesome experience!

Cute, Funny and a Little Challenging

Today was another adventure, just like any other day of life. Today we hiked up to Kibuye rock. This rock overlooks the entire hospital as well as our apartments. It was quite a hike with many of the kids with us. I carried Locksley on my back while Becky carried Shiloh, Hannah carried Juliette and Hank carried Jude. You can imagine how sweaty and gross we all were once we reached the top! Either way it was still a beautiful sight! On our way up there we attracted quite a group of little friends, some of them are pictured above. The girl in the front walked beside me for most of the time. She even asked my name and told me her name. I would love to tell you her name so I'm going to attempt to spell it! Her name was Eellnewl. As we walked she spoke something in Kirundi and pointed at the bracelet my parents had gotten me before I left. I asked her if she liked it and her face lit up and she responded with "ego" which means yes in Kirundi (and yes it is pronounced just like Ego Waffles!) She continued to walk beside me and I asked her for a photo, she said yes and before I knew it there were many other kids behind her. After I took the picture they all wanted to see it and once they viewed it they all started laughing! It was very funny to see there reactions! I also got a picture of a cute little boy while we were up on the mountain, I would have loved to upload it but it took nearly 30 minutes for the picture above to upload so I will upload it with the rest when I get home! It was great to get out and see more of Kibuye's amazing views and people, but today was a little challenging for me to. I've gotten to the point where I've been here for a few days and am more comfortable with my surroundings. The only thing missing is my family. Everyone in my group has there entire family, husband, wife, kids and all and my family isn't here to enjoy this with me. It makes me sad but I know that they're always with me in my heart and that it will be an even bigger joy when I return home to them to share stories! I love that my laptop has been working and that I at least am still able to email with them! I've also enjoyed opening letters from them. Mom had everyone write a few before I left and then labeled them so I had one each morning to open! It's been great! Well I'm off to eat dinner! Thank you all for the emails and comments you've left! God Bless from Burundi to you!

Lets Talk :)

As some of you may or may not know my FB and AOL accounts are not working. If at anytime you would like to get ahold of me please contact my mom for my other email :) I love waking up to see my inbox full of emails from family and friends :) I would love to stay in contact with you while I'm gone! Thanks so much!

have you HERD what goes on in the Kibuye park?

Hello everyone!! Today was a great day in Kibuye, as usual! We all had a great time together and got to go on a bit of an adventure today. After VBS was finished Heather Fader and I took some kids over to the local field. You would not believe how many people were there! They had sports games set up in every corner! There was soccer, bike riding, volleyball and many other things. Right in the middle of it all was a herd of cattle. That was definetly interesting and it fascinated the kids! I will have to admit though, the kids at the park seem more interested in us then the cattle walking around them. Probably because they're used to it! Henry and Eika started doing cartwheels and head-stands and soon enough there was a huge crowd of kids surrounding us and giggling. They would talk/whisper amongst themselves and then turn back to us to watch. We were the center of attention! It was cool to see how intrigued they were! As we were walking back a group of boys stopped Henry and asked for his name, and then some older girls went up to Seattle and asked for her name. After walking away I couldn't help but ask Mrs. Fader if that was one of the only things they really knew how to say in English. Her reply was "Yes they say it all the time. They also know good morning, since they know it they tend to say it to you no matter what time of day it is." I found this ammusing, just as I am trying to learn at least some of the basics of their language (hello, goodbyee, thank you) they are also trying to learn mine! It's great that even though to a point we are seperated both of us knows that truely we aren't. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ just trying to strike up a conversation no matter what the language!

Lessons learned

Hello all! Just a short update! I did my first day of VBS with the kids, it went fantastic! All of the children are so sweet and it's great to see all the different personalities coming together! I learned an important lesson today, a lesson of child-like faith. Our VBS today was on fear and after discussing what we were all afraid of I read a few Bible verses and asked some questions. Wihtout hesitation they were all able to answer each one. It really amazed me at how much they had taken in the verse and really listened to it and understood the meaning. I think sometimes as Christians we are so used to hearing verses that we don't take them to heart. We listen to them but don't think of the meaning of them every time we hear them. We skim over them in books and tell ourselves we've heard it a million times. I think we need to read them every time with the interest and understanding of a child. These kids amaze me more and more everytime I see them, which is pretty much every second of everyday since I've been here :) All of the families here are amazing and I've definitely connected with all of them in different ways. I seem to have a strong connection with Becky Baskin. I think it's because she reminds me of my mom a lot. I've spent most of my time helping her with her kids so I've had some time to get to know her. It's been great! Her kids, there are 6 of them, all feel like siblings to me and all seem to really enjoy my company! Everyone else has also been great to get to know and connect with as well! It's so great to be surrounded by such God loving people! Well I'm off to bed! Hope all of you have a great rest of the day! Goodnight from Burundi!

An update and some messy spelling and grammar......

((Attention: I apologize ahead of time for messy grammar, spelling and anything else that may be out of place. This update was quickly typed so that I could update you all as soon as I got WiFi. Therefore it was written late at night. Please excuse my mess ups, I promise to be better next time! Thanks!)) Amahoro from Burundi! I've finally made it to my destination! It was a long plane ride, but everyone still arrived in Bujumbura in good spirits! After staying the night there, my first experience with a musquito net, we got up bright and early and packed up for the long car ride ahead. Then we all parted ways, I headed out with the guys and kids (minus the Willis family.) We made our way up the twisty mountains to Kibuye. The ride was long but very enjoyable! The views were beautiful, the people were intriguing, and many smiles were shared between us through the windows. After arriving in Kibuye we were all shown to our rooms and unpacked some things, a little while after the moms and the Willis family joined us. We all hung out together and were introduced to everyone here! You can definintely feel the spirit of God working in this place and I'm so blessed to have this experience and be a part of it. I've learned a lot of things already form this trip and can't wait for more of Gods wonderful teachings! Listed below are somethings I've learned. Before I close with these things I would like to let you all know that my updates will be very brief, and not every day, we lose power here almost every day and as you can imagine I'm busy with kids, families and helping out any way possible. I would also like to point out that because of the poor wifi I will not be able to post pictures, I will get all of them to you after the trip and will make sure to include a post about how to view them! Thank you all for understanding and for your prayers! Now, without further ado, the things I've learned so far! 1: There is a different kind of clean here! When asked when the kids take a bath the childrens responses were "about once a week, or every two weeks." Of course, me being an american girl who can barely go a day without a shower, was kind of struck by this. I couldn't imagine doing that, especially as a child, you play outside all day in the red dirt making bricks from it for fun. Chasing around chickens, catching toads and making a mess! Then I remembered where I was, and how different things are here. Sometimes being clean isn't what it's all about, I mean don't get me wrong I'm not always shiny and clean, but I like to try and be. Germs bother me a lot and sanitizer is probably used more on my hands then lotion is. Here they don't live that way, and I think of started to accept that. I may not be used to the fact of showering only once a week, but I can respect them for that and for conserving water. So next time my mom asks me to shower I can pull the "I only showered once a week in Burundi and its dirtier there then it is here!" excuse ;) 2: DO NOT DRINK THE WATER! Every time I'm thirsty I can't just go get a drink, I have to make sure I get it from the filter and that it's clean. If I don't drink the filtered water i could get extremely sick. not only do I have to watch out for myself, but I try to watch the children too. I would rather get sick then have one of them sick so I try to make sure they don't accidently get water from the tap. This can be stressful since I'm definitely not used to this and one little slip up can ruin your week! 3:Language Barriers: It's different not being able to communicate with everyone here, the only thing I can say to them is Hi. When they try to continue the conversation I politely ask them if they speak english. Most do not so I leave it to the adults to converse and I just politely say Amahoro and shake their hand. Maybe as time goes along i can learn more words and try to talk with some people here :) 4: Cars: I've found that a large group of white people in a van traveling up the hills to Kibuye is quite the treat for Burundians. They are so interested in us that they don't even pay attention to what they're doing. They simply look at you amazed and sometimes give a smile or a wave. It's kind of like a 2-way looking glass. They study you since you are new to them and you study them right back. In one second you both make eye contact and briefly smile, then go on with whatever it was you're doing. I've found that the men are very hard workers and the women here love babies! 5: Culture: Though we all seem very different, I can't truely see the differences. We are all children of God, different skin, different language, different driving techniques, it doesn't matter. We are all one body, one heart beating, one voice rising together to praise our creator. Some people don't see it that way and some just need to open their eyes. That is something we struggle with daily in America, more and more people make racist jokes and talk down on different colored kids. Here in this place, the africans embrace us. With every turn they've helped us, whether it be loading up luggage, unloading luggage, childcare, cooking, cleaning, laundry, you name it. Even if we can't really speak with them they are here to help. If only we could be that way in the U.S. we can definitely learn from this culture. Especially the servant's heart part of it.