Meet FRANCINE

I must include a picture of Francine from 2010, but before showing you her picture from that trip, let me first share part of the story.  Addy’s brother David Mwambari calls himself a bridge builder, and I think that is probably an accurate description.  

At Ntenyo Primary School in rural Rwanda is a structure that houses the tombs of his grandparents.  They were killed in the adjacent church during the 1994 genocide in that country.  With the passion first displayed by his grandfather, David has raised lots of money from all over the world to restore the school his grandfather had begun.

Not only does he bring teams each summer to work on the school but David identifies and mentors those who are the future leaders that will make the work successful.  EAFC is now helping THREE of those David introduced to us, Emile who has drawn architectural plans for the school’s expansion, Emmanuel who studies theology, and Francine.  It’s Francine that our team met in June, 2010.

At that time, Francine, spoke very little English.  It was difficult to get her to smile, and when she spoke, she was so soft spoken that we could hardly understand a word she did say.  There was nothing from appearance that would have told us she was being groomed to be Ntenyo’s future principal.  But David assured us that she was worthy of our support.

Addy Francine and Addy's brother David Mwambari

Child contemplating his future?

So here is her picture as we saw her then.  David is interviewing Francine in this 2010 picture.

Fast forward to October, 2011, and see Francine in action in her classroom.  No longer is she shy or reluctant to smile.  She’s passionate about learning to speak English, and we were privileged to get to watch her in action teaching personal pronouns to her class.  I will also include pictures of all the students as they greeted their visitors (us).  Later as we got to visit with Francine in the pastor’s home over a cup of tea, she told us that it was our previous trip that had encouraged her to study.  She thinks it is such fun to speak English.  Oh, to be able to come back to Ntenyo School in a few years after she has become the Principal and see a school that not only ranks 4th out of 10 on regional tests, but has raised up some more “Francines” would indeed be a privilege.

School children at Ntenyo wave to their visitors.

Children were so well disciplined

New part of school with blue roof.  Children were filing out of line, running back to their classrooms.

HERE IS FRANCINE in 2011.  Here we are enjoying a conversation with her.  Since 2010 she's gotten married and her grades at university are tops!

Meeting New Family Members

In June, 2010 EAFC had ONE Rwandan studying IN THE COUNTRY, Adeline Mugeni.   Addy will graduate from medical school in 2012 and is a good friend and volunteer for EAFC in her country.  Today EAFC has NINE students.  

Pastor Emmanuel from Kibagabaga Anglican Church in Kigali (yes, it DID take me a long time to be able to pronounce that one) sent us FIVE applications.  We’d never met this pastor but it was his applications that were the first ones that Sarah had ever reviewed.  Everyone who has ever volunteered to be on the EAFC selection committee will quickly tell you that these application grab your heart.  And to think that Sarah got to meet in person the 5 with whom she’d only been acquainted through paper and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

 (Pastor Emmanuel in picture on the left is on the right with new student, Gilbert)

Meeting, gift giving, enjoying sodas together. There were 2 Sarah's in the room. The other Sarah is in a red sweater.

October 27 we got to meet  those FIVE new students.   World of mouth in Nairobi had first introduced Pastor Emmanuel to EAFC, and then he pursued what he knew with Jean Paul, our Country Coordinator.   Our meeting that day was quite special; introductions, sodas together, explanations, questions, appreciations expressed, prayer, gifts given to us, a tour of their impressive new church being constructed, and even singing for us.  In one of the pictures in the previous post, you see me dancing with one of them inside the church that was getting darker by the minute as the sun went down on that cold and rainy day. I have never that I can remember spent a full day with cool weather and rain in Africa until that day, but this rain did nothing to dampen the sense of excitement I felt as I sensed movement taking place in the EAFC family in Rwanda.

The night before Geoffrey in Uganda told us he wants to be the first EAFC alumni to contribute financially to the ministry.  For years I have suggested to alumni that they do this,  but just as I gave up on that idea, one of them took the initiative.  That was encouraging to me.  Now, pray that their yes truly be yes.

My Favorite Country in Africa

What is my favorite country in Africa?  I guess the answer depends on which one I am in at the time the question is asked.

Today it would be Rwanda.  What's not to like about Rwanda.  There are 1,000 hills that light up at night making them look like dancing stars.  Jean Paul reminded me that they say that Rwandans have a million smiles here too.  How can you not enjoy spending time with Addy and Jean Paul, reminisce about our shared past, laughing, learning about one another's cultures, enjoying meals together, and watching the budding friendship with Sarah, one their own age?

The roads are good too; with plenty of street lights, curbs, landscaped round-abouts, traffic lights that even tell you the number of seconds until they will change.  It is hard to believe that we  are in a city of 1.3 million people without traffic congestion.  And after church we showed Sarah the "new Kigali" that she described as Beverly Hills. Everyone assures us that it is safe to walk the streets at night. a sense of safety that even surpasses home.  The climate here is ideal, and restaurants all seem to have spacious verandas on which you can eat, making eating out  more of a special event.  Last night Sarah and Jean Paul after our dinner in a delicious Indian restaurant, Zaffron, walked to a hotel where a popular American movie was being shown on one of these verandas.  It is easy to see why they named the place of business Heaven!.

Are you beginning to get the point about Rwanda? And yet with all this description you haven't even heard about our new friends, about the numerous gifts given to us to show their appreciation for partnering with them.  I haven't told about one that we couldn't renew.  I haven't yet gotten all Esperance’s story sorted out in my mind, but I do know that she has been an orphan since the genocide.  She isn't married, and as she told us about her appreciation for her scholarship, she wept on my shoulder.  She called EAFC her parents.  Both Sarah and I wanted to assure her that we “would make an exception”, and yet we both know that board oversight gives us that checks and balances so that we use head and heart when making decisions.  

Overlooking city of Kigali is Val, Sarah and Addy, EAFC med school student

Jean Paul, on right, followed last year's tradition of giving us a Rwandan name right before we left.  This year it was Sarah's turn.

But wait, four paragraphs and I haven't mentioned Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Liberia, Burundi, DR Congo,Zambia, South  Africa, or Zimbabwe.  Each of those countries can call forth stories, special memories, descriptions of beauty, friendships that I cherish.

I haven't even been to DR Congo, but Pastor Fred  traveled from that land, six hours on a bus to meet us. And yes, he too brought gifts. Pastor Fred has never gotten an EAFC scholarship, but he has partnered with us for three in his congregation. When we saw him, he told us of two more he's ready for us to help. On his journey to see us he faced robbery, but his countenance still said, "God is in control"  It is apparent that he lives a life of faith and that faith challenges mine. He has invited EAFC to come to his land.  There we could also see Isaac Mbsbazi, ours through his masters and PhD programs.  Maybe we could see Isaac teaching like we got to see Francine do here.

We haven't visited Nigeria either, but Joseph Sampson who was trained in Kenya invites us.  We keep up with Ben from Ghana too.

In Uganda last week, we watched with our friends  the series made from the books  #1 Ladies Detective Agency. That makes me want to explore Botswana too, but maybe not.  

I don't have friends there, and the friends I have already in these other countries I don't want to lose touch with.  As different as people are, as many problems as we all have living at peace with one another, as many questions as we all ponder, isn't it nice to know that we really can't live without struggling to maintain relationships?  Isn't it nice to see people with gifts, graces, desires to serve?  What would we do without tears of joy, hugs, warm greetings, reassurances that we will someday be together again?  And since there are people like this in all these countries in Africa that I have named, I guess I must say, my favorite African country really is the one I am in at the time!

Pictures from Uganda

Zana Presbyterian Church in Kampala has been our partners for a long time.

Alumnus Francis K came 5 or 6 hours, having just recovered from malaria to visit with us and encourage us.

Zana Church has a school.  These kindergarteners wait for big brothers and sisters who don't get out until 4:30 PM.

Balloons are easy to carry and always entertain the kids.

October 24 we had an alumni meeting in Kampala,
Uganda.  Not only our alumni but others interested in EAFC came.  The 10 AM meeting went on until about 3 that afternoon with only a small tea break.
The big event of the day to me was getting those present to decide whether or not they cared enough about EAFC's presence in Uganda to create an active alumni chapter.  Their main
country coordinator will be away for studies for a few years.

I'll post a picture of Boaz, who began his studies in 1999.
He volunteered to be the point man for the alumni group.

Well, Well, Well

OK FRIENDS,  I'm back, from Africa and from the moratorium from communicating.  

I'll try in days to come to post pictures and relevant stories to accompany them.
Just so you get an idea of my frame of mind today (Monday, 7th of November) I awoke Saturday morning Kenyan time (plus 8 to CDT) in the Masa Marai. Kenya.  At 4 that afternoon AirKenya flew us back to Nairobi.  At 11 PM on the 5th (Minus NINE hours for you in CST) we left Nairobi for Amsterdam, arriving at 5 AM on the 6th. At 6:30 P.M. in Jackson, we made our 12th touch down in an airplane in 3 weeks!

Sharon, second from Right has been asked to double major. We are praying church responds and helps us help her.  Here she and Titus represent others in giving us a card and gift

REMINDER of WHY we are HERE, Hindu Temple in Nairobi

Thank all of you who prayed, read, and emailed me.  I felt all that care and more.  We were surrounded by more guardian angels these past three weeks than I can recount, An example was the man with broom and dust pan standing by the check in LINE when we arrived at the airport Saturday night.  The line was maddeningly long, confusing, and we were carrying 2 suitcases each, carry-on's.a computer, and purses with accompanying documents to show authorities.  He showed us a better line, placed our items on carts for us and pointed us to the next station in the process.  Now, I could kick myself for not having had the presence of mind to tip him!

An Example of How I'm Stretched to Grow

Today I was stretched AGAIN!  We traveled 60 miles, about like going from Jackson to Greenwood for my 5th grade friends following this.  We left our guesthouse at 8:45 A.M.  We got to Jinja, the city that is the source of the Nile River (yes, that's where Miriam put baby Moses, but up river a bit).  We got there at 11:30.  Our first business was meeting a young American man who is program director at Amazima Ministries.  You might enjoy going to their website.  Their founder is Katie Davis, a 22 year old young woman from Nashville.  She's in the process of ADOPTING 13 orphan GIRLS.  She homeschools 12 of them, and Jeremy's wife, Jamie homeschools the other one who is 16.  He told us to come back on a SATURDAY when we can see the children and meet with Katie. That would be a goal on another trip to Uganda. Jeremy liked what he heard that EAFC does and said,  "There's no reason to reinvent the wheel. What if we sent you funds and you could help us."  That possibility is exciting to us.

We next went to visit a 4 year old church plant.  In America you would find it difficult to see very highly educated people attending a church that looks like this one.  It may be when I get home before I can include pictures of this meeting place, but I hope you can remember this description and understand a little better our surroundings.  What we found, however, was that the pastor and 10 young people we met with were very impressive.  Their church vision is to equip their members to carry the gospel to the nations.  They long for education, and they clapped when they found out that we want to partner with churches like this.  Two years ago we met Paul, one of these church members.  He has been calling James, our country coordinator about once a month for 2 years now.  Yesterday he traveled from Jinja to meet us in Kampala.  When we found out that we would be in Jinja today, he got his pastor and others together for this meeting.  We were amazed at the interest with the short notice.

After lunch we visited Alpha and Omega Seminary, a college that trains pastors mostly from Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda.  I think they have 77 students.  They come for 5 weeks and then go home for 3 months.  This continues for 4 years.  Their campus is located AT THE SOURCE OF THE NILE, and we got very good pictures of it from their campus.

NOW HERE IS THE REAL GROWTH EXPERIENCE OF THE DAY.  We left that seminary at 3:45 and arrived HOME at 7:30 tonight.  Can you imagine the kind of traffic we faced going that 60 miles?  And to know that these people live like this day after day after day.  Children stay in school until 4:30 in the afternoons, and so they don't see much of their parents during the week.

Tomorrow night we get to eat with James, Lillian, and their 3 children, Kristi, Christian and Jason.  So stay tuned.

Thank you all who continue to pray.  Until later!

RAINY MONDAY MORNING

A house bought 5 years ago here for $200,000 is now worth $700,000.  Zimbabwe land values are rising too, I've learned.  I've also learned that October is rainy season in Uganda and so it's cool.

Rain makes me relax, and boy have I needed to relax.  We have a meeting at 10 but thanks to my friends I'm using their computer thanks to their plugging a STICK into the USB port.  Without wireless my i PAD is worthless.  (live and learn) I'm taking notes in my word processing program so that I can actually blog with pictures when I return.  I so want to share stories and show pictures, but I can't do it like I could when in Liberia.

This morning we go to Zana Presbyterian Church and meet with Emma (Emmanuel) the pastor.  We have a progressing partnership with that church.  Hopefully, we'll meet the girls that the church has chosen for us to help go to college.  THEN we have a meeting with alumni.

It's good to even give you THIS update.  Thank you for all your sharing with me.