After he cooled off, we went to a friend's house with
several other families to celebrate Christmas. Here's
a picture of the kids enjoying a little Christmas
cheer with friends on the trampoline.
We celebrated New Years Eve with several families at
a nearby home. During a time of worship that night,
they led off with a song that my friend Carrie Carter
always sings at the Edge, our worship venue at
church. The tears started flowing and I couldn’t get
them to stop! The homesickness is pretty intense at
times…
I am now the temporary preschool teacher at Kigali
International Community School. Ben’s teacher had to
go back to the states for surgery, and they were
going to have to close the class, so here I am. Every
night when Todd asks Ben what he learned in
preschool, he says, “Nuffing.” I have my work cut out
for me. Here’s a picture of my class.
In January, some money was stolen from our home. The
way it was taken led us to believe it was someone on
the “inside.” We began investigating and asking a lot
of questions. Unfortunately, we uncovered several
lies that Alfred has told us along the way. They were
repetitive enough and severe enough that we knew we
had to let him go, regardless of whether he took the
money. This was an agonizing decision for us. We have
been very generous to Alfred, believing that he was
an honest man and a hard worker and he deserved a
break. We have been to his home, met his wife and
children, and developed a relationship with his
father and the orphans that his church cares for. He
was also Ben’s daily “Luke Skywalker” playmate. The
betrayal, and the resulting consequences, were the
most painful thing we’ve experienced since moving
here. We had given him a loan earlier, so we decided
to forgive the loan, send him on his way and call it
a lesson learned. He just called a couple of days ago
to tell me that his wife had their fourth baby, their
first son, and they named him “Ben.”
On a happier note, three KICS teachers – Amanda, Kyla
and Lauren – just moved in next door to us. They are
young, single, American, and such a breath of fresh
air! We adore them and feel blessed to be their
duplex “suitemates.” Here’s a picture of us, Kyla,
Lauren, Mary, Will and Kate Cavin in our front yard
just after a hailstorm. The kids loved having a
“snowball” fight in their flip flops.
Todd is really busy at work. Trying to function in
this “business” environment is difficult at best.
Picture going to the revenue office every day, with
new employees and new rules each time. He did get a
nice break a couple of weeks ago when he attended an
Opportunity International conference in Cape Town,
South Africa. He came back with some beautiful
photos, a nice sunburn and best of all, some Cheddar
cheese!
This week our beloved cook, Chantal, had to have
emergency surgery for what they thought was a tubal
pregnancy. When they got inside, they instead found a
blood clot and the baby is supposedly fine. I was
appalled by the medical “care” she received here, and
I’m still concerned for her baby. Please pray for
her. She is trusting God to walk with her through
this, just as she has trusted Him through so many
difficult times in the past. Here is a picture of her
with Rebecca and Ben, wearing the matching African
outfits she gave them for Christmas.
We’re
counting down the days til our trip home in April.
Can’t wait to see many of you then!