Half Way Point in DTS Outreach

It has been 6 weeks since my team stepped foot on foreign soil. It is hard for me to believe so much time has gone by.

We have been living in Rwanda for 4 weeks already and it is beginning to feel more like home. We have a local shop where we buy our milk, eggs, and bread each day. We also have an internet cafe that we use every Monday on our day off. We are learning which taxis (buses) take us to ministry, certain restaurants and into the downtown area. I have also learned how to count to 10 in kinyarwanda and I have learned a few other words that are helpful in everyday conversations with people we meet along the way. I am very excited to continue learning and picking up more of the language.

As far as the ministries we've been doing here, things are going well. Our team of 15 people is divided into three teams of 5. Each team goes to one ministry for three days each week and then we rotate the ministry locations the next week. The two ministies we've been working with so far is a group of street kids in the downtown area. They go to an organization run by the Catholic church during the day and we go teach them English and do a Bible study time with them. They love when we come! They start up school next week, so this will be our last week working with them. It has been such a joy. :) The other group we work with is a church on the outskirts of Kigali. We are helping them build a new church - so we carry amatafari (bricks) and cement (cement). I have even learned how to carry containers of wet cement on my head. I still have to balance it with one hand, but I am hoping to gain better balance and be handsfree soon:)

Living in one house with 19 people has been wonderful and challenging at the same time. It is never boring to be home, but it is rarely quiet either. It reminds me of when I would have dinner parties at my house back in Gunnison. The difference is that the "guests" never go home.

I will write more another week. It is time to head out to dinner. We are going back to the authentic Italian restaurant for more delicious pizza. It's our day off and so we are going to live it up.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support. :)