Roads Less Traveled

It’s finally here!!  

Bridge2Rwanda has paired up with Toms Shoes for the distribution of over 33,000 shoes in Rwanda. The past few months Clay Parker, Mark Darrough, myself among many others have been working like crazy to get an initial drop organized in Musanze at Shyira Hospital and Sonrise School. There have been lots of challenges but everything is finally coming together and we couldn’t be more excited! 

Tuesday, Mark and I took at truck from Sonrise up to Kigali to pick up the 1,000 shoes. The driver was supposed to pick us up at 6am, which in Rwandan time meant 10:30, so the day got off to a late start. After a long, bumpy ride we arrived in Kigali and got a chance to say goodbye to our dear friends, Tom and Linda Wilson, who were leaving that evening. We had several time-sensitive errands to run so Mark took off on a moto-taxi and I did my best to direct our driver to the UTC with his very broken English and my very broken Kinyarwandan. After getting the shoes loaded up, with only a few minor inconveniences, I met back up with Mark and we hurried back to Musanze to get there in time to unload the shoes (and the driver had to feed the cows) before dark. We didn’t make it back before dark but we did get the load to the house and stored safely. 

Wednesday, Mark, Anna, and I met with administration at Sonrise to discuss a few loose ends (we had already established a schedule and location) and drop off the shoes to be stored. Then, Mark, Griffin, and I took the rest of the shoes up the treacherous road to Shyira Hospital to meet with Caleb and Louise King and to establish the logistics of the shoe drop there. On the ride up, Anna called to tell us that we had a small problem…administration at Sonrise had decided that we only had until 10:30 to distribute the shoes (we originally planned for about 6pm). Of course, Anna saves the day and convinces them to let us move locations and change the schedule in order to accommodate everyone. The organization of the drop at Shyira went very smoothly and we even had the privilege of eating lunch with the King family. We will be distributing shoes at the Pediatric Hospital, Ambulatory Care Facility, the orphanage, and the primary school. The view from Shyira is breathtaking. I’m hoping to find a reason to move up there. 

Kris Allen, American Idol and a native Arkansan, will be promoting both drops and I am looking forward to hosting him and his wife, Katy. They will be arriving Friday night and we will all depart for Musanze on Saturday. 

One of my best friends, Clay Parker, is arriving in Rwanda tonight. He has been my big brother throughout college and was a major influence in my decision to work for B2R and to move to Rwanda. He’s an incredible man of the Lord and has such a heart for people, but especially the people of Rwanda. It has been due to his hard work and dedication that this entire event is coming together. 

This week will be very full but I will continue to update when I can. 

Ragamuffin Gospel

Nothing touches my heart like children. They have the ability to stir up the most tender part of my soul and being around them energizes me like nothing else. One thing that I was most looking forward to about moving to Rwanda was getting to play with children. I was so excited to help them and to teach them and to facilitate a better life for them. I had all these ideas in mind of things I wanted to share with them, how I would bring them joy in their difficult circumstances, but as usual, my ideas and reality have not aligned. I am the one who is finding joy and who is being taught. I wish earnestly to be able to know the peace and simplicity that children experience. I wish for faith like a child.

I am so humbled that I thought I would have so much to bring to the children of Rwanda and instead I am the one who needs what they have.  Matthew 18:2-4 says, “I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” I have never felt like I understood this as well as I do now. While I worry about how I will earn a living when I return home, about living up to others expectations and my own expectations for myself, and the ridiculous things that I feel entitled to, these children are so content playing with the cars they have constructed out of wire and trash. They are overjoyed rolling a tire down the road with a stick. They are unashamed, squealing with joy, swimming in Lake Kivu. They actually have to worry about where their next meal will come from and many have worked harder then I ever have, and yet they are always content and peaceful. I am so envious of the wonder that fills everything they experience. They soak up any chance for knowledge and are fascinated and excited by anything new. Children are not worried about their reputation or about how their actions will be interpreted. They just accept what is in front of them and find pleasure in it. There is no past to be ashamed of and they have no concern for the future, just now. I desire my faith to resemble their outlook. Our sin is washed away, therefore we cannot hold onto our past, and our future is in God’s hands, not our own. No matter what we have done, excellent or shameful, we do not deserve God’s grace. Yet it is abundantly ours.

I hope that I can have the open mindedness of children, willing to accept whatever and whoever I come in contact with with open arms and a constant desire to learn from anything and everyone. I always want to be in awe of the simple things, the love that God displays in the details of His creation. I want to be thankful for every little thing that I am given and content with all I have. 

I hope that I always remember what these children have taught me. I pray for faith like a child…

I’ve been doing a lot of traveling between Kigali and Musanze (Ruhengheri). There is a lot of work to be done in each city but the drive never gets old. It’s absolutely beautiful.