10:35 a.m. Central Africa Time

I’m writing this post from a garden in Kigali, Rwanda.

Overhead, palm fronds shade me from the equatorial sun. The air,  perfumed and trembling with birdsong, is cool and clear. A slight breeze carries traces of eucalyptus and flora.

I couldn’t ask for a more beautiful place to write. But, like many things in Rwanda, the beauty holds hands with brokenness.

To my right, 250,000 corpses sleep forever beneath a blanket of concrete.

Inside the building to my left, dozens of fractured skulls, torn clothes, and photographs tell a heartbreaking tale of hatred and chaos.

This garden in which I write, it’s part of the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre.

Flowers of remembrance left atop one of the mass graves.

Our Visiting Orphans team of 20 arrived in Rwanda yesterday. I teared up on the plane as terraced hills rolled like gentle waves beneath us. My love for this land is complete and inexplicable.

For three years, since our first visit, the desire to return has only intensified. Now that I’m here, breathing the honeyed air and feeling the red earth under my feet, it’s surreal. I find myself uncharacteristically without words to describe it.

Perhaps you’ve heard famous Olympic runner Eric Liddell, when asked why he ran, said, “When I run, I feel God’s pleasure.” That’s the closest I know how to explain this bizarre sense of belonging I feel in this place that should be foreign. When I am in Rwanda, I feel God’s pleasure.

“Pleasure” might sound odd in light of my presence at the genocide memorial. I did spend the past hour walking my nine-year-old daughter through the horrors of 1994, and then I held her while she wept. Her compassionate heart just lost a piece of its innocence, and she will never be the same.

But that is part of the beauty here. Despite tragedy, despite scars and lingering pain, there is hope. I see it in the warm smiles of those who welcome us. I feel it in my own heart, which has learned more about life from these people than I could ever teach.

God births beauty from brokenness. Every. Single. Time.

He has done it – is doing it – in Rwanda. He is doing it in me. He will do it in my little girl. He will accept her tender, broken heart and through it share His redemptive hope with those who have none.

This afternoon we will hike up one of these beautiful hills to spend time with the children of Kimisagara Orphanage. Over the next week, those kids will become our family, and everything we know of their nation’s tragic past will find new meaning.

We will see that they are affected by all that came before, but they are not defined by it. They might have suffered in ways we can barely conceive, but they are sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, just as we are. We can relate. We can be family.

Even though we are worlds apart, we are cut from the same cloth. Each of our stories is woven into God’s great tapestry. This coming week will frame a special place where our threads intersect. And when they do, I know I will once again feels God’s pleasure.

One week from today, a group of 20 Imana Kids board members, sponsors, and supporters will be en route to Kigali! After weeks of packing and planning, our team is well prepared for crafts, games, music, and fun. And, of course, we go bearing gifts from our Imana Kids’ sponsors!

Why We Go

We could easily fill our nine days in Rwanda building, painting, cleaning, and doing. But that’s not why we’re going. Our partner agency, Visiting Orphans, says it best:

“Our trips are about ‘being’ rather than ‘doing,’ although we certainly want to help where we can. We believe the best place to start is in relationships with one another.”

Relationships. Love. These are the agents of change. “Love one child, change the world” is more than our slogan – it’s an action plan.

Through loving relationships we:

~ Empower

~ Build dignity

~ Affirm worth

~ Encourage growth

~ Change lives

How You Can Help

We’ve gathered our team and collected supplies, but we still need your help. This relationship-building work we’re doing, it won’t be easy. Our bodies, minds, and spirits – and those of our Imana Kids – will face obstacles. Will you pray with us to clear the path and prepare the ground for God’s work?

If you would like to pray Scripture, here are some suggestions:

• For the children: Zephaniah 3:17; Isaiah 58:11
• For the team: John 17:23; Ephesians 4:1-3

In addition, please pray:

• For the name of Jesus to be spoken, heard, embraced, and glorified wherever we go.
• For protection over our travels, and over the family members we leave behind.
• For physical, emotional, and spiritual stamina throughout our journey.
• For unity and grace among our team members.
• For humility and sensitivity to cultural differences.
• For James, our staff in Rwanda, who just lost his father. James tirelessly pours himself out for our kids, and we are eager to support and encourage him.
• For fertile ground in our hearts and the hearts of the children.
• For openness to God’s leading, both in-country and after our return. Imana Kids was born through last year’s Visiting Orphans trip to Kimisagara. Who knows what He might call our team to next?

Our goal is to stay connected with you during our time in Rwanda. We’ve invited team members to share their experiences here on the blog each day, so stay tuned for updates and guest posts!

Thank you for supporting us in this mission. We thank God for each of you!

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Ephesians 3:20-21

 

Happy Birthday to us! This week Imana Kids turned ONE! What better way to celebrate than with a trip to Rwanda to love on our kids?

In just over three weeks, Ryan and Kara Higgins will lead a short-term missions team to Kimisagara in partnership with Visiting Orphans. The team will include the entire Imana Kids board, along with many sponsors who will experience the joy of meeting their children face-to-face.

1. Go Be Love

If you wanted to be a part of this summer’s trip but were unable to join us, we have good news. Another trip is already in the works! No specific dates have been set, but we anticipate traveling sometime between November and January. Will you consider joining us to “Go Be Love” in Rwanda?

2. Send a Little Love Their Way

Visiting your child is one great way to love, but if it’s not in the cards right now, there’s another: Take advantage of the upcoming trip to send a little love in the form of a letter or small gift.

Remember, you are family to your sponsored child. You don’t have to be eloquent – she will cherish every word you write, simply because you wrote it for her alone. And even the simplest gift will let him know he is on your mind and in your heart.

We are reserving room in our luggage for your care packages, but due to weight and space limitations, we need your gifts to fit into an 8×11-inch envelope. Here are a few ideas:

• new photos of your family
• socks/underwear
• jewelry
• stickers
• small Bible
• flip flops (for showers, your guess on size is as good as ours)
• simple BIC blue and black ink pins (required for boarding school students)
• toothbrushes/toothpaste
• playing cards
• index cards
• comb/brush

Also, one of our sponsors has designed a T-shirt for our Imana Kids. They say LOVED in English and Kinyarwanda. We will be taking enough so that each child will have one, but it would be a big help if you’d send $5 to cover the cost of your child’s shirt.

Please mail your packages to 205 Parkwild Dr., COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA 51503 by July 15.

Stay tuned for prayer requests and updates about our July/August trip and future plans to visit our Imana Kids. In the meantime, thanks for loving well, and being part of our amazing first year of ministry!

I will ponder all your work,
and meditate on your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is great like our God?

You are the God who works wonders;
you have made known your might among the peoples.

Psalm 77:12-14

 

I (Alison) am a mother of three. That responsibility alone is enough to fill my days with laundry, meal prep, cleaning, and homework help. Add my many part-time “jobs,” and life begins to feel like a perpetual juggling act.

With all those balls in the air, I have a tendency to kick into survival mode. I relegate my callings as wife, mother, and child of God to a color-coded to-do list. Must. Not. Drop. Ball. This is my sad and desperate battle cry.

Thankfully, these bouts of Type A desperation only last a season. Inevitably, something wakes me up and reminds me that life – in particular life as a parent – isn’t about doing all the right things. It’s about being the right person, a woman who loves her children even when every single ball comes crashing to the ground.

We Can Never Do Enough

Doing vs. being. It’s a struggle we all face, not only in our families but in our calling to care for orphans and widows. Through adoption and orphan care I’ve witnessed the devastating effects of poverty, malnutrition, and abandonment. I want to fix what is broken. We all do.

And do.

And do.

Orphan care takes a lot of doing. We want our Imana Kids to have full bellies, fertile minds, and big dreams. We’re working hard to make that happen. We have a lot of balls in the air: Nutrition, Education, Fundraising, Medical Care, Hygiene, School Supplies.

But hanging over all we do, we have a motto:

Love One Child. Change the World.

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” I Corinthians 13:1-3

Be Love. Be Loved. Beloved.

Love.

Yes, we will feed the children. We will send them to school. We will provide uniforms, undergarments, hygiene supplies, and medical care. We will do all we can for their bodies and minds. But unless we do it out of love, we will never meet the deepest need of every human soul: to love, be loved, and know we are God’s beloved.

If you sponsor an Imana Kid, you hold a precious opportunity in your hands. You can offer your sponsored son or daughter a gift far more valuable than any physical possession.

Love your child, change his world. Write letters. Pray for him. Go to Rwanda with Imana Kids, smile into his beautiful eyes, and let him see how precious he is to you and to his Creator.

Food changes a body. Education changes a mind. Love changes a life. And changed lives change the world.

What a glorious calling we’ve been given. We have much to do. As we do it, let us be love.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

 

If you defined an orphan as “a child without a family,” most people would probably agree with you. Orphans are children (and adults) who have typically lost one or both parents and live outside a family structure.

Loss of family is devastating, without question. We’re created for connection, love, and companionship. We’re created for family, and because this need was written into our DNA by a relational God, family finds a way to happen.

We see this in our Imana Kids. They are orphans, but they are not without family. They have become brothers and sisters, and their love for one another is evident in a thousand precious ways:

*The teenage boy who fetches a potty for a crying toddler, recognizing the source of her distress, and taking initiative to ease it.

*The bright eyes, warm hugs, and laughter of the high school children when they are reunited with their younger “siblings” after a term at boarding school.

*The peaceful coexistence of scores of children – babies to young adults- helping, loving, and watching over one another.

Our Imana Kids might not live with earthly parents, but they are loved by their heavenly Father, and their love for one another is evidence of His grace in a broken world. He has given them each other. And while they are together, these orphans have a family.