On the Road with Johanna!

Today [Thursday 1/31/08 NH time], Joy and I took Johanna with us on our way to see our favorite horses. Well, OK, we called her on my cell phone and turned it on speaker so we both could hear her. At one point the three of us were laughing and it almost felt like she was right there with us! It's really amazing when you think about it. Hearing someone so clearly, talking from across the ocean in another continent!

She is doing very well, pretty tired at the end of the day. On Thursdays they spend time with some street boys. She really loves it - they are LITTLE boys! :-) While we were talking she was in the school dining room and was watching three geckos crawling and chasing each other at the top of the wall. I asked her if she could pick them up and she said she couldn't because they are very fast. !

She asked for prayer as she needs to decide where to do the Introduction to Primary Health Care Course. YWAM offers it in many places and she had been planning on going to the one in Australia but then she found out that it is also offered in South Africa. She would rather stay in Africa, but she also wants the best possible academic training. But first she will need to come home and work and raise money to go again. The Lord is preparing us for the day when our children will leave and won't come back except for quick visits. We are grateful for His grace!

Until then, I'm looking forward to June!
God's blessings to all
Don't forget the orphans and widows who are too many to count...
Gloria Beachy

Praying for Kenya (and Johanna's outreach)

Johanna's YWAM class is praying for the doors to open for a time of outreach in the country of Kenya beginning in early March. Needless to say the continuing levels of ethnic violence and unrest following the elections in late December are of a great concern. Please continue to pray for God's grace to be received by the Kenyan people, for protection and a voice for those who will lead the country to a more peaceful future, and for wisdom and guidance for those who are currently working in the country and others (like Johanna's class) who would make a positive difference.

The image above is taken from a Google Earth rendition of eastern Africa. I have added an outline of the area of western Kenya where most of the violence has occurred thus far. As you can see the country of Rwanda is located west of Kenya (across Lake Victoria) and a land journey from Rwanda into Kenya would be difficult without some exposure to these areas of tension.

I am also including this link to a blog site for the workers of an organization called World Concern. They are currently managing a camp for some of the IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons = refugees within a country in the language of international relief agencies) in the town of Narok (which you can see marked on the southern edge of the outlined area). Please continue to remember these and others who would help Kenya to heal!

** Update from Johanna on 1/29/08 **

Hi! So my e-mail won't open at the moment so can you say hi to the family for
me and let them know that I am still alive. I'll try again on the weekend. I am
going to Athi River, Kenya for outreach. Tell the parents to try calling me
sometime Thursday night k?  {sent via FaceBook}

Athi River is located about 20 miles southeast of Nairobi (the capital) - LjB

A Treat by Phone

It had been over a week since anyone of us had spoken with Johanna (and even longer since her father had had any quality phone time), so I took a chance to see if I could catch her on a mid-week evening. I was successful in connecting and was able to chat for about 10 minutes before she had to walk down to the dining area for supper. We were able to set up a time for a longer conversation from the Beachy household on Sunday.

Johanna wanted to go over the logistics of purchasing her return ticket. She hopes to travel from Rwanda along with her classmate, Laura, and then stay a couple of days in London (where she hopes to visit with her friend, Mary, from the Mercy Ship's Segue program that she attended in 2006). That will give her a little more 'decompression time' to begin the process of returning to a developed economy -- as well as holding off saying goodbye to each other for as long as possible!

The class is still planning to travel to Kenya for their period of ministry. The leaders of the school felt strongly led even before the class began that Kenya would be the destination for their outreach time. They are still praying for the direction as to the detailed location and logistics. Please join them in remembering the country of Kenya during this difficult time of national turmoil. I have included some links for helpful information to inform your prayers:

Operation World
SIM: Serving in Mission
Christianity Today
Mission Network News
The Christian Post
Newsweek "There Will Be Blood"

Johanna said (since her mother was interested in knowing) that the meals are good and that the mid-day and evening meals especially are plentiful. She is enjoying the food in Rwanda much better than what she occasionally experienced in Ghana in 2006.

Johanna and her classmates continue to participate in outreaches in the area of Kigali (it is not just all class time for them) as well as having assigned job duties as part of the community responsibilities for the YWAM school.

She greatly appreciates your prayers and encouragement!!

Laura: Friend & Classmate / SoZo

Those of you who have been following Johanna's experience in Rwanda will also enjoy being able to occasionally visit the blog of her classmate and good friend, Laura Jordan. Laura has been able to post more frequently and extensively and has also been able to upload quite a few photographs of their time in Rwanda (like the one above). You can find Laura's blog site here.

Also, Johanna has been able to participate with a ministry to Rwandan orphans called Sozo which has been started by a couple serving in the YWAM organization. She helped with a Christmas party for the orphans that was quite memorable! You can check out the SoZo website here.

Enjoy!

Back to School

Well, I didn't get to go into the DR of the Congo like I was hoping but at least I saw it. I also got to swim in Lake Kivu at Gisenyi which was really fun. Break has been very exciting and also relaxing but to be honest I am looking forward to going back to school on Monday. Mostly just because I miss my classmates so much. All the Rwandese students went to visit family so I look forward to them coming back.

We have two more months of classes and then we go to Kenya for outreach. There are some riots going on there right now because of the elections but it is mainly in Nairobi and we will be in the countryside. I am glad that I get to see another country. I must keep this post short. I had to switch computers twice at the computer cafe this time and the connection is not exactly reliable:) Oh, well. I hope you are all having a fabulous New Year. I pray that you can all see God in your daily life.

Bye! Johanna

Compassion Groove

Since Johanna spoke so pointedly about compassion in her first post (see 11/24/07), I thought that it would be a nice start to the year 2008 to reflect on the following poem written by Stefanie Cassetto and presented admirably in a live performance by Randy Vandeventer earlier in 2007 at Johanna's home church.

Compassion Groove

© 2007 Stefanie Cassetto / Manchester Christian Church.

I’m trying to find my compassion groove

What it is that makes me move

That makes my heart go

Thump-thump, thump-thump

That makes my throat choke back that lump

What I’ve come up with so far

Are people and places

On the brink

On the edge

On the mend

On the outside

Wanting in

And my heart goes out

And my groove begins…

My heart goes out to you…

The lonely one

Needing a friend

Maybe heart-broken

Maybe at the end

Of a rope

Clinging to hope

That someone will come close

Someone will see you

Someone will hear you

Someone will want to be near you

You need love

Want love

But it’s hard to reach out

You swallowed the lie that you’re not worth the trouble

I’ll meet you half-way

Not good enough

I’m there on the double

My heart goes out to you

My heart goes out to you…

Africa…crippled by disease

New Orleans…stolen by storm

Iraq…damaged by war

Kabul…ransacked by injustice

New York City…wounded for life

North Korea…kidnapped by lies

What can I do?

My heart beats quick.

Love God. Thump-thump.

Love people. Thump-thump.

My heart goes out to you…

The one whose eyes have seen some hard stuff

Whose shoes I am not brave enough to walk

You’ve traveled dusty miles for water

You’ve cried tears of fear

You’ve seen too much death

What can I do…

Kleenex isn’t enough

To wipe away the past

Those memories that last

What can I say…

To make the pain go away?

God is your refuge

What can I do?

My heart goes out to you

Okay, I’m almost done…but not quite

My heart goes out to you…

the one sitting on your couch…

doing nothing

Feeling nothing

Well, maybe you feel something

When you watch the news

Disgust, rage, the Red Sox blues?

Bitterness, resentment, a little pride?

Sympathy, empathy…

did you feel something break inside?

But what does it take to get you to move

To get your feet to hit the floor

And say I’m not going to take it anymore

I’m not going to take

What I see that’s not right

Injustice

Poverty…push it out of sight

Well, I’m gonna fight

Fight to care for the lonely waitress

Fight for the one who can’t speak my language

Fight to care for the man on the street

Or the one across my office…just a few feet

Fight the urge to stayed glued to my seat

Fight complacency

Fight my ego

Where He goes…we go

Eating with sinners

Loving his enemies

He’s my compassion hero

He blazed the trail that we gotta follow

You know what I mean?

He saw something when he looked at people

Not just their skin…

Their hair…

What got them there…

To that place of

Broken-ness

Hopeless-ness

Selfish-ness

Lonli-ness

Wrestless-ness

He saw those battles we couldn’t win

Not on our own

And up welled compassion again

He saw something when he looked at me

So…I’m waving the white flag

It’s time to give in

Give into compassion

Find my passion

Get my mind connected to my heart

And my heart connected to my feet

So I can make the hard walk across my street

To my neighbor in need

And my hands…

There’s power in my hands that compassion can reek havoc with

When I dare to touch the untouchable

Dare to lend some help

Dare to care

Dare to reach into my wallet

And my words…

Messengers of hope

Like butterflies in the breeze

Have no fear

My God is here

I love you

Peace

I’m not going to fake it anymore

Pretending like I care

Pretending like I don’t

I can’t do it…I won’t

I’m on a mission

Compassion towards all.

The big bucks and the small

Time to feel

Time to move

Time to get on our compassion groove

Love God. Thump-thump.

Love people. Thump-thump.