Muraho!

Hi there!

So I am in Rwanda after my two days of traveling. I am so very happy to be back in this wonderful country with the people I love so much.

Unfortunately, I have not been having all that much fun yet as Laura has been quite sick the past few days. I was looking for her at the airport when I arrived but it was just Robert there to pick me up (not that I wasn't very happy to see my Rwandan big brother again). Laura was getting over a case of amoebas when I got here and we thought she was recovering. By Wednesday morning though she had a fever of almost 102 so that day we ended up taking her to King Faisal Hospital here in Kigali and she just got out last night. Thank the Lord she does not have malaria or typhoid; probably just a viral infection. We had to do battle for them to let her out of the hospital last night and we waited for a doctor to release her for hours. They have still not returned her deposit which she is supposed to be refunded on so Robert is going back to fight for her money. He is very protective of her. She is still weak although the fever finally is gone. I am going back to the hospital with Robert today to join forces in making sure they do not try to take advantage of her. So in short it has been an exciting first couple of days!

God has already blessed my time here beyond anything I ever expected. He is so good to me. I have greatly enjoyed seeing and talking with old friends here at the base and today was the best day of all!!! I was walking outside my room when Noah stopped me and said he had a message for me. Noah is one of my former teachers. He said that yesterday in town he saw Selassie and when he told him that I was back in Rwanda Selassie asked Noah to give me his number so that I can get in touch with him. So just a few hours ago I talked to Selassie!!!! For those of you who have never read my blog before Selassie was I student in my school when I first came to Rwanda and we became very close in a short time. God created our personalities to be very similar and we both called each other 'my twin'. Selassie was the one who gave me my Kinyarwanda name, Isimbi. After only a month Selassie had to leave our school. He was dealing with overwhelming burdens at the time; things that I cannot imagine having to experience even one of and yet he was dealing with several. I lost contact with him shortly after he left school and he wouldn't return my or Laura's calls. That was a year and a half ago. I have prayed for him continuously since then. In fact, God taught me a lot about interceding for others through Selassie because I have never in my life experienced such a burden to pray for someone as I do for him. So for him to contact me was the most joyful thing I could have hoped for in Rwanda. He is suppose to come meet me at a church I go to this Sunday and then we will go talk somewhere after! I am hoping and praying that I will get to see him although just talking with him was an answer to prayer that amazed me. Yeah, it has been a good first few days!

I have to go fight with a hospital in a little while so I will talk to you later...

Isimbi Johanna