Crossing Oceans

Hey guys,

I hope you are all fully enjoying the holidays. Apparently NH is lacking snow at the moment which makes it harder to get into the spirit of things but I'm hopeful that by the time I get home there will at least be a few inches. (1)

I'm sorry that I haven't blogged sooner. I have been strangely moody this past week and don't really know how to explain myself. Not that surprising considering that I am at the end of outreach about to return home. I am so excited to be back for Christmas and see my family but at the same time am reluctant to go. My heart feels fully alive in places like Zimbabwe while I am helping people and I already miss it. I can't really describe the feeling of returning after you have been away for a while in a different culture; you kind of have to experience it yourself and then you get it. For me it feels like I have one foot still in Africa and the other in America and I am just stretched out between them. The good thing when trying to live in two worlds at once is that I get to experience twice as much of God during the stretching time.

Alright, I will give you guys a more complete update later. I was just online waiting to Skype with my family but they apparently forgot about me (2) so the computer I'm borrowing needs to be returned. I have my final exam tomorrow morning if you think to pray for that and then our school is going to have some rest days before our graduation on Wednesday. One week from right now I will be boarding my flight in Cape Town to return home. See you soon! Love you guys and Merry Christmas!

Isimbi Johanna

(1) NH received about 3 or 4 inches of snow the evening after we spoke with Johanna!
(2) We didn't get home from church in time...

On my way to South Africa

Hi people,

I am leaving for SA in a couple of hours. I would love to ask for your prayers as I travel to a new country. I have to sit in the Johannesburg airport overnight so I need to stay awake and alert...it is not exactly the safest place. Please pray that all my bags arrive, that I don't get bothered by anyone (though Robert, like a typical big brother, has been giving me advice on where to hit a guy if he attacks me) and that someone is there to pick me up when I arrive in Cape Town. I am very excited to be going to SA but very sad to leave Laura and Rwanda. I will let you know that I have arrived as soon as I am able!

Isimbi Johanna

As I Go

Hello all of you,

Well it is somewhat difficult for me to write that in a few hours I am heading down to Boston where I will begin my flights heading to Rwanda and then three weeks later to South Africa. It is difficult because to be utterly honest I don't want to go yet. I know, that sounds odd coming from the girl who loves to travel but I am leaving with intensely mixed emotions this time. As most of you know I have been living in Montana since last summer which means I have only been back with my family for a month. Not very long. In fact I just had to say bye to my brother who is off to the camp he works at and my sister is leaving in an hour for work. I'll miss them so much. I'm also feeling a scary 'I don't want to leave my comfort-zone and head into the unknown again' sensation. Now you know where I'm at. So why go at all?

Because I will not be lukewarm. I will not be a comfortable Christian. I want my faith in Jesus Christ to consistently lead me to do things that are scary. I'm not talking about being stupid in my faith but maybe a little reckless. The times when I take steps to follow God's commands in the Bible that I don't think I can handle; that's when I know that God is all-sufficient. He has never ever failed me. And He is the best cure for a case of nerves that I have ever found. When I focus on who my God is my surroundings and circumstances don't change but they're sure not very intimidating anymore. He kind of dwarfs everything on earth by comparison.

I am spending three weeks in Rwanda and am tremendously excited for that. The purpose of this visit is simply to visit friends. My dear friend and sister Laura Mutesi, who was in the DTS with me in Rwanda last year, has moved back to Kigali to teach English in a school there. I will be staying with her at the same place we lived last year which means I get to see my teachers and some of my classmates again. On July 1 I fly down to South Africa for Youth With A Mission's (YWAM) Introduction to Primary Healthcare school.

I am not entirely sure what to expect from this school but what I do know excites me. I will spend 3 months of classes in Worcester, SA learning the basics of health care in a developing nation. The second half of the school I will go somewhere and work in a healthcare setting. This part could be in SA or it could be another country. I am something of a loner who tends to avoid responsibility so the thought of someone's health depending on me...yeah, I don't naturally want to go there. This is what makes me get over that tendency:

-Approximately 25,000 people die every day of hunger or its related causes. 9 million people per year. Think about that. The leading cause of death in the world is from a lack of food.
-1.2 billion people in the world do not have access to clean water. As a result 5 million people die every year from water-related illnesses and every 15 seconds a child dies from this. I wonder how long it takes you to read this blog?
-In the U.S. and Europe 2 out of every 1,000 children die before they turn 5. In Africa, 165 out of every 1,000 die before they are 5 years old. The highest percentage of these is from birth complications followed by pneumonia and on and on and on...
-Malaria kills between 1.5 million and 2.7 million people per year and one child every 30 seconds.
-There are 33 million people in the world infected with HIV. 70% of them are in Africa. 3 nations in sub-Saharan Africa have an infection rate over 20%. There are 15 million children orphaned by AIDS.

I could go on but I think you get the idea. I know that I can't save every person who makes up these statistics but those numbers drive me crazy. It pushes me past myself and screams at me so loudly that I can't ignore them. I don't even want to imagine how loudly it screams out to God who sees everything. Well, there you go. That is what I am doing and why I am going.

Some of you have expressed a desire to support me financially, which is greatly appreciated, and I will need a bombardment of prayers. You can contact my father ( a.k.a. my banker) if you would like to send funds along. I also am encouraged to hear from any of you while I am away. Talk to you later!

Isimbi Johanna

Leaving Rwanda

Hey people,

I have a brief chance today to send my last blog post from Rwanda. It
is my last day here. I leave for the airport tomorrow morning. I have
been trying to pack in as many things at once as I can.

I just came to the internet after trying to walk to my friend Didier's
house. I'm afraid I got lost before I could make it. Now it is not
just my poor sense of direction to blame; usually Didier and I walk
there together and it is the back way that has a lot of little twists
and turns that all look alike. Today Didier said he wanted me to try
to find it myself and when I said I might get lost and end up
wandering through the valley he said he hoped I would so that I would
miss my plane and not be able to leave. His plan almost succeeded:)

This week has been very sad with all the good-byes and knowing that I
will be leaving this country for who knows how long. I have also not
been able to get in touch with Selassie which in a way breaks my heart
because I don't think I will likely ever see him again. I told God
that if for whatever reason I did not see Sel again I would still
commit to praying for him the rest of my life and I will stick to
that. Oh dear, I am going to need cheering up when I get to NH.

Well, please pray for safe travels for myself and my bags. I will be
in London for the weekend and then home Monday night. See you all
soon!

Isimbi Johanna

Returning Home

Johanna will be leaving Kigali, Rwanda on Friday, May the 23rd and connecting through Nairobi, Kenya enroute to London, England. She will be traveling to London together with her classmate, Laura. They will spend two days in London with Johanna's friend, Mary (from her Mercy Ship's team in 2006).

Then on Monday, May 26, Johanna and Laura will say goodbye and Johanna will fly to Boston arriving early in the evening to the eager hugs of her family.

Please remember Johanna and Laura during these coming days as they travel and as they say farewell to many people who have become dear, precious connections in their lives.

Back home in Rwanda

Hello peoples!

I am now back in Rwanda! I missed it so much and it is such a relief to be back here. I love this country so much.

The bus ride getting here was a bus ride from...never mind; 26 hours driving over what must be some of the worst roads on East Africa. We also drove right through the Rift Valley which is other-worldly beautiful but also a little scary since that is where most of the violence in Kenya has been concentrated. At one point we drove past a row of burned down buildings where people had been driven from their homes. God is good and He got us back to Kigali safely.

I will right a longer post in the next couple of days to let you know more but for now I am still exhausted:) I am not looking forward to leaving by the way. If it were not for wanting to see all of you again I would never leave Rwanda I think. Talk to you later!

Isimbi Johanna

P.S. Please pray that I will get to see Selassie before I leave. I miss that kid more than I can describe and everything in Rwanda makes me think of him. Strange the people God chooses for us to be connected to.

The month of April

Hi people!

I don't have very long but I wanted to at least say hi while I had the chance. I have only two more shifts left at Amicet; the home for the children with AIDS. I will be so sad to leave those kids.When I have more time I will tell you about them in more detail.

Please continue to pray for Rwanda this month. it is a very difficult time for the entire nation and even though we are not in Rwanda right now some of our group is having a hard time already. April 6 marks the day that you could say started the genocide. the entire country is in mourning this month and the government holds two weeks of official remembrance. during those two weeks is when people are allowed to dig up the bones of their families to give them proper burials in the memorial centers. We as a group and Rwanda as a nation really need prayers right now for healing, peace, and wisdom. I will keep you all updated as much as possible.

Bye for now.

Isimbi Johanna

Leaving for Uganda!

Hi friends and family!

I have no idea where I will next be writing you from as I am leaving
this Tuesday morning to go to Soroti. It is a long bus ride but the
exciting thing is that we will drive across the Equator and right by
the source of the Nile! We expect to be in Uganda for about a month
and then we will hopefully be heading on to Kenya depending on how the
situation is by then. I am looking forward to seeing another African
country. Mostly I am excited for what I know the Lord can do through
our team. My prayer is that we will put aside who we are in order to
better reflect our Creator.

It looks like I will probably not be going straight to South Africa
after DTS is over. The base has not responded to me yet and I have a
very limited time in which to prepare the details if I were to go. I
am sad to miss the adventure it could have been but I know that I will
have others. So that means I will most likely be coming home in the
end of May. I expect I will be around for at least a couple months
before heading out somewhere. I am also still going to pursue going to
the Primary Healthcare School in South Africa next year. That will
give me time to work before I go. I will be spending time praying
about this next stage in my life as I come home.

First, though, I am looking to be used in ministry in Uganda and
Kenya. There is more than one AIDS ministry that I hope to be able to
work with. I will write to all you dear people as soon as I can!

Isimbi Johanna

P.S. I have not seen or heard from Selassie. Even if I never see him
again I will pray for him the rest of my life. He is my twin brother.

On leaving for Kigali

Thu, 22 Nov 2007

Hi everybody!

So this is the deal my friends and family; in less than 24 hours I am getting on a plane and going to Kigali, Rwanda. I will be there for 6 months attending a Discipleship Training School with Youth With A Mission. This will be fulfilling a deep longing of my heart...

Most of you know that in the beginning of 2006 I spent 6 months in West Africa with Mercy Ships. It was, as expected, a life-changing experience for me. What is more surprising is that the 16 months since I have been back have been equally life-changing. The Lord planted in me at a young age a compassion for the lost and hopeless of the world. My experiences in Liberia and Ghana caused that seed to take root and it has continued to grow since then. You know, I think compassion is often described inaccurately. It is perceived as sort of this nice feeling that makes you do good things and feel sorry for people. In reality, it is more like a tightly coiled spring deep inside that makes it uncomfortable to sit still. It drives you to action when you see injustice or need and makes words tumble out of your mouth when sharing it with others. It is after all a type of passion. At least that's what compassion feels like to me.

I came back last year with this feeling growing inside me and Africa on my mind. Any of you who have spent time overseas and particularly in missions understand that often coming back home is harder than going in the first place. It was hard for me. More so because well over half the people I talked to had no idea about any of the issues facing the countries I spent time in. Many had never even heard of them. But my God is patient and wise. He has used the time back home, back in my old job, back living with my family to accomplish more than I ever would have expected. I decided to ground my feelings in facts. I started researching Africa. Not a small undertaking! I read books, watched movies, kept up with the news, and
probably the most helpful of all I talked with Africans living here in my community. After all this studying I have learned a lot and come to one definite conclusion. Africa is a dying continent and God is absolutely able
to save it.

This brings me to Rwanda. Rwanda began to emerge for me as a picture of Africa's wrongs and possibilities. In 1994, through a culmination of events, Rwanda endured a genocide where over 1,000,000 men, women, and children were slaughtered in a span of about 100 days. That is a killing rate 3 times faster than the Nazis at the peak of the Holocaust. The real numbers will never be known because even today, almost 14 years later, bodies are still being discovered. Rwanda hit the lowest point a country can come to. It was hardly a country anymore. It was a graveyard. I have no clue how God runs this universe. I do, however, utterly trust and know that He in all His power and overwhelming love for us can take our lowest most depraved choices
and the consequences of them and turn them around for great good. Today, Rwanda is one of the safest African countries to visit. It has a steadily improving economy and, in a continent starved of true leadership, a remarkable president and government. Rwanda is making unbelievably huge steps towards forgiveness and reconciliation. They are determined not to be dependent on international aid and churches across the country are training and discipling young people to go out as missionaries to other countries. Naturally, after learning of this place I just had to go and see it!

So I am going; with great anticipation and thanking God for this chance to meet Him up close and personal where He is working. Some of you have asked about ways of supporting me. Well there are 2 ways you can. The first is prayer. I have been shown anew this year the power of prayer over an individual's life. Please pray for safe travels, good health, and strong relationships (actual showers with running water would be really nice too:). The second way is a bit unconventional but very dear to my heart. It would be an enormous support for me and, trust me, a blessing to you if you would learn something more than you know about Africa. If you have never heard of the genocide in Rwanda look it up. If you know the basics then find out the details. Pick a country that interests you for whatever reason and study it. Telling people I had been to Africa revealed very interesting levels of knowledge about what goes on beyond the borders of America. The people who died in the spring of 1994 are so much closer to you than you might think. I was 7 years old at the time and those children would have been my playmates. In large part I am going because of them; my potential friends that I never got the chance to know and whose deaths went unnoticed for so long.

I will be using this e-mail address [below] while I am gone. I would enjoy hearing from you and will send out news as often as I can. Talk to you later!

Love,
Johanna Beachy

jobeedoc@tds.net (or post a comment here!)