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.

Nairobi says hi!

Hello people!

I can't write much but I wanted to send a greeting from my one day in Nairobi. I really like this city. I could easily live here although I would miss the beauty of the bush-bush.

I will see you all (from NH) in about a month and I am looking forward to it. I have to go the others are waiting.

Love you all and I'll write more soon!

Isimbi Johanna

Stop the Milking!

We tried calling Johanna on Saturday this time (because Sundays are so full and because her two younger siblings are not usually with us when we have to call before 2:00 PM Eastern time). We got through right away but Laura told us (we thought) that Johanna was down looking at the cows and that we should call back in 10 minutes.

We did just that and Johanna answered but it turns out that she had been milking the cow not just looking. I'm sure that her great aunts and uncles on the side of her Amish heritage (not to mention her great-grandmother, Annie) would have identified immediately with her chores!

Since we were calling the day before her sister's 16th birthday, the two of them were able to 'catch up' on news and relish the prospect of less than 40 days until Johanna is back home again -- however briefly that might be.

Johanna said that the location of the YWAM facility was absolutely spectacular. I forgot to ask her if in fact she could see Mt. Kilimanjaro from where she was. It is about 115 miles away just over the Tanzanian border and rises to a height of over 19,000 feet -- so I'm guessing if you have the right vantage and the right weather, it should be possible.

The YWAM property adjoins national park land so the wildlife and scenery is a great treat indeed. The team has been working hard all week doing manual labor on the property (when not milking) but will begin to work at an HIV/AIDS ministry near Nairobi on Tuesday.

The Kenyan Sky!

Hello everybody! The team and I arrived safely in Kenya last Saturday after a horrific bus ride. Athi River, Kenya is definitely out in the bush-bush and so gorgeous. I don't know how to explain the sky here. Its not like anything I have ever seen in America. Its kind of like the land is so beautiful that the sky wants to reach down and touch it. So anywhere you stand you can turn in a complete circle and there are huge, white billowing clouds touching the horizon. Imagine what the sunrises are like...:)

So far for ministry we have just been working at the base slashing grass, which is the African version of mowing the lawn. We have also been pulling down dead branches from thorn trees, which is a very perilous job. Next week we will start ministry in a children's home, do a prayer walk in Nairobi (please pray for us, scary place right now), and participate in small groups with HIV/AIDS affected children.

One benefit at the base every day can be a safari because there are giraffes that regularly graze all around, and a national park with lions, cheetahs, zebras, you name it that borders the base. One downfall is the lack of Internet access, which means this has to be short. Bye!

Love you all!
Isimbi Johanna

Safe Arrival in Kenya!

Johanna's close friend Laura (pictured) posted this on Saturday morning after their arrival:

"We left Soroti at noon yesterday and traveled through the night to arrive in Nairobi this morning at 5 am. We then took another bus to the bush bush and are at the base. The nearest town is a 30 min walk, and there is no internet there. I am using the internet at the base but it is expensive so I won’t really be able to use it much. I am told that if we go out of the base into the bush to have our morning quiet time, we are likely to be met by giraffe and zebra. It is really beautiful but there is nothing here. I am not sure what our ministries will be yet, we will find out on Monday. ... Please excuse the infrequency of my posts from now until I get back in Rwanda…things are a little different now that it is easier for me to see a giraffe than to get to a computer…"

Travel to Kenya

I spoke briefly with Johanna the evening before her departure from Uganda. The team will take a bus about noontime to the main terminal (I suspect in Kampala). There they will take an overnight bus traveling to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, and arrive at about 5:00 AM on the morning of Saturday 4/12. Staff from the Athi River YWAM facility will be coming to Nairobi to pick them up. Thanks for your prayers!!

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.

Muraho!

So first off -- no I did not get to see the President when he came this past week. We live right by the airport though and we could hear his planes and helicopters arriving while we were sitting in class. And I went to town that day to pick up a package and there were policemen and soldiers all over the place.

Alrighty, about Kenya...What our school is planning to do is go to Soroti, Uganda for the first month of our outreach and then if God is still calling us to Kenya we'll go there for the last month. It's kind of cool actually because our DTS staff heard from God to do that and the base leadership also felt God was telling them to wait and then they found out that God was telling them the same thing. Even right down to going to Uganda first. We will, therefore, be leaving to go to Soroti on March 11th which is coming up so fast. This week will be our last week of classes. Time flies! I don't know what getting to the internet will be like there but I'll keep in touch as much as possible. That's something to keep praying about and as always my dear twin Selassie. I have still not heard from him.

There is actually something else. Something I was hesitant to tell everyone because I am not sure it will happen at all but I think it would be good for you all to know. That way if you happen to think about me during prayers you could mention this little thing. Some of you know that a major reason I did this DTS was to get into YWAM's Primary Healthcare school after graduating. [Note: see previous post from December for more details...] I was looking into possible places to do this school before I left. I really like it a lot. I feel like it was designed perfectly to match what God has put in my heart for developing nations. There were two places I have been considering. One is in Perth, Australia where they have an excellent IPHC school (Introduction to Primary Healthcare). But I really wanted to do this school in Africa somewhere because I knew I would likely get more practical experience. So there is another one in Worcester, South Africa. The problem was that the South Africa school starts every July and that wouldn't give me enough time after DTS ends in May.

Well, I was sitting in a meeting a few weeks ago and all of a sudden I just started thinking about where to go for the school and this thought dropped into my head. A scary thought that I had never even considered before; " Who said you have to go home first?" And I was like, whoa God! No way! But my mind kept considering it anyway. Think Johanna, your DTS ends in May. There is a school that you know you want to do that starts in July. The school is in South Africa. You are already in East Africa. Just go straight down to Worcester from Rwanda! To tell you the truth I made a big commitment while I was sitting there. I told God that if He wanted me to do that school and do it this year then I will. It excites me and scares me. I love adventures but I like to plan them myself so part of me wants to tell God to just wait and let me go home first. I'll go back and see family and friends. I'll make some money since I don't have any for the school yet anyway.

Fortunately, I realize that I don't want to be comfortable with my own decisions like that. What I want more than anything is just to follow Christ. I don't need to take breaks in between or refresh myself for my next trip to Africa because following Him, no matter how radical it looks, is the most restful place I can be. If Jesus is leading me to South Africa that soon then I want to follow. Anyway, dear people, for all I know God just wants me to be ready to obey Him all the time and I won't actually be going yet or maybe I will. Either way is OK with me. There is such freedom in following Christ! When I am focused on Him it doesn't matter if I'm in Africa or America because He is the first thing I see anyway! I sent an e-mail to the South Africa base to find out the details and I'll let you know more as soon as I get them.

Sorry for how long this is but you try to fit the story of your life into a once in a while blog post and keep it short:) I will see you all when I see you! God bless you (or as Selassie would say Jah Bless)!

Isimbi Johanna

I'm still here everybody!

Wow, sorry it has taken me so long to post anything. I have had a few complications with getting to the internet and then with getting on my e-mail at all. I'll try to write a lot to make up for it:)

Ok, there are two big things on my mind right now. Number one is about my DTS' plan about going to Kenya for outreach. This has been planned since before things got to the place they are right now. The Lord spoke very clearly to our staff that He was calling us to go there. After they announced it to us and we began praying about a number of the students also got confirmation about it. I was praying about it one time and I very clearly sensed God take my left hand and write Kenya across my palm. Ever since then I have heard over and over that our class was not to go with a spirit of fear or trembling. We just had a meeting with the base leadership about the issue because they are all seeking God about whether to send us there or not. The situation is not good at the moment. The base where we would be staying,Athi River, is in a relatively secure area and is not a big concern but the main problem is getting there. We cannot afford to fly so we are going by bus. The only two routes to take go through western Kenya where there is no security. Our leadership has given us all until this Friday to pray and hear from God about going.They are doing the same. One thing they are sure about is that we must go in unity; all 14 of the students and the 2 staff members going need to know that God is calling them to go to Kenya this March. Sooo, any and all prayers in this matter would be great!

The other thing is my friend Selassie. I have written about him before although not for some time. Mainly because I have not seen him in a over a month. The many attempts Laura and I have made to meet with him have not worked. The past week for some reason he has been constantly on my mind; perhaps because we are leaving soon and I could potentially never see him again which bothers me. I don't remember how much I shared about how we became friends. At first glance it would seem rather unlikely. Selassie is a hard-core, reggae-loving Rwandese guy who has a problem with authority because of his past. Crazily enough I have never met someone who reminded me so much of myself a few years ago. Our personalities are very similar; especially how we react to things. We called each other impanga wanjye (my twin). God used the surprising similarities to allow Sel to open up to people finally but after he left DTS he has been even more closed off. Last night during class I suddenly felt a strong pressing need to pray for him. It was like it was being drummed into my head...Pray for Selassie. Now. Pray for Selassie. Now. I pulled two friends aside to pray for him after class and found out that Kate had gotten the same strong need to pray for him at the same time. I don't know what is going on, where he is, or if I will see him again but I trust that my God knows it all. This is my prayer for Selassie as well; that he will be able to believe that God loves him intensely and intimately. That He has never ever left him through all the horrific and frustrating times in his life and that through the power of Jesus we are able to see the bad turned to good.

It will be sad for me to leave Rwanda next month even if I do get to go to Kenya. I have discovered something powerful and peaceful while I was here. I am in love with Jesus Christ. I love Him. Despite growing up in a Christian home and having all sorts of head knowledge about Jesus it has taken me years to reach this point. And get this, He let me take as long as I needed! I have not shared much to many people about the years I spent really struggling and it would take too long to go into them now but I'll just say there were times I did not feel God cared about me at all. I didn't think anyone did because all I could see was pain. It is incredible to look back and see how much bigger God is than our feelings. No matter what I felt at that time He was always there with me and always will be.

My time in west Africa changed my perspective of who God is. He took my Christian girl, middle-class American, view of Him and blew it pieces in Liberia. What I knew didn't alter in truth it just widened in scope. I got to see the God of Liberia who is able to redeem. My time in Rwanda has changed my view of Jesus. I will never look at Him the same again. I couldn't possibly not love this God-man who took the sins of the entire genocide onto Himself on the cross. The things that people did to one another here He took responsibility for so that we might have life. I cannot even adequately begin to understand the weight of what He bore. Because of Rwanda I will always remember Jesus.

I really should be going for now. I will try to write again soon. I love you all!

Isimbi Johanna

Final month in Rwanda

I [Dad] spoke with Johanna earlier today with a good quality connection. Johanna seemed more energetic and her voice did not seem quite as tired as the previous Sunday. Whwn I mentioned it she laughed and said that maybe it had something to do with the three cups of good Rwandan coffee she had drunk that day! She also said that she had just returned from an evening worship time that she likes to go to on Sunday evenings where they sing a lot of the music from Hillsong (in Australia) in English and that always gets her energy level up too.

Because of the difficulty that she has been having accessing her home e-mail account via the web, we have set up a new Gmail account for her with which she hopes to be able to post a bit more frequently on her blog.

In only a month the class will leave for their time in Kenya. There trip to the Athi River location in Kenya will take a couple of days of travel. The exact nature of what service they will be doing there is something she still does not know in detail.

Meanwhile she and her classmates are experiencing many heavy situations. You may wish to read about an incident that her roommate, Laura, writes about in her blog post and which happened the first of the month (read down about four paragraphs about the young boy of 9 or 10). I asked Johanna about the incident and she said that some of the YWAM personnel thought that they may have seen the boy several days afterwards with one side of his face a mass of bruises but that it was hard to be certain. Johanna often (usually?) participates with Laura in the outreach to the street children and their needs are part of the reason she has returned to Africa.

She was able to meet a family from here in NH who were here last fall speaking in several of the churches. Johanna did not get to meet them at the time (but her mother did) but they have ministry in Kigali. Johanna thought that she might get to spend an evening with them before her class left for Kenya.

Johanna hopes to check out her new e-mail and post some news herself sometime this week -- so stay tuned!

Earthquake(s) in East Africa

Those of you aware of Johanna's location in Rwanda will be interested to hear that the Kigali area was not severely affected. Here is the initial BBC news story:

At least 30 people have been killed and more than 300 hurt in a series of quakes in Africa's Great Lakes region.

The two most powerful occurred hours apart in the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighbouring Rwanda, with magnitudes of 6.0 and 5.0 respectively.

At least 10 people died as a church collapsed in western Rwanda, while the eastern DR Congo city of Bukavu suffered widespread damage.

Police say the death toll could rise, as there are many people trapped.

We spoke with Johanna on Sunday night and she has asked for prayer for one of her classmates from Rwanda, Jean-Paul, whose sister and cousin were both injured in the earthquake. and are currently in the hospital. Since he had already lost family members in the genocide Johanna said it's now even more heartbreaking to watch this happening. She told us that they have been instructed to go outside the building this evening as they are expecting another after-shock around midnight their time.

Please pray for the staff and students who are still planning to go to Kenya for the outreach phase beginning the first week of March. They will be about 30 miles southeast of Nairobi at another YWAM facility there, although she doesn't know yet what they will be doing. We are aware of the unrest in that area and we are trusting God as Johanna belongs to Him first.

Africa's Agonies

Fergal Keane, the BBC's correspondent in Nairobi, Kenya wrote a helpful article on the nature of the tribal violence that has plagued the continent for decades. You may read the article here.

Some of the key points are:

• The Western mind has been conditioned to accept a simplistic notion of what "tribal violence"' really means.
• Tribal issues are only the symptom.
• This is a conflict in which the poor are set at one another's throats.
• Those who have nothing are looting those who have a little bit more.
• This population has seen successive governments rob billions from the public purse in well-documented scandal.
• There are tens of thousands of Aids orphans.
• There is no proper water or sanitation or electricity.

Read as well about Ruth Awuma who lives in the vast Kibera slum in Nairobi.

Johanna's team will be going to a location southeast of Nairobi (in the opposite direction from the Rift Valley which has been the center of much of the violence since late December). We will share more details about where they will be staying and the nature of their service as we learn more.

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