Rwanda: Days 11-14

Saturday: Woke up not feeling great. Threw up, ate some not-so-cooked eggs, threw up again, and then felt fine :) After debating for awhile we opted to do a 1/2 day safari instead of full day which means we didnt' get to see the elephants. But we did get to see the most beautiful giraffes, some hippos (submersed in water - but still sooo cool), warthogs (Pumbaaaaa!), water buffalos, a baby croc, tons of different birds, some monkeys, baboons, and explosive horse flies in our van (poor Ellie)! It is hard to express how cool this day was in words so here are some photos:

Sunday: Our second amazing church service at New Life Bible Church in Kigali. I have been so blessed by our time spent with the people of ANLM and NLBC. It is powerful to just spend time among them, engulfed in their culture.

After church we went to another genocide memorial that was in Kigali. It was more historical/informative but still incredibly powerful and heartbreaking.

Monday: I can't believe we only have two days left! I am getting so sad at the thought of leaving!

Today we spent the morning with the Dream Boys; street children in a sort of "pre-sponsorship"program set up to help bridge the gap between life on the streets and full sponsorship. Marie, a girl from Portland is living in Kigali for a year so she can be the "teacher" for these boys. She just arrived this week and we were able to observe and attempt to help her get the program up and running. Marie is an amazing girl and I have a lot of respect and admiration for her! She is living out my dream :)

Tuesday: Today we spent the entire day at the orphanage in Kayonza painting one of the girls homes. This house was in desperate need of our tender love and care.

Wednesday:

Today was the third day of class for the Dream Boys. Their homework from yesterday was to come up with a list of words that started with the letter "A" and choose one to say in a sentence. Many of them were a little confused and they came up with a list like the following: "a boat, a ball, a dog..." etc. One little boy made the following note before he was able to get started on his list:

"ay tek you Jesus a rave you Jesis" Translation: "I thank you Jesus. I love you Jesus."

These boys are absolutely precious and many of their faces will forever be burned into my mind.

This is our last day here in Rwanda. We board the plane at 6 something this evening. It breaks my heart to think of leaving all of these wonderful new friends we have made. I will surely be leaving many pieces of my heart behind.