We have arrived at our final destination safe and sound and with lots of pictures of some awesome animals!
We are heading into the market this morning to do some shopping and then we will be heading to the airport.
Please pray for safe travels and we will see you soon!
IMPORTANT
Brian says hi to Rosa
Here is our first opportunity to post something to the blog in a few days.
August 5
What does one say after having been blessed by sitting through a five hour church service in the rain? amen
There was a comment something to the effect that the five hour sermon was easier to sit through than a one hour sermon back home. ???????
FYI Calvin gave a sermon here, Brian a testimony and few other missives were exchanged. However, ours represented maybe 5 % of the total time consumed.
By the way the Brunswick Street Kinyrwandan Singers gave the best performance of their illustrius careers!!!
August 6
We continued working on building the dormitory. Today started with a different flavour in that we drew lots as to what job we each started off with. The choices included hauling more big rocks, hauling more bigger rocks, breaking the really big rocks into pieces that we could then haul.
Additional hi-lites included
- Calvin tried to fly (unsuccessfully) - maybe in-part due to the load of wet concrete he was carrying at the time. PS He is ok Jan (ok being a relative term).
-Josh received several marriage proposals (Congratulations Dave and Alfie!!!). The only drawback was that we could not negotiate a better deal than for 4 cows.
- After a slightly long day we took a night drive to Paradise Malahide.
August 7
Rough night in rudimentary accommodations - holes in ceiling.
We found again Mr. Happy Head. - Don’t ask where he was.
David and Nancy, now no longer trusting Mr. HH previous keeper have taken on the onorous task of looking after him. They are now taking him on a travelocity - like odessey.
Spent much of the day observing photographing and generally just enjoying part of the paradise of His Creation.
Overall rough day had a late devotion and crashed.
August 8
Up and at em early to catch a boat to Cyimbiri. The boat trip was great - the lake was calm and it was generally a relaxing trip. - some people found it harder to relax given the absence of life jackets and the water slowly seeping into the boat……….
We had a very nice visit to the AEBR rpimary and secondary schools, health clinic and the many acres of coffee plantations. Another great day.
August 9
The Rwandan hillbillies moved all their goods back to Ruhengerri and then went back to Buhoma where we have probably ruined the education of a generation of Rwandans.
Josh taught advanced math and physics (this was a demotion after he and David started trying to teach computer science and then encounterd a slight problem (the computers blew up). I think that Dave got demoted to pounding nails and busting rocks.
Calvin - hydrology which morphed into Canadian politics
Nancy - Sex ed ……….
After Nancy told them everything she knew (a very short lesson) She, Sam and Nicki taught english through music.
Ralph and Brian taught drawing 101
Liz - managed to lose them on a map of Canada.
Carolyn and Ron because they had no teacher present and a disruptive visitor (aka Andre our liaison) inadvertently taught the students about brewing beer and distilling alcohol under the guise of biology/chemistry and biochemistry.
nuff said.
August 10
Sad day. This was our last day at Buhoma. But fortunately it was once again very memorable.
Hi-lites
Moving and putting up roof trusses. Ron attempted flying but was successful. (No broken scaffolding was injured in his attempt - point to self twine is not strong enough to hold up the weight of three men and a 450 pound roof truss….
Formal good bye ceremony - lots of hugs and tears.
Crowd control was an issue.
Shirley - you need to let Ralph out more often - get him on the dance floor and he becomes an animal.
We are blessed - this trip has already touched all of us. We hope the Team Kenya crew has been similarly blessed.
We are still alive after traveling 4 hours a day on VERY bumpy, dusty roads. Some are challenged by the food, except the Samoses. Some are challenged by the toliets, or should we say long drops. Some are challenged by goat meat. “Free range chickens” have taken on a new meaning!
But now we are living in the lap of luxery - toliet seats, pillow cases, hot showers and laundry services. We are having a wonderful time and enjoying all of these challenges. God is stretching all of us!
We have been warmly welcomed, while we have been working on water damns and visiting schools. Terry is delighted that we did not find the 3.5 hour church service long. He plans on incorporating this at BSBC :-) The offering included a live chicken which was given to Terry - not sure which suitcase it is coming back in!
God continues to bless us with good health, safe travels, wonderful drivers, a great translator, awesome hosts and a great team spirit! Please keep praying for us. Pastor Terry is speaking to a group of Pastors now and we are working on different projects.
We Miss you all and look forward to seeing you on August 18th!
Aug 1 recap
We did finally arrive in Kigali safe and sound. Bruno met us at the airport - he had been wondering where we were especially since we were on a different flight form what we were supposed to have been on. Once again, welcome to Africa.
For the rest of our first day we had a briefing session with Bruno and Andre Sibomana (a pastor in training who is spending the entire time with us as guide and translator).
Aug 2
We visited the Kigali National Genocide Memorial. No words on earth can adequately describe the emotions and the feelings that one gets after visiting this site. It is well done in terms of providing the history of what happened but it definitely is not the hollywood version. However, despite the unspeakable, one can have their faith encouraged by the examples of forgiveness and the efforts at reconciliation.
In the afternoon after a lovely ‘Mexican’ lunch, we visisted the AEBR campus. One hilight was definitely the pride and enthusiasm exhibited when they showed us their brand new building complex housing offices (including Bruno’s), classrooms, a library etc.
Before dinner Brian Bruno and Ron went into town to exchange money (more on the ‘money changers’ later). Brian received his first real taste of a persistent street vendor. Despite his normal serious demeanor he managed to persevere and not purchase anything. Bruno on the other hand caved in!!
Aug 3
We left Kigali for Ruhengeri. The drive was through what is arguably the most spectacular scenery on the planet. After lunch we drove to Buhoma to visit the College Baptiste de Buhoma (CBB) where the dormitory construction project and church is situated. We were greeted by the senior director Pastor Simeon and had had an opportunity to have a wonderful, albeit short exchange.
Welcome to Africa part 2. On the drive back down what can only be described and as a less than a seasonal woods road (giving it the benefit of calling it a road is a bit of an exagerration) we had a flat tire. This might not normally seem like much of an issue BUT…….. Have you ever tried to change a tire without a tire iron? An adjustable wrench with no teeth just does not cut it.
So, we gradually became aware that God had planned this as an opportunity for us to interact with many of the local children for 2 hours. Brian was unbelievable in making up games with the children spontaneously. Nicki and Sam used up all of their soap bubble makers, Liz and Carolyn had to fight to keep their family photos…. you get the idea. It was truly a wonderful bonding time that we would not have otherwise had. The Lord does work in mysterious ways.
Aug 4
(subtitle) A lot like work.
We started the morning off by hauling hundreds of cinder blocks up quite a hill. Fortunately we were ‘helped’ by 50 to 75 women and children and young men. It was unbelievable to see how much weight very very young children could lift and carry - it put us to shame. After hauling blocks, we then moved on to volcanic rocks (basalt) - big heavy and rough. On a more serious note however, we were wonderfully blessed working along side of everyone. It truly was fun doing the Lord’s work.
Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to attach any photos as the words here do not even scratch the surface.
Please keep us in your prayers.
We have arrived at the BTL Conference Centre after an exhilerating, life threatening, fast, slow, eye-opening and rough ride through Nairobi! Holy Cow do we ever appreciate ‘rush hour’ traffic at home!
We just wanted to tell you that we have arrived safe and sound at another beautful location. The facilities are wonderful, although electricity is not reliable - it goes off and on! Oh I should mention that Nancy and Cheryl met two of the native creatures of BTL when they checked in - LIZARDS!!!!!! YIKES!
The bell has just rung to tell us it is time to have supper - let us see what awaits us tonight…
Goodbye from Lizard Land! <{{><
Jumbo from sunny Kenya! We have all decided that we left Canada so that we could cool off! This afternoon we have finally been able to shed our sweatshirts - it is around 25 or so and the bonus is there is NO HUMIDITY!!
We have spent the morning in the classroom learning lots about the history of the African Brotherhood Church, CBMin Projects -such as Guardians of Hope and micro-credit projects, and what we can expect when we arrive at church on Sunday. It was all very fascinating. We also learned some basic Swahili and a chorus to a song - very fun!
The food is wonderful - although we have to go out of our comfort zones a little to try some ‘interesting’ items. The Kenyan people are very friendly, with beautiful smiles that fill their face. Alfie is having a wonderful time meeting new people - she is teaching the rest of us how to get out of our box and meet new people. Last night at supper she had the opportunity to hold a 6 month old - she was in her glory - while the rest of us looked on with envy!
As we are updating the blog, Maggie, Alexander and Sarah are taking a refreshing dip in the pool - the Kenyans think we are nuts - living up to the Mzungu name (which refers to white people meaning a spinning top going in circles!!)
The Lukenya guest house is gorgeous - the flowers are beautiful and the grounds are very well groomed. In many ways we are feeling like pampered tourits and not here on a mission tour - although Tim and Diane assure us that is soon going to change!
After lunch we are heading to Thika (via Nairobi) where we will spend some time and visit some Guardians of Hope projects - we are all looking forward to this very much.
Thanks for checking in on us and we look forward to being able to update you again soon. Please continue to pray for us as we continue in this amazing journey.
Jumbo!!!
After 2 sleepless nights on airplanes we are now getting ready to head to bed, looking forward to sleeping vertical for the first time in 2 days!! We are staying at a beautiful place called Lukenya Guest House. We had a great day of orientation with Tim and Diane Bannister.
Before arrving at Lukenya Guest House our orientation began with a rough 45 mintue ride on the wrong side of the road for us. We now know why we saw so many vehicles broken down on the side of the road! We saw that having a plum line is not important in construction of the dwellings we saw being built. We also saw many people lined up on the road and outside of factories trying to get work for the day. We are in for an amazing adventure.
While some slept, Tim treated Roz, Keith, Rosa, Carol, Sarah, Alexander, Sandi, Joel and Maggie to a tour of the game reserve that they live on. Highlites; saw Zebra, herds of Gazelle, Wildebeast, ostrich, many birds, a giraffe and the most exciting site were 2 Cheetah stocking a heard of Gazelle spoted by Alexander. Tim told us that it is very rare to see Cheetah in the wild - what a TREAT! Tim and Caleb were just as excited or maybe more so than we were. We were able to watch the chase which resulted in a successful get-a-way for the Gazelle. We had prelimary preview of the Acaia guest houses that we will be staying in at the end of our trip.
Please continue to pray for us - we know that you have been - God has been with us through every detail even to our Proverb for today (Prov 20:13 - check it out it is very funny!!)
We are leaving here tomorrow after lunch to begin our next step in the journey. We learned today that we are not going to be working on fishing weirs but working on building a damn. We learned this afternoon that a weir in Kenya is a damn. - the surprises keep coming!
Good night from Kenya!
P.S. Our group devotional tonight was done outside tongiht with the sound of the crikets letting us know that God is in the small stuff. 
Good to meet you all in London and pleased that you enjoyed your day there. We did too. If you can manage to fall asleep on the London Underground we guess that you could sleep on the plane to Nairobi - so hope that you caught up with some sleep! Sorry to hear of the further delay for the folks going on to Rwanda. Trust that you have all now reached your destinations, and after a good sleep in a non-moving bed are ready to get on with the real business of the trip. We look forward to following your daily news over the next couple of weeks.
Love from us both
A&B
We are a group of 27 new and old friends who, after two years of planning and team building are heading off to Africa on July 30, 2007.
We represent three churches in the Fredericton New Brunswick area and one from Amherst Nova Scotia.
In short, we are an eclectic mix with the common base of being Christians who, in a small way, hope to have a positive impact through making new friends and showing those we encounter in Africa, the love of our Lord and Saviour.
Team members
Kenya
Carol Gilmore
Terry and Brenda Atkinson
Joel, Lynette, Ellen, and Maggie Brewer
Alfie and Sandy Clark
Sarah and Alexander Duguid
Rosa McEwing
Cheryl Mulholland
Nancy Murphy
Keith and Roz Thompson
Rwanda
Josh Clark
Carolyn Ames
Ralph Graves
Brian McEwing
David and Nancy Moore
Calvin and Samantha Smith
Ron, Liz, and Nicki Smith
The following is an overview of the itinerary for the two groups.
Access to the internet will differ for the two teams, but please look here for updates as they become available.
Itineraries
July 30 2007
The whole team departs from Fredericton to Halifax - the journey begins.
Kenya
Aug. 1 - Arr. Nairobi airport, travel to Lukenya getaway for orientation (overnight);
Aug. 2 - Drive to Thika for the night;
Aug. 3 - Met by Henry Mwangi from ACC&S, who will take us on a tour of several GoH activities/benificiaries; drive up to Mwingi Cottage Hotel;
Aug. 4 - 7- working hands-on projects in Mwingi District; this may include working on weirs and/or building a classroom block for a secondary school, and working in an agroforestry project;
Aug. 8 - travel to Machakos; spend night at Lysak Guesthouse in Machakos;
Aug. 9 - 11- visiting and working on projects in Machakos area;
Aug. 12 - after lunch, travel to Acacia Camp on ranch;
Aug. 13 - pick up Rwanda group (16:20) and bring them to game ranch; begin debriefing with whole group; Kenya Group may go into Nairobi to see ACC&S urban projects;
Aug. 14 - more debriefing and some game drives on ranch;
Aug. 15 - safari toAmboseli Game Park for one night;
Aug. 16- Group from Amboseli GP to Karina Guesthouse in Nairobi
Aug. 17- Shopping and trip to airport; booked for dayroom and early supper at Karina; group can store belongings there and also shower, etc.,
Aug. 18 - Return to Canada
Rwanda
Aug. 1 – 10:05 arrive Kigali – Food For the Hungry Guest House – visit National Memorial – Orientation
Aug. 2 – Kigali –Nyamata Church memorial – FHI Guest House
Aug. 3– Travel to Ruengheri – EER Guest House (Aug. 3-5) – school project Buhoma.
Aug. 4 – School Rehabilitation project – rehabilitation of girls dormitory
August 5 – Worship Local AEBR Church – team member to share message if possible.
Aug. 6– School project and other service opportunities. Depart 16:00 travel to Gisenyi- night at Malahide Paradis.
Aug. 7– Flex day -visit hot springs, enjoy Lake Kivu – night at Malahide Paradis
Aug. 8– Boat travel to Cyimberi visit AEBR primary, secondary and Bible school, Health Centre. Night at Malahide Paradise
Aug. 9– travel to Buhoma – school rehabilitation project and other service opportunities night in Ruengheri EER Guest house
Aug. 10– Buhoma school project. EER Guest house
Aug. 11– travel to Kigali – visit Base community development cooperative enroute. Night at Iris Guest House, Kigali
Aug. 12 – Worship Kigali AEBR church – debrief
Aug. 13 – shopping/downtown depart 13:55 for Kenya and join rest of team.
Aug. 14-18 - (see itinerary for Kenya above)
Monday July 30
Jens did a great job at chauferring us to Halifax safe and sound. We really appreciated the gift of his time and effort. We departed withut significant incidence (not counting the usual name issues - ticker names and passport names not necessarily matching perfectly).
Tuesday July 31
Arrived in London and were met by Peter Duguids parents Brian and Ann. They had gone to a great deal of effort to plan out an efficient and fun short tour of London. As tired as we all were, a great time was had by all.
Wednesday August 1
We have arrived in Nairobi safe and sound. We said our good byes as the Kenyan group left the terminal to meet Tim and Diane Bannister. Team Rwanda started to hang around the airport for a while longer (as this is being written, the flight to Kigali is only delayed 2 hours).
The adventure is about to begin……………..
