18 days till takeoff!

Wow, 18 days. I literally still haven't comprehended in my head that this trip is finally happening. I was recently looking back over my old journals from this past year in Rwanda and then back at home and so much of my thoughts have been on seeing those boys who have gripped my heart again. I wonder, will I laugh jubilantly or weep upon seeing their faces and holding them in my arms again? We will soon find out!

I'm definitely excited about this trip.. I'm finally making my dreams come true and I'm thrilled. I have so much to learn from my friends and all year long I've been waiting for this chance to go back to grow and be with the people I've come to love. Yet in the same breathe of excitement, the doubts cannot keep from penetrating my thoughts. "Can I actually do this? Is this too big for me to do on my own?" The questions creep in so quickly trying to steal away my exhilaration. Yet, I am steadfast holding onto this promise: "If I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." Psalm 139.

If you'd like more information on my trip, feel free to join me this coming Sunday, November 8th for a Cross-Cultural Coffee House as I will be sharing. The event is held at Northlake Christian Church in Bothell at 12pm.

Love, Megan

Rwanda Update

our Rwandan staff, Josiane & Chantal

Here's an update we've sent out to individuals and families interested in the work we're starting amongst the Rwandan stre

et children.

Dear Friends & Family,

Greetings to you, as they would say in Rwanda! You are receiving this email update because you have expressed interest in supporting Hope For Life, the child sponsorship program being started in Rwanda.

First, we would like to apologize that it has been a long time since you have received an up

date. We know many of you have questions and are eager to help with this program. I hope this update will be helpful and informative to you.

Over the course of the past two months, we have been meeting with organizations that engage in child sponsorship work around the world. This has proved a very valuable and informative time for us to gain wisdom and support. During this process, we were able to le

arn about how to set up a legal Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) here in the States. This is a 12-month process that we have decided not to pursue at this time. Instead, we have joined with other already existing NGOs that will serve to mentor and partner with us in our efforts to care for the street children of Rwanda.

 The two official partners that Hope For Life has joined include Muhumurize and Breakthrough Partners. Muhumurize is a registered Rwandan based cooperative that operates a catch-up school for street children trying to go back to school (see the attachments "Agreement for Partnership, Muhumurize, and Muhumurize 2" for more details). While we are not registering to become an official U.S. based NGO, we are pursuing official ministry status in Rwanda. We have turned in the paperwork, and while we are waiting over the next several months to hear back from the government, Muhumurize has committed to mentoring our staff in Rwanda, training them and providing guidance.

Here on the U.S. side of things, Hope For Life has accepted to partner with Breakthrough Partners, a recognized NGO focusing on community development and indigenous leadership development throughout the world (http://www.breakthroughpartners.org/index.htm). Breakthrough Partners is the organization Hilliary and I completed our internship with last summer, and we trust their experience, resources, and immense knowledge of this field. (They have also worked with Chad Mason in the past, and he trusts them as well.)

As of now, we have two Christian women currently working with the street boys. The first is Josiane, a woman Hilliary and I worked with all summer. She is an extremely hard-working woman with a devout love for God. She has experience in church leadership, working with children and vulnerable women, and holds a degree in Accounting. Chantal is the second staff member. She has a degree in Language as well as Tourism, and is the former Children’s Director of the church we worked with this past summer. These women are two of the most committed women I have ever met and are immensely trustworthy. They will be heading up the work in Rwanda, being mentored by Muhumurize, and an American missionary Jean McAllister.

 In the next two weeks, these partnerships will be formalized and the details worked out. After this is accomplished, we will begin collecting resources to purchase a home for the boys in Rwanda. The sponsorship program will be a group-based sponsorship, meaning that instead of connecting an individual child with an American sponsor, all of the money will be pooled to benefit all of the boys in the program. Thus, please be praying about the commitment God might be calling you to make, either prayerfully or financially. Please also know that by partnering with Breakthrough Partners, you will receive a tax break for any financial commitment you make to this program.

As for the boys, there are now 8 of them who continue to be in the prison. Josiane reports that they are continually growing skinnier because of the lack of food in the prison. The authorities have agreed not to transfer the boys because they know that we are trying to form this program as quickly as possible. Amen for this!

 I am extremely grateful for your interest in these children and in partnering with us to change their lives for the glory of God. We will contact you again soon with more details. In the meantime, check out the attachments for more information and feel free to ask if you have additional questions.

 Sincerely,
Megan Swanson (206-877-2405) & Hilliary Anderson (anthill00@hotmail.com)

Prayer requests:
-Praise for the agreement with the prison authorities, and the partnerships that God has established!
-Pray for enough supporters who are willing to commit to these children financially, prayerfully and relationally.
-Wisdom for Hope of Life, Murumuhize, and Breakthrough Partners.
-Josiane is searching for a house to purchase that will be the home for these 14 boys and the center for our program. Pray that God would guide us to the right house in His timing.
-Strength, hope, and food for the 8 children in prison.

My heart is so sad for the conflict on the Congolese-Rwandan border. Please keep yourself informed. Please pray for God's mercy and grace so that another genocide doesn't happen... Hopefully with all the recent press coverage, the rebels will know that the world is watching. During the violence in 1994 though, a lot of the world was watching; and yet nearly 1 million people were still killed. Do we care enough to do our part to stop it? Or would we watch on, be sad, and then continue eating our dinners in our warm houses unaffected by the horrific news of our brothers and sisters?

http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/impact/

Every morning lately, the first thought that floats through my mind as it slowly awakens and as my eyes open, are of the mayibobo (street boys). I dream about them a few times a week. It takes me about an hour to fall asleep each night, as I lay awake contemplating and reflecting. 

I imagine seeing them again, rushing towards them, holding them, and walking with their little dirt-caked hands in mine, and everytime without fail, I begin laughing outloud. I become physically giddy as the scene plays in front of me.

The other morning after this scene occurred again, I read a line from one of my favorite books, "Disappointment with God" by Phillip Yancy. He says, "...the deepest longings we feel on earth, as parents, as lovers, are mere flickers of the hungering desire God feels for us" (234). My desires are put into a new light and this has carried me through my yearning for Rwanda and my friends. My aching, the twinges of my heart, are but a small and minimal reflection of God's own heart.. for me, for the boys, for the displaced of Congo, for America, for all...

how cool. I am not alone in my pain, in the desires of my heart etc. In fact, they're not even "mine" to begin with...

lessons outside of the classroom

it's time to start asking myself what have I learned from three months abroad this summer. there's simply too much to describe in one shot so here's the first few lessons.

number one.

perhaps the biggest thing I learned about was theodicy (a justification of God's goodness and existence in the face of evil and suffering) . It's so common for people to ask the "Why God?" question in the face of suffering, and I find myself leaning this direction when hardship hits my life as well. However, I felt like I got a new glimpse into this question this summer. 

When bad things happen, we tend to think it's God's fault and argue that if He really is all powerful and in control of everything, then bad things shouldn't happen. However, I don't think that when bad things happen that it's God who has disappointed or failed; it's humans. Let me explain.

Back in the days of the Old Testament, God chose to dwell in the temple and only a priest could even think about entering his holy presence. Then, God came to us personally in the man of Jesus and was before our very eyes. When he ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit was given and God chose us, the ordinary Joe's of the world, to represent him. Jesus no longer physically roams the earth, but Christians do in his place. 

Thus, as we ask, "Is God silent? Is he hidden? Is he unjust?" I answer these questions with another: is the church silent, hidden and unjust?

Author Philip Yancey says in his book Disappointment with God, "We who live now are not disadvantaged but wonderfully privileged, for God has chosen to rely primarily on us to carry out his will on earth" (172).

That being said, it's up to us to "be God" here and now. He chose us to go for him and to act like him, revealing him through seemingly ordinary actions to the rest of the watching world. Do you see? Do you start to glimpse the enormity of it all? do you feel fear rising in your throat because of it? do you hear the call of urgency to arise? I know that I certainly did this summer..

I was forced to ask myself the hard questions: will I play my part in this world? will I arise to the challenge and look the reality of the world straight in the face? I believe that God has been calling me to arise the past few years as I've grown as a person, and in my faith, saying, "Go and love so radically that the world will never be the same." As we love, I believe that Satan falls like lightning. As we throw off selfishness, complacency, ignorance and pride, the world transforms little by little for the glory of God. People, communities, and entire nations will be drawn to the light of God as he is lived out in word and in action. Ideally, the world would stop asking "Why God?" and "Where are You?" in the face of moral evil and start seeing God here once more. 

Will you arise? Will I arise? Will the church of the 21st century arise? Our God offers such mercy and power. We are never alone so let's throw off the past and come be a part of a revolution of radical love through action that will shape history to come. God calls us to be his "stand-in" and what an honor and a duty that requires utmost humility. The seemingly "ordinary" actions of kindness  and love shatter the forces of the unseen world. We have a great role to play in the cosmos!

"...Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you... nations will come to your light and kings to the  brightness of your dawn..." (Isaiah 61)

Let's dare to want more from life than the 9-to-5, than happiness from a bottle, than beauty only being seen in the physical, than living in ignorance and selfishness as AIDS, generational poverty, child homelessness and oppression rule the world. For I've tried all these things and each time, I come up wanting and suffocating for a breath of fresh air. And as I do so, the world around me continues to wonder out-loud where the heck God has disappeared to. 

In short, this summer I have been forced to ask myself the tough questions. And as I am given the courage to do so, I come away longing to love those around me more radically, to dream big for God, to hope for more than what meets the eye, to want to shake complacency and mediocrity from their cozy hide and to play my role in the cosmos. 

number two.

there are different kinds of poverty. The people of Rwanda are horribly poor physically, but perhaps richer than the West in the things that count. They understand hope and love more fully than I think the majority of Americans do and always find reason to rejoice simply because they know there's more to life than what meets the eye.

well, I think that's enough to process for the next week until I have internet access again as I'm off for a long drive to Italy tomorrow morning. talk to you again in a week! thanks for walking through me as I start to process all this stuff.. i'd love to hear feedback etc.

au revoir mes amis! Je-t-aime et je parle "merci" pour votre amitie.

(ps. i'm trying to learn french)

goodbye Kigali... at least for now

my time in Rwanda is officially over.. at least for now. I know without a doubt that I will be back there one day. I am now in France for two weeks before finishing up my time in Europe with my family in Italy. What a summer full of memories.. I have been having a hard time comprehending all that has happened yet alone finding the words to adequately express it.

My heart has been aching since being away from Rwanda and if I could, I would go back this very instant. I find myself staying up into the early morning hours of the night everyday looking at pictures and wishing more than anything that I could hold the street children in my arms once again. Yet I know that my time for now has come to an end and that God has other things for me. I must finish up my time at school, and I do so with a renewed focus wanting to learn as much as I can so that it might somehow benefit the kingdom of God, and hopefully the people of East Africa.

Update on the street boys: For my last month in Rwanda, I was pushed to pray for the boys knowing that I was going to be leaving soon. What would happen to them and who would care for them when I left? During my last week, my friend Josiane who has one of the most beautiful and caring hearts I’ve ever seen, approached me. She said that she had been touched by the boys after seeing them in church the previous Sunday and that she wants to help take care of them!! Words can’t describe how jubilant I was and I had a hard time hiding the smile on my face for the rest of the day.

We set up a small program between us where I am going to send her money and she will take care of the boys as if they were her own children. Already she has sent me reports and they have warmly accepted her and were overjoyed to find out that she was coming in my place and that we could remain in contact through her. She plans to take them to her home weekly to feed them and let them sleep in her living room. She wants to teach them how to pray and plans to continue taking them to Patmos on Sundays. The most exciting thing is that Josiane offered to find schools that would take the boys if I could find sponsors. When she told them the news, she said that they were absolutely thrilled. I can just imagine their smiling faces and see them jumping up and down with delight in their eyes.

Habimana

That being said, Josiane is in the midst of figuring out the schooling process and I must find sponsors for these 9 very vulnerable boys. I am currently unsure how much school fees are but I am positive the cost is small compared to the significance of how much this will change the future of these 9 lives. I am trying to figure out a way to send the money through an NGO so that if you sponsored a child, it would be more reliable. Josiane, however, has a degree in accounting and experience as she was in charge of a large church’s finances before. I don’t trust anyone more than her in all of Kigali. Before I left, I talked with countless NGO’s such as World Vision and Compassion International, but they were all unable to take the children into their programs because of many restrictions they’re organizations have. Thus, God answered through Josiane.. Oh, how He is faithful! I am still trying to find an organization to partner with though and will keep you updated..

Other than that, my time saying goodbye to my new Rwandan family was pretty difficult. On the night before I left, all the youth came to Pastor’s house to say goodbye. Because there was no money for electricity, we sat there in the shadows of the dark and took turns encouraging one another. It was a beautiful time. After lavishing me with kind words, they gave me so many gifts that I had a very difficult time bringing them all home. It meant a lot because I know that each one of them must have sacrificed hugely to buy me such nice things. They then surrounded me and prayed and the room was filled with many tears. After this, we moved all the furniture from the living room and danced together singing of how we are all going to be together in heaven someday.

Aline, the director of the youth, and I the night before leaving

On my last day, I gave Auntie the money that we raised for her to start a salon. She teared up many times while we talked and signed the papers and then she finally broke down speaking of how she no longer alone J

After a tearful goodbye at the airport, I spent the majority of the plane ride writing. I was filled with such ups and downs, so sad to be leaving yet at the same time knowing that I have other things to do this year. I got the opportunity to see my long time friend Pastor John in Kenya. His family spent hours getting to the airport just to see me for about 45 minutes. His family was beautiful and it was great to be able to see him after nearly 2 years apart.

After getting to Paris, it seemed that all hell had broke lose. Because my flight had been so delayed from Kenya, I had missed my flight to Southern France and had to buy a new one. I soon discovered that my credit card had been locked and I didn’t have enough cash on me to buy my ticket. It was awful and I broke down in tears at the ticket counter. After frantically searching through my bag, I amazingly found more money that I forgot I had… thank God! I then waited for 8 hours in the airport where my wandering eyes met many homeless people sleeping in empty chairs. From one airport to another, from each country to the next, there is suffering and poverty of many kinds.  As I sat there people watching, my mind and heart raced, switching back and forth, to and fro between emotions and thoughts. The thought of the huge financial disparity that’s between the people in the world made me ache and want to scream and break down crying all at the same time. When I finally arrived in Southern France, I found out that my car was broken in America, and that my cell phone had been stolen from my room in Kigali two months earlier, and that my phone bill was $8,500. It was a very discouraging few days, especially coming from a place where that much money could literally save hundreds of lives. A door has finally opened up though (thank you SO much Steiner!!!) and there only needs to be one more word of approval from the cell phone company before they waive the charges.. wow, I hope it works!

Last night I spent an hour and a half on Fritz’s farm laying in an open field watching the stars come out, reflecting on what I’ve seen, smelled, heard, tasted, experienced and learned this summer..

..but that shall come tomorrow.

rwanda in pictures.. words to come later

Claude, orphan and street child.

Kristine, Pastor Bea's mom. we have quite a few funny stories about her..

visiting our friends Veterine, Daniel, Rachelle and Janet at their small home. The four of them live alone in a tiny 2-house room with young 12 year old Veterine as the only one making money by begging to provide for 9 people

our adventure in Uganda

Hilliary with the former prostitutes. These are their first necklaces and they were thrilled! If you want to buy some, we bought them all to bring home and sell. We are in the process of helping these women start an association/organization in which they can learn how to make crafts and sell them

Daniel- 8 years old.

he is unable to go to school because he must carry his crippled brother Veterine to the Kigali taxi park everyday. Thus, he spends his days sitting on the curb counting the change this his brother collects from begging in the dirt. He has a shy smile and he loves to drink orange Fanta.

Daniel's brother Veterine- 12 years old, disabled. He is the sole financial supporter for 9 people. lives with his 3 siblings all under the age of 14.

he rarely gets the opportunity to be a child but when given the opportunity to be taken away from begging at the taxi park, he shines with laughter and makes many jokes. He got pastor's number and never failed to call at least 4 times a day thereafter :)

Ugandan countryside

Nsabiri- 5 years old, street child.

whenever I think of Nsabiri, I smile. He is a curious bundle of energy who hasn't yet become hardened by the streets because of his young age. He loves to show affection and to sprint towards us whenever he saw us coming. He is very vulnerable and you can see in his eyes that he is aching for love. Despite this, he loves to run around playing soccer with empty bottles and chasing after cars, his bare feet kicking up the red African dirt. His stomach pertrudes through his shabby clothes from malnutrition and his head bears a very large scab where his hair has stopped growing from not getting enough to eat.

her mom is HIV positive. what will happen to her in a few years when her mom is gone?

the colors of kampala

the street children of Kimironko who have stolen my heart. from left to right, Pascal an orphan with cigarette burns up and down his arms, Claude, Pacifique, Eve (down below), Dakundimana (whos name means 'God loves us'), and Dahabimana (whos name means 'God is with us')

my english class receiving their certificates of completion

our sponsor child Adison (in the red jersey) with his family. He lives in Entebbe, Uganda in a small fishing village. His grandma is seated in the chair and the man on the ground is his uncle Dan. After giving him his gifts, all the children of the village were calling him "rich boy." There couldn't have been a prouder expression on his face.

Nsabiri, Pacifique and I playing volleyball and washing their clothes

this crazy monkey and her baby tried to attack hilliary. we thought it would be really sweet but then it ran after hill biting her foot! moral: monkeys are not friendly.

the street boys get new shirts!

my favorite english students eva and eric. eva lives in the church because he has nowhere to go. eric lives with one of the pastors as just 6 months ago he was on the streets. God has radically changed both of their lives and they have crazy testimonies

hill, Pastor Bagaza, me & Antoine after church

Hilliary and Chantal, our interpreter

former prostitutes learning how to make crafts inside Patmos Church

my beginners english class

joseane, chantal and I at our goodbye picnic by the lake

a hard day

yesterday I watched as a boy not more than 16 years old died.

he died of malaria and diarrhea--the two most common killers in africa and two of the most preventable illnesses. apparently, he had gone to the clinic the day before but was unable to buy medicine due to poverty.

as a result, his young life was taken from him. his life could have been spared for less than $10.

i couldn't stop crying all day..