Byumba!

Much has happened since the last update. I won’t get it all in now, but I’ll try to give a quick nutshell version. Also, I will stop apologizing for long silences, as I really don’t have a good idea of how much I will update. Do know that no news is likely good news (love you mom!).

My body is having a rough go at fully adjusting to the time, thus I’m waking up (read: being woken up) in the wee hours (no thanks to a certain one year old!), and once awake I’m WIDE awake. So, I find I’m exhausted rather early and typing up an update feels daunting…especially when I still need to filter/boil water for the next day or hand wash our clothes or prep food or…

Good thing she is cute...

I digress.

We arrived in Byumba late in the afternoon on Sunday, after a wonderful few days in Kigali with the Hanlon family. While still in Kigali, my Friend met with Cedric, the Rwandan author he is working with, two (very fruitful) times. He is now more excited than ever to begin writing! I hope to have him “guest” post one of these days and give a fuller picture of his project and how the Lord is in the details.

Sunday AM, we worshipped with the Hanlon’s at the Kigali cathedral (English service) in the morning, packed up our load, said a sad goodbye, and headed up the mountain. 

The goodbye was sad not because we were not excited to make our way up to Byumba but because our families really hit it off. After 3+ days of living together, we felt like one big family. Their (almost) three-year-old son called our kids “my girls” and referred to the older two as “the big one” and “the little one”!

The pastors with their littles

Five kids all looking, even some with smiles.
A minor miracle!
This family, while new as friends, is a precious gift to us.

Upon our arrival in Byumba, we were greeted by Pastor Juvenel from the diocese, taken to our two bedroom house next to the diocesan offices, and began to settle in. Dinner and breakfast were at the Anglican guest house (conveniently next door), as we did not have time to make it to the market to get our own food and necessary supplies. A member of the church brought a big box of fruit over, too, which was a wonderful gift!

Bananas and mangos, always crowd pleasers.

Bright and early Monday morning, the work of setting up a home in Rwanda began. Things like sheets and TP, in addition to rice and beans needed to be gathered. Thanks to our friends Allia and Pacifique, we successfully found our way to (and through) the very busy market. We are currently the only (pasty) white and sleep deprived folks in Byumba, as the only other Mzungu (white person) who lives here is away in Kigali for work; thus, we tend to stick out. And the fact that we have three children toddling along, one strapped to my back, makes us quite the sight. With all the starring and whispers, sometimes I wonder if maybe there is something on my face or TP stuck to my foot…oh wait, no, it’s just my face!

Wow, this is getting long and I’m not even to Tuesday. Quickly: Rev Dr met with the Bishop and a few other pastor friends and is excited to have office space to write and a chance to minister while we are here. They see and value his need for rest and are so glad for us to be here.

The girls are adjusting to being a spectacle, though Beebs finds herself overwhelmed at times. As a highly sensitive person, the constant attention is draining for her. Lu is taking it in stride and is still not a great eater! Every day we have multiple children come to our home to play (or stare). The abundance of small friends is much loved by the girls.

Our living room with friends (Aser-Grace over Beebs' shoulder)

Mo is absolutely adored. She loves waving to everyone while on my back. She has really taken to our guard, Prudence, and will just walk over to his house (directly next to ours) and eat his food or watch soccer with him like they are old friends.

Seriously. She is like a toy for the kiddos.
And she Loves. Every. Minute.

With our neighbor boy walking to the Cathedral

There are so many fun details I could include – like our first home cooked dinner of, um, rice, unseasoned. Yep, Just. Rice. Plus a few almonds for good measure; [more was planned, but an hours long power outage derailed my brilliant plans].

Or our second dinner of beans (mostly cooked all the way, but I did throw in fresh tomato). We also had a few leftover pieces of homemade chapatti that I made for lunch (complete with Jempy – anyone? Joseph Miller?).

(a picture right here would be perfect...alas)

Or the fact that one of our close friends welcomed a new baby into his family TODAY! Seriously. They went to Kigali for the birth, so we have not seen the new little bundle just yet. Because I do not know what the custom is for announcing such things, I will refrain from further details for now, but we feel blessed to be here during this exciting time.

Yes, many fun stories and experiences will have to wait for now. Indeed, the Lord is in the details, and I hope to share as much as I can in the coming weeks. 

Maybe I can write shorter, more frequent posts…hmmm.

We shall see. Now, off to filter and UV light one more half liter of water and then to bed. Hand washing the cloth diapers will have to wait, the morning comes early around here.

Coram Deo – The Mrs Dr