We're still here

I've been feeling slightly guilty about not writing on our blog in a while. There have been a lot of things that I've thought to write about, but then we don't have internet for a few days, or Michael has to use the computer for work, or I have to plan lessons, and it just hasn't happened as intended.

So, I will have to settle for a general update for now.

We leave Rwanda three weeks from yesterday. The time is drawing near quickly, and we are experiencing a whole range of emotions:

Anxious. We are anxious because as of now, we have absolutely no idea what we will be doing when we return to Oregon. We have no housing lined up, and we're unsure of where to settle. I can immediately return to subbing in the Newberg/Sherwood area, so that's the one piece we sort of have figured out.

We are also trying to discern longer-term plans, jobs, where to live, etc., and at this point have no real news to share. We'd love to share with you our processing individually if you are interested.

Sad. At times teaching English has been tough, especially with little materials to use. Thus, at times I've been looking forward to being finished with teaching. But, this week I've realized that I will really miss my students and my daily interactions with them for the past two and a half months. I'm TERRIBLE at saying good-bye and I always cry. It will be sad to leave a place that has become comfortable in its own way. Saying good-bye here also means facing the unknowns of the future.

Busy. Because our time here is ending, we have loose ends to tie up. I have been working on gathering what lessons I have taught to pass on to the new teacher who will be replacing me. A woman from Kenya will be taking over my class, and I'm still working to convince my students that they can learn English from an African, as they are hesitant to believe they can learn English from someone other than a white person. Next week is my last week of teaching both at the missionary school and English.

Torn. We are trying our best to stay present to where we are now, that is, here in Rwanda. Though there are a lot of details to work out for a few weeks from now, we don't want to ignore the next few weeks of work and ways God will continue to speak to us here.

Looking forward to rest. After our final week of school this coming week, our friends from Burundi, Jim and Karri, will be visiting us for a couple days. Then, we will leave for Kumbya for the week. We are excited to have a week to slow down, rest, process, and reflect on our time here in Rwanda and how we feel the Lord is speaking to us. After Kumbya we will have a few days to pack and prepare to leave. It also happens that the week we are leaving is the Genocide Memorial week, so it will be interesting to be here for that. (From what we've heard, this means no celebrations of any kind can happen, and many speeches and rallies take place at the National Genocide Memorial here in Kigali).

We leave Rwanda on April 9, and will spend a few days in Germany visiting friends from college, Stephanie and Luke. We arrive back in Portland on Monday, April 13.

Blessed. The other day I was reflecting on all the support we have. We have been overwhelmed at times by the love and support, the prayers, and of course the financial blessings that have allowed us to spend this time in Rwanda. We have over 90 individuals or couples who have invested in us financially, and many more who've invested time to pray for us and our time here. We are so thankful for each of you and your involvement in this life-changing experience.

I've been thinking a lot about some of the lessons I know we've learned since being here, but I will have to save those for other posts. We realize that we will continue to discover ways that the Lord has used this time to teach us for a long time to come. At least, this has been our past experience.

Our prayer for the next 20 days is that the Lord would give us clarity regarding our future, and that we would continue to trust Him and be open to what He wants to teach us while we're still here.