Tuesday, January 20
Ok, I admit it. I’m a sunrise-a-holic. We had another beautiful sunrise today. Then we got ready to leave by 8:15-8:20 to go to the devotional at the Dream Center. Only at 8:15 someone came running to get us because we were late. Things started at 8:00 AM, not 8:30. So…we showed up after the music started. As they sang, I prayed for God to nourish my soul since all but one of the songs were in Kenyarwandan. Even without understanding the language, I could sense the Spirit of God moving among us. 
John Africa, our main liaison on their trip, led the devotional reminding us of the goodness of God. As they were getting ready to close, one of the pastors, Pastor Fred, closed us in prayer. He made a few announcements before he prayed, and Lucy and I both felt for the interpreter as the pastor switched between Kenyrwandan and English. Interpreting is never easy, whatever languages are used. I got to see a friend from our previous trip, Rose, who used to work in the Dream Daycare Center, but now works in the main offices of Africa New Life at the Dream Center.
We got to see a secondary school that’s on the road to the guest house. We had wondered about that school while driving by many times; today we visited. I visited two classes. The first class was a computer training class. The school had gotten the computers in April and kids were still learning how to use them. I had the chance to observe this class with Amanda and we gave him some suggestions on ways that he could use space better and make the class more student directed. (Most of the good ideas were from Amanda, though.) 
The next class I visited was an economics class. I was blown away as I walked into a class of 50 kids in 6 or 7 groups. While the groups were large, they were all working on questions written on the board about price fluctuations. I believe half of the groups worked on one question and the other half worked on the other question. After a short time, the teacher called on a group to present their findings. This group gave their report, and then the floor was open to questions. The group had to defend their positions. After that, groups were asked if anyone had anything to add to the list of responses. Additions were made and defended. I should note that each group had to give an example of their statement. When the second question began, the fireworks started. A student asked a question, the presenter defended, and more questions and defenders came into the debate. Throughout, the debate was orderly and well mannered. I was smiling in awe as I watched the proceedings. The teacher didn’t let anything get out of hand, but he let the kids speak. When questions were asked of him, he directed it towards the class to answer. I had to leave a little before class ended, so I couldn’t tell the teacher how much I appreciated what I saw. 
John Africa joined us for lunch and we got an interesting discussion on Rwandan and Ugandan culture. A number of the teachers in Rwanda, including John, are from Uganda. I asked about this a couple of days ago, and found out that when Rwanda moved from French to English for education, many in Rwanda didn’t speak enough English. So, people recruited in Uganda which had been a British colony. We also learned about cows and their significance in the culture. Then, Lucy and I shared our stories. 
After the long double feature, we went out on a home visit to Amanda’s sponsored child. While we were at the sponsorship office, we saw our daughter’s sponsored child again. The family was big and included two adopted children. One heart-breaking prayer request was when the mother asked for prayers for the finances so that one of the daughter’s could go to school. They kept chasing her away because she couldn’t pay. (That’s one of the reasons to sponsor!) The other heart-breaking prayer request was one that we hear often: prayers that the father will be able to get a full-time job with steady income. So many are unemployed here, not because they aren’t willing to work, but because jobs are not available. They take part time jobs, or do whatever they can to keep their families eating food. The roads are full, every day, with people trying to earn a living. Old, one speed Schwinn’s bikes are often used as packhorses, people pushing them uphill loaded with water containers, or bunches of bananas. If you’re a businessman with money to invest, look into Rwanda!
Then it was home again to relax, watch the effects of the setting sun, and share with family back home. We get about 12 hours of sunlight every day. We pack a lot of work into each day. And then we rest. We continue to love and support each other during our visits. God is good.