An Apology - "...Our Response is committed to stopping by the side of the road, looking these childr

Back in the Saddle Again
I have heard from several of you that I need to put a new blog entry out here, so here it is!  We successfully returned on Friday afternoon and have been busy trying to catch up on sleep, tell our stories, return emails, check voicemails, and re-acquaint ourselves with our families.  The trip was beyond amazing; the life-change that will happen in us is truly transformational and we are believing for cool things in East Central Minnesota and the end result in Kivuruga, Rwanda.  I’m not sure how to summarize other than saying the following things: * The World Vision infrastructure, leadership, and volunteer commitment is off-the-charts.  I have co

Post for Tuesday
Tuesday  11/10 @ 11:00pm at the Masaai Mara in Kenya (2:00pm CST) Jamba (hello in Swahili)! It is Tuesday night and we don’t have internet at the moment here on the Masaai Mara in Southwest Kenya (we are supposed to by tomorrow night…. I certainly hope so).  Today was the day we left Rwanda and returned to Kenya.  We left at 5:30am for the Kigali airport where we flew back to Nairobi, Kenya.  We had some time before our flight to the Masaai Mara so we went to a nature conservation area and visited where they fed the baby elephants; it was quite fun and the staff was very knowledgeable.   After that brief visit we had lunch at a local pizza place before

Monday 9:30pm (Rwanda time); 1:30pm CST
Today (Monday) was the final day of what I’m calling phase 2.  In phase 1 (orientation) we got to know the World Vision staff & volunteers, the other team members that were going to different places, and information about World Vision’s organization and HIV & AIDS as well as things like cultural sensitivity, etc.  All of this while allowing us a chance to adjust to the time change and the new culture.  Phase 2 (ADP visit) was all about getting into the Area Development Program (ADP) and getting to meet the local World Vision staff & volunteers, community leaders & pastors, and the residents while seeing first hand the community needs, strategies

Sunday 9:30pm (Rwanda time); 1:30pm CST
Today (Sunday) was the final day of what I’m calling phase 2.  In phase 1 (orientation) we got to know the World Vision staff & volunteers, the other team members that were going to different places, and information about World Vision’s organization and HIV & AIDS as well as things like cultural sensitivity, etc.  All of this while allowing us a chance to adjust to the time change and the new culture.  Phase 2 (ADP visit) was all about getting into the Area Development Program (ADP) and getting to meet the local World Vision staff & volunteers, community leaders & pastors, and the residents while seeing first hand the community needs, strategies

Sunday 11/8 6:30pm (Rwanda time)
Sunday 11/8 @ 6:30pm in Rwanda (10:00am CST) Muraho. Amuruku? I can’t believe we only have one more day left in our Area Development Project in Rwanda.  We will spend time with the people of Rwanda tomorrow before driving town tomorrow evening to Kigali (Rwandan capital) where we will spend the night closer to the airport before getting up Tuesday morning and flying back to Nairobi.  Tomorrow night we will be reunited with the other folks from New York who travelled to a different part of Rwanda and then Tuesday we will reunite with all of the people on the trip (those that travelled to Ethiopia and those who remained in Kenya).  It will be a great re