Mission Rwanda: November 11 and 12

Disclamer: I had every intention of trying to write an update for the blog each day and then posting them when I got back. Unfortunately this did not quite happen as I had planned, so a few of these updates were written on that day, a few have excerpts from my journal from that day, and a few are just recaps done afterward. Enjoy. 

We spent the first day and a half of our trip just traveling. Washington D.C. to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Entebbe, Uganda to Kigali, Rwanda. I usually get very anxious on flights, but could tell that I had a lot of prayers going up because after takeoff, I was fine on all of the flights. I actually slept through the takeoff in Uganda! Trust me, though, by the time we landed in Kigali I was thrilled to be off the plane.

Ice crystals on the plane window

Sunrise view from the plane

Me, Denise, and Keary waiting in Addis Ababa

Tracking our progress

We got in around 2pm and then went straight to the Bloom Hotel where we are staying. While it is pretty tight quarters, there is electricity most of the time and hot water a good portion of the time as well. When they said that we were just going to eat, work on Sunday school lessons, and go to bed, I was a little disappointed. But when I started to feel like I was going to fall asleep at dinner, I was okay with it.

We broke up into groups to plan what we wanted to do the next morning. I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to do, but eventually decided to join the music group. We all brainstormed and sang together to decide on what we wanted to do for the service. It ended up being a really fun time where I got to know some of my teammates better.

After dinner we met with our debrief groups- groups of 3 or 4 people that we will meet with every night to pray and share. And then we headed to bed a little early.

My debrief group: Me, Jeff, Ashton, and Denise (photo taken on Friday)