week dos (I don't know 'two' in Hindi)

So my second week in India is over. It feels like it's been so much longer - I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing! ;)

The past few days have been pretty tiring. The Freedom Firm staff had their retreat this weekend, so the five girls stayed with us at Farley (our house). It's been really great getting to know each of their individual personalities - they are all so different from one another! Although there is a language barrier, especially with the few who speak very little English - their personalities still come through strongly! There are moments of tension - mostly surrounding issues of cultural differences (they can't grasp the fact that we don't eat rice for every meal!) - and working through these situations with a language barrier can be pretty trying, but we get the job done eventually, ha!

The church I go to here is really great - it's pastored by a South African man, and most of the "foreigners" attend. Both weeks I have had things to take away from his sermons, so that's a real blessing to still be fed with the Word during this time. I felt so encouraged and excited about the Lord's provisions leaving church this Sunday!

I've gotten used to my bucket showers again, and am slowly getting used to the spice of Indian food, and also getting used to eating a lot of the same foods here at home, since we don't have access to everything we're used to back home. Once again, overall, doing really well. I'm excited to see what the next 10 weeks will look like (that's right - only 10 more weeks till the journey is over and I land back in USA!)

If you are a pray-er:

- health - I had a little bit of a cold, which thankfully went away, but now one of my housemates is quite sick, and the other one was sick a few weeks ago - pray for continued healing & health for all of us!

- for less tension and conflict between us and the girls - for more understanding on both our parts, and for mature resolution.

- for confidence in my role and purpose here.

THANK YOU ALL!

Indian beginnings!

HELLO! I would say that in Hindi, but I have not learned any! Oh my.

So, I have been in India a bit over a week now, so it's about time I let you all know what's going on, eh?

Well, let's start by saying I am doing MUCH better adjusting than I did in Rwanda, and that's no reflection of the countries or organisations themselves, but having two housemates makes a HUGE difference. I live with two girls my age, one American & one Irish. It is SUCH a blessing to have friendly people around (and English speaking..ha). So, that's been really amazing. We live in an old missionary home up in the mountains of India - it's really tranquil and beautiful :)

So let me outline for you what a normal week looks like for me here in India:

Three days out of the week I am in the Freedom Firm office - the girls (there are five of them, all about my age, and a bit younger) have education with "Teacher" in the morning - maths, English, Hindi - then they move on to work. They design and make jewelry to sell to make their wages. They are so creative and hard working, it's so cool! So I basically just help out with some school work, or teaching typing/computer skills. This week has been really busy with the jewelry too, so I've done a lot of help with that.

The weekends are the busy days though. On Saturday morning we go to horse therapy. The girls assist with giving horse rides to some disabled children from the community. Not only is it a fun time for the kids, but it helps to strengthen their muscles sitting up on the horses. It's great to see these girls who have experienced so much, give back to other people so willingly. After that, we (me and one of my housemates) go back to the girls house for lunch, the girls do chores, and just hang out. Then Sunday we all go to church (I am really enjoying the church here!), and the same - go back to the girls house for lunch and chores and hanging around.

So things aren't particularly structured, but I get to spend a lot of time just socialising sort of with the girls and with other FF staff/volunteers, which is nice.

So, all in all I am doing well - getting used to the spice of Indian food! & eating it with my hand (thanks to my Sri Lankan sister-in-law for the practice I have had with this..) Ooty is beautiful, and I am really enjoying being here. But, I also look forward to the day I get to go back to USA & see my friends & parents.

I feel like this is a pretty basic fill-in, so if you have questions, feel free to let me know!

Thanks so much for reading!

Much love,

Bronte.

care means nothing.

Hello again my beautiful, wonderful, faithful blog readers! (and welcome to those of you who have newly joined the cyber-version of my journey!)

It’s time again - time for me to set off on another foot of my journey. In just 3 days, I will head off to India.

A couple of weeks ago (here comes that brutal honesty you all enjoy… ha), I would have given anything to get back on a plane to America and just say goodbye to this trip (again..). But, today, the Lord is faithful and kind and merciful to hear my cry! How beautiful is it to see His promises in scripture come true (finally…! Just kidding.. who am I to question His timing?!)

I have been lucky to be able to be in contact with the two girls I will be living with in India – both about my age, which is a nice touch. I am looking forward to meeting them.

But, as I have been thinking about this next part of my trip, I realised I had to remind myself of something that I wrote about earlier (I think in my second post). WHY am I doing this?? I was sitting in church yesterday (I admit, my mind may or may not have wandered after this point came to me, spurred by something the pastor had said..hehe). I am an emotional person – perhaps you are too – maybe those sad ads on the TV or the sad videos on Facebook or the sad stories in the magazines just make you feel sad and horrified and like the world is just an ugly place. I know I feel that way sometimes – I think ‘How can SUCH evil exist?’ But here’s the thing: an emotional reaction basically means, well..nothing. When I feel sad or offended or angry at a situation or issue, that emotion really has no effect on any situation other than my own..how selfish am I?? A reACTION, really, doesn’t mean a thing until it becomes an ACTION. What purpose does my care or compassion really serve if it ultimately does nothing for those I feel it for? How dare I sit and cry or sit and be disgusted or sit and condemn those who commit evil if I’m not willing to get up and DO something about it! That is vain, selfish, shallow, and a misuse of the emotional capabilities (+ whatever other gifts I feel He has created me for) that God has placed within me. It’s time to stop seeing, watching, reading, feeling – and DO. A verse that seems to have followed me my entire life is Micah 6:8 – and what does the Lord require of you? To DO justice, to love kindness, and walk humbly with your God. Not think about justice, not want justice, not like justice – but to DO justice.

So, I am feeling excited to finally get to live this out. Don’t get me wrong, I am still nervous! I don’t typically don’t get along very well with transitions.. and I’m really sick of airports and planes.. ha! But, overall, I feel excitedly-anxious for what is ahead of me.

If you are pray-ers, I would appreciate your help!

• That I would transition quickly and easily to my life in India – I REALLY struggled with this in Rwanda, so I don’t want a repeat of that!
• That God will really bless the relationships I have with both my housemates, and the other workers at Freedom Firm.
• That God will quickly heal any negative emotions I will feel leaving Australia and arriving in India – that He would remind me of the things written in this post as I go through this next phase.

THANKS AS ALWAYS! You guys are more encouraging than you know!

P.S. Check out Freedom Firm (click here!) if you are not yet familiar with them..

"You cannot change anything in your life with intention alone, which can become a watered down occasional hope that you'll get to tomorrow. Intention without action is useless" - Caroline Myss

'"I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." - Matthew 25:40

G'day!

Well this post is definitely long over due. I guess I haven't written it coz I'm not exactly sure what I have to say. I have left Rwanda, and am enjoying some time with my family in Australia. This place really is my home, and I'm thrilled to be here.

One of the things that kept me in Rwanda so long was the fear that I'd leave and regret it and feel like a huge failure and feel really dumb for the way things went. I am happy to report that this is not the case! I have full peace about my decision to leave when I did (about 3 weeks earlier than originally planned). Even though things did not go according to plan, I have confidence that I was trying to follow what I thought God wanted for me. I don't know if I misinterpreted His plan, or if He sent me to Rwanda to learn all the things I did learn there, but, I don't think I have to know - whichever of the two it may be, I was trying to be obedient to Him, and He sees that - I know He isn't disappointed in me, and that's really all that counts in the end.

I hope that one day I will be able to return to Rwanda and give it another go! Now that I have more knowledge of what kind of programs exist, what is needed, and where I fit in in those areas, I don't want to walk away from it, just accepting that it happened and that's the end - I want to redeem my time there somehow, but that won't be for another few years, so we'll cross that bridge when we come to it ;)

As for now, I am happy to be here in Australia, but also a bit nervous about my upcoming trip to India. I definitely feel good about the things I have learned during my time in Rwanda that I can now apply to India, but I'm also nervous about missing home all over again. Adjusting to life in Rwanda was extremely difficult for the first few days/week, and now that I am so relieved and happy to be here with my family and will be seeing Bryce and then have to say bye to him again for 3 months, I am scared that it's going to be ever harder all over again once I get to India.

So, once again, for all my pray-ers out there, if you could please pray that I would 1. be able to enjoy my time here without worrying about India, and 2. that my transition to my stay in India will not be too emotionally draining and that I will have peace about being there.

Thanks again for reading,

I probably won't be updating again until I get to India in the first week of February, so for now, have a beautiful Christmas!

endings in Rwanda

Ah, first, my apologies that I have been so absent from updating lately. I have done a few things here and there – visited my housemates nursery school again, some quick odd-jobs for my other housemate, another day out helping to build the house in Ngenda (this time I helped carry chopped down eucalyptus trees!)

Also went out to see Gisenyi and Musanze with my housemate – it was really beautiful (minus the altitude sickness!) We stayed at a little place run by some Franciscan nuns right on Lake Kivu, across from the Congo. We even saw one of the volcanoes glowing through the clouds at night!! I’ve added it to my bucket list to go see a volcano before I die! It was really beautiful and I’m glad I got to explore a little more of Rwanda.

I also went out again with REACH to another village where they have previously run their reconciliation/empowerment workshop. The participants were able to get together again after a year, and share what they had been doing with what they learned since they went through the workshop. I didn’t get to hear much, since they speak in Kinyarwanda, but what I did hear was so beautiful. These people are so proactive and dedicated to improving not only their own life, but the lives of others. It’s really awesome to see. For example, one woman shared that her husband had been put in prison (and has since died) for being a genocide offender, but through the training, she was able to reconcile and find friendship with a woman whose husband has been killed during the genocide – what a powerful testament to how beautiful the human spirit can be, even in the wake of it’s ugliness! Hearing about some of the training made me stop and realise that if these people can cling to such forgiveness for something so huge, that I should be more willing to forgive in my own life, because the things that have been done to me, are not even close to what these women have witnessed. I hope that you too will take a moment to stop and think about how our small hurts, and even our big hurts, are chances for forgiveness – if these people can find forgiveness in something so huge as a national genocide, we too can forgive people in our life. It has been an honour to meet the people of Rwanda.

Unfortunately, I have gotten myself sick! I have an amoeba in my intestines.. I think it’s in my intestines.. ha. It’s pretty common for foreigners here – it’s a microscopic parasite of sorts that is found in certain foods and water. Basically any time you eat outside of your own home, you’re at risk to get one, so no huge drama, but a bit miserable being stuck in bed feeling nauseated for a few days! Luckily my lovely fill-in Aussie mum offered to take me to the doctor to figure it out and get some pills. And my housemate has had something similar before, so she’s been really helpful also. So, as much as it is never fun to be sick away from home, I’m blessed to have the people I do around me.

Now, comes the biggie. Ha. I have decided to leave Rwanda a few weeks earlier than originally planned. I have been thinking and praying over this for so long, and I think I have finally found my answer. It didn’t come in big flashing lights like I had been praying for, I mean how often does God really ever give it to us that easily ;) but I have come to an answer, and I feel peace about that. I’ve also been having issues getting my Visa extended – I’m technically meant to be leaving the country by tomorrow, which is confirming in and of itself. It feels good to finally know – I have had so much anxiety over this situation lately. It’s been so draining. So, I will probably be leaving in about a week, and heading to my sister’s house in Australia (the plan was always to go to Australia, but now I’m just going a few weeks earlier).

I’m sure I’ll have plenty more to reflect on this situation in the next week or so, and maybe some more explanation, which I do feel I owe to everyone who has supported me throughout this trip. But, that will come with time – I don’t want to speak too soon.

So, as always, I thank you for reading, I thank you for supporting, praying, encouraging, for any little thought you have even given to me. I have been truly blessed by the amount of people I have felt come around me during this time. A lot of people say that stuff like this shows who your true friends are, but that phrase usually is associated with finding you have less friends than you thought – I think I have had the opposite experience. The number of people who may not have been my closest or best friends, but who have reached out to encourage me or just send well wishes has been truly beautiful. I feel so supported by each and every one of you. So I thank you. And ask for your continued support as I:

1. Transition out of Rwanda back to Australia.
2. As I then head off for India in February for another 3 months of who-knows-what!

Ok, signing off. Thanks again.

Much love,

Bronte.

YWAM & REACH

long time no type!

after finishing up some admin work for the school/preschool at YWAM for their Closing Day, i was then invited to attend a seminar at YWAM. it is a course on healing and care for children in crisis/trauma, taught by a professional counselor from the UK. some of the information was a bit repetitive for me, given my social work degree and work with children, etc. but it's been a good refresher course given i will be going to work with girls experiencing severe trauma in february.

it was a lovely surprise when on the first morning of the seminar, the australian woman whose family goes to the church i go to here was also taking the seminar! it's so nice to have other aussies around! ;)

this then allowed me to go out in the field (out into the "villages" of rwanda) with her husband, who works for REACH, which is a reconciliation/trauma/counseling based organisation. they hold seminars to talk people through the history of rwanda, the build up to the genocide, and then counsel people through the trauma of the genocide, which must be powerful beyond words. at the end of the seminar, the participants have the opportunity to continue working together in some way. for example, one group we visited, decided to make and sell soap as a group. another group (the group i visited for most of the day) decided to help one of their fellow members by building a house. she is just 19, and her mother died a year ago. she now has to raise her three siblings - age 3, 6, and 9. after learning that they were not living in adequate housing, the team decided they'd all build a house together for her and her siblings and her grandmother also. so today, i was able to help them make mud bricks! they dig a whole out of dirt, poor in water, and then stomp through it like you see people doing to make wine! then they take the mud, and put it into a frame to form the shape of the brick. they then take a few days to dry, and voile! all the members are very young - teens-early 20s. it's pretty impressive to see them all lend their time, energy, and hard work to this girl. some of them have given their lives to Christ, so we got to hear (through a translator) some of the things they are reading about and learning in the Bible.

so tomorrow is the last day of the seminar, have some fun things planned for the weekend (my housemate decided the whole week was her birthday week, so we've had something fun planned each night since monday ha!), then monday brings another trip to immigration to see if i can get my visa extended.

thanks, as always, for reading!

much love

-Bronte.

Lake Bunyonyi, part 2

the second day of our stay in Uganda was just as beautiful as the first.

we went over to the island with the rope swing and had a bit of a swim

we then headed to the island where we had met the locals the day before, as they had invited us to come watch their high school football/soccer match.. Lake Bunyonyi vs. Central High School. we watched as they ran around a completely NOT flat field, some with sneakers, some without shoes on, some with one shoe.. and then the RAIN came. and i don't mean a cute little sun shower.. this was a monsoon! the game stopped and we took shelter in one of their buildings, until of course, Jon and Ty decided they'd play their own game. all the Africans watched on as two crazy muzungus played football together in the rain ;)

once the rain let up, we decided we should head back to our island before another storm came. but another storm came. canoeing through the "waves" on the lake with the wind blowing while we sang pirate songs was slightly stressful, but mostly just a heck of a lot of fun. the rest of the night included playing cards, relaxing and reading, and just some good conversation about an array of topics as we got to know each other a bit more.

i am now back in Kigali, about to start another week helping out at YWAM. even though i was only gone for a few days, the hustle and bustle is overwhelming already! but, i am so thankful for this weekend - both to the people i got to spend time with, and also to God for creating such a beautiful place for us to enjoy.

if you ever have the opportunity to go to Uganda, i recommend Lake Bunyonyi - you will NOT regret it!

-Bronte.

follow this link for some photos from the weekend :)

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2477861661168.135908.1091280021&type=1&l=7fdad63fa2

a weekend away in Uganda

Ah, Uganda. I don’t even know where to start to explain this weekend!

As I write, I am staring at the beauty of Lake Binyonyi. I don’t know how big it is, but it’s big enough that there are a series of small islands – some are used as accommodation, like the one I am on, but some are the homes of the locals, where they farm crops. They have schools and churches also. Although there are many signs of human activity here, it still screams of the beauty of God’s creation.

We got to our island by canoe, and by canoe, I mean a hollowed out log. Very Pocahontas-y ;) It was about 45 minutes to our island from the mainland. We are staying in what are called “geo domes” (photo at the bottom). I also have some lizards as roommates ;) After settling in, I spent about an hour and a half literally just sitting in the sun looking out, praying, thinking, and just being alone. It is nice to be removed from the distractions of internet and phone service, etc. and the hustle and bustle of Kigali. Ty, Jon and I decided we’d take a canoe over to the island where there is a rope swing and go for a swim. Unfortunately, we discovered, that steering and paddling a hollowed out log is harder than it looks.. we spent some time going in circles, but eventually got it figured out, only to see a rain storm heading our way. The rainy season of Africa strikes again.. we saw the big dark clouds, felt the wind, and on the top of the water, we could see the spray from the water drops landing – it was a pretty phenomenal sight. Especially when we looked to the opposite side and saw blue skies and the sun shining. We decided we should find some shelter because the water was getting a bit rough because of the wind, so we paddled to the nearest island. It rained (heavily) for about 1 minute and then stopped.. all in all, it was a hilarious situation, but also completely beautiful.

As we made our way towards the island, a local man on another island got our attention and held up a football/soccer ball. We decided to skip the rope swing, and accept his invitation. We figured out we were on the island that housed one of the schools. We played some soccer, and spent some time with the kids there. Ugandan kids know more English than Rwandan kids do, so it was nice to have at least a little bit of communication. We took photos, taught each other dances, and they sang to me. It was moments like that where I just reflected and was thinking, ‘Wow, I’m in Africa..” and in those moments, I felt absolutely blessed to have this opportunity. These are things I will hold onto for years and years to come. The canoe trip back to our island was breathtaking all over again, as the sun was beginning to set, and the water was now completely still. We reflected as we paddled back that things like that just don’t happen in Kigali – being that it’s a city, there’s not such a strong, yet open, sense of community. It was refreshing to engage in some light-hearted friendly interactions.

Nighttime brought a fun time of playing cards and just chatting. It’s nice to get away from the busyness of Kigali and just be in complete darkness and stillness. The night sky looked unreal. I don’t think that I have ever seen so many stars in the sky at one time, not ever. It’s a shame how much of God’s creation we miss out on living in city and suburban areas.

Today will be full of more fun and beauty, I am sure. Thanks for reading!

-Bronte.

follow this link for some photos from the weekend :)

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2477861661168.135908.1091280021&type=1&l=7fdad63fa2