Daily Sights Around the Diocese

Bishop Jared proudly displays Diocesan Fruit Products  

Fresh Avocados in season!

Mother Teresa and Claudine

Community in Rwanda

Arriving on July 1^st, I started with community at the baggage claim as I heard a woman ask another person if she were Carrie.  Jane from St. Andrew’s in Mount Pleasant, SC was coming for her annual summer three month trip to teach pre-school with Peace, a lovely woman originally from Uganda.  Since we came on the same flight, Peace came to pick us up and bring us both to Musanze/Ruhengeri.  I had the pleasure of a lovely 5 day stay with Caleb, Louise, Lydia and Moses King.  Louise and I started my first morning at the local and hospital pharmacies to discern what dermatologic medications were available.  Over the next day and a half, I saw about 100 people with Louise, Joanna (a PA student from Canada), and two local doctors, Anne and Stephane.  Louise had asked me to give some talks on acne, eczema and psoriasis, which was helpful as that was the bulk of the problems, which we saw.

On the afternoon of July 3, the Kings, Joanna, and Otavia, who is a rising Sophomore Morehead-Cain scholar from Italy, and I went to Lake Kivu at Gisenyi and enjoyed an idyllic overnight at a Catholic retreat center.  We had a special birthday celebration for Joanna that day with homemade cupcakes.  The next day, after a walk, we had a fun swim in the lake full of races by Moses and Lydia.  We returned to Musanze to have a dinner and celebration for Louise’s birthday with the same group and additionally, Fiona and Chris, who are missionaries with AIM from Australia, Peace, Jane, and two men who work with Caleb on the hydroelectric project (Roger from England and Jesse from Asheville).  It was a lovely time!

Having heard of Sonrise Orphanage for years, I was thrilled that Louise arranged for Joanna and I to go with her to see about 50 students there with skin issues on Saturday morning.  The head prefects, Grace and Allan, helped us and then gave us a tour and lunch.  It was nice to see where Hillary will be.  Around this time, we learned from Pastor Prosper about the delay, so we went home and played a board game, walked, and had dinner with Pacifique, who is a friend of the Kings and comes monthly to stay with them.

Although I was sad to start the time at Gikomero late, I was thankful to be able to go to the 7:30 am English service at the Anglican Church in Musanze/ Ruhengeri that Bishop John had built.  The best part was to see the final performance of the children’s choir  singing a song Lydia wrote and which I had seen practiced by the kids with much fervor.  I am still singing this song to myself.  After a time of Bible study on Genesis 49, we returned home with about 12 people to whom the Kings gave bread or pancakes as well as tea.  After a time of praise and prayer, some stayed to address some concerns.  The Kings are constantly helping others in a discerning and generous way…I mean constantly.  After Lydia, Louise and I came back from a walk and a trip the Mountain Gorilla Lodge, we heard some bleating in the King’s yard, which confirmed the gift of a goat as thanks by someone.:)  Joanna kindly rode  2 hours with the driver to take me to Kigali and made sure I found Pastor Prosper and Eugenie.  As well, we met up with my friend, Greg Meyer’s sister, Caritas, for whom I had a very full bag to give.   I cannot tell you how special this time  at Musanze was and how welcome I felt by all.  I truly enjoyed everyone I encountered.

Community continued right away with our friends at Shogwye and the team.  I am going to focus on our time at the Health Centers now.  On Monday, the entire team sans Eric had a tour of the health center there as part of our time.  On Tuesday, we also all saw the one at Gikomero.  As Louise told me, the health centers are the backbone of the health system in Rwanda, which is an impressive one with much accomplished with few resources.  It is so exciting to see that since Andy came six years ago and heard of many women walking miles in labor, that all women now give birth in the health center.  The center in Gikomero has existed for a year and seven months and is possible because they have that wonderful water source that we partnered with them on.  It is amazing that now they serve a population of 15-20,000 and deliver about 20 babies a month along with providing a complete immunization plan similar to ours.  One strong focus is family planning, and they were refreshingly open with this and their prevention and treatment of HIV/Aids.  The rate of HIV and maternal transmission is similar to ours due to all of their efforts and foresight.  They use a solar power system for power.  We have heard repeatedly from Bishop Jared and all of the pastors of attending to the people here holistically, and one sees that so clearly at the health center.  It is very inspiring and exciting to see.

Today, Lee and I and Marieke, who is an oncology nurse in Amsterdam and is with another group here, had the pleasure of going to Shogwye Health Center and teaching a mid-wife from Gikomero(Marie Claire) and a nurse from Hanika (Jessica) and one from Shogwye (Providence) as well as the directors from Hanika and Shogwye.   I used some wonderful laminated cards with common dermatologic conditions in English and French from the American Academy of Dermatology with pictures and treatments outlined.  Lee talked about common eye conditions they may see, which engaged them.  After that, the three of us asked a lot of questions, and they asked us many in return.  One thing we wondered was why the incidence of malaria, which had been very low, had suddenly risen to 8%.  We had speculated on various things.  Marie Claire explained that since the incidence decreased, people stopped using their mosquito nets; thus, the rise.  By the end of the day, we all exchanged much and had gotten to be friends with emails traded.  They all requested, and we are excited to see about 50 dermatologic patients together on Friday morning in Shogwye. 

Lastly, one of my favorite things has been morning devotion at 7:45 with the diocesan staff.  We have read through Proverbs 20 over the past two days and have focused our days on specific verses to meditate on after discussion.  I have felt such a sense of community in every arena and give thanks for all of these lovely people who love the Lord so much.

My love to Andy, Cate, Laney and Claire (the 13 year oldJ) along with Cappie and Ellen and all of my family and dear friends, whom I miss so!  Carrie

The One and Only

Saturday July 5th and Sunday July 6^th

As the only one to arrive in Kigali on schedule, it is left to me write the first blog entry.  Cary is already in Rwanda but after the events of the trip has decided to spend an extra day with her friend in Northern Rwanda.  Teresa, Jim, Hilliary, Curt, Sue and Eric’s plane from Raleigh was initially delayed, and then after it took off had to return to Raleigh due to a loss of cabin pressure. They have made alternate reservations and are currently in Brussels and will fly to Amsterdam on this morning, and then to Rwanda, arriving this evening. Eric on the other hand has passport problems and will have to remain in Brussels until those problems can be straightened out.

I arrived in Kigali on schedule but with no one to meet me, since they were expecting all of us this evening. By God’s providence, Pastor Jean Pierre was meeting a group from Holland that came in on the same plane as me. Through the help of Eugenie, Teresa had given me her phone number before I left, I was able to meet up with Pastor Jean Pierre and come to the Shyogwe Diocese Guest House.

This morning since all the plans for Sunday were cancelled, I went with Bishop Jered to a service honoring the history of St Peter’s College in Shyogwe. This is a post secondary private college run by the Diocese, where students qualify for certificates in accounting, computers, construction or agriculture. It is truly faith based and academically rigid. The students attending did not have high enough scores to enter the university, but after attending St. Peters a large percentage of they do.

The Service was attended by a large number of past students, and past headmasters. Pastor Prosper our host is a past headmaster. It consisted of a morning worship service and was follow by multiple speeches honoring the achievements of the College. Bishop Jared delivered a sermon on changing circumstances and made me speak during the introduction of guests.  The afternoon session was a celebration with native and contemporary dances between the speeches. In all honesty I was having trouble staying awake by the end of the afternoon.  

The remainder of the group comes in a couple of hours, I’m sure that they will have many stories to tell. It is clear that God has a plan and a sense of humor. Please pray for the team and for safe travels. 


Imana Ishimwe.

God be praised.

Lee Garrett

                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Apostles Team Takes on Europe!

We realize we've set the bar pretty high for future trips...a quick detour of Europe, complete with hot showers and free hotel rooms, not to mention the Belgium vs. Argentina World Cup game in Belgium's main square. The national excitement is contagious to say the least!

We're huge Belgium fans all of a sudden!

But in all honesty, after traveling for 30 hours straight and realizing that our perfectly laid travel plans had been thrown out the window around hour 2, the team has certainly begun to feel some exhaustion. The initial delay and then plane malfunction at RDU did cause us to miss our connection in DC, and subsequently changed the rest of the trip quite dramatically. However, we have seen the Lord testing us with patience and trust along the way as He has provided in each situation (new travel plans in RDU, DC and Brussels) and has literally shown us the way, one step at a time. 

Our prayers have been with teammate Carrie Alspaugh who has been in Rwanda this past week visiting and working with her dear friend, Louise King. And also with teammate Lee Garrett, who left on a different flight and made great timing following the original itinerary.

Amidst all the shuffling, we have frantically tried to communicate with our dear friends in Rwanda to let them know that Lee would be arriving at the designated time, but that the rest of the team would not be arriving until Sunday. Well, maybe half of that got lost in translation, but we do have word that Lee successfully caught a ride from the airport and will be getting the Hallelujah House all set up for the rest of the team :) Carrie and the rest of the team will join him tomorrow evening! Now does that mean that Lee will be preaching tomorrow morning? We're not sure yet...guess we'll have to wait and see! Love to you all!

And We're Off...Almost!

With 595 lbs. of luggage (limit 600 lbs.) all checked in, and a plane that has not yet left Canada we are waiting in RDU for the first leg of the journey to begin. But the team bonding has already begun...blog followers be sure and stay tuned to see what's in the tube!

We are grateful to our Apostles family for following us on this journey, and we love you all dearly! Here are a few initial prayer requests from the team as we turn our focus to all that lies ahead:

1. Families, kids, spouses left behind
2. Health and safety during our time there
3. Mila and the Apostles youth as they leave for Ohio
4. Team unity, relationship building and bonding
5. And in light of the new schedule we received at 9:30pm last night, pray that the Lord would prepare us for that He has in store
6. We would make our connection flight in DC and the rest of our travel would go smoothly
7. All 10 bags will make it to Kigali when we arrive :)

Rwanda Reflections (by Teresa Kincaid)

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send?"  And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I.  Send me!"
--Isaiah 6:8

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."  At once they left their nets and followed Him.
--Matthew 4:19

                                                                                   In 2012 I heard these words from the Lord and I stepped way out of my comfort zone to make the journey to Rwanda with Church of Apostles Rwanda Partnership Team.  I fell in love with Rwanda and wonderful friends, who are now family!  As my friend, Clementine, and Belise, Compassion child we sponsor, said, "our hearts are attached."  Oh, how I feel this in my heart!   Now it is July 3, 2014 and I depart for Rwanda for the 3rd time tomorrow.  I am an ordinary child of God's, like the fishermen Jesus asked to follow Him.  
Jesus said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."
---Mark 10:27  
WOW, it is amazing to live this promise!  God is faithful to accomplish His plan and purpose for my life and I am truly, truly grateful.  He has taught me and continues to teach me that we are never too old be to be used by the Lord!  Yesu ashimwe!!  (Praise Jesus)

While in Rwanda last year, the Lord spoke to me heart about becoming an Advocate for Compassion International.  When I arrived home, that was one of the first things on my "To Do" List.  What an amazing experience!!  The Lord has provided 54 children in Rwanda with Sponsors through Compassion International from our Church!!  Six members on our Team this year will meet the children they sponsor on July 10.  Four will meet their children for the first time.  Eric and I met our children last year, but Thierry, our new little boy we sponsor for Cayden, and I will meet for the first time!  It is soooo exciting!!!  Cayden wrote Thierry a letter and drew a picture with a star and planets.  Cayden wrote, "Thierry, you are the star of the planets!"  Cayden also dedicated a story he wrote for their end of the year "Author's Tea" to Thierry!  This brought me to tears.  Cayden has such a sweet, loving heart for Thierry and I am so grateful!! 

I am praying, listening and waiting with hopeful expectation for what the Lord will call me to this year!  I know and trust He has a purpose and plan for my life...Jeremiah 29:11.

This week our Team has been praying Ephesians 3:14-21, so I will close with these beautiful verses.
     For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom His whole family in Heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen!

Round Up-Day 11

(From Patrick)

Day 11-I am sitting on an Ethiopian Jet liner in the 20^th hour of a 30 hour journey (counting layovers).  It is hard to find the words to sum up our sister church partnership trip so far.  It has been affirming, moving, joyful, transforming and challenging.  Our hosts have been so gracious, and it and it has been wonderful to see and experience the genuine warmth.  This was our churches 4^th trip, my third, several members second and a first for three of our team.  The change in our partnership has been remarkable.  Names are known.  Hugs and exclamations of delight punctuated each joyful greeting, as we hailed each one, recognizing faces and remembering names:  Gato! Betti! Bishop Jared! Pastor Ettiene ! Eugnee Felicima Venant!   And on and on it went.  “Mwaramutze (good morning), I Mana Abahe Umugeedzah! (May God bless you!)  Yesu Ashmwe!  (Jesus Be praised!)

Taylor and Sarah with our cook Favian

As I witnessed, experienced and pondered these loving exchanges, I became more convinced of the true relational value of partnership.  The NT Epistles are filled with such warm greetings and blessings arising out of genuine affection and mutual knowledge of our Lord Jesus.

I come away from this trip deeply touched by our brothers and sisters in Rwanda.  They are building a new church building which we were privileged to see progress this week from ground level to about 15-20 bricks high all the way around.  They told us they are renaming their parish “Gikomero Church of the Apostles” to reflect our brotherhood.  They said “in our eyes you are Rwandan.  Please tell the brothers and sisters at home that we love them and are praying for them.  Tell them they are Rwandans, too!”

Laying brick on the foundation of the new church building

I was also very glad to see that Pastor Etienne has become a very good and solid leader of his parish.  He loves his people, walks miles every day to encourage them in their cell groups and families, meets regularly with his lay leaders, visits the health clinic to pray with patients, and faithfully teaches/preaches The Word of God.  He was delighted to show me the effects of the water project and the running water in the clinic, at a community station and just outside his home.

Pastor Ettiene oversees the building project

Ettiene greets Teresa

Our group also was impressed by the compassionate outreach taking place at Gikomero.  The church consistently ministers to over 100 single mothers who have suffered stigmatization, abandonment, abuse, or rape.  These single moms are heroically working, providing and seeking the best for their kids.  The church is encouraging them with resources and the hope of the Gospel.

How I wish all our church could experience this partnership first hand.  I wish you could have met Alfred and his wife, Jennifer – a warm, loving couple who minster to youth, children, mothers, and prisoners.  Alfred was unjustly accused of participation in the genocide and spent 11 years in prison separated from his wife and children.  You would never know it to look at him.  He is filled with the grace and joy of Jesus and preaches the good news every chance he gets.

I wish you could have met the four children and one young man a few members of our group have sponsored through Compassion International.  They and their parents are so grateful for the chance to obtain education. The young man has obtained a vocational degree to operate taxis and small vehicles.  He was incredibly kind-hearted towards the younger children, sharing his candy (a gift we gave) with them, and playing soccer with them with his new ball.

I wish you could have seen the dancing at the church service yesterday as we all joined in with feet pumping and arms waving in raucous joy.  What a picture of the kingdom!  As I watched the children dancing and the adults clapping, tears came to my eyes.  This is what we are all destined for in the kingdom of God when the nations gather round to worship.  The tears came because I know these people.  I know their struggles.  I know their illnesses.  I am getting to know their fears.  I see their poverty and lack.  I’ve heard their stories of genocide.  Their dancing brings tears because it is borne out of hope for a better world.  Not just in the coming kingdom, but in the progress of the kingdom NOW!!

Let the dancing begin!

Eric just can't help himself!

Patrick too!!!

I wish you could have been here for there is more to tell than I can possibly write.  I hope this blog has been a blessing to you.  I hope the few pictures and stories we have posted have made it possible for you to share in the journey.  I hope you will press in further with our sister church and hold them in your heart and keep them in your prayers.

Imana Ibana amohoro namwe.  (The peace of God be with you all.)