A is for Abigail, my teammate, a sweet sister who stands firm in the truth of Jesus and is consistently reminding those around her of that truth.
B is for bucket showers or as our host dad says, “African showers”.
C is for CC, my teammate, who I have been roommates with since the beginning of the race. I love getting to spend so much time with her and learn from her how to have a child like spirit for Jesus.
D is for dancing our hearts out, the African way. Whether it is at home with our family or in front of church, it’s always all out dancing with such contagious joy.
E is for early mornings that are spent with Jesus and in prayer with my team.
F is for my Rwandan family. Pastor Innocent (dad), Veancia (mom), Joshua (brother), Mucyo (brother), Prince (brother), and Fiona (sister). They have all made their way into my heart and I cherish every single moment I get to spend with them.
G is for gardening, which also means planting grass that has been pulled up out of the ground in heaping piles, in order to replant it in an orderly fashion.
H is for hope, something this country has built itself on over the last 20 years since the Rwandan Genocide, hope for a peaceful today and tomorrow from here on after.
I is for Isaac, one of my Rwandan friends who volunteers as the financial person for the church we are working with. He is so sweet and is always excited to see us.
J is for joy. The joy for my all girls team named Soul Sisters. It has been so sweet to be with sisters who love so well and radiate such joy with each other and with everyone around us.
K is for Kigali, a city of smiling faces, of many nations, of lights, of laughter, of love and service, of generosity, of humanity, of humility, and of the Miracle House.
L is for laughter. Laughing until we cry when Pastor Innocent says, “My chair is dancing”, laughing when my little brother Prince uses the word “lovely” to describe anything he finds…well.. “lovely”, laughing around the dinner table as we all sit together for hours, and laughing with the sweet sisters on my team.
M is for Morgan, my teammate who is constantly bringing joy and deep, Jesus filled love to all the relationships around her.
N is for Nicole, my teammate who grew up in Chicagoland! She is so bold in her pursuit of the Lord and is so intent on encouraging everyone around her in that.
O is for Oh so many card games! My team and my host brothers love playing cards, so we have spent many afternoons and evenings sitting around the table or on the floor and enjoying each other’s company while having some fun!
P is for “Peggy” aka Paige, our incredible team leader who has showed us so well how to be a servant leader. She also loves unicorns and chocolate.
Q is for quiet, which is not easily found but is so sweet when I do get a few quiet moments with Jesus.
R is for rocks. We spend many of our days carrying lots of rocks from the front of the church to the back so the workers can build a wall with them.
S is for Sarah Beth, my sweet teammate who is a deep feeler just like me. She brings such deep joy to our team and is such a light to us and everyone around her.
T is for Thanksgiving in Rwanda. Thanksgiving is a US holiday, so the rest of the world does not celebrate it. But my squad got together to celebrate and then we had a dance party that night with our host family.
U is for umuchanga which means soil in Kinyarwanda (one of the languages spoken here). It is one of the few words that I have learned in their language because we have been working with a lot of soil.
V is for Viate, another one of my Rwandan friends who is working to help clean up the church so that it can reopen. He is so hard working and even though we don’t speak the same language is has been so much fun to work alongside him.
W is for water. Water in a blue jug for drinking, and water in a yellow jug for showering and dumping down the toilet after we go to the bathroom (there is no running water).
X is for {e}xxxxxxxstinguishment of wifi. Wifi is hard to find here and when we do find some it usually does not work too well. (Please be patient with my lack of communication :))
Y is for YELLING! Our host dad always comes into the house yelling our names because he is so excited to see us.
Z is for Zoo. Our house is always full of so many people that it’s often like a zoo, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.
