Kayonza

Today (Tuesday) we traveled to the village of Kayonza. About an hour outside of Kigali, it was a bigger community than I anticipated. We were continually amazed by the countryside on the drive out – and I have heard that tomorrow’s drive to Kageyo is just as stunning.

Kayonza is the birthplace of ANLM. Upon return from Uganda, it was there that Pastor Charles was overcome with grief over the plight of the children there. Using money that had been given to him for his own schooling, he and his wife instead sponsored 9 children to go to school…thus the first sponsorships of ANLM.

We started the day with a tour of the ANLM property. Currently there is a primary school (grades 1-6) and the first 2 levels of secondary school (American equivalent of 7-8). There are also children’s homes for orphans. There are plans for a full secondary school that will have boarding available (most kids in Rwanda who go to secondary school – 7-12 – board because there are few and the distance is far). ANLM’s school is NUMBER 5 in the nation! This is nothing short of the hand of God. Because of the amazing work the staff accomplished, the government recruited several of their teachers to help write the NATIONAL curriculum that will go into effect 2011. Unlike America, this curriculum is not optional – all schools use the same guides.

This morning, Clay and I made the decision to sponsor an 8 year old girl named Sarah. We were blessed by God to have the opportunity to meet her and her family today. She lives with her mother, grandmother, and younger brother. Sarah is sweet and has a beautiful smile. She loves to play hide and seek, and her favorite subject is English. I can’t wait to see how she grows over the years to come.

Rwanda Days 1-2

We landed Saturday at 10a Rwandan time and headed straight to the Dream Center. It was "Center Day" which is a time for sponsored kids to come to the center for food, baths, and church. They love it! We then headed home, unpacked, and had dinner. By 8pm it was all we could do to keep our eyes open...and we slept like the dead.

This morning started early...5:20 to be exact. Wide awake. The sun was up and roosters were crowing. I finally climbed out of bed at 6:30 to get ready for church. Thoroughly enjoyed the service...I love worshiping over here. Similar to Zambia, the people have no inhibitions. They know they serve a big God and they come to worship him all out.

We are now at the mission house waiting on orientation, and will then head to conduct a service at church for the youth.

Tomorrow we will get the opportunity to feed and minister to the street kids who come the center twice a week for food and baths.

Internet is hard to come by (I'm sure you are all suprised...TIA). And we are not staying in the house that has the WiFi...so I'll post again and with pictures when I can.

Navigation Day 2010 - part 2 The Resolution

When we last left off, I was standing in the parking lot at Zilker Park, lamenting the fact that I had messed up one of the most precious moments of fifth grade...

1:45p (this one is long, but hang with it) – I hide an empty treasure box and go to profusely apologize to my parents and students. On the way I call Amy D. and to find that she is on her way to the school for a meeting. She makes a detour to my room where she gets an extra treasure box (Divine Intervention that I had 2 parents bring boxes) and she puts the letters in it and leaves it in the middle of my room.

My parents are MORE than gracious when I tell them of my SNAFU. We gather the troops, and head off in search of the treasure. At this point I realize I have LOST my car keys. I do not mention this at the time since it did not seem prudent to show my parents that I had apparently lost all sense that day as well. We get to the pomegranate tree in which I hit the empty treasure box, and one of my kids yells “I found the treasure! It’s car keys!”. I’ll take those, thank you. All of my chaperones lost it laughing at this point. The kids finally find the empty box and just before I can launch into a discussion about how Christ is our treasure and nothing on earth can compare, one of my sweet, sweet boys says “It’s the Holy Ghost! God’s our treasure!” Amazed at how the Lord worked that afternoon.

We then spin the story that pirates have stolen our treasure and we must persevere to find it. As we march down the hill, one of my dad’s tells my kids “I need 2 of you to hold Mrs. Dixon’s hands. We need to be sure she makes it to her car.” Love it.

We head back to the classroom to find that Amy has made it in time and treasure letters are intact. Praise God!

2:35p – My kids write some sweet letters to their parents, and 2 of them even wrote me letters thanking me for the day and offering prayers to get well before the trip. This is why I heart my job!

3:05 – I sprint out of my classroom to get home in search of the Driver’s License. It was in the second pair of pants I searched.

To God be the glory for the whole day! Whether Satan was on the war path, or it was simply my humanity, I’m not sure. But what I AM sure of is the joy of the Lord was my strength, and that joy was not stolen through all of my misadventures.

Navigation Day 2010 - part 1

6:15a – Wake up and instantly know I’m sick. Sore throat. Itchy eyes. Not good. We had no cold meds.

8:00a – Start class and prep them on what they will do with the sub. My class rocks – this went very smoothly. I told them I wasn’t feeling well, and was going to need their cooperation so that I didn’t have to yell to be heard much through the day. They were very sweet and nodded in agreement.

8:15a – My sweet husband brings me Dayquil. Which. Jacks. Me. Up. I warned the class that Dayquil has a funny affect on me…and if I said or did anything crazy that it was probably the meds.

9:15 – Kyle and I go to my car and I accidentally roll down the back glass. It will not roll back up. Sweet.

9:20a – We are off and running at the park. I have $300 cash from Regents to pay for canoes. Uh-oh. Can’t find my folder. Frantically look everywhere I have been in the whole 10 minutes we have been at the park, only to find one of my parents holding said folder, because I handed it to him to use as a hard surface to write on.

9:45a – Arrive at canoe station. The hippy sitting at the table asks for a picture ID. No problem. Except there is a problem. My driver’s license is NOT in my wallet. Stay calm. He accepts my Regents ID and we are off again.

10:00a – Man overboard! One of my canoes nearly tips, so in an effort to keep the kids dry, one of my awesome dads JUMPS in freezing Barton Creek. Luckily enough he was near the bank and it was shallow enough for him to stand. How in the world he got back in the canoe I have no idea…because when I say “bank” I mean a side of the creek that goes straight up.

10:35a-1pm – Out of the canoes and heading to Lou Neff Point. All goes well through our stop out there and we make it back to the pavilion for lunch. At this point my kids take a play break on the playscape only to come back to me traumatized by the horrific things written and drawn on the inside of one of the slides. *Note to parents: check the slides at Zilker before you send your kids down them. We live in a fallen world, and it is sad that our young ones have to be exposed to such garbage.

1:30p – I leave my group in the capable hands of my chaperones to hide their treasure. The treasure is letters written by parents to their children. This is one of my favorite parts of fifth grade and a really sweet time. So of course. I get to my car and the letters are not there. I have the box with no letters.

...... to be continued

t-17 hours!

We're leaving for Rwanda tomorrow morning! Thanks to everyone who is willing to pray for our trip. I will post our itenerary later tonight or tomorrow morning.

WHOO HOO!

Donations for Rwanda

Hi friends -

It's hard to believe one week from THIS MOMENT (11:28a) Clay and I will be boarding our first flight for the trip to Rwanda! We have been so blessed by family and friends encouragement and financial support to help us realize the call God has given us to GO.

I have gotten lots of questions about donations so here is a list of things we are aiming to take to the Rwandan children and families we will be working with. If you would like to help gather any of these items please email or call me (mindydixn@gmail.com).

Much love and thanks!!!

small tubs of vaseline (travel size)

soaps

shower scrunchie puffs

toothbrushes/Toothpaste

small scented lotions

lip balm/chapstick

nail polish

t-shirts

crocs/flip flops

socks (fluffy and soft--for warmth)
panties/underwear

towels

sheets

scarves

reading glasses ($1 aisle at Target or Dollar Tree)

large Suitcase/Duffle/Plastic Tub to be left in Rwanda or returned

healthy fruit snacks for kids (pre-packaged)

little boxes of raisins

lollipops (dum dums and tootsie pops)
smarties

stickers

silly bandz

little matchbox cars

bubbles

jump ropes

deflated soccer balls and air pumps

crayons

small coloring books

pens

small spirals/journals

bibles