Rwanda is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. One typically thinks of Africa as a vast dessert, fields dressed with dry grass and acacia trees. That isn’t Rwanda, well at least not Kigali. After a long 30+ hours of traveling I arrived at the Rwandan airport around 11 o’clock local time. Dwight Jackson, FH country director for Rwanda, picked me up. The drive from the airport to the guest house I am staying in was a bit surreal. There was a heavy fog blanketing the city. It made the anticipation heighten that much more as I awaited a new vantage at each turn of the road and break of the hill. I arrived at the guest house (pictured below) and was pleasantly surprised. It is a guest house that is run by another local ministry that works with and houses various missionaries. It is very clean, the property is beautiful, and yes mom there are mosquito nets.

Today I spent the morning with Dwight at the FH Rwanda office. He began to familiarize me with the country, FH’s role, and hopes for future development. I am extremely excited with how I may fit into this picture. I then enjoyed lunch out with he and his wife Brenda.

I will be here in the capital for about a week, at which point I’ll be traveling out to more rural locations. I will be sure to keep you posted as I go, though I’m not sure how good the internet will be in those areas.

Lastly, several of you asked for ways you can be praying for me regularly and specifically. It felt weird posting specific and daily prayer requests on an open blog, so I decide to create a prayer section on this site. It is password protected. For anyone who would like to know specific things they can pray for just let me know (either comment here or e-mail me at chris.lglp@gmail.com) and I will send you the password.

Thanks, God Bless!

I am enjoying the last sips of my London fog at the wonderful airport Starbucks. It was an interesting 24 hours leading up to my departure. I was pulled over for speeding, not given enough malaria pills, had to replace a watch battery that picked just the right moment to run out of juice, and forgot my power converters after being at my parents already and drove the 45 min trip (each way) back to my house to grab them. But, on the bright side…I didn’t get a ticket (nicest cop ever), I will be having some pills shipped to Africa (we can do that these days), amazingly walmart will change your watch battery for $5 at 7pm (I still dislike them but that earned some brownie points), I now can plug in U.S. devices in foreign countries, and I still managed to get an hour and a half of sleep!

Phew…well time to board. About 35 hours of travel now…until then…

cbm

Some friends of mine whom many of you know, or know of, are in the midst of an unbelievably raw time in their lives. Through what I imagine has been a season of both overwhelming love and pain, they have been able to find joy and hope, through God, in the face of their loss. I don’t feel as though I can express the weight of this so if you want more information on what I’m talking about,  CJ has been writing frequently on his blog as he has moved through this process, I’d encourage you to read and hear the words from him directly.

Today I saw this video posted of a new song that has presumably come out of this time. The fact that he is posting, to me, is a sign that he continues to invite people into this, hoping to share the love of Christ with them each step of the way, while also publicly engaging God in this process of healing. My prayer is that by posting this it would further expose that message, his and Renee’s hearts, and ultimately, Christ’s message which is spreading so much with their faithfulness. It is a powerful blessing to live with people like this within the body of Christ, and within my community.

I can hear Peace around the corner
playing our favorite song
He’s a Giant living reminder
this is not our home for very long

You can take my heart and all I dreamed of
You can have the future that I saw
’cause I would trade my Peace for another
this is what I wanted after all

after all is said and done
I’d trade His life for yours
I would take just one
and after these days fade away I’ll see Your face
I will run home

He’s our favorite thing to cry over
what He did will change us all
and it’s the pain we just can’t stop
that’s moving us along

after all is said and done
I’d trade His life for yours
I would take just one
and after these days fade away I’ll see Your face
I will run home

I can hear Peace around the corner
playing our favorite song