Hi everybody! It’s Ben. So I’ve not been able to write to everyone for some time because I was quite ill. Everyone had been hit with some kind of sickness but I had been firmly struck in the chest with an unpleasant internal infection. No worries though, with 2,000 mg of Cipro and many prayers from my team and friends I am on the uphill slope towards feeling as good as new. I also wanted to tell everyone about my market experience.
Our host, Isaac Tyrrell, took us to the market to buy supplies for the projects we were doing for the week. We arrived at the Rwanda Home Depot. This is a lumber yard in which there are stacks upon stacks of lumber. There are a few rows of stores in which you can try to find anything from pipe fittings to sludge hammers. We were looking for many different things so we got to visit many different shops. You don’t have any set prices. You get to use your bartering skills to negotiate prices of things which can be fun at sometimes but most of the time is just incredibly aggravating. We needed pipes so what we had to do was find the size of pipe we needed but the length of the pipe was about 30 feet long. We had them cut pieces about one meter long and then they had to manually thread the ends of the pipes. If the pipes were not done well we would not buy them. We waited for about an hour and a half until they had finished 10 good pipes.
Hi everybody! It’s Skip. After the showers were completed, Isaac was very pleased, as were all the children. They now have 6 working showers in the girl’s shower room when before there were only 4 working showers. They now have 6 working showers in the boy’s shower room when before there were only 3 working showers. Also, there is privacy now. Before we did our work each shower room was just and open room. Now, each shower fixture has curtains for privacy. None of the children have hot water for their showers. They do shower everyday—always with cold water.
With our paint team completing their work, and out team completing the showers, our host was quite surprised since we asked for more projects. Isaac expected us to complete only the showers and the painting while in Rwanda. Yet, in two days, we completed everything! So, we moved onto the sewer line in the guest house which caused an awful odor to rise in the house, raising the chimney at the kitchen building, a new water line for the Church, and painting the inside of Papa and Mama Jo-Jo’s house. Praise the Lord for allowing us to get these projects done.
We’ve played A LOT of soccer (football) and Skip is an awesome Defender and Nick is the top muzungu goal scorer!
A note from Vicki: Skip & I have been teaching the kids about Pennsylvania & snow. The kids have only seen snow in the movies (like the Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe), or in pictures. Sadie &I brought along this stuff called instant snow (it is a powder and you just add water & it instantly becomes a substance that resembles snow.) We handed out bowls of the powder & cups of cold water & instructed the kids to all pour in the water at the same time. I cannot wait to show the video of the children when the powder turned into snow. They started screaming & laughing & shouting for joy, but the best part was the snow ball fight. The instant snow was an instant hit!!
In summary, we’ve accomplished so much, so quickly, that only additional funds are our obstacle. We told Isaac that we would wire more funds, for the additional projects we’ve completed, when we get home.
God is so great that we are all doing well and on the mend health-wise. The children of Rwanda at Victory Home of Champions are beautiful and they profess the name of Jesus Christ proudly and often. They sing to Jesus at night and love hearing stories from the Bible. Don't be surprised if there are children from Rwanda at BCC very soon. We're trying to find away to bring some of these beautiful "bebes" home!!!!
AMEN!
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