Week #1

What a week it has been! Today we beagn our first day in the nursery school at Nabycindu. It was so much fun and Katy and I were treated like celebrities. We both are excited to get started on the work we have to do here, in what is now seeming like a shorter and shorter time. Today we talked with Mary and have set up a weekly bible study at the Ligue for ladies who work there, and friends of Mary--she has agreed to help us get the word out; her daughter will help us translate. We are both excited about getting the studies off the ground, Wednesdays we will meet with a small group of ladies from Esron's church--not doing the same Bible studies as the others, more a time for prayer and discussion, Friday's we will be at DORCAS for the bible study there, and on Saturday we will do the same study with a larger group of women from Esrons' church. We know God is orhcestrating it all and just stand in awe of how qucikly He has begun to move here and how bold he is enabeling Katy and I to be. We have been enjoyoing our time with friends Sarah and Sylvan and hope to investigate what they have been doing thorugh Anchor of Hope soon and to see some of our "street kids". (Lisa, I plan on giving John Paul a big hug for you!)
I miss all of you back home! I thank you all so much for your prayers, we have needed them. Just a few specifics you can keep praying for:
- Sleep! Katy and I both laid awake all night the other night because our bodies are so jacked up by jet lag! It's pretty frustrating, but we did both get a better sleep last night. Amazing what a concoction of Tylenol PM and Malaria pills can do to help! But we of course would love to get restfull sleep without pharmecutical assistance. ;)
- The bible studies; we start then this week and just ask for prayers for guidence as to how excatly to begin, what the dynamic of the group will be, working with the translator, etc.
-Please also pray for Esron and Wayne as they assist us while we are here. They are both such a tremendous blessing to both of us and I don't know if we would make it without them!

The other night (as I lay awake ALL night with my thoughts) I listened to an old DTS chaple podcast I had on my I pod, and not coincidentially I am sure, it was my professor Dr. Allman who was guest speaker. He said that we do not serve God because He needs us, but we serve him because He enables us. My prayer for the trip has been to keep that attitude, to do all that I do for no other reason than to glorify our Savior.

Enabled in Christ,
Melissa

P.S. If anyone wants to email updates on current events in the U.S. that would be FABULOUS! Any news would be fun to get really! :) Sadly, I think some Rwandans know more about what's going on in America than I do. (They are fascinated with Obama!)