Water and the Word in Africa

Fresh Vision for the Muslim World

2012-02-02T08:59:00.000+02:00

If you are paying attention to the news, sorry the real news not American news, you are well aware that Arab Africa is in a huge transition from Western Sahara all the way around to Kenya. Political change from government leaders to entirely new countries being formed, civil rights, pirates, terrorists, on and on. A wild time to live in this part of the world. Our home Church FPCBR is hosing a conference at the end of the month that should be an amazing opportunity to learn more about the realities of the "Muslim World". We wish we could be there and encourage any local friends interested in such things to sign up.

http://fpcbr.org/fpc/furtherintotheworld/globalmissions/GlobalMissionsConference2012.aspx

The Global Missions Committee is pleased to invite you to First Presbyterian Church’s 2012 Global Missions Conference.Continuing our emphasis on reaching the Islamic world for Christ, this year we welcome Rev. Mike Kuhn as our speaker. Mike is a pastor, missionary, teacher and author of Fresh Vision for the Muslim World.

Having served in Egypt for about 20 years (during which time he worshipped with our friends at Kasr el Dobara Evangelical Church), Mike developed numerous personal relationships with Muslims. Fluent in Arabic, Mike is a rare Westerner who has read the Quran in Arabic, which means a great deal to his Muslim friends and gives him unique insight to share with his listeners.

Expect Mike to challenge our perceptions of Muslims. Much of what we think is based on news coverage of extremist activity and is influenced by personal fear. (Likewise Middle Eastern Muslims’ perception of Western Christians is based on what comes out of Hollywood – a scary thought.) Mike asserts that we need a radical change of vision to one that is consistent with God’s Kingdom – one based on incarnational love.

Please join us on February 25th and 26th as Mike Kuhn shares his Fresh Vision for the Muslim World.

Dick Gates,
Associate Pastor for Missions

Chuck Barber,
Chairman, Global Missions Committee

MIKE KUHN,
GUEST SPEAKER

Mike Kuhn along with his wife and family, lived twenty-two years in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Although he holds Masters degrees in Arabic and theology, his understanding of the Muslim world has been shaped more by day-to-day interactions with Muslim friends and neighbors than by books or lectures. While living in the Middle East and North Africa, he grew to love Muslim people and appreciate their customs and language-Arabic. Mike’s ongoing friendship with Christ-followers from an Islamic background continues to influence his understanding of God’s pursuit to reconcile people of all nations to himself.

Mike and Stephanie recently decided to transition to a new ministry for a 2-year commitment. They will be working with LEARN (Leadership Education and Resource Network) based in Beirut, Lebanon. The goal of the project is to put an interactive Biblical and theological curriculum (Arabic) online for 22 Arab countries and the Arab diaspora. The target audience is Muslim background believers. He and his family will live in the US and travel to Lebanon a few times during 2012 eventually moving to Lebanon in 2013.

Mike also plans to start a doctoral degree at the Oxford Center for Mission Studies on the theme of the influence of narrative theology in the theological formation of Muslim background church leaders.

Missions Conference Schedule and Registration

Schedule
Saturday, February 259:00 – 10:15     Seminar: “The Islamic Worldview”
A comparison of the Islamic and Christian worldviews on specific issues with reference both to the Quran and the Bible. What is the nature of the world? What is the nature of humanity? What is the nature of the problem? What is the solution?  Location: SB 202
10:30 – 11:45   Seminar: “Awareness of Implicit Islamic Objections to the Gospel”An overview of the life of Muhammad, Jesus as portrayed in the Quran and the Issues of discipleship of Muslim Background Believers.Location: SB 202
Sunday morning, February 26
9:15 – 10:15     Combined Sunday School: “Jesus as Portrayed in the Quran”Location: Sanctuary
10:30 – 11:45   One Combined 10:30 am worship
Preaching Message: John 4, “Fresh Vision for the Muslim World”Jesus’ response to the Samaritans (John 4) and how it should inform and shape our response to the Muslim world.Location: Sanctuary
11:45 – 1:00     Abbie’s Soup for the Soul Abbie’s Soup for the Soul. Bring a pot of your favorite soup to share with the congregation. Donations will be accepted and will help supplement meals for Vyborg,Russia widows.Location: Gym
Sunday evening, February 26
6:00 – 8:00     Dinner & Presentation: “A Historic Overview of Muslim Relations with the Christian West”Understanding the Islamic militant and fundamentalist. Mike contrasts the “House of Islam” with the Kingdom of God, revealing the radically different ramifications of each.Location: Reception Room
Dinner will be served from 6-6:30 with our presentation to follow. A Serop’s chicken shawarma meal will be $10.00 per person. Please rsvp to the church office or register online at fpcbr.org. Childcare provided.

2011 Rosslyn Academy Sixth Grade Cultural Field Trip

2011-11-07T15:04:00.000+02:00

I had the great pleasure of being a chaperone on this year’s 6th grade field trip. The idea is it is a great opportunity to get these young minds of mush out into the Kenyan environment to experience the world they live in, build character through a challenging adventure, etc. It is a three day trip to the Mount Kenya area where we donate supplies and spend time with a local school, climb stage one of the mountain, visit a Kikuyu Village and close it out with a visit to Sweetwater Game Preserve.

Day 1 – Roughly 40 kids, 5 parents (myself, dad with Mission Aviation Fellowship, mom with BlueSky Ministries, mom psychologist, dad with DelMonte) and 2 teachers load out two busses.

It is obvious that the kids are still sixth grade as they choose to self segregate into a boy’s bus and girl’s bus (and as expected it proves out that by the end of the trip the boy’s bus looks like a “shock and awe” campaign has been waged and the girl’s bus smells like a bouquet of flowers).

We depart for about a three hour drive up to the school we intend to visit. We have a load of supplies – text books, art items, etc.

This is the reality for most of the school children throughout Africa

”We have no time to waste”
”Effective leaRning”
The face of then greeting

Making friends and playing games

We spent a great couple of hours communing with these kids, answering questions and opening the eyes for our own kids at how off the chart blessed they are and what the real “99 percenters” opportunities look like.
From here we head off to the traditional Kikuyu village

Here we learned about the very interesting Mugumo Fig Tree (posed all the details earlier) but basically it is a magical gift from God that grew from heaven down to earth and if you walk around it seven times it will change your sex – as our two knuckle heads on the left attempted.

The medicine man then thought the kids how to make different poisons for hunting or enemies and some herbal remedies for various illnesses. Was a super time for sure.

Onwards to the Mount Kenya Lodge to get these kids fed and rested for the big hike early the next morning.

Girls did not think this was the best bathroom ever but recognized it at least had a sit-on toilet

Good food and cool mountain model

That night we had a great fireside devotional and song session with all the kids and a neat group of hardcore British climbers joined us for the time.

Day 2 – 6am we head off to basecamp. Such a beautiful morning,

sky is clear and we think “wow, this is going to be a great day”
Basecamp is about an hours drive from the lodge and 9 kilometers up a dirt track which is nice a dry and passable.

The team is ready to go, I have Lillian’s crutches on my pack (she broke her hip 5 weeks prior to this trip after being thrown from a horse).

From basecamp to Old Moses stage one camp is nine kilometers through various terrain, traditional forest, bamboo forest then mountain scrub to 3,300 meters. We have packed lunches and the goal is to hike up then pick nick at Old Moses, hike around for a while longer then make the decent before dark.Knowing these are ten and eleven year olds we have arranged for an overlander truck to be avialable to assist when kids get tired out or injured. From the beginning the girls think it might be a good idea to truck up a ways to cut some of the 9k down, as Lillian has the hip problem I send her along. But, we make the boys tough it out and at least start on foot.

Our first warning of how the rest of the day would go started about half a kilometer in when the overlander lost traction and ran got itself stuck.

But, hey, we are on an adventure so lets just offload and enjoy the climb.
Shortly after the clouds roll in, rain, hail, wind, cold, wowza. (sorry, this is where all cameras get packed away and we have no pictures of the ensuing misery). Having no choice we complete the hike up to Old Moses, cram all 40 kids into the shack and start to try to fight off hypothermia from setting in. We feed um, dry them as best we can then tell them the bad news that we need to get moving on down the mountain as we are concerned the weather could go from bad to worse and we can not get caught up there after dark. The truck did get out of the first spot but got fully stuck another couple of K up as the rains turned the track into hell. From here we cattle drive the kids, slipping, sliding, falling down the mountain. My mantra to the kids is counting down to the goal,”9k, 7k, wave to the stuck overlander driver, 3k to go, wow there, we can see the basecamp” The kids are amazing, pulling through great.   Lillian looks like a giraffe – crutches like long front legs, navigating treacherous footing down the mountain in the rain. My problem is that I can see the base camp below but there is an obvious lack of bus shaped items parked out front.

Once at basecamp it is clear, the buses have left, once the rain started the drivers recognized the impassibility of the road in once it turned to mud and hightailed it for the tarmac to wait for us. Kids, believing that an 18k round trip in the rain was all that was required of them this day, all burst into tears. Parents and teachers consult, some of us want to get moving now before muscles seize up and hypothermia sets in. But, it is clear that some kids are done and cannot continue. The park rangers offer to build a fire in one of their cabins so the worst off kids pile in and strip off wet clothing. The MAF dad and I hold the other kids under a different shelter as we await word on the overlander being able to rescue us or if there are any other measures of extraction.

As I look out the cloudy window of the shelter I fear the sun is already setting but then it is clearly not the sun but a fire on the roof of the warming cabin the other kids are in. I take off running and yelling for their attention to get the heck out. The rangers use the fireplace as a kitchen so the chimney is full of grease, they build an extra big fire for all the kids, the grease ignites, the flams pour out of the chimney onto the roof – fun times for all. Thank God once the fire is doused all is ok. (how could I miss this opportunity to take pictures? Shows just how cold and miserable even the parents are). Just then we hear the rumble of the overlander in the distance. Rescue is here.

We can only get half the group on. So I load the healthy half as it is decided that the cold group still needs time in the (now controlled) fire house. Plan is to deposit half the group at a bus and send it onto the lodge then return for the second half. Well, kids are crying for joy, we load up and head out. Half a kilometer in….the road looks like a disaster and the driver decides to get the kids out, attempt the steep decline then reload if successful. We hike on down and the truck essentially side skids down. The kids all look a bit concerned at the lack of safety. We reload and strike out again. One kilometer later we loose traction, side swipe a cliff and do a terrifying 50 to 60 degree tilted angle scrape/slide with mud and trees coming into the compartment for a good half a kilometer until the truck comes to a rest. The entire time kids are full on screaming, I am telling them “it is all going to be okay, we are fine, stay calm and hold on tight”, the psychologist mom looks up at me at one point and mouths “but it is not okay” with tears in her eyes, I respond “I know but we have to pretend it is”. It was absolutely terrifying.we climb out the windows. Realizing we have 7 more kilometers to go but notice the road has flattened out before us.

We manage to get the overlander out of the ditch where it wound up but some of the girls have decided they are not by any measure getting back in that thing. We reload the others back onto the rig and 5 young ladies and myself start walking.

We are quite the show but we have a great time, talk about tons of stuff, relive the fun of the day, watch the sun set and make it back to the big buses just minutes after the overlander as it continued to have issues on the road. It then turns around for the trip back to the other group. After the big crash we called up to the other group to advise they are not being retrieved anytime soon and advised walking out sooner rather than later as the daylight is going to pass us by. Sure enough they make it a good 6k before the truck reaches them.

Nearly 25 kilometers on foot for my daughter with a broken hip, over rough terrain, in unfriendly weather…..I cannot believe how strong and determined this young lady is, I have never been more proud of her.   All of the adults gave her huge praise.

We all hightail it back to the lodge, shower, treat the wounded and sack out right away.

Day 3 – Plan is for an easy day, we wake all the kids at 6:30. Assess blister, rashes, sore muscles, etc. but everyone will live.   Lillian and I survey the damage on the overlander. Mud everywhere, the inside is completely coated upto the roof from the haircut we gave the cliff side. She considers this machine a torture device.

Breakfast at the lodge then we clear the rooms, load the busses and strike out for Sweatwater Game Preserve. The kids wound up seeing buffalo, Lion, Chimpanzee, Baboon, Black-backed Jackal, Warthog, Elephant, Reticulated Giraffe, Black Rhino, White Rhino, Zebra, Thomson’s Gazelle, Impala, Waterbuck, Eland, Jackson’s Hartebeest, Grant’s Gazelle and tons of birds.
Daddy likes this ride

Once of the neat things at Sweatwater is they have a learning center and a blind rhino you can feed.
Lillian learned about poo.

“At the end of the day” , as they say here, we had an amazing three days.   I am super proud of all the kids. (I learned that 11 year old boys are complete goobers and 11 year old girls are young ladies – really believe boys should not start kindergarten until like 6 or 7, just let them play in the mud until then, their brains are far behind the girls). I will cherish this time with my daughter until the end of my days. She can accomplish anything she sets her mind to, I have no doubt of that. I cannot wait until Ella Jade and Duncan are ready for this trip – Ashley has already opted out based on my report.

Isn't Kenya Already Evangelized?

2011-10-25T12:14:00.000+02:00

One of the questions we get from time to time is "Why does Kenya need missionaries, isn't it already a Christian nation?" Of course part of that question is true. Many millions of people in Kenya have been exposed to the Word of God. Our mission combines meeting the physical needs via clean water and health with meeting the spiritual needs via further exposure to the Gospel message of Jesus Christ, which we believe are equally still in need here and exhibits the type of ministry Christ lived out.

Take for example the current terrorism and conflict revolving around the al-Shabab group. This group is well entrenched within the Kenyan Somali community. We have had explosions in crowded Nairobi areas the last two days in a row. There is no greater reason to share the message of Peace that only Christ can deliver to the hearts of these men.

Another truth is that the Message has been distorted or misunderstood in very fundamental ways. I am not talking about theological differences that separate Roman Catholics / Presbyterians / Pentecostals but real loss of meaning and purpose of the Word of God. Here are two very real examples from my time in the field over the last couple of weeks.

A completely corrupted understanding of the fall of man.

This church believes that when Eve and Adam ate of the fruit they experienced blessing that live on to today. From the time of early childhood most everyone within the Christian world has an understanding, whether they choose to believe it or not that when Adam and Eve turned their backs on God in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:1–6), the consequences of their sin were devastating and far-reaching; they affected the very order of the universe. This church leader is in desperate need to understand that at least four relationships were broken through the Fall. First, Adam and Eve’s intimate relationship with God was broken (Gen. 3:8–9). This was the primary relationship for which they had been created, the most important aspect of their lives. When their relationship with God was broken, their other relationships were damaged too: their relationship with themselves as individuals (Gen. 3:7, 10), with each other as fellow human beings (Gen. 3:7, 12, 16), and with the rest of creation (Gen. 3:17–19). The universe is intricately designed and interwoven. It is holistic, composed of multiple parts, each of which depends on the proper functioning of the others. All parts are governed by laws established by God. When the primary relationship between God and humanity was severed, every part of the original harmony of God’s creation was affected. The results of this comprehensive brokenness have plagued humanity ever since. War, hatred, violence, environmental degradation, injustice, corruption, idolatry, poverty and famine all spring from sin. There is major work to be done here.

The wonderfully beautiful Mugumo Fig tree of Ngai (Sacred Kikuyu Tribe tree ).

The Kikuyu people have traditionally been monotheist, Ngai was the creator of everything and active in their lives. So missionaries found a easy entry into being able to tie Christianity into already existing principles. Last week near Mount Kenya a local tribal leader and pastor was gracious enough to teach a group of us on a cultural field trip from Lillian's 6th grade class about their Mugumo tree. We learned that this beautiful fig tree was a gift from God because it grew from heaven down to earth which is really cool. He explained that it started growing in another tree and actually consumed it's host as it grew towards the earth. The tree has magical properties too which are very interesting. If you walk around the tree 7 times it has the power to change your sex. Male to female, female to male, whatever the case may be. Upon learning that we were a group of missionary parents and kids he was excited to show us that his church was also Christian. On the back side of the Mugumo is a door carved into the trunk with the 10 Commandments painted on it, behind the door is a Bible dedicated to Mugumo and Ngai.

There is a very real mix of traditional beliefs and religions, our job, as best as God empowers us, is to bring His light into this world. This is as true in Kenya or the USA as in "unreached" regions of the world.

Loving our life here, please continue to pray that we are useful tools of God,
MacGregor

Tis the Season Already?

2011-10-16T20:14:00.000+02:00

[AC] Promo 2011 from Advent Conspiracy on Vimeo.

A Bittersweet Walk

2011-05-18T16:39:00.000+02:00

So lots going on for us here. And it has all been too unsure to commit to writing but things are looking more committed so I am making the posting.

As we close out our third school year in Kigali I am packing the house for our relocation to Nairobi, Kenya in August. It will be a great new chapter for our family with new opportunities to serve, deeper school resources and a whole new environment to engage. The discussion has been ongoing but we did not know for sure until about three weeks ago.

Same mission and same region just an expanded focus for me as we establish our regional management office in Nairobi for multiple reasons. Nairobi offers enhanced infrastructure, a full service airport to all the countries I will be working with and the opportunity to network with every other peer or funding organization working in the region.

Ashley and the kids are already back in Louisiana for some furlough time and I am packing things up. The container will be loaded at the end of May then sit for potentially months in storage until we complete all the paperwork and visa needs required to bring it along with us. God has provided a furnished house in Nairobi for us to rent from other missionaries taking an extended furlough as we wait on paperwork/furniture and find our future home. The kids will be going to Rosslyn, a fantastic missionary school, in the fall and are looking forward to it.

Anyway onto the "walk"

I got a call this morning from the Kenyan High Commission that my request for a one year multi entry visa from a while ago had been approved and that I was welcome to bring in my passport for the proper processing procedures.

It feels like it is going to rain today but currently the clouds are shading the sun and there is a slight breeze so I decided to walk as I also needed to swing into the bank, purchase electricity credits and visit the postoffice which are all within a 3 kilometer circuit from our house.

I strike out from home, pass two USAID funded NGOs - one HIV related and one youth skills training (maybe covers for Seal Team Six, who knows as you can never really tell where the money is going). Walk up hill and make the corner past the European Union building and the Embassy of the Netherlands (very cool 70s architecture - or at least cool in the 70s).

Make my way down the palm tree lined boulevard that has been repaved twice this last year (election year and funded by the Chinese Government then repaved by Chinese road crews so money goes back to China - smart) and into my bank. Great morning as it only takes 20 minutes to cash a check so I am ahead of schedule. I have spent as many as 4 consecutive hours trying to do the same thing in days past.

From the bank I continue past the British High Commission where we have had some great times in the three years we have been in Rwanda. They have a pub called the Gorilla and Goat right on the property with live music on Thursdays. Love the Brits, they know how to live abroad. Getting a bit sentimental about my stroll and places that will no longer be a part of my home.

Before I make it to the Kenyan compound I hear the telltale sirens that indicate the presidents motorcade is approaching so I an my fellow pedestrians make for the tree line to avoid the motorist being run off the road by the advance party. Quickly following passes the beautiful fleet of blacked out Landcruisers and Range Rover. Back to strolling. All goes as planned a the Commission and my nearly full passport has another visa glued inside for my travel needs. This passport is nearly ready for retirement as it has already had the maximum additional booklets of pages added. Reflect on what an amazing journey my family is on and how cool it is that God has chosen us to be a part of His Kingdom work.

As I leave "Kenya" I dart across the 4 lane boulevard and make my way back the direction I have come. Passing the old Novatel where we spent so many days early on in our residency letting the kids swim and play. It is now owned by Libya or whomever controls that investment fund these days. It is a huge place for Rwandan wedding pictures on Saturdays and Sundays and you can see some amazing costumes at play if you make it by on the weekends.

Just up the road a bit is the corner market where I can purchase electricity credit for the meter at my house....when they have it to sell. It is a middle man chain and KWH are only available on a first come first serve basis. Today is a good day and I am able to purchase 40,000 francs worth which should last me until I leave or very near too it. Need a bit of bread and some other supplies for my bachelor's rations.

My excitement builds as my next stop up the road will be the post office. I am eager to see if they have started sorting the mail from March yet.....But it's May you say? Yes but we are looking for the March packages that should have been delivered by Easter for treats from the grandparents to the kids (which will be all mine at this point.....or to share with some local kids). The calendar holds little sway in this world. Things are sorted and notice posted when they are sorted and posted. Unfortunately my little post box is devoid of slips so my desire for chocolate will have to be satisfied at another time.

My next stop is home. I reflect all the while on my morning walk and the places I pass and think in terms of the bittersweetness of it all. Of the great times, friends and work of the last three years and of missing them. Of the seemingly first world buildings and institutions and then the realities of the third world processes going on inside of them. Of how it frustrates me but then the reality is I love it - how boring it would be if it all worked all the time just as you expected it too. How suburbia is just not for me or my family, how we fit into this bit of reality and work well together.

I am going to miss this place. These people. These smells and sounds. The great news is I will be back often as Director over the region. It will be great to visit.

The Liberian Landscape

2011-02-13T20:49:00.001+02:00

One thing clear here is that Liberia is just out of a 15 year civil (or multiple) war. The infrastructure is a complete mess and sad to behold. As my friends say here “those big men who wage these wars do not love Liberia”. The evidence of that is clear.

This is not to be a downer just some of the reality of the conditions here. The great news is the people are pumped about the future and super outgoing.

View from the kitchen

View from the bathroom, house obviously not laid out with western interests in mind. Sunset on the Atlantic.

The house just before the sunset is a large UN housing complex with beach and pool. Would be great to hang out at but the high volume of “lady” visitors makes it off limits to the staff here.

It is dry season here and brush fires are frequent

One of the strange sights is hundreds of wrecked vehicles at the side of all the roads as well as the UN and NGO vehicle grave yards that abound.

Liberian Police Station

Local St. Paul’s church

Market area

Things you carry on a moto

To all my Auburn Plainsman Eagle Tiger friends….a graduate?

My favorite New Orleans own Blue Plate mayo, actually available here, bringing some home to Rwanda.

Downtown Monrovia

The sad thing to see is the absolute destruction of once serviceable facilities.

The former Ministry of Defense

The Unity Conference Center

Guard post for the once famous “Hotel Africa” and golf course.The former hotel Kids playing football in the yardUN vehicle on our compound road, they have tons of very cool Defenders

Now this is what I have enjoyed in the late evenings, reading and walking on the beach, oh boy do I miss living on the water.

Liberian Living

2011-02-11T20:22:00.001+02:00

I have been in Liberia for a week and a half now and am enjoying it immensely. The weather is very Louisiana like, the people are shockingly friendly (but passionately argumentative) given the 15 years of civil war just ended in 2006, and our workers are very ingenious given the limited resources locally available. All in all very much live living is SE Louisiana.

The reason I ventured out of my normal East African zone is for this guy, William, to get some leave time. William is our country director and was ready for some time off. William does a fantastic job of leading and loving his team. I first met William at LWI’s drill training school before I had joined the organization and he was leading short term teams to Central America. It was great to see us both wind up in Africa. One of the fun things they do is have Friday evening movie. Last Friday we watched a favorite of mine “The Gods Must Be Crazy”. It was wonderful to watch the guys as they saw this movie for the first time.The living conditions here are tough to say the least. We collect our own water from one of the nearby wells in the community.

The current facility is 45 minutes from town without traffic so I am not going into town too often, the great news is there is a Lebanese grocery only 20 minutes out so I am eating a ton of humus and fruit. Realizing I am at my top weight and have to change my activity and eating routine (old age setting in).

I know it looks like a junk yard but that is the lot William has to work with. Old army trucks converted to use in the drilling operation.

KV is our drill leader and is from Bangalore, India area. He is a heck of a cook and will cut the spices way back for me. I love his motorcycle helmet when he is drilling.

Some of my enjoyment over the last week plus has been the constant maintenance needs of the aged fleet. We have a great mechanic, Bill, and we have lost the generator and three trucks so far. All but one are back in action as of this afternoon.

lost it’s oil seals

5-Ton truck sheered a stud, we had to burn it out.

Toyota HighTop slipped the timing belt and bent valves plus some other bits.

Some of the Cajun like engineering that I have enjoyed….battery dead, just take a monster from the rig and make it fit….

We are in the process of constructing a new staging and living area on some land we purchased about an hour or so out of Monrovia.

The gate was completely dysfunctionalso the guys let me pretend I was helpful and weld for a while.Then we got hungry and cooked up a field lunch.I knew I was putting my gastrointestinal health in God’s hands but He kept me covered. It was fantastic and some kind of hot. The wildest food choice I have had to make was to turn down some sort of monkey…guess it is just not my thing…a little to close to my own DNA.

stay tuned for some pics of the area. I usually post tons about the actual ministry portion of the work but figured I would go more behind the screens stuff here. Rest assured two new communities received water, health education and evangelism by the team here this week.

Nyakahita Islamic School

2011-01-21T16:22:00.001+02:00

I have enjoyed monitoring the progress of one of our projects in a Muslim community called Nyakahita. They, like most here, were suffering from a lack of safe water access. The community school cares for 280 children and that is where we selected to place the water point.

The mosque in the background is getting some miniature minarets added.

Parent – Teacher counsel giving input into the importance of clean water. Imam Abdulla Kalim Katto – “I am so amazed to see that Christians can even care for our Muslim Community. I am still not understanding how you come to help us.” He is very happy with the project and how well we are working together with hopes for more activity in the region.Taking time out for our team to pray for the people of Nylakahita and for them to pray for us and our work. Thanking the Imam for being open to our participation in his community growth.

Our team started our relationship by holding some culturally relevant group meetings about health and how clean water will effect change for everyone in the community and where our Bible and the Koran agree about Isa (Jesus). Going back to the common fathers of both or faiths and moving through the histories. Later covering where we differ and letting it be known they are open to continuing discussions and discovery as the community members might be interested. These ongoing discussions are going very well with frequent phone calls from some members of the community initiating follow up visits. We are continuing to pray that a long term relationship will be maintained here.

These are great times

There We Saw The Giants

2011-01-18T09:47:00.000+02:00

I have been going back to this devotional I received from a good friend and find it a great encouragement in some situations and a motivator in others.

The Giants

      "There we saw the giants" (Num. 13:33).

      Yes, they saw the giants, but Caleb and Joshua saw God! Those who doubt say, "We be not able to go up." Those who believe say, "Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able."

      Giants stand for great difficulties; and giants are stalking everywhere. They are in our families, in our churches, in our social life, in our own hearts; and we must overcome them or they will eat us up, as these men of old said of the giants of Canaan.

      The men of faith said, "They are bread for us; we will eat them up." In other words, "We will be stronger by overcoming them than if there had been no giants to overcome."

      Now the fact is, unless we have the overcoming faith we shall be eaten up, consumed by the giants in our path. Let us have the spirit of faith that these men of faith had, and see God, and He will take care of the difficulties. --Selected

      It is when we are in the way of duty that we find giants. It was when Israel was going forward that the, giants appeared. When they turned back into the wilderness they found none.

      There is a prevalent idea that the power of God in a human life should lift us above all trials and conflicts. The fact is, the power of God always brings a conflict and a struggle. One would have thought that on his great missionary journey to Rome, Paul would have been carried by some mighty providence above the power of storms and tempests and enemies. But, on the contrary, it was one long, hard fight with persecuting Jews, with wild tempests, with venomous vipers and all the powers of earth and hell, and at last he was saved, as it seemed, by the narrowest margin, and had to swim ashore at Malta on a piece of wreckage and barely escape a watery grave.

      Was that like a God of infinite power? Yes, just like Him. And so Paul tells us that when he took the Lord Jesus Christ as the life of his body, a severe conflict immediately came; indeed, a conflict that never ended, a pressure that was persistent, but out of which he always emerged victorious through the strength of Jesus Christ.

      The language in which he describes this is most graphic. "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be manifested in our body."

      What a ceaseless, strenuous struggle! It is impossible to express in English the forcible language of the original. There are five pictures in succession. In the first, the idea is crowding enemies pressing in from every side, and yet not crushing him because the police of heaven cleared the way just wide enough for him to get through. The literal translation would be, "We are crowded on every side, but not crushed."

      The second picture is that of one whose way seems utterly closed and yet he has pressed through; there is light enough to show him the next step. The Revised Version translates it, "Perplexed but not unto despair." Rotherham still more literally renders it, "Without a way, but not without a by-way."

      The third figure is that of an enemy in hot pursuit while the divine Defender still stands by, and he is not left alone. Again we adopt the fine rendering of Rotherham, "Pursued but not abandoned."

      The fourth figure is still more vivid and dramatic. The enemy has overtaken him, has struck him, has knocked him down. But it is not a fatal blow; he is able to rise again. It might be translated, "Overthrown but not overcome."

      Once more the figure advances, and now it seems to be even death itself, "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus." But he does not die, for "the life also of Jesus" now comes to his aid and he lives in the life of another until his life work is done.

      The reason so many fail in this experience of divine healing is because they expect to have it all without a struggle, and when the conflict comes and the battle wages long, they become discouraged and surrender. God has nothing worth having that is easy. There are no cheap goods in the heavenly market. Our redemption cost all that God had to give, and everything worth having is expensive. Hard places are the very school of faith and character, and if we are to rise over mere human strength and prove the power of life divine in these mortal bodies, it must be through a process of conflict that may well be called the birth travail of a new life. It is the old figure of the bush that burned, but was not consumed, or of the Vision in the house of the Interpreter of the flame that would not expire, notwithstanding the fact that the demon ceaselessly poured water on it, because in the background stood an angel ever pouring oil and keeping the flame aglow.

      No, dear suffering child of God, you cannot fail if only you dare to believe, to stand fast and refuse to be overcome.

Tree of Failure

2011-01-16T14:54:00.000+02:00

This NY Times piece was shared amongst my men's group back in Baton Rouge. Felt like the point was great and worthy of discussion.

Tree of Failure

By DAVID BROOKS

President Obama gave a wonderful speech in Tucson on Wednesday night. He didn’t try to explain the rampage that occurred there. Instead, he used the occasion as a national Sabbath — as a chance to step out of the torrent of events and reflect. He did it with an uplifting spirit. He not only expressed the country’s sense of loss but also celebrated the lives of the victims and the possibility for renewal.

Of course, even a great speech won’t usher in a period of civility. Speeches about civility will be taken to heart most by those people whose good character renders them unnecessary. Meanwhile, those who are inclined to intellectual thuggery and partisan one-sidedness will temporarily resolve to do better but then slip back to old habits the next time their pride feels threatened.

Civility is a tree with deep roots, and without the roots, it can’t last. So what are those roots? They are failure, sin, weakness and ignorance.

Every sensible person involved in politics and public life knows that their work is laced with failure. Every column, every speech, every piece of legislation and every executive decision has its own humiliating shortcomings. There are always arguments you should have made better, implications you should have anticipated, other points of view you should have taken on board.

Moreover, even if you are at your best, your efforts will still be laced with failure. The truth is fragmentary and it’s impossible to capture all of it. There are competing goods that can never be fully reconciled. The world is more complicated than any human intelligence can comprehend.

But every sensible person in public life also feels redeemed by others. You may write a mediocre column or make a mediocre speech or propose a mediocre piece of legislation, but others argue with you, correct you and introduce elements you never thought of. Each of these efforts may also be flawed, but together, if the system is working well, they move things gradually forward.

Each individual step may be imbalanced, but in succession they make the social organism better.

As a result, every sensible person feels a sense of gratitude for this process. We all get to live lives better than we deserve because our individual shortcomings are transmuted into communal improvement. We find meaning — and can only find meaning — in the role we play in that larger social enterprise.

So this is where civility comes from — from a sense of personal modesty and from the ensuing gratitude for the political process. Civility is the natural state for people who know how limited their own individual powers are and know, too, that they need the conversation. They are useless without the conversation.

The problem is that over the past 40 years or so we have gone from a culture that reminds people of their own limitations to a culture that encourages people to think highly of themselves. The nation’s founders had a modest but realistic opinion of themselves and of the voters. They erected all sorts of institutional and social restraints to protect Americans from themselves. They admired George Washington because of the way he kept himself in check.

But over the past few decades, people have lost a sense of their own sinfulness. Children are raised amid a chorus of applause. Politics has become less about institutional restraint and more about giving voters whatever they want at that second. Joe DiMaggio didn’t ostentatiously admire his own home runs, but now athletes routinely celebrate themselves as part of the self-branding process.

So, of course, you get narcissists who believe they or members of their party possess direct access to the truth. Of course you get people who prefer monologue to dialogue. Of course you get people who detest politics because it frustrates their ability to get 100 percent of what they want. Of course you get people who gravitate toward the like-minded and loathe their political opponents. They feel no need for balance and correction.

Beneath all the other things that have contributed to polarization and the loss of civility, the most important is this: The roots of modesty have been carved away.

President Obama’s speech in Tucson was a good step, but there will have to be a bipartisan project like comprehensive tax reform to get people conversing again. Most of all, there will have to be a return to modesty.

In a famous passage, Reinhold Niebuhr put it best: “Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope. ... Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.”

A Morning at the Market

2010-12-29T15:42:00.001+02:00

Ashley does most of her grocery shopping at the local major farmer’s market, Kimironko. We are having a wonderful visit with her mom, Joan, and step-father, Ken. They spent Monday morning at the market and thanks to Ken’s love of photography we gave a great opportunity to share a bit of what this weekly adventure is like (minus the sounds and smells – you will have to come visit to get that).

God is With Us

2010-12-29T13:45:00.001+02:00

Another great piece for LWI. Includes a good bit of footage from our work in Rwanda (all the rig shots). Take two minutes to check it out.

God is With Us from Living Water International on Vimeo.

Twelve days of Rwandan Christmas

2010-12-13T21:56:00.000+02:00

The Twelve Days of Rwandan Christmas

*see glossary at the end

On the 1st day of Christmas Kagame gave to me: An M-T-N phone card.
On the 2nd day of Christmas Kagame gave to me: 2 bottle caps
and an M-T-N phone card.
On the 3rd day of Christmas Kagame gave to me: 3 Land Cruisers,
Two bottle caps and an M-T-N phone card.
On the 4th day of Christmas Kagame gave to me: 4 Mosquito nets,
3 Land Cruisers, 2 bottle caps and an M-T-N phone card.
On the 5th day of Christmas Kagame gave to me: 5 Gerry Cans,
Four Mosquito nets, Three Land Cruisers, Two bottle caps and an M-T-N phone card.
On the 6th day of Christmas Kagame gave to me: 6 brochettes grilling,
5 Gerry Cans, 4 Mosquito nets, 3 Land Cruisers, 2 bottle caps and an M-T-N phone card.
On the 7th day of Christmas Kagame gave to me: 7 peace baskets,
6 brochettes grilling, 5 Gerry Cans, 4 Mosquito nets, 3 Land Cruisers, 2 bottle caps and an M-T-N phone card.
On the 8th day of Christmas Kagame gave to me: 8 motos hooting,
7 peace baskets, 6 brochettes grilling, 5 Gerry Cans, 4 Mosquito nets, 3 Land Cruisers, 2 bottle caps and an M-T-N phone card.

On the 9th day of Christmas Kagame gave to me:
9 Mzungus facebooking,

8 motos hooting, 7 peace baskets, 6 brochettes grilling, 5 Gerry Cans, 4 Mosquito nets, 3 Land Cruisers, 2 bottle caps and an M-T-N phone card.

On the 10th day of Christmas Kagame gave to me:
10 drivers "on the way coming",

9 Mzungus facebooking, 8 motos hooting, 7 peace baskets, 6 brochettes grilling, 5 Gerry Cans, 4 Mosquito nets, 3 Land Cruisers, 2 bottle caps and an M-T-N phone card.

On the 11th day of Christmas Kagame gave to me:
11 torrents downloading,

10 drivers "
on the way coming", 9 Mzungus facebooking, 8 motos hooting, 7 peace baskets, 6 brochettes grilling, 5 Gerry Cans, 4 Mosquito nets, 3 Land Cruisers, 2 bottle caps and an M-T-N phone card.

On the 12th day of Christmas Kagame gave to me:
12 Intore dancers,

11 torrents downloading, 10 drivers "
on the way coming", 9 Mzungus facebooking, 8 motos hooting, 7 peace baskets, 6 brochettes grilling, 5 Gerry Cans, 4 Mosquito nets, 3 Land Cruisers, 2 bottle caps and an M-T-N phone card!!!!!

* Glossary of terms

Kagame = Paul Kagame- the Rwandan president

MTN = the wireless phone provider which sells pre-paid wireless phone service

bottle caps = sodas are served in glass bottles with bottle caps

Gerry Can = all purpose yellow jug used for carrying water, cooking oil, paint, gasoline, etc.

Brochettes= shish-k-bob with meat (fish, goat or beef)

Peace basket = traditional woven basket of Rwanda (has a top that looks like a Hershey's kiss)

Motos hooting = motorcycle taxi honking it's horn (British & Rwandans say hooting instead of honking)

Mzungu = name for white person or rich person

"on the way coming" = popular phrase which actually translates to I'm not even close to being there.

torrents downloading = aka African Netflix

Intore dancers = traditional Rwandan warrior dancers - beautiful to watch.

Ballet Rwanda

2010-12-12T20:59:00.000+02:00

We had a wonderful Saturday with Duncan's 9th birthday "Mission Impossible" party and the pleasure of watching Lillian and Ella Jade perform in Ballet Rwanda's "The Nutcracker".

The Gift of "Duncan-isms" (by Ashley)

2010-12-07T07:59:00.000+02:00

Duncan is always famous for coming out with some funny "Duncan-isms" as we call them, but this morning was slightly different. He woke me up this morning with a kiss and said, "Mom, I know what my gift is!" Being that it's getting close to Christmas and his birthday, my mind starts racing and I'm thinking, "How could he possibly know?....his gifts are not even on the continent yet!". So I ask, "Your Christmas gift?" Then he says, "No, my gift from God." So, now I'm a little more awake, and I ask, "What is it?" He says, "love". I just received the best Christmas gift a mom could ever ask for!!!

Driver's Seat View of My World

2010-11-10T17:16:00.000+02:00

Just a typical day on the road in rural East Africa

A Day In The Life from MacGregor Magruder on Vimeo.

Just a typical day on the road in rural East Africa. Produced by my friend Ryan Youngblood, www.fiveonefilms.com. Video captured by Ryan and Austin Mann, www.austinmann.com.

20 year old needs Pacemaker!

2010-11-01T09:15:00.000+02:00

John with his family as he was leaving for India.

Of course we never knew when we sent John off to study in India that just a few months after arriving he would develop a life threatening heart condition. John's heartbeat became so slow that he was fainting. After going to the hospital, it was determined that he has a "right bundle branch block" and "bradycardia". This means the electrical signals in his heart are not firing often enough and his pulse gets down to 20 beats per minute at night. Doctors have tried to treat him with medication, but so far to no avail. The next step is a pacemaker. John is of course terrified, alone in India, and without insurance. He is looking to us as his parents! We are also "terrified" as this is WAY more than we bargained for. Having two kids with heart issues (and now a third ;-) it is my desire to help John get the medical care that he needs. In India he is getting good medical care that I don't think would have been available to him in Rwanda. So, I know God put him there for a reason, but now he needs God's provision and prayers to help him get the treatment he needs. Pacemaker surgery will cost between $2000 and $2200 USD. Please consider prayer and partnership with this young man. Donations can be sent to First Presbyterian Church, Baton Rouge (put Rwanda in the memo) or use the PayPal link on our blog to donate with a credit card.

UPDATE: Our good friend Scott Ragsdale has a very cool company called "naseba", www.naseba.com, and they just happen to have an office in Bangalore. He very kindly dispatched one of his key guys to investigate the situation and over this week and through a good number of tests it looks like John will not have to have surgery at this point and possibly not at all! Apparently he is at an excellent medical facility and they have been quite thorough. More to come. Thanking God for good friends and relief for John.

Muzungu, Mzungu, Musungu whatever you want to call us

2010-09-28T18:01:00.000+02:00

One of the things "people of European decent" or "white travelers" first notice when traveling the East and Central Africa region is a consistent repetitive heckling of MUZUNGU from mostly kids but also adults. Exact spelling and pronunciation varies slightly by location and language. Most often it is good natured and accompanied with general excitement and interest in what it is we are doing. For example, when shopping at the farmers market there is great interest in what the muzungu is purchasing or when getting fuel everyone wants to see how much you get, what is in your car, etc. We also adopt the term ourselves as in exclaiming in shopping "oye, that is the muzungu price! I live here, I am Rwandan, give me the Rwnadan price!"

What is really special in my work is when I am the first muzungu that kids have actually had the chance to meet. They generally can't wait to see if my skin is the same texture, how my hair feels and what kind of goofy noises and faces I can make for them. A huge hit is always the "fart machine" on my phone. It is always a great pleasure to clown around and share time with them.

Field Trip

2010-09-23T14:07:00.001+02:00

I want to get better about updating the blog with the reality of our lives. I am told that what has become standard to us is still interesting for others who might stumble upon this page or friends and family back home living the American Dream.

I am just back from another great road trip up into Southern Uganda where we have a fantastic water, health and evangelism program focusing on children and schools. The purpose of the trip was to check on progress and to get our videographers, Austin Mann (austinmann.com) and Ryan Youngblood (fiveonefilms.com) on location to produce some great stuff for the folks who have funded the program there.

The Uganda team wanted to celebrate the completion of 50 projects this year so we had a good old fashioned goat roast.
Now, goat speaks for itself and is awesome. For desert we had Jack Fruit, these things get huge and the bigger they are the more like a giant slice of butt do they taste. Maybe the worst food joke God had for us here on earth.
We crashed at the Ariho Hotel, “Savvy travelers know”, 6 luxurious rooms and road side dining. “Top Flight Security” door.
To the field…..Austin had a great tiny adventure ready video camera so we attached it to the hood of my Defender to capture the feel of driving around (I will link to that when he has it up on his site)

One of the great things of my mission is working in places as beautiful as this………

and on roads like this…
But, of course, it is about fixing problems like this and sharing the love of Christ with kids like these.
On the way back into Rwanda Ryan “Mr. Cool” and I got caught in a fantastic hail storm…marble sized pellets blowing sideways.

Another great week in Africa. I am constantly amazed that God has allowed me to participate in this work of His.

Anti HIV Campaign at Ugandan Schools

2010-09-23T11:51:00.000+02:00

One of the fun things to do when I am at our projects in Uganda is to check out the latest anti HIV signs. They have an entertaining campaign to discourage premarital sex and raise awareness towards abuse. Here are some of the signs I enjoyed during this weeks trip.

Not sure about this last one............

Video from our friends at 4-more.org

2010-09-15T14:14:00.000+02:00

Our friends at 4-more.org are concerned with water for Rwandan orphans. We went out to look at some of the need and they produced this neat video. Also staring my friend Nick Greener with Water for Life.

Thank you video for our home visit this summer

2010-09-05T17:26:00.000+02:00

Thank You FPCBR 2010 from MacGregor Magruder on Vimeo.

Safety Net or Nothing to Lose

2010-08-26T13:48:00.000+02:00

21 years ago, I was an excited college freshman on my way to Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. My parents had the means to support me during my college years and I was blessed to finish my education without having student loans. I had a “safety-net” to fall back on if I should fail.

Now I’m a missionary living in Rwanda, and it’s my turn to be the parent. God has given me the opportunity to mentor and seek support for a hopeful Rwandan college student. John Rukundo has Christian faith like no other nineteen year old I know. His father has been in prison since Rwanda’s genocide of 1994 and his mother is disabled, older and cannot work. Yet, he prays for God’s provision and confidently waits for it.

I met John when I volunteered to teach English to a group of pastors attending Bible College. The director of the Bible College knew I could not teach without the use of a translator, so he hired two of his Rwandan neighbors to be my assistants. One of them was John and immediately we developed a sister/brother type bond. John had recently finished high school and wanted to further his education. Since I knew his story, and how difficult it would be for him to earn money for studies, I put a post on Facebook, saying “Got tuition?” I had a couple of donors come forth and one, in particular, has helped him finish his first year at a local community college. His grades were so good after two terms that the Rwandan Development Board (RDB) offered him financial aid to study abroad at the Indo-Asia Academy in Bangalore, India. Providentially, when I went to the school’s website to check it out, I noticed they had a student exchange program, with none other than…… Appalachian State University!!! Needless to say, it caused me to reminisce about my going off to school and how blessed we are as Americans.

As it stands now, The RDB will pay half of John’s tuition, but he is still in need of support for his textbooks, tuition and living expenses. On faith, John has already bought a one-way ticket to Bangalore, India. I went with him to purchase the ticket and while we waited for his visa to be validated, I was pondering…….would I have had this much faith? Would I put myself on an airplane for the first time knowing I had a one way ticket and no safety net, no nest egg, no parents to fall back on if I fail? But what John has, that most of us don’t is “nothing to loose”. His chances for a good job and future are very slim without education.

The Bible says, “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.” Phil 3:8 NLT So in this sense we all have nothing to lose, because the security that we value in our nest egg is really “worthless”. Our worth can only be found through Christ Jesus.

by Ashley

Bethany Centre School Revisited – One Year On

2010-06-21T17:15:00.001+02:00

So, I had the great pleasure to visit my favorite school in East Africa again last week. Bethany is about an hour out of Kampala, Uganda and is run by my friend Peter. Peter attended LSU for collage and made very close relationships with a number of people from our home church. When Peter decided to return to Uganda and start a school in his home community a group formed in Baton Rouge to help support and encourage his efforts.

One of the ways they chose to help the school was by funding a clean water intervention. LWI drilled a borehole and installed a handpump exactly one year ago. This pump has made a great difference for the children of the school and for the population of the community. Reducing sick days and some of the water collection burden on the young girls.

Bethany has come a long way in the last year. They have built teacher housing (allowing the attraction of better skilled instructors)

Constructed a kitchen area to prepare lunches for the kids – most students in the region must walk home for lunch leading to drop off of attendance for afternoon sessions.

Nearly completed the 2nd wing for the older children – they are holding classes now on a dirt floor – just waiting on the cement stage.

And have successfully purchased 4 adjoining acres of land that I am very excited about. My brain is awash in theories of creating a sustainable farming operation that could allow the school to become more self reliant. Peter had to abandon the chicken farming program this year do to extremely elevated feed costs in the zone. What would be the highest reward / lowest cost / low risk use of this land? Farming maize to feed the children directly and selling the excess for funding, goats…….? It is currently the training ground for the 2022 Uganda World Cup team

The school has grown to service 440 children up to P7 (about age 15). The water is being well utilized by the kids and 100 or so local households by evidence of the worn tracks leading away from the site.

The sanitation facility is appropriately located and in excellent condition.

All in all I am proud of the school and pray it continues to provide the opportunity for a bright future to these beautiful children.

playing a type of jump rope game using a long line of tied together field grass.

It's getting hot in here

2010-03-06T09:26:00.000+02:00

It has been a busy and interesting last month. Lots of rain out of season causing mud and rock slides and flooding on the roads. I have been back and forth between Burundi and Uganda each week and am thankful for my old Defender 90 and it's go anywhere attitude.

The local programs are going great. Rwanda cranked out 3 new boreholes this week, the Uganda Water for Schools program is up and running full speed and Burundi is very close to being officially registered. This next week will be busy as I have a visitor from DC coming to review the Rwanda and Uganda work and LWI Rwanda will be hosting an evangelism training focusing on Oral Bible Storytelling (obviously ideal for those cultures that learn and communicate without the written word).

Ashley has been busy with another round of teaching English to pastors, a smaller more advanced group that is doing quite well.

It has gotten "hot" around Kigali. Elections are coming up and the tension is rising. We have had two series of grenade attacks in the last three weeks. There is talk of it being tribal, political parties, a coup, etc etc. All sorts of rumors and a general lack of clear information. After the attacks on Thursday there was a huge ramp up in police/military presence on the streets, our kids school has armed guards out front from the Presidential Protection Force.

Shrapnel damage from the attack at the bus stop for the farmers market where we shop for groceries.

Pray for calm minds and peaceful hearts please,

Teaching English to Pastors

2010-02-02T22:22:00.001+02:00

Recently, I responded to an email plea to help “assist” in the teaching of a new group of seminary students at New Creation Ministries. Two of my friends, whose husbands run the Bible college, are on sabbatical in the USA, and they were seeking someone to “help out”. So I volunteered. Before Thanksgiving, I helped another friend teach English to some Rwandan teachers, and I’m working on getting my TESL certification, so I thought this would be good experience. Although I didn’t quite “sign on” for leading the class, that is what happened. This group of untrained pastors from rural areas of Rwanda were a joy to be with. Most of them had never studied English before. A few, had studied French. Numbering about 60 in all, I was told that after the first week, about 24 made confessions of faith for the first time! Although they have been working as pastors, some did not fully understand the gospel and what being “born again” entailed. That alone is a true testament to the work that this, and other theological colleges, here in Rwanda do! My small part was to teach an introductory English class for two and half weeks. The men were enthusiastic and eager to learn. Fortunately for me, and them, their careers and education do not depend on a knowledge of English. They are learning just because they want to be able to communicate with visitors and potential supporters from abroad. So with that pressure off, we were able to just have fun. In the meanwhile, they all learned something. Lilly assisted me one day when she was not in school due to a school holiday. Today was our last day of class and they chose to “serenade” me with a beautiful praise and worship song in Kinyarwanda. Drums and dancing accompanied the hymn, and it was truly a blessing. 60 men singing their hearts out, a cappella and filled with the Holy Spirit. It is (3rd person present form of “to be”) a day (a= article before a noun beginning with a consonant) I will remember (future tense) forever! I hope to see them again in April when they return for their second of four intensive sessions this first year.

Long time no post

2010-01-26T18:23:00.001+02:00

I am sure the thousands or seven followers of our blog have been disappointed in the lack of updates.

Should have given the update that the school in the post below did have a successful project completion. Nick ended up installing a rain water tank system with a capacity of 120,000 liters. Definitely enough to provide water throughout the dry season. It was a very cool project.

Ashley has been very busy teaching English to a group of 60 Rwandan pastoral candidates at a local seminary. It has been a great experience and I think she will be giving an update on that soon.

I have been busy traveling into Burundi. LWI has asked me to establish our NGO there and it has been interesting as every meeting and document must be in French. It is a great experience and opportunity and I am enjoying the process. Burundi is similar to Rwanda in many ways. They have experienced much of the same Tutsi / Hutu divide and violence. They have taken a different approach to rebirth with a unified government model, as I understand it, giving percentages of seats to reflect population. It will be interesting to watch both governments move forward and see lessons learned.

We had a wonderful family trip this year for Christmas. We were looking for a way to give the kids some western style entertainment (There is little, other than swimming and sports, for kids in Rwanda). After doing some research Ashley discovered that you can snow ski, ice skate, water park and play in the desert all in one nearby location. Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. We really had a great time. It was amazingly set up to cater to westerners in many ways. The kids enjoyed the familiar foods, going to see a movie in an actual movie theater, visited a Toys-r-Us (complete with Muslim Barbie display), great day in the snow and at the water park, riding camels and sleeping in the desert, on and on.

Fantastic experience for all of us and it represented everything we moved to Rwanda to escape. Reality check. Ok, we miss some of this stuff for sure. How do you build an appreciation for comfort and materialism without worshiping it? Something for us to ponder more on.

Lillian has been eagerly awaiting the day she could harvest some items from the garden. Today was an exciting day.

Finally, to conclude this cornucopia blog entry, I came across this prayer somewhere and wrote it down, I sure am sorry I can’t credit the writer but I find it appropriate for this time in our lives.

“God, I know You have chosen me for a purpose. I pray for wisdom to pass the tests You allow in my life, to strengthen my faith and develop me for Your great purpose. If I am to lead; help me to lead. If I am to follow; help me to follow. If I am to make a difference in the world; help me to make that difference. If I am to influence one life; help me to influence that life.Help me to succeed and excel for Your glory”

Thanks friends, I pray that all of you have a blessed year filled with adventure and God’s clear will in your lives.

Kigali School Needs Water

2009-10-16T17:15:00.001+02:00

      We were told about a school that has about 2,200 kids and no running water. Unfortunately the school is at the top of a mountain and the geology is not suitable for us to put in a well. The good news is that my friend Nick with Water for Life Africa will be putting in a 100,000 liter capacity rain water harvesting system in the next week or two.
Notice this guy has his little yellow jug to bring his water to school. We hear that the current water source for these kids is about a half hour walk down into the valley. We venture down to see it and find these kids taking water from this muddy spring. As I walk up I see the young man bent over drinking straight from it…this kills me every time.

Not 50 meters away is a hand pump. The handle is missing, we make the assumption that either it was stolen to sell for scrap metal or the system broke and the handle was later taken.
Time to tear it down for the investigation.

Besides the missing handle the pump rod is broken off and we see down the casing broken light bulbs and random plastic pieces so we decide to bring it all up for a good cleaning and bleach treatment.

Time to put it back together and see how she runs.

Always a good day when we can see water like this Thanks First Presbyterian Church Baton Rouge for helping us make this happen.

Update on the school in Zambia project

2009-10-09T09:37:00.000+02:00

CW and Leslie sent me an email yesterday to share that the health training went very well at the school. There were about 500 local residents in attendance. 28 people approached them to make professions of faith and they will continue to work with and disciple those and others who wish to learn.

Great to see such community interest and buy-in in their efforts.

Water in Zambia

2009-09-30T08:27:00.000+02:00

I had the great pleasure of visiting our partners in Zambia, CW and Leslie Bing with Water For The Oppressed. I was looking for funding opportunities for the program there and had the chance to spend the day repairing wells with the team.

We were working in the Kafue Flats area and found a community with a borehole that has been down for 3 years.
Apparently the pipes must have rusted out or someone robbed the parts for another well elsewhere. According to the cement it was funded by Africare 11 years ago. As you can see this is a very dry area and they were getting their water here.

The water is back and even the chicken wanted in on the picture.

After the repair a lady road up on a bike and asked us to go to their children's school where they had an issue as well. No problem, we bounced down the trail to Kabweza Basic School. There are approximately 700 children and 12 teachers at the school and one well that serves the local villages as well we were told. This is difficult as a borehole is rated to serve 600 people effectively maximum. The nearby communities fill drums and roll them back home.

We found that the well required a lot of pumping and the volume of water was low, when you stopped pumping for a minute you would have to pump for a while to get the water back. Either a bad foot valve or the pipes were rusted through.We found that the pipes were bad and wound up replacing most of the parts including the pump head.
Cute kids from another repair site. Simple story, they were thirsty.

The thing I love about CW and Leslie's ministry is that while we were working Leslie was organizing with the communities and school for their evangelism and health education team to come back this week for teaching, praise and prayer. They do not just do a quick strike model, they will be in the area for a long time, seeking out needs and building friendships.

Blessings,
MacGregor

LWI raising funds for water in Ugandan schools

2009-09-11T17:23:00.000+02:00

Back to School: Uganda from Living Water International on Vimeo.

Back home in Rwanda

2009-07-28T13:48:00.000+02:00

Well, I am back home in Rwanda and greatly missed the beauty of this land.

We had a wonderful time with family and friends (with much fishing, eating, beaching), shared many birthdays and our eleventh anniversary and experienced the incredible love of our home church, First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge. It really was such a great time of revitalization and love.

I am already missing Ashley and the kids as they stayed behind to attend Camp Ozark and get a little more love from the grandparents before school starts on this end.

Thanks to all at home who heaped care on us during the trip.

Updated - Bethany Center School

2009-06-13T17:30:00.000+02:00

Just spent an incredible day with the kids and families of Bethany Center School in Uganda. The well was completed on Tuesday and so we had a dedication party. The kids danced and sang, the local pastor and LWI pastor went to town with some great Word. Such an awesome day. Just such beautiful kids. Members of the community extolled the need to maintain and keep the pump in good condition for the entire area to access. They praised the fact that the kids, down to age 4, no longer had to cross the busy road to the rock qwary to get down the mountain to the former natural spring water source.

Great way to end this leg of our program and head back to Louisiana for some regeneration with loved family and friends.

Invisible Children – Gulu, Uganda

2009-05-28T10:32:00.001+02:00

I had the opportunity to visit the Invisible Children, www.invisiblechildren.com, operation in Gulu, Uganda last week.

I was very impressed. They provide a great amount of service to the victims of the war. Child soldiers, sex slaves, refugees, etc. Through education assistance, tutoring, school construction and mentoring. They are training these victims in small craft and farming programs and microfinance programs. I was able to see the progression their folks are making from rudimentary involvement through constructing a new home and having thriving businesses.

The point of my visit is that they are looking to assist in moving people from the many IDP (Internally Displaced People) camps in the region back to their home or new villages. In order for people to want to move there must be the knowledge that at these places exists food and water security, safety and opportunities. Obviously we are interested in the water security component of this. We are hoping to team up with Charity:Water and Invisible Children to have a complete water and sanitation program for 20 communities in the area including borehole wells, EcoSan latrines and health and hygiene education. We will see what develops.

One of the communities we visited was Tyenakaya Village

The community is broken up into small clumps of housing for each family group and they all gather together at the central meeting point for fellowship and community events. This sweet lady wanted to show us their water point which exists about 5 months per year. The rest of the 7 months they travel to the water point they call Oyomomagoro which translates to “Week people can’t reach” about 3 hours round trip.

I hope to be able to update this story as well with action later in the year.

What is new with the family?

2009-05-28T10:30:00.000+02:00

We have had a busy month.

We finally moved into our own home after 6 months. We are very excited about it and Ashley and I are doing a bunch of touch up work. Ashley is doing a great job of getting it nested up and the kids are very happy with their room situations.

Ashley is also super busy with volunteering at the kid's mission school, KICS. There has been a major shake up as the headmaster and some teachers have left to start up a new secular school in Kigali that will be designed more for the children of embassy staffs and large private corporations. We see this as a good thing that KICS can refocus on serving the Rwandan community and children of missionaries without fear of having "too Christian" of an environment. She is helping get the office organized, website work, student application process and procedures, etc. Busy Busy.

We fly home to visit all you loved ones in just 3 weeks. This is very exciting for us as we love it here and have made good friends but you guys are the best and unreplaceable. See you soon.

Bethany Centre School

2009-05-28T10:03:00.001+02:00

About an hour South and West of Kampala is a small community with a wonderful Christian school started by a former exchange student to Louisiana State University – hence the awesome school uniforms, IMHO.

Bethany Centre School is sponsored by some friends from First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge and it was felt that the school needed a water source. They raised some funds and contacted me about the need. I had the honor and pleasure of going out to visit the school to check on the situation and am happy to say that just this Monday a borehole was drilled on the grounds and the pump should be completed sometime today.

Please excuse the poor photo quality apparently I was experiencing some light filtering difficulties with my camera.

So, these supper cute kids must walk about 2km to fetch water for use at the school. They walk down a large hill to cross this “highway” that leads to a stone quarry, it is reported that many dump trucks barrel down this road and it is quite perilous for the younger children.

This is the water source they are currently using. Not the worst by far but nothing nice. At least there was a previous attempt to protect this spring outlet.

I will update this post with some photos of the kids using their new well soon.

Updates

2009-05-28T08:17:00.000+02:00

Wow, nothing in a month. I need to update. I have been spending a bunch of time in Uganda. LWI has sent a new family to kick off the full time operation there. So we are trying to develop relationships within the water community.

I will start off with some adventuresome stuff.

On my trip last week I headed north into the Lord's Resistance Army grounds where they took many children for soldiers and sex slaves, more on that in a post to follow. On the way up we were sideswiped head on by a large bus. Thank God no injuries. The rental car is just missing a mirror and some metal. The driver was so shaken up I had to drive the 4 hours to Gulu (which was fun as there are different monkey families hanging out along the way).

So, the highway on this route is rather new. Apparently the Ugandan Highway Department feels that the best way to design this highway is to place speed humps at 10 meter intervals for like 2 kilometers. It was completely insane space in the middle of nowhere, no schools, no communities, no reason to slow traffic in this area. No joke, more than 200 of these things.

The great thing about this road is that it crosses what is reported to be the headwaters of the great Nile river. It is amazingly beautiful.
Just to add some excitement after leaving this section of the road we encountered a Peoples Defense Force check point where a young soldier decided that he needed to confiscate my camera for national security reasons. I was not in agreement with his assessment and it wound up that 20,000 shillings ($10) was the "cost of freedom".

Rest In Peace Tommy Head

2009-04-26T16:26:00.000+02:00

Our mission brother in Peru, Tommy Head, was killed in an accident yesterday. Tommy was probably the coolest person I have ever had the privileged to know. A true man of God bringing clean water and medical care to the indians along the Peruvian Amazon tributaries. He had such a great ministry. God bless you and your family Tommy. I weep for our loss.

www.water.cc article about Peru