25!

 Birthday Dinner

My good friend and mentor, Campbell, Kate - partner in crime, and me

Even overseas

Kate and I have spent the past week in a village in the Ruhango district of Rwanda a couple hours from here. I love the drive everyday; I'm still consumed by the breathtaking beauty Rwanda offers. Yesterday we were able to see their water well completed and the hand pump installed. Now the woman whose entire family was murdered in the genocide and left to tend to the 4 acre farmland will have clean fresh water along with her surrounding community.

Before I left I was warned to not develop a bleeding heart for Africa. Knowing that I am already burdened for the forgotten and poor, I figured Africa would indeed wreck me. It certainly has, but differently than expected.

I'm letting go of the dream to eradicate global poverty, rather I'm realizing the importance meeting people where they are... and simply loving them. Not that desiring to elevate people from their poverty is a trivial pursuit, but that is no longer my primary focus ...it is that they know Jesus. There's no promise that their material wealth or status will ever change, but if they realize they are loved by the almighty God they will be rich beyond measure.

Below is a video I'd like to share of children we've come to adore in Ruhango. They're song... "even overseas, people praise God"

Meet the Magruders

Meet the Magruders -the adorable family we are staying with in the Living Water International HQ and guest house. Mac and Ashley moved their family to Kigali, Rwanda just a few months ago - Lilly, Duncan, and Ella Jade are the little ones who will have amazing stories to share with their friends about the time they lived in Africa...

I have become quite fond of Ella Jade, the precious child they adopted from China. We've bonded over our shared interest of drawing, love for horses and...Coca Cola. It's hard to believe that this little girl full of life wasn't always part of this family yet coexisted among many abandoned children in an orphanage.