And That's a Wrap....

Yowsa… What a few months it has been. You'll have to bear with me on this post… there is much to tell. I'll try to be as concise as I can, although as we all know, that's generally NOT my nature.

First, I’m actually writing this on our flight from Zurich back to Little Rock (we are now back in LR) for what we thought was going to be our annual spring break from our life in Rwanda and the MOC - but more on that later. We have actually been in Austria for the last two weeks visiting with Josh and Kathi. What a nice break that was. They have settled into married life so well. They are just the cutest couple… like a really cute little old married couple. Kathi is very busy balancing work, school, and being a wife, and Josh continues his web design business from home… and of course, skiing whenever time allows. We were able to take a day trip over to his favorite ski area, St. Anton, just 30 minutes from their house, and RIGHT in the middle of the Alps. It is STUNNING there. Their apartment is typical for a space in the middle of any European town… small, but efficient. It was actually very comfortable for the four of us, and I don't think we were too much of an imposition. As Josh said… I did my share of cooking and dishes for our keep :-)

We did day trips over to Liechtenstein (where I got talked into one heck of a hike by my son, the apple, and his father, the tree. Lord have mercy, when will I EVER learn… probably won't! They are almost always fun adventures and they make great stories for years to come!) and to Lindau, Germany, where they were married in December. Lindau is actually a really quaint island city on the shores of Lake Constance.

We also spent a couple of days in Zurich with them at the end of our trip. While I had been to Zurich some 32 years ago, RR had never been there, and we enjoyed our time there, and our last couple of days with the kids! I don't think I'll ever get used to having my kids in such different places. I'm one of those moms that would just adore having both of them, and their families, living next door. While that is a definite possibility with Brit, Kelly, Cole and any future kids they have… I'm pretty sure Josh and Kathi won’t end up in Little Rock… so, we’ll try to find a balance of time spent with them! But, we are sure thankful for the respite we just had with them. I've included lots of photos of our time with them!

Dinner at Feldkirch Castle

View from our room in Josh & Kathi's Apartment

Kathi in the kitchen!

New Couch in the Living Room

Work/Study Space

Our Housewarming gift to them - laundry anyone??

From the top of the ski area at St. Anton, Austria

Another View

TCBITW and I on top of the world....

Now on to the difficult part of this blog to write… as most of you that have kept up with my blog know, our move to Rwanda was because we truly believed it was what we were being called by God to do, and while we knew it would not be easy, we knew we had to be faithful. We also believed that we could accomplish anything if we were together with each other and with God. I mean, come on, this wasn't exactly our first rodeo. It's not like we haven't built successful businesses our entire married life. Why would this be any different? AND, God was clearly calling us to do it, so success was, in our minds, inevitable. Ummmm, right!

In the three years we were there, we did have many successes. We built a very successful English school, teaching over 100 local English teachers, who don't really even speak English themselves, we had one of the best restaurants in all of Rwanda, and we were in the process of building a construction company/school that would not only teach Rwandans modern building techniques and business entrepreneurship, but also get the 'least of these' out of their mud huts and into quality, durable, affordable homes.

But in all our time there, the one thing that stood in our way of moving even more quickly in these schools/businesses was the Rwandan government itself. We are 'git r done' types… what we found was that the Rwandan government… not so much! Do they want to be? I believe they do. Do they know how to allow folks, who clearly have an expertise, to do what they came to do? Not at all! The central government is much better than the local government, but even they struggle with efficiency. I really could give you example after example, but as they say, “there’s no sense in beating a dead horse.” Suffice it to say, we ran into road block after road block. But, because we are as persistent as ALL GET OUT, we kept at it the entire time we were there. Russell more than I… he spent 75% of his time doing NOTHING but dealing with government officials and PAPERWORK. This was so inefficient in time and energy! But, what we found was, instead of getting easier, it was becoming increasingly harder to deal with the government at each and every level.

All that to say, it simply, we believe, became impossible to work effectively with the Rwandan government, so as of right now, our work in Rwanda is done. I can also say that throughout our time in Rwanda we tried, more than anything, to conduct ourselves with the highest degree of integrity, living out the character of Jesus Christ! We wanted our staff and students to see what that looked like, and we did that to the best of our abilities. While we hate that we were not more successful in our endeavor, we do NOT believe our work there was a failure. We were able to influence, in a positive way, many Rwandans, and we believe we fulfilled our promise to God, in which He called us to be faithful, not successful! We can honestly say we were faithful to the end, as was HE!

We are still processing the whole situation and how it all went so wrong so fast. I’m sure there are lots of things we could have or should have done differently over the last three years, and we take full responsibility for our shortfalls.

Leaving the MOC, but much more importantly, our staff and students, was one of the most difficult things we have ever done in life. We really were a family, so you can imagine how hard it was to leave that family! They are good, honest, hardworking people, and their support and unwavering belief in us is something we will never forget.

We still have many good friends in Rwanda who are doing wonderful work there, so our prayer is they continue to make a difference in their particular fields. Rwanda will be better because they are there. We really do still believe Rwanda is a place worth investing in. The people of Rwanda do not represent the government, and there really are many worthwhile places to give time, money or talent in Rwanda. I will go into more detail of those in later posts!

This story is by no means over, but RR and I agree that going back, at this time, would be unsafe for us personally and counterproductive. We still plan on helping Rwanda in any way we can, but from Little Rock, for now. I also want to make it clear that this is not an official statement by our Board. These are my thoughts and feelings alone, and well… we all know I'm a shoot from the hip kind of girl, so there… I shot!

We really don't know what the future holds for us, other than reconnecting with family and friends, and continuing to pray that whatever God leads us to do next that we do it for His glory, not ours.

I have also included a YouTube video I did, put to music by Tyrone Wells, of our time in Rwanda. It really has been the time of our lives....

This will also NOT be my last post… still things left to say, but didn't want to overwhelm… HA… not sure I was able to achieve THAT!!!

Until then, though, we would appreciate prayers for ourselves, for our staff and students at the MOC, and most especially for Rwanda itself, a country we so deeply love. You, as our friends and followers on the blog, have been an inordinate amount of encouragement over the last three years. For that, we thank you, from the bottom of our hearts!

Love, hugs, and a big WOO HOO… cause I'm holding myself a baby boy!