As I write, Erin is somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean...on her way back to me! Yay! She's had an unbelievable time...more impacting, I think, than she ever imagined. Their last couple of days have been a bit more relaxing. Yesterday was a day for them to simply shop and take a tour of the city. The night before, the team had one of the translators and his wife over for dinner. This is a guy who was in Uganda for college when the genocide happened. He came back to find his entire family murdered. So, as you can imagine, he's a pretty cool guy to sit down and have dinner with. They had an amazing time of prayer afterwords, followed by dancing...yes, dancing! The translator taught them a traditional Rwandan dance!

The team will arrive in DC around 8 in the morning! They'll have a 4 hour layover and then the'll be in Savannah (where I'll get to see my beautiful bride!) at 2:01...to be precise. =O)

Stay posted...I'm sure Erin will write on here soon! Thank you so much for all your prayers!

So, Erin's visit to the orphanage wasn't exactly what she had hoped. I won't go into all the details, but part of the problem was that that even though Erin had called them twice to make sure it was okay to come, they said it was a bad time to come. I guess one of the nuns originally thought Erin was a young, single student. Once she realized she was married and in the process of adopting, the nun was went to get the "mother superior" who turned out to be very helpful. They were very helpful in giving her information about the orphanage, but they wouldn't let her hold any of the children or take pictures. Since we don't have any say in choosing which child we want, they said it would be bad for Erin to get attached to one of them, and that the young babies are susceptible to infections and can't have outside visitors. Erin said, "I was pretty bummed but maybe it was God's way of protecting my heart."

She could see some of the older children, but they were in places where she could barely get to them or play with them. Even though it wasn't how she had dreamed, she did at least get to meet the people that will be caring for our child. And the mother superior is the lady that will actually match us with a child!

Erin also got to visit the Ministry of Family & Gender and actually meet the lady that will be processing our application. She didn't know if it really did any good, but she's hoping maybe God will use that meeting to help us somehow.

Which I guess pretty much sums up her visit to the orphanage as well. It wasn't what we had hoped for, but who knows what God will do through that. Maybe it changed everything.

More e-mails from Erin! Still doing great...very tired and frankly, wishing she could stay in Rwanda. She loves it that much.

She spoke again at church on Sunday and wasn't nervous at all. And today, they got to go on a "safari," and saw hippos, baboons and giraffes! No lions, zebras or elephants though.

And she said she might get to actually watch the Colts Monday night game! Though, they wouldn't see it until Tuesday night I guess. Weird.

God is working hard on Erin. She's learning a lot and trying to process it all. And tomorrow is hopefully the day she'll visit the orphanage. She's really pretty nervous about it, because her heart is already so broken for the people there. She's not sure she can handle seeing all those kids. Please be praying for this visit - not sure what to tell you to pray for other than for God to be with Erin through it all.

I'll keep ya posted!

I talked to Erin!!!!! Woo-hoo!!!

She's doing great! She actually spoke to over 1,000 prison inmates yesterday. Yeah, you read that right. MY wife! Unbelievable. And she said she was completely calm about it too. Shared her testimony (with a translator).

She sounded tired - but good. She'll be speaking at a church in the morning. After that she doesn't think she'll have as many awkward situations so far out of her comfort zone. She'll get to just kind of enjoy the rest of her time and relax a little more.

She also said she loves Rwanda so much that she'd stay there (if it weren't for all of us loved ones here, of course!). I can't wait for the day she and I get to go there together to get our child!!!

I'll keep ya posted!

Got another e-mail from Erin! She has very limited time on the computer, so she keeps saying things like "We did this...I can't wait to tell you all about it!"

The team hung out with 300 orphaned kids again today - kids who's parents were either killed in the genocide or who died of Aids. And they visited another prison today. Most of you know Erin pretty well, so you may be thinking, "Wow...I wonder how she did with that." She LOVES it. She said "it is envornment that you would think would bring me great fear but I have felt nothing but peace and comfort while inside the prison walls. God has been teaching me so much about His power and trusting that He is in control."

She also said that she is very thankful for fried potatoes and white rice, b/c she'd probably be dead without them.

So, that's the latest! Kim also posted a new blog...you can check it out HERE!

http://goatsforrwanda.wordpress.com/

Erin e-mailed me!!! And she is doing GREAT! Here's part of her e-mail to me: "I can't describe to you how amazing it has been to be here. As our plane landed I sat in my seat and cried. I was in Africa! God called me and I came, such an amazing feeling."

She also talked about visiting some orphans and a little girl named Violet coming up to her and holding her hand. She can't wait to go back tomorrow!

I'm not gonna lie: I teared up pretty good reading her e-mail. It wasn't just hearing from her - it was knowing that she's having such an incredible time and that God is teaching her so much already. Since I hadn't heard from her, I didn't know if she was sick, miserable, exhausted, uncomfortable or hoping to come home. To find out that she's having such an amazing time got me a wee-bit choked up. I can't wait to hear how God works in and through her. This could totally flip her life upside down.

God is good.

And now I can relax a bit.

We don't know much...but we know the team made it on time to Rwanda and that everyone's safe! Still haven't heard from Erin directly, but Kim (the team leader) posted on SCC's mission's website a few minutes ago. If you click on that link, you can read what she wrote for yourself. They've had problems with cell phones, internet and power...but they're there and they're safe.

Yay!

Sound like I'm not going to have much contact with her... =O(

I'll definitely keep this blog updated with whatever I do hear though!

Still no word from my wife or from anyone on the Rwanda Missions trip. Kinda driving me crazy to be honest! I'm sure all is well!

Yesterday, they should have visited the Genocide Memorial - which had to incredibly hard. Almost a million people were killed within 100 days back in '94. Today, they were supposed to have sat with people who lived through the Genocide. They'll have heard testimonies from these people about how they've been able to reconcile with their neighbors who killed their loved ones. People who have literally gone through "reconciliation workshops" to heal from the inner wounds of the Genocide.

They also should also be visiting the Remera Prison today. There are a ton of these prisons in the area, full of people arrested for the things that happened during the genocide. I think they'll actually get to sit down and talk with these people and have an opportunity to tell them about Christ and the hope He brings.

This is a overhead picture of the prison.

Please continue to pray for them! I'll post something when I hear something!

So, as I write this, Erin and the team are in the air on the way to Rwanda! Unbelievable. I can't even express to you how I feel. It's a mixture of just being really proud that my wife is stepping out in faith like this, anxiousness just knowing that she's anxious, and excitement for how God is going to work through her and in her. I can't wait to hear the stories and see the pictures!

I'll try to keep this blog updated regularly with what's going on, but at this point, I don't know how much I'm going to get to hear from her. I do at least have an itinerary of their trip and what they'll be doing each day.

The team got off to a great start - everything went smoothly and on time (other than having to pay for their carry-on luggage, b/c Ethiopian Air makes you pay for anything over 15 lbs!). They will arrive in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at 2:20 a.m. our time, tomorrow morning (so they're in the air for 15 hours, 15 minutes - yikes!). They'll have a couple hour lay over and then take a 1 1/2 hour flight to Kigali, Rwanda where they'll be staying (and where the orphanage is!).

So, they'll be in Rwanda by 6 a.m. tomorrow morning!

Please be praying...for physical safety and for effectiveness.
Be praying that God uses them for whatever He wants to do over there - no matter the cost.
Be praying that He would totally wreck them spiritually.
That each person would come back with their eyes opened.
For growth.

And for the people of Rwanda to see a group of people who love so deeply by their actions that they can't help but ask "Why?" That they will see what true Christianity is really all about. To see that we as Christians are fighting for the cause of the broken, lonely and poor because that's the heart of God and we are compelled to do so as a result of what He's done for us.

I (Erin) can’t believe that Monday at 6am I leave for my mission trip to Rwanda! When I decided to go on this trip it seemed so far away and here I am just four days until I leave.

God has already been teaching me so much through my preparation for my trip about myself and the people of Rwanda. At our last missions team meeting we watched a short documentary called “As We Forgive.” It tells the stories of five people that were greatly affected by the genocide. Three are survivors and the other two are men that had done killings during the genocide. Their stories are so encouraging to me, stories of hope and forgiveness. Stories of how God has changed their lives and their hearts even after all of the pain in their lives. One of the ladies that they interviewed chose to forgive the man that had killed her husband and four children during the genocide. The man that did the killings helped build a new home for her and now they live in the same neighborhood.

It is so amazing to me the amount of forgiveness and repentance that these people had to have for living in the same neighborhood to be possible. There are stupid little things that I hold grudges about and here was this woman choosing to forgive the man that took everyone she loved away from her. Now that is a true picture of forgiveness. I am so excited to meet the people of Rwanda, to hear their stories, to see the reconciliation happening there. God has already done amazing things in the lives of those who have repented of the horrible murders that they committed and in the lives of the survivors that choose to forgive in the midst of their pain. I think sometimes you go on a mission trip thinking that you are going to make such a difference in the lives of the people that you help and though that may happen I think I too will be changed by the love that I see in the people that have been healed.

Pray for me and my team. Pray that God uses us how ever He so desires and that we come back changed people for the better.

Well, this has been an exciting week! I (Erin) was able to talk via Skype to the nuns in the orphanage that I was hoping to visit while I’m over there for my mission trip. They gave me the okay to come and visit, so on Tuesday the 22^nd I will be able to go visit the Home of Hope orphanage in Kigali! Though there is a chance that the child that we adopt will not be from this orphanage, so far all of the children adopted from Rwanda through AWAA have been from Home of Hope. Even if our child is there I will not know who he is, but I am so excited to go and see where he will be. I think the many months of waiting for a referral will be a little easier for me because I can picture, more than likely, where my child is…pretty cool thought.

Also, we received our finalized home study in the mail yesterday and our agency has sent one to USCIS as well. Which means all of our immigration paperwork can start being processed. This is what we are waiting on to finally be able to send our documents to Rwanda! The process can take up to 90 days so we are hoping that it will not be the full three months. Once they receive our paperwork in Rwanda it will take anywhere from 4-6 months to hear from the government there. Then we wait for a referral of a child which can take up to two months. A month later will be our court case which we will not be there for and a few weeks after that we would travel over there. The whole process keeps changing since Rwanda is such a new program. Hopefully the time frame will not get any longer, but we are trusting in God’s timing with all of this.

Just watched the very sobering movie, "Sometimes in April" that HBO put out in 2005. It's all about the Rwandan genocide that took place in 1994.

Almost 1 million people were killed in a matter of 100 days.

It's the same affect that Schindler's List has on you. You kind of know the story, but once you see the movie, you realize the true severity of it and the emotion behind it all. Same for "The Passion of the Christ." We know the story, but seeing a well-made film about it brings it to life. You begin to understand, even if ever so slightly, the pain behind what happened. You think about what had to have gone through peoples minds and how they must have felt. That it's not just a story. Unfortunately, the holocaust DID happen. And Christ DID allow himself to be murdered.

And the genocide that took place in 1994 was very real.

What's sad to me is that I remember hearing about something big going on in "Rwanda, Africa," but I never really paid much attention. I was busy, you know? I was a junior in high school. I was consumed with trying to get people to like me. I was immersed in youth group, playing tennis, and working so I could have a car.

While we clung to the news channels to see what happened to O.J. Simpson (yes, it's been that long), almost a million people were being killed in a tiny country in the middle of Africa.

And oddly enough, we had just been sobered up by the horrendous story of Schindler's List. I remember our entire class in high school going to see the movie. And I remember thinking "Wow. I can't believe that was only like 55 years ago! Hard to believe that kind of thing still happened!"

Little did I know that it was happening again.

Why didn't I know about? Was it because I was in high school and didn't really care? Well, that probably didn't help. But the truth is, NO one was talking about it. We Americans kind of brushed off the whole thing and went on with our "crazy" lives.

Now, 15 years later, we are in the process of adopting a child from this country. And Erin leaves next Monday to go visit these people who have dealt with SO much - we can't even begin to imagine. Anyone 15 or older that is alive there has had so much pain in their lives. No one escaped the genocide - all were affected rather traumatically.

The thought crossed my mind during the movie that the mother of our child (whoever is she) lived through this. She survived. But her parents may very well have been murdered. Her mom may have been raped. If she was old enough, she may have watched friends and family die.

Please pray for the people of this amazing country. Put yourself in their shoes. They are trying to shed their past, but it's only been 15 years. They can turn down any street any day and have a flood of painful memories fill their mind. And they still deal with enormous poverty and disease as a result of all that happened.

Yes, we are blessed to live in America, but let's not ignore the world as we enjoy our riches.