Yesu Umeri: Rwanda and the Beck family :)

Rwanda was great, absolutely great. It is such a beautiful country! I stayed with a wonderful God loving family. Jenny, Caleb, and their children Adin and Caris, were able to bless me in so many ways in such a short time.

I was amazed at how many of my prayers God has answered. His timing is so perfect.

The long spiritual talks with Jenny were so great! She is a fantastic person, Christian, role model, and mother. Caleb took me on a little adventurous 2.7 mile run and hike. I have not ran but a handful of times in the past three months so it was awesome! I got to play with Adin and Caris everyday which was an absolute joy! And I "babysit" for a short time one afternoon which is only like the best thing ever! Thank you Adin and Caris for all of you princess dresses, Lego's, and joyful hearts. Getting to be apart of a family was also a huge blessing, just to be with them in their life routine and feel so welcomed. One afternoon I got to play with the Beck kids and the three kids next door who's parents are also missionaries from the States. We played red light green light, mother may I, soccer, and freeze tag. Such a joy!!

One thing that I have been fervently praying for is someone to help fix my shoulders. God answered my prayers through Caleb. He gave me workouts while I was there and we video taped them. It was great. I was amazed by the things I could and couldn't do. With his confidence, my ability to do these workouts, and God, I have faith that I will start to grow stronger and the pain will decrease.

I pretty much felt like I was in America when I was there, until I left the house of course. They have a wonderful routine of eating dinner early, going to bed at early, and waking up early and running! A very nice routine that I had well developed in the States and then completely lost here. Also it felt like home because of the food. I believe among all of the prayers God answered for me He also threw in the simple things that I missed; home made pizza, burritos, chips and salsa, big waffles, raw milk, lasagna, lettuce, and sandwiches. I am so grateful for the little things.

Some really great conversations happened between Jenny and I. Because Caleb grew up as a missionary kid in Kenya, Jenny has worked in Uganda, TZ, and they both have now been living and working in Rwanda for 7 years, they have experience and know how to go about things. I am new and learning. Jenny helped my SO much! I feel a lot more confident in doing whatever God calls me to do each day. I have been feeling lost here at BDI and I feel I am not and have not done enough. Not knowing what to do, or how to go about something has been a big struggle for me. With so many needs here it is very hard sometimes to pick one problem to solve or even how to solve it. My lack of confidence in my overall self doesn't help either. Jenny talked to me about everything (to much to write about) and answered many of my questions! She also brought to my attention many things that I have not thought about but need to. I feel "refueled" and ready for school to start on Monday.

It was great to see the Beck family and four other American families who are living and working in Africa. It just made everything seem more real to me and possible for me to be here long term, God willing.

They have invited me to spend Thanksgiving with them so I hope to be back then. I know I will greatly need and appreciate being with a family at that time. The 12 hour ride is definitely worth it! :)