Not ready...

It is always a battle between wanting so badly to stay here and looking forward to returning home! Lisa and I are SO torn...we love Rwanda so much! This trip has been incredible thus far and God has done and will continue to do amazing things here. Yesterday was a great day...long and tiring but worthwhile. Pastor Esron, Wayne, Lisa and our sweet driver Ellie and I left at 6:30 am and drove north up into the mountains to Gisenyi making several stops along the way. The Rwandan countryside is absolutely gorgeous and I can never get enough of the cool mountain breezes and smell of eucalyptus trees! We stopped first at a trade school for young men and women that is run by the Evangelical Free Church of Rwanda (of which Esron is the president). The girls were learning to sew and boys where learning to be mechanics, etc. It was good to see how they are learning a trade to help keep rise above the poverty and make a living for themselves. We then traveled the rockiest "volcano road" as we have named them, I have ever traveled in my life :) to an E Free School in the mountains. The remote area means there are very few schools nearby that students can attend, so it's a pretty big deal that this one has been established...they are praying to add even more advanced classes so that the government will allow them to stay open. The area near the school is also where our dear friend Esron and his wife Kezia grew up. He told us how at 7 years old he had to walk close to 6 miles for water to carry back to his house twice a day! The line at the well was so long as we passed it and I was sure it had to have been more than 6 miles. Esron also described his trek to school everyday as a young boy and took us down the road he and Kezia used to flee during the genocide in '94. The people in this area are so determined and school is so important to them...we were in awe. The land is also steep and incredibly rocky from the volcano, yet the people use what they have and diligently farm the land. After an absolutely adventurous day, Esron took us to the beautiful lake Kivu which is steps away from Congo. We could see it from the lake.

Today has been restful. Lisa and I went to Anchor of Hope to visit and give some Bibles to the kids and begin our goodbyes. It's so hard! Tomorrow we travel East to visit an E Free church plant and then Monday to possibly visit with a youth HIV/AIDS club. Tuesday we pack and visit AOH one last time, then leave Wednesday around 1:30pm. Please pray that these last days will be completely surrendered to the Lord and that Lisa and I can say goodbye in the best way possible. Thank you so much again!
Da ga kunda,
Melissa