so now I have been gleefully checking my mailbox and doing the happy dance every time I receive a blue envelope:) as the stack is growing I feel just an overwhelming feeling of love and support and connectivity to everyone...it also makes it very real!  As soon as one envelope came in, my commitment was not just to myself, but to my family and friends who are supporting me on this journey! hhhmmm...I see where this is going!...Another way that our group had raised money for missions before was a garage sale, so in my neighborhood we are permitted 2 community garage sales per year and they were  scheduled for the first weekends in April...perfect!  So I scheduled for both, the first would be a practice run to get the bugs out and then the following weekend all the families in my bible study group brought items to donate...My parents brought furniture that was virtually brand new, my brother and his wife donated items, my parents friends donated 3 bikes and my realtor(i am downsizing!) donated a great set of speakers! many people were dropping by items all week and it was crazy wonderful! so equipped with lots of coffee, bagels and a small group that is just utterly amazing, we sold items big and small all day!  It was a great time and for all of us the bonus was that we got a little spring cleaning done too! We sold our little hearts out and by the days end we had made 883.43 towards the mission.  I was literally exhausted but also sooooo excited because I knew we had a group meeting the next night and I couldn't wait to share the good news:)
deborah of africa

education training

 I am not a morning person. this is not really news to those who know me, I am also not a coffee person, so getting the show on the road is a great effort..at the time the alarm goes off  the temptation to hit the snooze button one more time,as if its just once;)...(just 5 more minutes!!) usually outweighs the of pitfalls being late. I am working on this, because I hit it like 3 times and ultimately being late super sucks, but sleep feels so good...you see the dilemma!  On Saturday March 27 we met at the church to attend our first health and hygiene training class.  I was very anxious to get a peek at what we would be doing in our time in Rwanda..It was a long day and packed with information and it flew by in the blink of an eye! I wanted to slow time, it was going so fast!  There were 17 different segments that we would be covering..sort of a training the trainers to train others. WHEW!! We started with community mapping which was a great tool for assessing current conditions, getting to know each other  and think about future planning.  I was pretty dumbfounded...our village was pretty sparse and not very well thought out.  It had a stream and a church and a school and  only 2 cows! and NO places to wash your hands! OMG!! we were obviously very green in creating this village and had much to learn in mapping our community! and when I say green I don't mean the fabulously globally aware kind. Throughout the day we covered how to do the very basics like hand washing and how to build a "tippy tap"...that one was really fun...with an empty gallon jug and some jute twine, wooden sticks and a few other things we learned to create a hanging water hug that is controlled with a foot pedal that allows for handwashing in a very water efficient way.  we learned how to save a life from dehydration with the simplest of measuring of salt and sugar and water, ORS-oral rehydration solution. We learned about teaching personal hygiene and hygiene in the community  and we also learned about nutrition.  By the days end, we took a peek at that village we had created in the morning and gave it a once over with all that we learned and thats when I thought...I can't wait to take this class again!!
deborah of africa

getting started

So deciding I wanted to go to Africa was easy...how i was going to get there was the great unknown.  I went to an orientation meeting for Clean Water and met people who had been on previous missions to Rwanda.  My goal that night was to be able to say more than my name without bursting into tears! I was not very successful:) there was so much to learn, seriously, so much! I thought I would just pack a bag and grab passport and go...clearly I had much to learn, and many things would really stretch my levels of comfort (figuratively, literally and spiritually). The first lesson being that I was expected to ask for contributions to pay for my passage...couldn't I just write a check for myself? asking for money is so hard..so uncomfortable...so embarassing! i mean, really, in this economy? so I talked to people who had gone before me and they helped me to understand that this was a way of sharing what I was doing.  That casting a big net would  let everyone  participate...not just with contributions, but with prayers, encouragement and awareness of this global giant.  So I walked around for like a month with a file full of revision after revision of my contribution letter. I mean, you would have thought I was writing a thesis! but I wanted it to be perfect! not too much...not too vague..you know, just right. Finally,  I drove to my mom and dad's house and we made this a family project...sign...stuff...stamp...send!! we prayed over those blue envelopes..i mean...what would people think? what did I really think? funny, for the most part,I march to my own drummer not too worried about what others think..but on this one, asking for money, i kinda did. but that was because i was making it about me(hello) and not about the mission...
Well, checking the mail has taken on a whole new attitude!
deborah of africa

let's catch up!

Well, true to form , I intended to start this blog at the end of January...now its the 3rd of May...you get the picture... If you know me, I am not the most techie person ever, and this feels alot like homework( albeit self imposed) so I tend to avoid it, but now that I set it up....it's pretty easy! Soooo,  here goes!  I AM GOING TO RWANDA!!! its  been a life long dream to get involved on a mission, but somehow I got a little sidetracked somewhere between graduation and forty! and it wasn't kids...just life... my career, and I am not gonna lie, I was having too much fun.  And yet that little voice in the back of my head that was there when I was younger  telling me to get out of my comfort zone started getting louder.  I had so much and my life had been blessed in so many ways, what next? A friend of mine starting telling me about a bible study group he was in that was going on a mission trip to Africa.  I begged him to let me join.  That was 5 years ago.  They are an amazing group of people who have become my second family. They ended up going to Argentina that year and I continued doing good works here, but I still had that fire...act locally, think globally.  Changes in me started slowly. Funny how that works. Cuz I am not the most patient person! I want results yesterday! But God knew when I would be ready and He was shaping me while I was I just jumping into local action with my bible study group.  So fast forward..We had two guests at our group one evening sharing the works they are doing in Rwanda. And I was so in. I am learning as I walk through this. It is truly hard to imagine that on this planet there are people dying because they are thirsty and because they have no access to safe, clean water. Something I have in abundance and is as necessary as air. Unclean water kills 5 million children, one every 20 seconds in the developing world. Waterborne disease kills more than violence and wars combined..to me these are staggering, unacceptable facts.  SOOOO..I am going to RWANDA..and I look forward to sharing my journey !!! xoxoxo  deborah of africa