2007 MISSION TRIP REPORT
Introduction
From May 28th through June 10th 2007, War Survivors Ministries conducted a mission trip to Rwanda Central Africa, to visit the orphans and the widows of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. We visited mainly the orphans and widows organized in the Good Shepherd Family Projects. I have wished for a long time, to facilitate mission trips to Rwanda, in order to increase awareness about the tragedy that has hit so hard my native country, and to encourage compassionate people to help the orphans and the widows. I was very happy to lead a pioneering team of 10 people from Central Florida, including my 12 year-old son Daniel, and 8 other good friends of mine from different churches and from different walks of life. War Survivors Ministries’ intention is to organize a yearly mission trip to Rwanda or to the surrounding countries, such as Burundi, Congo, Tanzania, and Uganda. The 2007 mission trip laid a solid foundation for future trips. We left the US out of Orlando International Airport on 5/28/07 and came back home the second week of June 2007. Dr. Wade Mumm who pastors a church in Orlando had to come back on June 5th because he had many obligations in his church. I appreciate his sacrifice taking time to film the main events of our mission trip. The other team members returned on June 10th except Danielle, Daniel and I, who came back on June 12th, because we had some wrap up work to do, especially the opening of our Good Shepherd Trauma Counseling Center. Danielle wanted to have some extra time playing with the Good Shepherd children, since she is a student who had just started her vacations. Our entire team had a unique experience, we were able to touch many lives and we were touched by many.
Accomplishments
The main activities we had planned consisted of providing a dignified burial to my parents’ remains and those of other relatives who were murdered during the genocide and thrown in shallow mass graves. We had also planned to paint the house of our first good shepherd family in Kigali, to have sometime with the orphans and play with them, to show them love and support. The funeral ceremony was held on June 1st 2007. It was very difficult in many ways, but I am glad we did it. I am very thankful for the unconditional support from the team, without which I would not have been able to stand on my feet surrounded by those who have directly or indirectly participated in the murder of my parents. I am thankful for our Good Shepherd Children and the Good Shepherd mothers who came from Kigali and from Rubengera/Kibuye, who travelled long distances to my native mountains to support me during the difficult moments of burying my parents’ bones. I am very proud of the US team for a wonderful job they did. Dr. Mumm was great doing all the filming of the events and giving me comforting words constantly. Tina and Tosh Sargeant did a great job teaming up for the photography of the events and giving me words of encouragement all the time. As the only married couple who were on our team, they did a great job supporting one another when we were exhausted by the conditions and the nature of our mission. Jamie, Ken, Danielle, Logan and Stefan were like my little sisters and little brothers in many ways. They did not withhold from me their hugs of comfort and their helping hand whenever they found that Daniel and I were in need of some help. I will never forget that they provided my parents with a loving and dignified burial, defying the hatred and the inhumanity of my parents’ neighbors who murdered them and threw them in the open to be devoured by beasts.
On June 2nd, we went to visit a new Good Shepherd Family in Rubengera/Kibuye, and we met many young boys and girls orphaned by genocide, who expressed a strong need of help especially with their schooling. We have two newly opened GSFs in Rubengera, unfortunately we were able to visit only one of them, due to time constraint. I had to go back by myself on 6/11/07 and visit the second one, after most of the team members had returned back home. We were able to visit Lake Kivu towards the end of the day. As we were on a small boat for a short fun time on Lake Kivu before heading back to Kigali, Ken Surprised us all with an engagement ring for Jamie. We knew they had been dating for a long time, but nobody knew when the engagement ring will come out except me. Ken had confided me that he might do it somewhere in Rwandan during out mission trip, and he wanted me to keep it secret, in order to make it a pleasant surprise. We saw him on one knee right there on the boat, asking Jamie if she would marry him, and she answered yes in tears of joy. They were suddenly in each others arms, almost forgetting that they were on a small boat far away from home. I was praying to God to hold them tight so that they won’t flip overboard, as they were taking a little time to celebrate that unforgettable moment. Thank God all went well, and we had an officially engaged couple on our mission trip team.
A new good shepherd family
On Sunday 3rd 2007, we attended a local non-denominational church where Pastor Mumm was invited to preach. At the end of the service, the pastor of the church, Pastor Joel, introduced to us a 17 year old young man, Jeremy, who is the head of a household of 7 orphans, living in what is known in Rwanda as “Child headed household”. These kids have been taking care of themselves since they lost their parents and many relatives to the 1994 genocide. Pastor Joel explained that none of the 7 children had ever been able to continue elementary school, that the church helps them sometimes with food, and with the health insurance only. I went to visit them the following evening with Immaculate, our Good Shepherd mother, and we found that they did not have any food for dinner, that they did not have any lunch and they did not know when they will be able to have any food at all. We found that they were sharing a very small house in indescribable conditions, and that two of the three girls were very sick. We gave them food for that night and for the following day, and we started the process of renting a more decent house for them and they promised that if they get a new house and some food, that they will try to go back to school and learn at least how to read and write or some basic vocational training. That is how our 5th Good Shepherd family was born.
The trauma counseling center
Since the foundation of War Survivors Ministries in December 2004, I knew that trauma counseling for the genocide survivors would be very much needed as a pivotal service to bring healing to the physically and emotionally wounded. Unfortunately, we could not launch the counseling project due to the lack of necessary financial means to start it and sustain it. The 2007 mission trip opened the door to the launch of the trauma counseling center among other things, because some compassionate people gave generously to support the mission trip, and we decided to assign a portion of their donations to the opening of the center so much desired for a long time. I am particularly very grateful to my church leadership and fellow members, who worked as a unified team and backed up this ministry in a very significant way. They even went out of their comfort zone and found generous partners among family and friends who are not necessarily members of our church. Without their intervention, the trauma counseling center we just opened would still be nothing but an empty dream. Before I left Kigali, I hired a small local staff composed with a program coordinator, an administrative assistant/case manager, and a trained trauma counselor.
The scholarship funds project
Many young boys and girls in their early twenties who heard about our visit came to see us at the airport and every where we were. I cannot forget one young man who was standing at the airport holding a poster with my name on it. I found that most of them were the youth living in children headed households who needed help. Most of them had been orphaned by the genocide when they were less than 10 years of age, had managed to get in school, but they could not go past high school, because without support they could not afford college education. I even learned about some of them who have assistance for scholarship in boarding schools, but come vacations time, they have no where to go, because all their adult relatives have been wiped out by the genocide or subsequent wars. They chose to stay in school hallways until school will resume, or if they come a cross a compassionate non related person, he/she will take them in and give them a place to stay during the vacations.
We have initiated a pilot project for scholarship fund by taking two students as an experimental activity. These two young people have lost all their parents during the genocide and they have managed to live on in very difficult conditions. We will provide them with educational loans to cover their tuitions and other school fees in a local university, they will sign an agreement promising that they will work diligently to finish school and try their best to be employable. Then we will allow them a short grace period to get established in their work, before they start reimbursing their loan with a small interest, in order to use it again, supporting other needy children in the future. We pray that God will touch his people to participate in this project.
The goat project
Our mission trip team has noticed that a goat plays a very important economical role in the lives of Rwandans, especially those living in rural areas. Some of our team members even tried goat meat in restaurants and they liked it. Regular farmers like to have at least two goats at home, because they give a lot of compost for fertilizer, and they can sell the young he goats for meat when they need some money. They can then take care of some urgent unexpected expenses such as sending a child to school or buying clothes. Therefore, we decided to start a goat project for widows living in rural areas. We buy a pair of goats (a male and a female), to facilitate a quick reproduction, and we give them to a widow living far from a city, and we encourage her not to sell them but wait until they will reproduce. We do a regular follow up and monitor the impact that the goats have on the socio-economic life of the recipient. One young goat coasts about $30, therefore $60 would be sufficient for one male and one female goat. Anyone interested in buying a set of goats or one goat for one widow is welcome to contact us, or send us a donation on line and mention that it is for the "Goat Project". We have no doubt this will make a tremendous difference in their lives.
Plans for the 2008 mission trip
We are planning another mission trip for next year. We have already about 8 people who have expressed their willingness to be part of this trip. We encourage those who would like to participate in the 2008 mission and safari to Rwanda to start saving for the trip. We don’t know the month and the dates of the trip yet, but we have the general picture of what it will look like. We would like to make it 50% mission work, 50% Safari, and take between 2 and 3 weeks for that. The mission work will consist of monitoring the impact of the projects initiated as a result of the mission 2007, visiting the orphans and widows, the children headed families, and the farmers who have received goats from our goat project. For the safari part, we will decide as a team which touristic areas we might visit, to learn a little more about the beauty of the country and have a little fun and relaxing time. We will stay in a modest but relaxing hotel, where we will have access to transportation, internet services, and enough water for daily showers. Some of the small motels in Kigali like the one our team was in have water shortages sometimes, due to the increase of the population in the city at a very fast pace. Thankfully our team consisted of young people accustomed to hard conditions of mission trips in third world countries.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I like to express my sincere thank you again to all the 2007 mission trip team members named above, and all those who supported us to make this mission trip a success. There is no question about it; we have made a difference in lives of many people who are now embarked on the journey of healing and reconciliation, despite the tragic conditions thrown to them by the 1994 Rwandan genocide. I also like to encourage anyone willing to participate in our 2008 mission trip or in any of the projects mentioned above to contact us. Thank you.
