First Day in the Village

If you are not prepared for a long read, please stop here!!
Today we visited the widow we (as a family) sponsor, Constance.
I will start at the very beginning of the trip, we had a brief breakfast and made lunches for everyone, while Cyprien arrived. I was very excited to be going into the village for the first time, BUT was well aware of the driving and walking time... that kind of put me off, but only a little!! The driving and walking time was roughly 5 hours!!!!!!! YIKES!!! So we got started driving, it took us about 20 minutes to get out of Kigali, then we were on a nice, PAVED road. My parents told me that this road goes all the way to Uganda!! So we are on this road okay, and the farther we go, the more beautiful, higher up, and scary it gets!!! Eventually, we were halfway up the mountain, we were in the city of Byumba (is that how you spell it?). It wasn't much of a city really... to me, it didn't even look like a full subdivision!! I was like, "A city, haha, riiiight..." at the end of Byumba, we turned right onto a NON-paved road... lemme tell ya, this road was DEFINITELY the path from HELL!!! There were potholes like no one can imagine, huge bumps with no warning in front of them, it was just big enough for one car with maybe 5 ft. of room, and after that 5 ft. a sheer drop down the mountain!! It was fun on the way there, but on the way back, hoho!! But, I am getting too far along in the story... where were we.... OH yes, the freakish road made by the devil!! On this road we saw some people with bikes carrying at LEAST 50 lbs. on their bikes, on this riddiculous "road"!! When they looked at us they would wave hectically shouting "Mizungu, mizungu!!!!!!!!" As we got even higher on the mountain, the road got smaller, it looked like a walking path!! There were children on the side of the road, maybe 3 years old, all alone, who have probably never seen white people before, looked at us in amazement. And some of the older children (5-9) would chase after us yelling the familiar phrase, "Mizungu, mizungu!!!!!"
Finally, after 3 1/2 hours of driving, we got to a school. Here, the children jumped out of the windows to come and see us up close. The volunteers and teachers were out first (but not out of the windows) they all gave us hugs and some of them spoke a little bit of english. Then when nearly all of the kids were outside, they sang us a song!! It was very cute, but I was very surrounded, and to be completely honest, everyone smelled... really bad... they were all very sweet and cute and nice, but I was glad to get out of that huge group. They all followed us while we walked, and Vienne warned them that he would beat them if they did not get back to school, and when they did not listen, he really did take a stick right off a tree and whacked them!! hard!! It was really funny, but I got scared!!
After walking for 1 1/2 hours, we got to Constance's house. It was very nice and we saw her 1 week old baby. She was ADORABLE, we talked with Constance for awhile and met her children, and it was really great.
On the way to and back from Constance's house, we met people who have been sponsored. I thought to myself, are we getting so large, that we meet people that we work with on the road?? The was back from Constance's house was REALLY difficult, because we were going uphill, for an hour and a half!!!!!!!! It was really crazy and my coughing became a problem, as soon as we got to the school we left because we were all extremely drained. God really got me through today... on my way uphill when I was most tired, I kept thanking God for things that I had to keep my mind and thoughts on positive things!! It worked, thank God!!! I made it and am now very tired, keep up the comments!!
In His Hands,
~*YAmber LynnY*~

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man!! We have been here 4 days and have so far experienced-- horrible coughing and sinus infections, a hideous black caterpillar bite-thing, teeth breakadge, and broken water-stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am couging a whole lot, but my sinus infection is finally nearly gone, praise God!! I am taking Amoxcicillin (is that how you spell it??) and it is helping a lot, I just am praying that I get well really soon... To all who comment on my blog, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel sooo encouraged and loved by you guys!! It always makes my day when I read your comments!! Here in Rwanda it is so beautiful... the flowers are different, and GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!! The roads are as curvy and wormy as, well, worms!! I am really struggling with my sickness... I feel so slow and like I'm stalling everyone!! And I am really depressed because I can't do much with my family!! It is really saddening... all of you who are praying for me, please pray especially for my health, God answers prayer!! So please pray for me!!!
Much love in Christ,
~*YAmber LynnY*~

Panic Attack!

Oh my goodness!! Well, I am here in Rwanda feeling quite out of sorts! I have also got a rather nasty cold with coughing and gross stuff like that... by the way, thank you all for leaving such wonderful comments! My heart is truly warmed and encouraged by the lovely verses and words of wisdom! I suppose I should talk about what I mean by "Panick Attack!" It all started while we were descending into Rwanda, I was feeling a little sick, but nothing major... I looked out of my window, and saw all of the Rwandan houses with tin roofs and red bricks... it was then that I started to churn inside, I kept seeing flashes of my house in my mind and pictures of flying above the Chicago houses as well, I thought, "Where is my house?? I want my house!!!!!!" A wave of massive insecurity swept over me, "What am I doing here, I want my home, I want to be home!!!!!" my insides screamed. I tried to ignore the way I was feeling by telling myself that I could take it, I could take this huge unsafe feeling and smush it down and not let it bother me. Then my stomach got very upset, and got gradually worse as we left the plane and got into the Rwandan airport. I started to shake uncontrollably and started crying. The Rwandan's at the airport saw that I was sick and got me some water and let my family stay in a room with couches, all I was thinking of was my house and all of my friends and everything I knew and held close to my heart. My mom took me to the bathroom and sat me down and told me to breath in through my nose for 5 seconds, hold it for 5 seconds, then breathe out through my mouth for 6 seconds. That helped me A LOT! I also was holding a Squish pillow that reminded me of mine back home, I held it so tight and did not want to let it go... all through this I was praying, asking Jesus to help my because I felt so afraid and vulnerable... I had to go into the bathroom twice and the second time when I came out I was feeling quite a bit better, but still very afraid and I felt like a little girl clinging to my mother. My mom stayed by my side the whole time and prayed for me and held me and comforted me. Without my mom, I don't think I could've made it... it was not just my feeling insecure that spurred my panic attack, I was suffering from over-exhaustion. I had only slept 7 hours in 2 days. ( I am not a good plane-sleeper) After I left the bathroom, I met the Rwandan staff! Travis and Astird and Odette and Claudette and Cyprien and Vienne, I was feeling very timid and weak, so my dad helped me to get to our house quickly. My mom led me into the house and I only remember walking up stairs, watching my mom get my bed ready, and then me crashing onto the bed, with sleep hitting me like a train! I was very reminded of how I cannot lean on my own strenghth, not in the least!! But if I trust in Him and believe that He will give me strenghth, I know I can pull through. To everyone who is coming with a team-- this is not meant to scare you, but to encourage you and strengthen you, and to let you know that God is not going to give you anything that you cannot handle! Now it is Friday and I am sick, with a cold and a cough, but I am better from my panick, the Lord guided me through. Once agian, thank you for your comments, and please leave more!

Only with His strength,

~*YAmber LynnY*~