Away From Home in Canada.....

Well, I find myself once again having to apologize for the long delay in our newsletters. Intentions are always good but it is amazing how quickly time can get away from you.

It has been a busy, crazy, sad and happy couple of months. I write it with mixed emotions as we are now back in Canada for a much needed rest but we find ourselves missing our Rwandan family. Let me start by going back 6 weeks or so to bring you up to speed on things.....

About a month and a half ago the kids came home from school quite concerned regarding an elderly man they passed along their way. He is very old and he appeared very sad to them. A couple of girls stopped to talk to him to see why he was so sad and he told them that it was because he was very hungry. These kids took that small comment very seriously. They immediately came home and filled several containers with food for this man and then we, as a group made the trek back to his house to feed him. It was such a neat experience to see these kids, who all came from the same circumstance, reach out to another and share some of what they had. The man was moved to tears and could barely speak his gratitude. I don't think it will ever be possible for my heart to become unmoved by these kinds of days.

Abby is doing wonderful, and completely has everyone wrapped around her baby finger. She continues to grow into the most beautiful baby in Africa! She is close to crawling and loves to gab away at everyone!

Baylee and Julia finished school the first week of June and they both did great! Both Dean and I are very proud of the way they pulled the year together concerning how far behind they had fallen. I am still waiting to get their report cards but considering I did the marking I know that they both passed with very good marks...looks like Grandma owes them some money!!

About 5 or so weeks ago Aline, our youngest mama started to experience some pain that she described as very acute back pain. I associated this to the mattress that she was sleeping on or possibly a pinched nerve. I treated her with muscle relaxers and prayer. She continued to work as hard as she normally did but the pain continued. She went for a 3 day break and when she came back she had some medical test results that she had done. She had an x-ray of her lungs as well as an ultrasound of her ovaries. She explained to us that the doctors had discovered that she had cysts on her ovaries that would likely need surgery. She was pretty scared but I explained to her that everything would be alright and that even if she needed a hysterectomy she would be okay. We spent the next week and a half going into Kigali to the hospital every single day for appointments and tests. It was very frustrating because we were under the impression the whole time that we were trying to get her prepared for surgery on her ovaries and they kept pushing tests for TB and other blood tests. Getting a straight answer from anyone was proving to be almost impossible. It was not uncommon to go to the hospital at 7 am and be there until 5 or 6 pm.

In a total blow, exactly 1 week before we were to leave Rwanda the doctors told us that Aline had lung cancer and that it was very advanced. When I asked how long we were looking at, weeks, months, or years, the doctor told me that most likely we were looking at weeks. This came as such a shock as the whole time we were taking her to the doctors we were under the impression that it was her ovaries that were the problem. They told us that they would not explain to Aline what was happening until they could bring in a counselor to walk her thru it. They also would not start any treatment until some further tests were completed. That night I went with Francoise to Aline's mom's house to tell her what was happening with her daughter. That was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do. Aline was her only surviving daughter from the genocide. Of course it was very hard for her mom to receive this news but we prayed together and just really relied on God to bring us all thru this.

8 days after Aline was admitted to the hospital we left for Canada. We needed to get back to family and friends as it had been a most difficult first term, but, as you can imagine it was difficult to leave Aline with the condition she was in, and it was very difficult to leave all of the children. There were many, many hugs, plenty of tears and lots of kisses. I had to tear myself away from Abby as I was very concerned that she would forget who we are after 3 months of being away.

It was a long flight but at least a good one. We had much of our family at the airport as well as Tracey, my closest friend. It was a most surreal experience. We went straight from the airport to my sister's house for a much anticipated steak dinner so big we could barely finish! It took a couple of days to get over the jet lag, but it wasn't nearly as difficult to get over as it was when we arrived in Rwanda. I think that for all of us, the most difficult thing to get used to again is how late the sun stays up. In Rwanda, it is dark by 6:10 every evening. It could be 9pm here and we still feel like it is the afternoon! Haven't really experienced the whole "re-entry shock" but we do feel like part of us has never left and another part feels like such a visitor......kinda weird really.

The toughest thing that we have had to deal with is learning that Aline died on Tuesday July 8th. We knew that it was very possible that she could die while we were here but it is still very difficult to be so far away and lose a member of the family. We loved Aline very much as did Baylee and Julia and the mamas and all of the children at the home. Dean and I feel that she was just as much a missionary as we are. She was very young, only 29, and she could have very easily gotten married and had children of her own, but she made a decision to stay at Victory Family Home of Champions and work for Christ. Dean and I would very much like to build a memorial garden or something to honor her when we get back to Rwanda in September and if you would like to help us with this financially please email us at katinrwanda@yahoo.ca. Any donation will be greatly appreciated.

We will be in Canada now until September and we would love to hear from you so please email us any time. Also, if you live in the Lethbridge area, we will be sharing at the Victory Church there on July 20th and if you live in the Okotoks area, we will be sharing at the Victory Church there on July 27th.