July Email Update

July 24, 2008

We are in the midst of a busy summer schedule. The YCEW high school team was here for 3 weeks and are now safely back in Oregon. They had a good, busy trip with us. Now we are in the midst of planning for the Kumbya Conference. There will be 130 missionaries, including their kids, coming from Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. David is coordinating the conference with two other missionaries, and I’m overseeing the cooking.

We are also receiving a college team and Gregg Pricket from Rose Drive Friends Church tomorrow. They will come to Kumbya with us. They are going to teach VBS for the kids, and Gregg will be our speaker. We are looking forward to a good time of fun and fellowship there.
As soon as Kumbya is over, Gwen and I (Debby) will be going to Oregon for a couple of weeks. Gwen has been having a really hard time with reading and we have tried everything we know how to help her here. EFM had graciously allowed us to set up a trip to the states to get her the help she needs. She will be seeing some specialists who will hopefully be able to help us know how to help her. I will also be attending a conference at George Fox College put on by Food for the Hungry on Transformational Development. I will have a brief break out presentation there.

In September Breanna will be going to Rift Valley Academy boarding school in Kenya. This is hard for our family, but at the same time Breanna is very excited for the opportunity. We belive that God has directed us in making this decision and that he will provide for our needs.
In the 11 years that we have lived in Rwanda, we have never been to Kenya. So we have decided that since Dave and I will be there to get Breanna settled in school that we will take a week to have a family vacation there as well. So, we will all be in Kenya in the end of August until the beginning of September. We are very much looking forward to getting away and enjoying each other’s company one last time before Breanna goes to school.

So, that is our busy summer in a nutshell. In the midst of this my team of volunteer development workers and I are doing community research to find out where we will begin our transformational development work. In fact, I leave in an hour to go to the community that we are thinking of working in. It’s about and hour walk in each direction—at least I’ll get my exercise!

Thank you for your support, your prayers, and your friendship.

Summer

Well, the YCEW team from Oregon is safely back home again. We have been taking some time to rest, and spend time with the kids since they are on summer break now.

We are gearing up for the annual Kumbya Conference, a ten day conference involving missionaries from all denominations in Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Congo and Tanzania. Dave is the head coordinator this year, organizing the conference with two other missionaries. I'm purchasing food and overseeing the preparation of meals. Its a big job, cooking for 170 people over a big fire! But we have Rwandan cooks who know what they are doing and will do a great job.

The kids are really looking forward to Kumbya. They have childrens VBS all moring every morning. In the afternoons they swim and play. For them Kumbya is paradise.

We are getting a team of 9 from Rose Drive Friends Church in CA who will help with the Jr. and Sr. High VBS programs. Gregg Pricket from Rose Drive will be one of the Kumbya speakers. They arrive on the 25th of July and will leave on the 5th of August.

A Family Hike

Last Saturday our family went with five other home school families to climb a mountain. It was a 3,000 ascent all in one shot. We brought the 6-year-olds (there were four of them and Alandra is one of them), and thought someone would stay behind with them. However, everyone made it to the top, including the four 6-year-olds. (this is a picture of the four 6-year-olds, Alandra is in the green shirt.)

It was a fun time to get a way from the city and from work. Way up there the hills of Rwanda reminded me a lot of the hills and mountains of Switzerland. The air was fresh, the fields green, and there were wild flowers. One big difference, however, was that we had about 200 school children following us.

We were all huffing and puffing, sometimes scrambling up the mountain side on all fours like a goat. We had some nice sore muscles the next day.

We are thankful for the beauty that God created, and a hike like that reminds us of what an amazing God we serve. We were also reminded of the stark poverty in which our brothers and sisters live. May God continue to show us how to advance his kingdom in Rwanda.

The First Ever Thomas Family Blog

Hi there,

I just learned how to set up a blog last night and here I am, trying to make it work! I would like for this blog site to help us keep our family, friends and supporters updated on what we are doing. Seems like most of the time we are so busy doing what we do that we don't make time to communicate like we ought to.

I'm hoping to write some articles on Disipling for Development, Business as Mission (and some of our attempts at Business as Mission in Rwanda), live here in Rwanda with the Thomas family, and anything else that might be of interest.

Presently we have a youth team from North West Yearly Meeting here for three weeks. You can find there blog here: http://ycewrwanda2008.blogspot.com/2008/06/nine-travelers-and-their-families.html They have pictures, and even a couple of video clips.

So, I hope that in the future you will find some interesting articles, pictures, and maybe even video clips here that will keep you informed of our life and work in Kigali, Rwanda.

Debby Thomas