Mwiriwe!

and so it begins...from LAX we had a 10.5 hour flight that took us from the beautiful temperatures of southern California to the below freezing temperatures in London. Grateful to be able to stand, we managed to sight-see the city for about an hour before coming back to the airport to get ready for another long flight from London/Heathrow to Nairobi, Kenya. Most of us were able to get at least some sleep on the second flight which was a blessing :) (Glenn even managed to confiscate three seats to stretch out...tricky tricky) From Nairobi, we flew into Burundi then straight onto Kigali. Definitely a joyous landing for all!

31 hours later, all six of us are quite tired, elevating our feet, happy to be lying flat, and very grateful to the Lord for our safe passage to Kigali, Rwanda. :) The country is absolutely stunning! We even had our first thunderstorm with probably the hugest raindrops we've ever seen! We also toured the local Kigali hospital which was fascinating. The doctors and medical staff welcomed us and very kindly gave us tours in the middle of their work day. We were given a tour through the maternity, pediatric, internal medicine and pediatric HIV ward.

We are currently back at the guesthouse we are staying in, trying to stay awake until a decent bedtime hour. :) Tomorrow we will be visiting the genocide memorial and also the orphanage that Glenn and Elizabeth adopted Noah, Cynthia, and Erica. :) We might also visit the hotel that inspired the movie Hotel Rwanda. It's right up the street from where we are...very sobering.

A couple of prayer requests:
First, that we might be able to receive a good night's rest tonight...the travel as drained us and we still have a long road ahead...literally and figuratively. Kibuye is about a 3 hour drive from Kigali on a very windy road.
Second, please pray for Payal and Leith. Payal was a girl in her twenties who was on the flight to Kenya. The Lord opened the door for the gospel to be presented to her, so please pray that the seeds that were planted would continue to grow. Leith was a man in his thirties who was on the flight from Kenya to Rwanda. After some philosophical discussion took place, he was encouraged to read both The Abolition of Man and Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. He expressed interest in reading them, so please pray that that seed will also continue to grow! :)
Third, Lisa's luggage was lost in transit. Please pray it comes quickly since we'll only be here (in Kigali) till Friday.

Thank you all so much for your prayers!

Imana aguhe umugisha (God bless you)!

The Rwanda Nursing Team
Glenn, Marla, Emily, Sharayah, Amanda, and Lisa