The mixture of struggles and blessings of a missionary life in Kigali

Dear family and friends,
Today is the last month of May and I am very grateful that I have made it this far in my journey.
the last two weeks have been intense that I could not stand the feeling of loneliness and stress.
In the last two weeks TTR has dealt with a loss , accidents, and hospitalization. In all this I was around  and watching and to be honest it was very hard for me but I am very grateful that God was with us all along and he helped us and walked us through it all.
I have been meeting the girls mostly every Saturdays and sharing with them, they are all doing great now and attending school as normal.
 Gaudance is a 19 years old girl who just lost her new born baby and as you can imagine she is still grieving but I was surprised to see her smiling the other day and she was talking to me in a normal voice.
she came to me holding her bible, seeing her I could not find any words to tell her so I decided to wait for her to talk and as she looked at me somehow she knew i had no words to say and all of a sadden she asked me "can I go back to school?" I told her yes with out thinking considering it had only been a week since she lost a baby and I asked her to have a seat and talk to me.
she told me "I have been reading my bible and praying just like you and Juliet advised and I believe that God wants me to be happy" i simply said "indeed"
we talked about what she wanted to be in the future and what kind of school she wanted to attend and by the end of our conversation she and I had decided that she will be doing Technical school since she wants to learn how to sew and sewing is not taught in regular schools.
On the same day Gaudance lost her baby and only few hours apart Kimoto(the boys uncle) was involved in accident that left him badly injured and had been in the hospital since them and waiting for surgery.
I was called to come and take him to the Hospital as soon as I dropped off Gaudance and Mama Amani(girls auntie) to a different hospital. I have never in my life had to deal with double injured people and I just busted out and started crying telling Juliet I can't do it, I can do two different things at the same time, I can't deal with death but I realize I was being selfish I was only thinking about myself and my needs and I needed to pray and ask God for wisdom and guidance and with his help I overcame my fears and tried to figure out what to do.
 Kimoto is somehow feeling better but still waiting for surgery in his arm since the cast would fix the broken bones. The boys are doing great in the home of innocence ,It was tough at first to guide them through their usual chores since their uncle was hospitalized, we needed to step in and help them.
Girls are great too ,they now have two live in Aunties and a qualified female security guard. I have been able to help boys with their school work and I love when they ask me to explain something for them it make me feel like I am making a difference in their lives.
After those crisis weeks today I am happy to say I have gone back to normal, I am still conducting the interviews with all the kids and helping in the office where I am needed.
I feel like God has sent me here for a reason and he is still yet to reveal it to me.
I would like to finish this blog thanking some people who haven't left my side and who have been helping either through prayers or financially and love,
Thanks to my parents for always calling to check how I am doing and for everything you do to keep TTR going.
Thanks to my church family for supporting me financially and for praying for my trip I want you all to know I am hanging in and doing what God called me for.
Thanks to Larry and Jeanne Earhart for your generosity giving through my rent. I am very grateful and thankful for your love and care.
Thank you TTI for praying and being with us through prayers during those two intense weeks.
and finally thanks to all TTR staff for being there for the kids and for you love and care towards all the kids in the program.
Special thanks to Juliet Mutamba( TTR child welfare coordinator) for all your over time work and being there for everyone in our program and for keeping up with work and everything.
May God bless you all for your good work, may he keep you safe and may he be there for you as you have been there for his people.
Keep TTR in your prayers as we go through the journey of getting the legal permanence of TTR to keep working in the country as A Rwandan ministry,      

Kelly2Rwanda Update

Hullo,
Dear Friends and family. let begin by apologizing for not posting anything sooner honestly the Internet here is super slow plus the blog people refused me to open it thinking that it wasn't mine.
It's been two weeks since I arrived in Kigali-Rwanda and to be honest my stay has been both  fun and somewhat not so fun.
when I arrived to Kigali International airport on May 3rd I was so excited I was here at last but then my excitement began to fade when I wouldn't find the girl who was suppose to pick me up and take me to where I was to stay. The confusion was that she did not know me and I did not know her so it was hard to find each other.
But my sister Vava and Theogene from the home of innocence were there waiting for me although they had no car to carry my bags so we wondered around for awhile waiting for somebody to show up.
Then finally we spotted my two foster brothers and sister, funny thing is they have been there waiting for me all along but I did not see them and thank God they had a car big enough for my bags. we were at the airport for two more hours waiting for this girl to appear but there was no luck.
I was so tired and I couldn't wait any longer so I decided to go to my sister's place and spend a night there even though she did not have a room for me she agreed to share her bed with me.
That night we had some kind of a welcome party at my sister's place and thank God my phone was still connected to the internet so I send an email to Jamie(the renter) asking to send me a phone number so I can call the girl who was suppose to pick me up. I called her and she directed me to the house I am staying in now.
That Sunday I missed church because I was still settling in. I love the place I am staying in so far Jamie and her friends are so nice, Christians and   they are socially alarmed( kind of crazy like me!!)
My room is big enough for me and I love everything about it.

this is my closet 

My bed

On Monday May 5th   I went to the home of innocence to say Hi to the boys and to begin working with them, it was very fun to hangout with them and talking to them individually. I worked from the office along with Juliet who is TTR child welfare coordinator. I meet with different kids everyday and afternoons I visit their teachers at school and together we talk and see how we can help the kids to succeed well in class. so far I have met with all the teacher who teach the girls from the Home of purpose.

Kevine and Grace (the little girls in the home of purpose)

This is Theogene who came with my sister vava at the airport

Phelomene loves to pose for the photo while other girls think she is stubborn!

Me and the girls enjoying the picture time

this is Nadia with little boys her mother found on her doorstep 

Nadia's new brother

Nadia'a mama and brother

The girls are doing well and happy so are the boys from the conversation I had with them through our interviews ,they are healthy and they have enough security in the home than anywhere else.
I have been driving my dad's car which is bigger and taller than I am but it seems I am doing well with it, only last week on a Saturday and a Sunday I got stopped by the police for no reason. on Saturday in the morning while waiting for the light to turn green this police guy walked up to me and he started asking for the paper work for the car which I did not know where they are kept in the car but I am creative enough I look and found a lot of paper and asked him to look through and find what  he was asking for. he did look through and he found everything he wanted then he told me to go, after almost an hour, I asked him why he stopped me and he simply told me" YOU ARE SO SMALL I DID NOT IMAGINE YOU HAVE ALL IT TAKES TO DRIVE THIS BIG CAR"  and he let me know this was going to happen again with a different police and surprisingly he was right the next morning on my way to church a different cop stopped me and when I asked why he told me the same thing I was told the day before. This is kind of Irritating because they stop me for no real reason when I am on my way to somewhere and it's insulting to call me small all the time. and one of these police suggested I buy at least 2 pillows to sit on, that way I look bigger and taller.
Besides this my tip is been an adventure so far I love doing what I do and I know y'all praying for me.
on my rent I paid for this month only and thanks to my church family and my family for sending me if it wasn't for your generosity this trip would never have happened.  I have one more month of rent to pay.
My rent cost is $350. if anyone wants to help with my rent please talk to my parents Michael and Lisa McColm .
I am very grateful for all your love and care while I am away please keep me in your prayers as I am starting to get homesick.
Much love,
Kelly.
Please excuse the disorganization of the photos!!!