September 2013

September brings an end to summer, as well as the dry season in Rwanda. The dust is starting to settle as Hilliary adjusts to life back in Seattle and Torey makes Rwanda home. All of our boys have headed back to their final trimester of school for the year. We at Hope For Life have also said goodbye to two wonderful volunteers: Elizabeth Primus and Caroline Barker.

 

Caroline spending time with the boys

The selfless service and devotion of our volunteers to various projects at HFLM continually evolves our programs and keeps the organization growing. Along with aiding in various administrative tasks, Caroline invested in our staff, teaching and providing tools to strengthen our teamwork mentality and keep our family strong. We continue to be grateful for her help, as she will further invest into developing our staff while she is back in the States.    

 

Elizabeth holding up the picture Pacifique drew for her family

 

Elizabeth returned to HFLM this summer to teach about the importance of clean water, aid in sustainability projects, and invest into the education of the boys. She loved working with the boys in her free time and created a math craze around the house. She would use charcoal to line the property with endless square roots, multiplication and geometry problems. The boys were so eager to answer them and made it a competition to quickly finish them. Because of this, the math problems became known as, “quicklies”, and once Elizabeth was home you could hear the boys rushing to ask for more. We already miss her presence at the home and are praying for her as she contemplates returning to take a position teaching at a nearby vocational school.

Djuhudi getting ready for his baptism celebration. What a stud!

 

This past Sunday we celebrated a very exciting baptism. Djuhudi comes from a Muslim background and is the first of his family to know Jesus. As Djuhudi now sings in the choir at his church, they all came to HFL to celebrate. Chantal shared her excitement: “I can’t believe where Djuhudi is today. When he first came to HFL, he was critically ill and no one expected him to survive. We thank God for who is he is today. His skin has healed, his hair is back and it makes me cry when I look at him.”

Pacifique, David, church member, and Baby, singing up front

 

It was such a joy to watch three of our staff, and four of our boys sing together with the choir at the celebration. Our home was packed with people from the community and on the last song, the whole house joined in dancing and singing, smiling alongside their brother. It was a beauty to behold.

 

We are so grateful for the ongoing support Hope For Life has had in this season of transition. With incredible volunteers and the wonderful community surrounding Hope For Life, blessings have been overflowing. Please continue to keep our home in your prayers as we bring new boys in this next month.