Thank You

Thank you all for your support of the Christmas 2006 “Hope for the Children” Tour.

During this tour we distributed $5,810 to orphans in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda through seven different orphanages/ministries. Orphans received shoes, blankets, books, mosquito netting, clothes, food and other practical items depending on the need of the orphans in the particular locations.

In addition the hope team sang and spoke at over 17 concerts or events, recorded 2 television spots, participated in a radio interview, a Pastor’s conference, an award ceremony, and a recording session. Through these venues the team had the privilege of sharing the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ with thousands of orphans and people in East Africa.

We went to bring hope to the children. However, in the process, the children brought hope to us. God loves the children of East Africa very much. We want to extend our special thanks to the children of East Africa that we met and the people and ministries that support them. Thank you for sharing your incredible faith and courage with us. May the Lord’s favor be on you and may He exceed your greatest hopes, wishes and dreams.

For the churches and people in the US who contributed to the orphan gifts your generosity is an inspiration to all of us, your gifts went to help many children this Christmas season! Thank you to all who supported the tour financially, it would have not been possible without your help! A special thank you to those who prayed for us, your prayers were a constant source of strength and comfort to us- we felt those prayers everyday! Thank you to all! And Happy New Year!

Your Partners in Christ,

Scott, Meme and the Hope Team

Children of Hope

Going Home

Akagera National Park (Rwanda) - Sofari, Sogoodi

Akagera National Park is located in the east of Rwanda. The park covers over 2500 sq km of savannah west of the Kagera River, which denotes the frontier with Tanzania. The park has a variety of wildlife and is a habitat for over 500 different species of birds.

For our last day in Rwanda, we traveled with our host, Pastor Theophile, on sofari to visit the park, see the wildlife and experience some of rural Rwanda.

A beautiful trip, more hills than our sofari in Kenya. More lush areas and lakes.

Impalas

These are Rwandan Cows that were being hearded through the park. Cows are a big deal traditionally in Rwanda. The division between Hutu and Tutsi was made in part on whether a person owned cows. If you owned a cow you were considered to be in a higher level in the social structure. To this day cows are equated to social status for many in Rwanda. When a man proposes marriage, he must give a cow to the brides family. Traditionally if you offer a cow to someone, you are offering the greatest gift you can give.

Pastor Theophile and a giraffe encounter

Zebra

Hippos

Gibbon Monkeys

Butterflys

The storks in East Africa are huge - the adults are about 3 feet tall.

Baboons

(from left to right) Desire (our driver), Victore (our guide), Scott and Pastor Theophile.

Staying in Hotel Rwanda - The Milles Collines Hotel

We stayed in the Hôtel des Mille Collines for the last few days of our stay in Africa. The Mille Collines is a hotel in Kigali, Rwanda. It became famous as the building in which over 1,000 people took refuge during the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. The story of the hotel and its manager at that time, Paul Rusesabagina, was used as the base of the movie Hotel Rwanda. The French, "des Mille Collines", is from "Land of a Thousand Hills", a poetic name for Rwanda. The hotel also appears in the 2005 film Sometimes In April. (If you want to learn more about the Rwandan Genocide that took the lives of 1,000,000 in 90 days these two movies are a good place to start).

While in Kigali we met a pastors wife who stayed at the Mille Collines for a while as a refugee during the genocide.

The Belgian flight-carrier Sabena owned the hotel at the time of the genocide. The European managers were flown out and Rusesabagina, who was manager of the smaller Hôtel des Diplomates at that time, was made manager. With the help of his wife, he bribed the Hutu Interahamwe militia with money and alcohol to keep them from killing the refugees in the hotel.

During the genocide, the water from the pool was used for drinking water.

The hotel is a relatively small and humble facility by American standards. Very beautiful though. "If these walls could talk..." was one of the questions that continuely went through our minds during our stay.