Wednesday, April 13, 2022
Hi, rwanda
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2022 12:56:45 +0300
Message-Id: <890403EHgfs9$EQk7nZf8$Dg0hXYSs$@rei-seminars.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0030_KIXN4LHL.DT13IKQO"
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook 16.0
Thread-Index: AdhPHMnBRJuqPvBINwRsASGhtPQ8+g==
Content-Language: en-us
This is a multipart message in MIME format.
------=_NextPart_000_0030_KIXN4LHL.DT13IKQO
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="utf-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
rwanda https://bit.ly/3rjADg0 Katiecoldwell
------=_NextPart_000_0030_KIXN4LHL.DT13IKQO
Content-Type: text/html;
charset="utf-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<html xmlns:v=3D"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o=3D"urn:schemas-micr=
osoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w=3D"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" =
xmlns:m=3D"http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns=3D"http:=
//www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><META HTTP-EQUIV=3D"Content-Type" CONTENT=
=3D"text/html; charset=3Dutf-8"><meta name=3DGenerator content=3D"Microsoft=
Word 15 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0cm;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:#0563C1;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
color:windowtext;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;
mso-fareast-language:EN-US;}
@page WordSection1
{size:612.0pt 792.0pt;
margin:2.0cm 42.5pt 2.0cm 3.0cm;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext=3D"edit" spidmax=3D"1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext=3D"edit">
<o:idmap v:ext=3D"edit" data=3D"1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=3DEN-US link=3D"#0563C1=
" vlink=3D"#954F72"><div class=3DWordSection1><p class=3DMsoNormal><span la=
ng=3DEN-US style=3D'font-size:15.2pt;font-family:Tahoma'>rwanda<o:p></o:p><=
/span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span lang=3DEN-US style=3D'font-size:17.3pt=
;font-family:Tahoma'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span=
lang=3DEN-US style=3D'font-size:10.2pt;font-family:Verdana'><a href=3D"htt=
ps://bit.ly/3rjADg0">https://bit.ly/3rjADg0</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p cla=
ss=3DMsoNormal><span lang=3DEN-US style=3D'font-size:10.4pt;font-family:san=
s-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span lang=3DEN-U=
S style=3D'font-size:10.4pt;font-family:sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span=
></p><p class=3DMsoNormal><span lang=3DEN-US style=3D'font-size:17.4pt;font=
-family:Verdana'>Katiecoldwell<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></body></html>
------=_NextPart_000_0030_KIXN4LHL.DT13IKQO--
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Friday, September 23, 2016
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Sunday, August 2, 2015
from: katiecoldwell
http://rempeople.org/satisfaction.php?pretty=8rh9qyz7kcchy3mc
katiecoldwell@yahoo.com
katiecoldwell
Sent from my iPhone
Monday, July 21, 2008
Home Safe and Sound
Team Rwanda 2008 is home safe and sound! We arrived in Dallas at 3:45 today. I can't thank you enough for all the prayers and support you provided us these past few weeks. We made many wonderful relationships and I can't wait to tell you stories and post pictures. Our internet connection started out strong but then became increasingly complicated--so I wasn't able to post as often as I would have liked, but I plan on doing some post-trip storytelling.
Thanks again for all your support!
-Katie
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
A Twin Update
Yesterday, we got the wonderful opportunity to go out into Kigali and have lunch with the twins. In addition to crops, the twins work with a group that goes to hospitals and visits orphans and widows and those infected with HIV. They pray with them and see how they can help them get jobs when they leave the hospital. We ate at the home of a woman with AIDS who was helped by them and now lives a very hopeful life. It was a traditional African meal, and it was delicious.
While we ate and talked, I learned that they also help sell greeting cards that are made locally from banana leaves. The profits go to help starving families here in Rwanda. Jean Dideiu told me that they didn't want to just beg for money but wanted to provide a service, which is a very refreshing attitude here. I will be bringing some back with me so that people at church will have a chance to help out if they want to.
I'm attaching a picture of me and another reader, John Baptiste. He is currently in a preaching school and is enjoying the opportunity to improve his English. I don't have a picture with the twins yet, but I will get one soon.
-Chuck
Nathan's notorious nine
Meet Joseph, Jackson, Kwizera, Jules, Osward, Cedrick, Innocent Ntwali, Dady, and Innocent Ndayisaba. All of my readers are young men whose ages range from 16 – 26, with varying vocations and backgrounds. One is an electrician in
The violence and having lost many or all of their family members in the 1994 genocide is one thing most young Rwandans have in common, as they represent the young children that survived and are growing up to become adults. However, there are many hopeful and positive lessons in light of the tragedy. Osward taught me an ultimate example of forgiveness. A long story short, he and his surviving siblings found his parent's killer in prison to pray with him, forgave him, and now they have adopted him as part of their family since the killer's family was also killed. Oswald smiled as he told this story, explaining God's love and showing forgiveness is the only way for the country to re-unite together.
Nathan
Uno, Soda, and Snakes, oh my!!
We started the party with a very lively game of "Take A Hike." This is a great icebreaker game because it gets people up and moving around. It also helps the players learn different facts about each other including things they have in common. Did I mention that our large group of young readers is primarily male? Try to imagine 50+ young adults running around the room fighting each other for chairs. It was quite humorous.
Next, we broke the large group into 3 smaller groups and moved them through a rotation of game stations consisting of Bunko, Uno, and a paper airplane throwing contest. Everyone was so wound up from running around in the first game that when we split them up into groups they all raced to their stations as fast as they could. At this point, they must have thought that the entire party would be a competition. I was in charge of the refreshments. We had a table of cookies and bottles of coke, fanta, and sprite. When one group came down for freshmen's they were chanting "soda and snakes, snakes, snakes!" I said, "snakes, why are you talking about snakes?!" I quickly realized they meant SNACKS. Many things seem to get lost in translation... fortunately, I have not consumed any snakes while in Rwanda.
My favorite part of the party was the airplane throwing contest. Katie works for Southwest Airlines (my personal airline of choice). She brought some inflatable airplanes that you wear on top of your head. As part of the airplane throwing contest the thrower was required to wear the airplane on his or her head as he tossed his paper airplane over the balcony towards the target. It was hilarious! The hat went over very well.
I spent most of the party running around taking pictures. Most people would ask me to take their picture. Gildas asked me to take his picture and he posed very seriously, which I think is a cultural thing. Holly mentioned that the people here are taught to make serious faces when they have their picture made. As Americans, it seems we have our picture made so often that the goal has become to look as weird as possible in photographs (perhaps this is not the case for everyone... I am speaking from my own experience!). I asked Gildas if he would smile for another picture and he did. I showed Erin the picture and asked her which she liked better. She chose the smiling picture and replied, "You look like President Kagame when you smile." Gildas seemed VERY pleased by her conclusion and proceed to smile for the remainder of the party.
-Emily
Monday, July 14, 2008
My Intelligence is Pregnancy
Our reading sessions are going well. We usually start out with just simple conversation, I ask how their day is going and we talk about Rwandan or American culture or customs. Then, it's on to the lesson. With some readers, we can do two or even three lessons in each session depending on their level of English and their understanding of the Bible. A couple of times, we haven't even opened the workbook, but instead have just talked about the Bible and God.
From Jean-Boscoe (a 50-year old father of 8 who lost several family members in the Genocide), to Francine (whose husband works for the Belgian embassy) to David (an orphan who had to dropout of secondary school because it was too expensive), to Eric (a computer-technology student who amazes me with his questions), each of my eleven readers has such a distinct story.
I'm so blessed to be here these two weeks. For me, my heart for these people is pregnancy. Here's a picture of me with Francine.
-Katie
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Better late than never...
In my last post I mentioned the twins that are starting an agriculture company. A couple of days ago, they took me out to the farms they're working with. They are building greenhouses and experimenting with crops to see which seeds have the best results. I was hoping to have pictures from the field trip, but that is not possible at the moment. Hopefully I'll be able to get them up later.
Next week we will all go to lunch with the twins. Another of my readers invited all of us to his house one morning next week. There have been so many cultural experiences we have been able to have, as well as many relationships formed. The people here continue to amaze me.
That's all for now. Hopefully our Internet will work tonight and we'll all be able to write more. If not, we'll write when we can.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Meet Topista
Greetings. It is time for a state-of-the-mission-trip address. We all wanted you to meet our Chief of Staff, Topista. If you haven't been reading the blog, maybe you think we have been "roughing it" here in
Topista has been tending to our every need while at home during the trip. Seeing as how we leave the house at
Topista lives at the Jenkins household and has assisted them for thirteen years in Uganda and Rwanda. Doug Jenkins and his family also reside as missionaries in
Disclaimer: This post is not meant to spite all of you at home with no on-site 24/7 cook/cleaner/launderer/cheerleader. We are so thankful to the Jenkins for the use of their house and to Topista for taking care of us. The trip has been wonderful so far, and God is rewarding us in all kinds of unexpected ways. My next post will be about all of my reader buddies I have made this week! -Nathan
These are a few of my favorite things...

One of my favorite things about international travel it the constant sense of your own vulnerability. What better way to be reminded of my need to constantly rely on God? He is blessing us in so many ways, most notably through our readers. Each reading session is as different as the individuals we are working with. We are able to share the truth of God, learn about the culture, and build friendships that we will remember for perhaps the rest of our lives. I'm having trouble remembering what I've ever done to deserve such blessings. Thankfully, God doesn't work that way!
In recognition of my love of adventure and surprise I'd like to make a short list of things I've experienced thus far:
1. Avocados the size of small child
2. A ginormous lilac bush that is as aromatic as it is large
3. Beautiful handmade baskets for about $8
4. Waking up at 4:30am to a flooded bedroom floor (and suitcase)
5. Baby sized bananas that are VERY sweet
6. Leaving my purse at a restaurant and finding in the exact same place I left it 2 hours later (God is good).
7. Having a Rwandan friend pray that God will wrap His arms around me.
8. Fabulous 4th of July celebration at the American Embassy
9. Poisonous black fuzzy caterpillars
10. Learning that Moses's (youth minister) grandfather had 45 children (that he knows of)
11. Never ending source of chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon rolls, banana bread, pizza, waffles, tostadas... etc. made by a brilliant Ugandan woman.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Hola from Rwanda
No, we’re not teaching Spanish, but we did just have Mexican food for dinner tonight! Seriously, our cook, Tapista, is amazing! I think this precious Ugandan woman made the best guacamole I’ve ever tasted! The avocados here are the size of your face—and they’re perfect! Add in some fresh limes, onions and tomatoes, and OLE, we’re having a Rwandan Fiesta!
In other news from Kimihururla Hill (say it with me “kim-mee-hoo-roo-la” (this is the name of the hill where we live (did you know Rwanda is known as the “land of 1,000 hills?))), the mosquito net has been hung by my bed with care with the hopes that mosquitoes won’t soon be there! And, Tapista made homemade cinnamon rolls that we’ll have for breakfast. Did I mention that we had an amazing goat cheese pizza and vegetable ravioli for dinner on Sunday night and Bar-B-Que at the missionary potluck on Sunday? And waffles for breakfast today? Seriously people, we are spoiled! I just may stay here!
So today was our first day of teaching English. I’m not going to lie, I had a bit of “first day of school” jitters, but this time I’m the teacher! My first two readers no-showed, so I used that time to look over the lessons once again and have a little quiet time. But then this afternoon, I did five sessions back-to-back. My readers come from many different backgrounds. David is 19, homeless, and was orphaned in the genocide in 1994. Eric has great English and is working to improve his English for secondary school. I’m reading with two women named Francine. “Cooking Francine” is 30 years old, cooks for a family, and giggles with every other word. Our reading sessions consist of a LOT of laughter and a little bit of French.. If I lived here, we would totally be dear friends! “Belgian Francine” is 39, her husband works for the Belgian embassy, and she primarily speaks French. For once in my life, my decision to study French rather than Spanish is finally paying off! Chuck and I even traded readers tonight after his session with “Jean Bosco” was lost in translation. This man is going to eat my French lunch! He talks so fast—I can hardly keep up! I really love reading with these kind people. Their smiles, their gentle laughter and their kind eyes have already captured my heart.
Yesterday, we had a great afternoon playing volleyball with our readers and members from the church. I sat on the sidelines and played with the neighborhood kids. Everyone received a “God loves you” sticker, and we played tag, red rover, and “duck, duck goose. Have you ever tried to explain the difference between a duck and a goose to seven-year-olds who don’t speak your language? It involves the “quack” and “honk” sounds and is a guaranteed way to make new friends. These children were so precious!
I guess that’s all for tonight. I tried to upload pictures, but the internet here thinks otherwise. Thanks for all the prayers—God is doing might things! Tune in Wednesday for further adventures—we’re taking turns posting each night to make the reader comment contest is fair and square. So if you like what you read, be sure and leave a comment of at least 5 words!
A failed agronomist
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Mwamba sawa sawa
Who's the coooolest LSTer in Rwanda???

In the spirit of friendly American competition, and in an effort to combat homesickness and culture shock the Prestoncrest 3 LST team would like to announce the 1st annual blog comment contest. This is about quantity and quality, so there will be prizes awarded to the most humorous comment on each post. Here are the rules:
1. The winner will be determined by an overall average of comments per post from this day forward.
2. The comment winner will be established by the other three LST workers (those not authoring the post).
3. No overt negativity allowed.
4. All posts must be a minimum of five words.
5. Haikus are like the daily double on Jeopardy.
6. Anonymous posts do not qualify.
7. Each individual is only allowed one comment per post.
8. Comments will be accepted until Tuesday, July 22nd at 11:59pm.
We (Katie, Nathan, Chuck and Emily) would like to thank you in advance for your contribution to the success of this contest. Not only will your participation be handsomely rewarded, but will contribute to the mental well-being and health of all persons on our team. GOD BLESS YOU!
P.S. - comments made on this post will not count towards the contest... but by all means... comment away.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
I Bless the Rains Down in Africa
Friday, July 4, 2008
Meet Erin Estep (second from the left)

Erin is fun and outgoing...tall athletic build...enjoys crying at movies and taking long walks through the city of Kigali. Her one vice is hazelnut coffee (nobody is perfect). She is a member at North Richland Hills Church of Christ and has been in Rwanda for 4 weeks with Let's Start Talking.
p.s. - her twin brother, Phil, is on the far right. I'm sure notice the resemblance. : ) He is a Rwandese exchange student at Oklahoma Christian, and our faithful tour guide. We love him!