The Voiceless

3, 5, 8,11, 12... These numbers are not indicators of birthdays that these boys have celebrated at home with friends and families. Rather it's the number of years that they have been abused, neglected, defiled and forgotten while surviving on the streets of Kigali.

It's impossible to not experience feelings of anger, frustration, and responsibility when you find out that not only do they have to struggle in order to find the most basic of needs, but because of their vulnerability they become the prey of sexual predators.

These faces and names are only representative of the tens of thousands of street children globally who share similar stories of oppression and victimization.
Their stories and pictures will undoubtedly create an internal conflict for you, as it has for us...

Please join us in being committed in praying for a voice for the children in Kigali, as well as the children around the world. Please also pray for organizations and ministries to raise up and become a part of the restoration and healing process physically, emotionally, spiritually and psychologically in these children's lives.

peace & love,

Ryan and Marla

"Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." - Elie Wiesel

"Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." ~Isaiah 1:17

"God has shown you, O children of God, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." ~Micah 6:8

First week in Kigali

(IJM Rwanda Office)


We have had a wonderful first week in Kigali! We began the Social Work and Trauma Counseling Training on Tuesday. We received such a warm welcome by all of the IJM Rwandan Staff! It has been such a blessing to begin our mornings together with the IJM Rwandan Staff praying for current cases and issues of injustice in Kigali and Jali (a sector IJM currently works in). We have learned so much from each of the staff as they have shared with us their individual work for IJM. The work IJM is doing in Rwanda is incredible!







On Tuesday morning we were introduced to IJM's newly hired social workers, Bridgette and Ailene. Bridgette has worked extensively with local NGOs on issues of Gender-Based Violence. Ailene has a history of working with Compassion International...both are extremely gifted and passionate about issues of social justice! We also have worked closely with Lillian, who has helped to work as an interpreter during the trainings. Lillian too is extremely talented, and definitely has a heart for the issues we are discussing. We are so humbled to be working with such gifted, talented, and experienced social workers. We have spent our mornings providing training on Social Work Values, Building Therapeutic Rapport, Assessment, Issues of Victimization, Domestic Violence, Gender-Based Violence, and Impact of Trauma. We have had great dialogue and have learned so much from Bridgett, Ailene and Lillian! In the afternoons, we have been doing role playing in both the counselor and client role, using our own personal backgrounds. Our afternoons together have been a very special part of our time here...



In the mornings, we take the local motor cycle taxis to IJM, and usually take the motor cars (mini bus) home. It has been a great way to commute! However, tonight we hopped on the back of two motor cycles during rush hour...needless to say, it was quite an adventure home!






Thank you so much for ALL of your thoughts, prayers and love! Please continue to pray for our time together with Bridgette, Ailene and Lillian. Sending you lots of love from Kigali!




Peace & Love, Ryan & Marla

Picture #1: IJM Office; #2: Bridgette and Ailene; #3 Marla and Lillian; #4 View from IJM

Sleeping Under the Stars

We've had fun sleeping in the hammocks! It got a little cold at about 4 AM, but was especially fun to wake up under the tree as the sun rose quietly over Kigali. The sound of the birds singing is the best way to wake up in the morning! Ry & Mar

Kayonza Wedding

We're here! We arrived in Rwanda at 12:30 pm and had a familiar face greeting us as we walked out of customs, Cindy Prouty. Cindy and Jerry run the African New Life Mission House in Kigali. Cindy took us back to the house so that we could get ready to go to a wedding of a teacher, Bob, and Sponsorship Director, Rebecca, who work with African New Life. It was such an incredible experience and an honor to be able attend a traditional wedding in Rwanda. The evening was filled with dancing, drinks (fanta, coke, and sprite =), and declicious food! As the children's voices filled the air, our souls were awakened deep within in praise. The wedding was held at the African New Life Primary School, where the couple works. It was very evident how much the children meant to them, and how much they cared for the children. Groups of children presented them with traditional gifts, and several of the children gave speechs and prayers...there were many tears of joy as they celebrated. We wanted to include some of the video that we were able to take of the traditional dances during the wedding. The one where the women are balancing the baskets on their head while they dance is called the Crane dance and is phenomenal to watch...We hope you enjoy!

We woke up this morning to the sound of song birds, welcoming the new day, so thankful to be in Rwanda. After attending African New Life church this morning, we walked to a local market and enjoyed all of the familiar sights, sounds and smells. It is difficult to express in words the blessing we feel in our hearts to be here. Rwanda is breathtakingly beautiful. The rhythm of life and Rwandese people have already ministered to our souls.

During the next few days we will be preparing for trainings we will begin this week for the Aftercare Staff with IJM. There is also a possibility that we may be working alongisde some of the African New Life staff to provide psychosocial and counseling training as well. We look forward to sharing with you more throughout the week!

Thank you so much for all of your thoughts and prayers. We are overwhelmed with joy and thankfulness in being here!

Peace & Love,

Ryan & Marla

Peace & Justice

We chose to title our blog Peace & Justice in Kinyarwandan (Amahoro & Ubutabera)...We hope that we will all come to know God's heart for peace and justice more fully as we share together! Isaiah 58

Dear family and friends

We want to share some exciting news with you! We will be leaving for Kigali, Rwanda on July 17th for three weeks to partner with International Justice Mission (IJM). We were asked by IJM to come to Kigali, Rwanda to partner with and provide some trainings to their aftercare staff. IJM is a faith-based social justice mission that is at work throughout the world to bring justice and healing to both individuals and communities. IJM uses a collaborative model that works alongside nationals to prosecute cases in developing nations such as slavery, sex trafficking, illegal property seizure, illegal detention, police brutality, and sexual violence. IJM has a four-fold purpose: 1) Victim Relief; 2) Perpetrator Accountability; 3) Victim Aftercare; and 4) Structural Change. While cases are being prosecuted, the victims are offered protection and provided with aftercare services. Rwanda is just beginning their aftercare program, and we will be providing a training for their social workers to address psychosocial and spiritual needs of the victims that they work with.

Some of the topics we may be discussing together are: 1) Impact of trauma on the brain; 2)Stages of grief; 3) How to facilitate trauma and grief groups; 4) Training in narrative, art and play therapy, etc. We also will possibly be providing some individual as well as group counseling during our time in Kigali. We are so thankful for the opportunity to partner with Rwandans, and all that we will learn from them during our time together. We pray that God may use us to help strengthen their aftercare program, as well as to participate in both psychological and spiritual healing in the lives of those we will work with. We pray that we may come to know God's heart for justice and peace more fully. We are SO eager to learn from the IJM Rwandan staff!

We will be staying with our dear friends, Jerry and Cindy Prouty, who are in ministry in Rwanda. Jerry and Cindy help to run a guest house for African New Life Ministry. We are especially excited, as we will get to sleep in hammocks outside for our first two nights in Kigali (the guest house is full the first two nights that we are there;). We may not want to come inside to sleep, after falling asleep under the beautiful Rwandan stars our first two nights!

We would greatly appreciate your prayers as we prepare to partner with IJM for a short time this summer. We praise God for this opportunity, and that we are able to go during Ryan's graduate school break before his next semester. Please pray that God would prepare us spiritually, emotionally and mentally for this ministry. Pray that God would give us wisdom as we partner in providing some trainings for the IJM aftercare staff. Pray that we would depend completely on Christ to be our source of love, peace, wisdom and strength. Pray that Christ would be able to encourage the IJM staff in Rwanda through the relationships we will build. Also, please pray especially for the victims that we will be working with, for their cases and for their healing. Thank you so much for your prayers! We look forward to sharing in this ministry with you this summer, and sharing updates with you upon our return!

Peace,

Ryan & Marla

Here is a link to IJM. We encourage you to look
at their website to learn more about ways they are partnering to bring justice, peace and healing! www.ijm.org