Amahoro ava Hejuru - Kigali, Rwanda - 10 February 2010

The women of Amahoro ava Hejuru dance. “They dance because they are celebrating what Jesus has done in their lives,” Grace whispered in Debbie’s ear. It had to be a pretty loud whisper. This is not your average, run-of-the-mill swaying and swinging of hands kind of dance. This is a sing-with-all-your-might, dance-til-your-feet-will-pound-no-more kind of dance.

It was a home visit on our last day with the ladies of Amahoro ava Hejuru in Kigali, Rwanda. We’d traveled across town by bus and then up a long, winding path to Florence’s home. There was a pretty little garden proudly displayed by the front door. Everyone wore her best dress.

After a quiet, somber meal, Theresa shared a word of encouragement from II Chronicles 20:4-6 about relying on God for strength when we know everything else will fail us. She inserted “Imana yacu ashimwe cyane” like periods at the end of each sentence. My Jesus be praised very much. These simple words uttered over and over by Theresa were later proclaimed by Vestine’s loud, strong singing; Beata’s decisively swaying head; Jane’s straight, cocked arms; and Rosemary’s firmly pounding feet. Children poked their heads in and were soon invited to join, their small feet learning the steps that will one day be second nature. The dancing kicked up dust that looked to me like incense rising.

After dancing.

I could ask for no better way to end our days with the Amahoro ladies in Rwanda. Much like in Burundi, our time with them revealed both deep personal and communal struggles, as well as an unwavering commitment to seeking God’s goodness—a reality not easy to hold in tension. Kiyarwanda is a beautiful language to listen to, but one not easy to pick up. We sat with them for daily prayers and devotions, relying on Grace’s translation to participate. Grace also helped facilitate a strategic planning session, lots of work on product revisions for export, and my efforts to gather stories to share from their work there. We took lunches together—a practice begun by the ladies in Rwanda and extending to other Amani centers.

It’s clear that these ten women are friends. They enjoy and know one another well. When business is slow or the iron breaks or the power goes out, they sit to talk and pray for one another. They show me the way to shoulder one another’s burdens. And their dancing teaches me something of celebration amidst the weight of suffering.

Tea, sugar, and a pile of work.

After a week in Rwanda, we bid the Amahoro ladies farewell and headed back to Kenya for one last brief stop. The Amani Kenya ladies welcomed us warmly, and I gave thanks that we could end our time with them. They sent us off with prayers for safety, wishes for our return, and hugs that dispel any doubt of lacking affection. We packed up all ten of our bags—six suitcases and four carry-ons—with products, gifts, and lots of dirty clothes. Leaving is always hard, but as Elizabeth told us at our farewell gathering:

“We are all one family. Even though you are going far away, we know that every day we are together. We are connected as one.”

This family is big, diverse, and widespread. But we are indeed interconnected. Our trip gave us opportunity to witness this reality first-hand and participate in the linking of Amani’s family in Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, and the US. These visits are costly in time and money, but they reap tremendous benefit in building one another up in our specific callings.

Thank you for supporting this trip and the work of Amani in all of these places. May peace continue to spread in Africa, the US, and wherever you find yourself.

Amahoro ava Mw'Ijuru - Bujumbura, Burundi - 7 February 2010

Due to technical difficulties this update, which I wrote on Sunday night, isn't appearing here until mid-week.

If all you’ve seen of Amani is Nairobi, know that things feel a bit different in Bujumbura & Kigali. Amani Nairobi is vibrant and lively. A host of cultures from around Africa and the world fuse on a daily basis. Visitors frequent the shop & café. The Export Office keeps work consistent. And the 60 or so women working as trainees keep things a-buzz.

By contrast, the centers in Rwanda & Burundi are newer and face more challenges in accessing markets. The women at these small centers have to rely on one another to survive. For the past ten days, we’ve spent time with them, catching glimpses of their unique challenges and calling to peace in Burundi & Rwanda.

Jua kali sana. This Swahili phrase loosely means, “The sun is very harsh.” Bujumbura was experiencing a bit of a heat wave when we arrived with temperatures well into the 90s and some pretty intense humidity, thanks to Lake Tanganyika. But Amani’s Burundi Country Director, Goreth (pronounced “Goretti”) and her husband Evariste were such gracious hosts, and our time with them was rich. Our certain lack of Kirundi (Burundi’s national language) meant conversations with the rest of the ladies relied on my shaky Swahili or translation. We found this small group genuinely warm despite our differences. They welcomed us into their prayers and devotions, sharing with us about how Amahoro has been a lifeline to them. Their stories are powerful testimonies to the transforming power of peace.

Goreth & Evariste at their plot of land where they hope to build a home. Owning land is a source of security in Burundi, and they are grateful that Amani helped them purchase it.

During our two days at Amahoro ava Mw’Ijuru, we worked on samples of new products, made recommendations for export, and scourged Bujumbura’s fabric markets for quality cloth. We witnessed first-hand the challenge they face to grow their market in Bujumbura, and prayed together with them for customers and sales. They have some great ideas for the coming year. These are women trying to work in unity and excellence for their families, as well as the health of their nation. To them, Amahoro represents hope for Burundi. It’s clear that there’s still much to be done—at Amahoro as much as anywhere—but as the women will readily tell you: this peace is real. And it doesn’t fail.

Naomi, Esperance, & Joseline enjoy a lunch feast of rice, beans, greens, and bananas. Feasting together is an important part of welcoming visitors.

It was hard to leave the ladies in Burundi on Wednesday. Our time was short, but so sweet. We were welcomed with dancing and singing on Thursday morning at Amahoro ava Hejuru. I’ll share more later about our time with these ladies. We still have two days left with them before heading back to Nairobi.

My mom and I decided to take this past weekend to visit the shores of Lake Kivu. We stayed in Gysenyi on the lake, just a 3-hour drive from Kigali through the stunning Rwandan mountains. Our time away gave us some much-needed time to be still and rest. As we drove back this evening through rain clouds clinging to the mountains, I found myself again seeking that thin opening between broken-heartedness and inundation, where joy slips in. We have seen and felt injustice, even uncomfortably so, in our time here. I know there’s even more beyond the surface. These realities are painful and can leave you feeling powerless and overwhelmed. But I’m reminded of the gospel that tells us, “Soon shall close thy earthly mission,/Soon shall pass thy pilgrim days,/Hope shall change to glad fruition,/Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.” I’m grateful that, ultimately, peace wins.

The faith of these little groups of women scattered around the world is in something far more lasting than what we see with our eyes. Despite the brokenness, we have this stronger, more unifying hope through Jesus Christ. And that’s where joy breaks in, like the sun cutting through the clouds over the dramatic Rwandan hills.

Amahoro ava Mw'Ijuru - Bujumbura, Burundi - 31 January 2010

Greetings from Burundi!

We finished up our week in Nairobi on Saturday. Our days at Amani Kenya were full, but productive. Mom finished up a couple stitching projects, even making a pattern to pass along to another lady. She brought one of the new product concepts along to test it out with the ladies here and in Rwanda. I spent much of the last few days meeting with other leaders to hammer out details for the coming year.

Even in the nuts and bolts, I'm reminded of the resiliency of the Amani's family and the importance of this message of peace reaching every aspect of what Amani does. Amani's mission is expansive and deep, as is the gospel. After a week with the ladies of Amani Kenya, one line keeps ringing in my ears: "Amani ya dunia sio kama amani ya juu." The peace of the earth isn't like the peace from above.

The ladies in Nairobi sent us out as ambassadors with many prayers and plenty of greetings to their sisters in Burundi & Rwanda on Friday. As evidenced above, we've been welcomed heartily by our dear friend Goreth and her family. Tomorrow we'll start the first of our three days with the women of Amahoro ava Mw'Ijuru (Amani Burundi).

Not too much to report yet, but please pray for us as we begin the next phase of our time here:

- That we would be a true encouragement to the ladies here in Burundi, and especially Goreth (the Burundi Country Director)
- For creativity and wisdom in helping direct product design and marketing for these smaller centers
- For continued health. We've felt great (after the jet-lag wore off)!
- For joy and patience as we communicate across language barriers.

Thank you for walking with us.

Amani ya Juu - Nairobi, Kenya – 27 January 2010

They served lunch at Amani today. Women arrived in higher numbers than usual, because it was the end of the two-week pay period and time to close the books. Lunch provides a chance to share a meal with friends, especially since not every woman comes each day, choosing instead to stitch at home and save the bus fare.

We sat in the shade and ate our maharague and mchele (pinto beans and rice) off of big aluminum plates with fat spoons. Next to me, a cluster of women who had come with their babies alternated bites for themselves and their children. To the other side, one woman loudly acclaimed that the kitenge wrap her friend was wearing was “smart.” Everyone finished off her meal with a hot cup of chai.

Both before and after lunch, the hum of sewing machines in the stitching room was a bit louder than other days. This bright room on the top floor of the Pamoja House, the main building standing tall behind the Amani café and shop, contains rows of all types of sewing machines. Many were occupied today by women with stacks of products to submit for payment. I sat with Margaret for a while as she changed the trim on her coin purses. She had used the wrong fabric, so Quality Control had returned them to her. We chatted about her children, the tailoring work she did before Amani, and the joy of working hard.

Mom was put to work straight away Monday morning making sample pillows out of scraps. (Finding useful occupations for the loads of scraps that are taking over the Amani center is a common goal these days.) She finished her first one today and made progress on the second. Her eagerness to get to the stitching room and work on her project is evidence of how much she’s missed stitching in recent months. Plus, it affords her the opportunity to chat with old and new friends while she works alongside them.

We’ve both been able to step into the “other side” of our work in very helpful ways this week. Mom spent time in Export getting a better sense of what it entails for that office to ship boxes to the US. Experiencing the process herself gave her a deeper understanding of the system she’s relying on as she schedules volunteer boxes from month to month.

I’ve gotten to sit in on some helpful meetings and talk at length with the administration here in Nairobi. Saturday’s Kenya Board meeting gave me a profound appreciation for the care that the Board puts into guiding Amani. I appreciated the opportunity to listen to their discussion of where Amani Kenya is headed in the coming year and present a report on Amani US. Also, I was invited to attend the monthly Administration Meeting today, which brings together the department leaders to update and think through current situations. In a way, that meeting is the counterpart to the many meetings we have informally in DC.

Sitting with Amani’s Kenya Country Director for a few hours on Monday morning, a sense of refreshment washed over me: we are not alone. There is a community of women here in Kenya searching for the same balance of ministry and business, battling endless system breakdowns, and imagining peace among brokenness.

Some pressing communications projects have needed more time than we’d like to give them, and each day we find ever present that old truth of working for Amani: there’s always so much more to do than we can feasible undertake. So we continue trying to strike the balance between being diligent and savoring the moments. These days are precious. We marvel together at the growth we see in our sisters since we last saw them and wonder how they find us changed.

Debbie & Brittany at Amani Africa: Jet set!

In February 2006, I visited Amani ya Juu in Nairobi for the first time. It hardly felt like an introduction; Amani had already been an important part of my life through my friendship with Rachel. But that's a story for another time (perhaps one that's already passed). After two weeks at Amani Kenya, I begrudgingly returned to Washington, DC and my ever-supportive parents. Standing in the kitchen, jet-lagged and crotchety for being forced to return to my snowy, cold life in the States, I distinctly remember my mom's exact words: "Next time, I'm going with you."

And so she did. We spent two weeks at Amani Kenya in July 2008. And again, more of my mom's words are still clear as a bell. Sitting in a meeting on how-we're-going-to-make-this-US-volunteer-sale-thing-grow, she said, "I can do that. I can help coordinate the volunteers for Amani. I would like to do that."

And so she has. Thus started a new chapter for usm one of sharing our experiences with Amani by working together. It's not been without challenge, but we have truly enjoyed working alongside one another for the past 2 1/2 years.

Now we're embarking on yet another chapter, and kicking it off with this trip together. We're so thankful for the support in the form of prayer, donations, and encouragement we've received from many of you as we set out. I'm going to try to update regularly as we have time. In the meantime, please remember us in prayer over the next three weeks.

Here's what we're up to...

Jan 21 - 22: Travel to Nairobi, Kenya
Jan 23 - Feb 30: Working at Amani Kenya
Jan 31: Travel to Bujumbura, Burundi
Feb 1 - 3: Working at Amani Burundi (Amahoro ava Mw'Ijuru); travel to Kigali, Rwanda
Feb 4 - 9: Working at Amani Rwanda (Amahoro ava Hejuru); return to Nairobi
Feb 10 - 11: Wrapping up at Amani Nairobi
Feb 11 - 12: Travel home to Washington, DC

The next three week may try our patience, grace, and resilience, but we are so excited to spend time at the Amani centers and share about how Amani is growing in the US as well. It's always a good thing when the women of Amani get together, and so we look forward to what will come.

More (I hope!) soon...

Wrapping up 2009

Happy New Year! I'm excited to welcome 2010 along with the rest of the Amani staff. We've been on a much-needed break the past few weeks, and now that we're back, I'm catching up on a few things that fell through the cracks in the mayhem of the holidays.

Below is my end-of-year letter wrapping up 2009 and looking ahead to 2010. I hope to have some more updates soon.

December 2009

Greetings of peace! This letter comes to you from my desk at AmaniDC, currently surrounded by piles of products just arrived from Amani Kenya, along with tall stacks of orders ready to ship to customers. In the past few months our small staff has been flooded with volunteer sales, website orders, shop customers, and wholesale buyers — all symbolizing a growing market for Amani’s beautiful products. We are seeing now the fruits of the past year’s labors, and the importance of healthy, growing US operations now based in DC.

By your support of my work with Amani, you have had a hand in bringing these fruits about. I want to share with you an update from the past year and a glimpse of what’s ahead for 2010.

2009: “We start as fools and become wise through experience.” -Tanzanian proverb

A retail shop opened in January during a recession — it is a story unlikely to end in success. And yet, while AmaniDC’s success certainly cannot be measured in one year’s time, we can say with confidence that sales and outreach this year have far surpassed our expectations. A thriving DC location has made it possible for Amani to weather this difficult economic season.

The year involved a lot of “firsts” for our staff. We went from working on the floor with piles of paper and products to a welcoming boutique, office, and warehouse with systems on which we can rely. Below are some of our most notable business-related successes:

• Established inventory and financial systems for moving products and tracking US sales
• Designed and set up Amani’s first US retail shop
• Increased communication with customers, volunteers, and donors through mailings and e-newsletters
• Provided product feedback to the Africa centers efficiently, resulting in a refined product line
• Strengthened and expanded our partnership with volunteers selling products throughout the US (Product shipped to volunteers from the US Warehouse this fall doubled that of 2008!)
• Implemented an upgrade to our online shop enabling web sales to increase significantly.

AmaniDC has indeed become a fully functional part of the Amani family. Amani’s unique products (made even more marketable this year!) give us a natural way to extend peace to many new people. We see it in the faces of our eager customers and hear it in the voices of our enthusiastic volunteers—Amani’s message of peace is impacting lives.

We have been encouraged by our warm reception in a neighborhood struggling to attract business. One woman from the church from where we rent space told us, “Amani opening here was a glimmer of hope for this neighborhood. It encourages us that Mt. Pleasant is a place where people come and thrive.”

I’ve been able to represent Amani to the Mt. Pleasant Business Association this year. Through relationships with local organizations and business owners, it’s become clear that Amani’s mission has a unique niche in Mt. Pleasant. The struggles of small business owners to adapt to a changing, multicultural city are acutely felt here. I look forward to continuing to learn from and with these new friends in the coming year.

We have also this year continued our conversation with Restoration Ministries about partnering together toward a job skills training internship for the women and girls with whom they work. We have been able to encourage one another as we develop each of our ministries. We hope to begin an internship program with Restoration Ministries in 2010.

Thank you for your financial support this year. The donations from my supporters have provided approximately 30% of the salary costs for my full-time position this year. Your generosity has made the growth of Amani in the US in 2009 a reality. The network of friends investing in Amani in this particular way has been a tremendous encouragement to me. I thank God for you!

2010: “Reason is our soul’s left hand, Faith her right.” -John Donne

The coming year will certainly hold a new set a challenges. As you may have heard, I have agreed to step into the US Country Director position on an interim basis in mid-January when Rachel Kistner (who currently serves in this position) resigns in anticipation of the birth of her first child. The change is bittersweet for us all. We rejoice with Rachel and her husband Ben, but will miss her greatly at Amani. The interim nature of the position will allow Amani and me time to discern whether the role is a good fit for me. The Board and I will evaluate my performance and experience after six months, and then decide whether to make the position permanent.

What will happen to my current job, you ask? I will merge many of my current responsibilities with the Country Director position. We are also hiring part-time staff right now to help alleviate shop responsibilities that Rachel and I have shouldered in the past year. This is an immediate need. If you know of anyone in the DC area who would be interested, please let me know. This will be the first aspect of changes to our staff next year. Please join me in praying for the right people to join our AmaniDC team in 2010. Your continued financial support of my position in the coming year will enable this change and growth.

As you can see, the new year will get rolling with big changes at AmaniDC. I’m also excited to start it off with a long-awaited trip to the centers in Africa. Amani’s mission is grounded in relationships. It’s essential for us to stay connected to those who first shared this peace with us: the women at the centers in Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi. Visits also help us work together as co-laborers to refine Amani’s global operations. I am planning to travel to all three of the Amani centers in Africa in late January/early February. You may know that my mom, Debbie, works part-time with Amani connecting volunteers in the US who sell products through our Kenya Export Office. Her involvement in Amani has been such a joy for us both. I am excited that we will be making this trip together as mother and daughter, co-workers, and friends.

This upcoming trip will allow us to rekindle relationships with friends old and new, as well as work to improve Amani’s US support of Africa operations. Time together affords opportunities to share about our lives and the extension of peace in the US. The women at Amani’s centers in Kenya, Rwanda, and Burundi work hard to share this peace with excellence through their products. Trips like these foster continuity and unity among the widespread Amani family.

We also have some specific ministry and business goals for our trip. Debbie will do some technical stitching training, as well as working with the Kenya Export Office to help her better perform her tasks in the US. I will work with Amani women on communications — facilitating exercises in personal storytelling and writing to create opportunities for the women themselves to share about Amani — and I will also represent the US staff as the Interim US Country Director and meet with leadership to work on specific ministry and production goals. We hope to visit some of the women in their homes and pray with them.

As we enter 2010, please join me in praying for God’s care and guidance for the Amani family and the DC location in particular, as well as our upcoming trip.

As you know, Amani uses donations for outreach and strategic growth. Because it values the connectedness of its staff, Amani is investing approximately 25% of our trip costs. My mom and I have decided to contribute 40% personally. We are fundraising together the remainder of our trip budget, which is about $2,600. If you are considering year-end donations for 2009, a gift to Amani for this trip beyond your current ongoing support will be an excellent investment in the growth and ministry of this unique organization.

To make a gift via check or credit card or to update your giving information, please fill out the enclosed giving card and send it to Amani Foundation, PO Box 28133, Chattanooga, TN 37424.

Again, I am deeply grateful for your friendship and support. I look forward to continuing to share with you how God’s peace is thriving at Amani—both here in DC and around the world. If you are interested, I would be happy to talk more with you about plans for the upcoming year. Now more than ever, I am passionate about Amani’s ministry and believe in its mission. I hope you are captivated by this work as well and the peace from God that it demonstrates.

Warm blessings to you and your family this Christmas season! May you find many reasons to celebrate and take heart as we give thanks for Christ’s coming and await his return.

E-mails, Coffee, and Prayers.

A woman in at the Kenya center feels inexplicable pain.

The ladies are thankful for recent rains.

Another woman reports that her neighbors were robbed last night, and she is feels scared and sad for them.

Still another gives thanks for a recent home visit from Amani women and their children.

The Burundi center has seen a drop in sales from slowing visitors. Rwanda gives thanks for a few big sales that cleaned them out.

Children of the Amani women are sitting for standardized examinations at school.

The Nairobi streets and buses are unsafe from crime and rough conditions. The women give thanks for their safety and pray for all who travel.

Several women at the Rwanda center are caring for children sick with malaria.

These are just a few of the prayer requests that have appeared in my inbox recently from Amani's Africa centers. Gladys from the Kenya office collects and circulates a simple daily e-mail that keeps us all connected. Some days, the list is short and full thanksgivings. Other days, like earlier this week, it seems a litany of woes too heavy for anyone to bear. Sometimes I marvel at the breadth of it. Generally, I'm thankful that these concerns are voiced with the hope of sharing the burden with others through prayer. The Amani women continue to remind me that our struggles are not meant to be faced alone.

We do this in our own way at AmaniDC. Our staff is small, but it's the same spirit playing out here of caring for those with whom we work . Our middle office has become a makeshift gathering place, much like the old stitching room at the Kenya center used to function before their chapel was built. We take time in the mornings before opening e-mail or packing up products to talk, drink our coffee (perhaps the American equivalent of chai?), and remember that we are friends sharing life together through our work. We tell stories about our families and homes. We laugh. We pray for one another and for the requests coming from Africa.

Sometimes the challenges we face here are very different from those facing our African sisters. More often, they're strikingly similar. Even in just the past few months, the Amani family has walked together through loss, new life, changing seasons, wont, instability and perplexity. Today I'm grateful for the everydayness of it. The little prayers and brief encouraging e-mails become the glue that holds us together across so many distances. On a usual day at the Amani centers, our connection may be imperceptible. But it's a source of strength for me and many on a daily basis.

Last week, a new volunteer was tending the shop when a woman came in with her newborn baby. The volunteer, a recent empty nester, was soon chatting with the younger woman who was herself adjusting to a new season of motherhood. I eavesdropped on their conversation and gave thanks that Amani is becoming a place where people who might not otherwise meet are connecting over common experiences. It would appear that the Amani culture--and the peace in which it is grounded--is naturally and ever-so-slowly making its way known at AmaniDC.

Please join me in praying for the needs of the Amani family in Africa and the US.

I love this photo of my mom & Elizabeth at Amani Kenya.
Theirs is a particular and lasting connection over motherhood and resiliency.