Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Honduras Mission

june09q

THE MICAH PROJECT-TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS (This trip has been cancelled due to political unrest)

From July 25-31, 2009, Enric will be traveling to Tegucigalpa, Hondurwas to minister with the Micah Project.

The Micah Project is a non-profit organization in Tegucigalpa, Honduras which currently supports 26 young men in two group homes. These courageous guys, all of whom spent anguished childhoods on the streets or in impoverished homes, are now learning to become Christian leaders through discipleship, formal education, and opportunities to serve others who are in need. To read more about these special young men to blog and the website www.micahcentral.org to learn more about these special young men!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Flying



International musician Enric Sifa was on a flight returning to Portland Oregon from Kigali Rwanda concluding a two day festival with Andrew Palau and the Season of Service, when the pilots gave the warning to the passengers to brace for impact. There was a fire in the cockpit. The passengers feared for their lives.

Fortunately, the pilots were able to make an emergency landing in Iceland, with no major injuries to passengers or crew. The flight is scheduled to reach it's final destination sometime Tuesday evening. July 21, 2009

Enric Sifa has flown many times and even composed one of his most popular songs on a previous flight over the Atlantic- Birashiboka-about God's miracles. The lyrics translated from Kinyarwanda talk about how God has transformed a wheelbarrow into an airplane, a lizard into a dragon, and a cardboard box into a house.

The phrase, ingorafani, has become a popular expression in Rwanda, meaning something unexpected, also referring to Enric's life story as a genocide orphan survivor. http://www.enricsifa.com

Enric's faith in God's miracles was put to the test Monday, his closest friends wonder if he will add another verse to the song.

Enric Sifa is from Rwanda but attends Westside Christian High School in Lake Oswego.

See also these news articles about the flight.

Diana Dettwyler
(publicity) for Enric Sifa
503.930.6583
dilizzy@comcast.net

Serena Morones
Manager for Enric Sifa
503.523.9070
serenamorones@moronesyoung.com

Friday, April 03, 2009

George Fox Students Learn Praise Song





Earlier this week I had the privilege of meeting with a group of students who attend George Fox University. In preparation for a trip to Rwanda this May, the students are learning some Kinyarwandan travel phrases based on the curriculum developed by Speak Rwanda

Part of this fun evening included learning a Rwandan praise song, led by native born Enric Sifa and Kinyarwanda lessons also led by Enric.

Njye nzahora mpimbaza uwiteka
Umwami wange, imana yange
Njye nzahora mpimbaza uwiteka
Umwami wange, imana yange.

Mugitondo wooo
Karecyane wooo
Nzaririmba hallelujah
Ndimurugo woooo
Cyangwa ndyamye woo
Nzaririmba hallelujah

Njye nzahora mpimbaza uwiteka
Umwami wange, imana yange
Njye nzahora mpimbaza uwiteka
Umwami wange, imana yange.

TRANSLATION

I will always praise the lord
My King, and my God
I will always praise the lord
My King, and my God

In the morning wooo
Very early woooo
I will sing hallelujah
When i am at home wooo
Even when i am sleeping wooo
I will sing Hallelujah

I will always praise the lord
My King, and my God
I will always praise the lord
My King, and my God


Thursday, March 26, 2009

Global Relief + Current Work Project


Website for Speak Rwanda is currently under construction, but you can read about updates here for now.

Today while researching organizations that help Rwanda, I came across a new model for charity and relief organizations, a non-profit that partners with entrepreneurs in developing countries called Global Relief and Development Partners. Their mission is to ". . . build the leadership and professional capacity of entrepreneurs in countries emerging from political and economic crisis." If you know anything about the history of Rwanda, you'll remember the Genocide and the ravaging effects it had on this tiny country in the heart of Africa.

What you may not know, however is that this tiny country seems to be on the verge on completely transforming itself within one generation, largely by the efforts of small mission-minded groups and religious organizations in America bringing education and aid to children through child sponsorship, orphanages, and relief projects. In addition to religious charity work, hundreds of people every year are traveling to this tiny country to see the efforts they have contributed to formerly from a distance.

Many people however have recognized that charity relief work is only the first step in rebuilding the infrastructure of a country. That's what makes organizations like GRDP and Speak Africa so effective and attractive to global residents who really want to make a difference in the world. Some of these companies are non-profit, but some seem to be blends forming a new model for doing business in the global community.

Speak Rwanda (a branch of Speak Africa) is one these new models whose roots are in missions and relief work. The founders (formerly with Africa New Life) realized the dream of learning the native Kinyarwanda travel language was within reach and would make a huge difference in the enriching not only the lives of indiviuals embarking on short-term mission trips and business ventures to Rwanda, but help foster direct personal relationships with native Rwandans.

I'm really excited about being involved in the latter company, Speak Rwanda, so much of my research right now is focused on what other people and organizations are doing in Rwanda.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Monday, October 11, 2004

Re-entry

My re-entry started great. Things were going very well. We (about 25 of us) dashed out of the Rose Garden when Sheila began her wrap-up. We ran to the van when we realized we would not have to sit in a traffic jam. We were so happy! Terri helped us back out. We hit the freeway with the sun shining on us and headed to Red Robin and arrived at the restaurant just before the dinner rush. We were the dinner rush! Food came and was spectacular. I bragged to my friends that it is always better to arrive home after dinner when you've had such a great time. I called home to let them know we were stopping for dinner and that I would be home a little later than planned. Husband asked, "is there any meat tenderizer?" (I think this is called foreshadowing.) "No honey, I forgot to get some at the store last week and this week." Well, I thought they are getting ready to have their dinner. We left the restaurant very happy and stuffed, discussed the conference a bit and made it back to Salem in good time. When I called for my family to come pick me up Levi answered the phone. "Uh mom? We are just sitting down to dinner."
"Okay, I said, just come and get me in about 10 minutes."
A few minutes later my phone rang. It was dad. "We'll be there in a few minutes, we just sat down to dinner."
"Okay, see you in bit." I thought it was a little unusual that they were having dinner at 7:45pm but not that unusual. I still had no clue as to the state of affairs at home until I opened the door of the truck to get in. A very strong burnt-onion, smokey smell came wafting from my family. Did I say from the truck?
"Mom," the kids said with much excitment,"we were having dinner in the dark, with candles!"
I was thinking, "wow they were really having a special time with dad."
Turns out that the delicious dinner that dad prepared in the dutch oven got cooked a little to long and it was so black that he turned off the lights to minimize the color.
I tasted the dark meat. It wasn't too bad, but the mood in the house was, so I finally went to my room with my mint tea and journaled a bit. I was an island and was not about to let the mood get to me. I would just deal with the black dutch oven in the morning as well as....
I was reminded of a "feather manuever"I saw a pilot do on TV as he prepared for re-entry into earth's atmosphere. The wings were dropped at a funny angle and the plane just kind of floated down so it would not burn up while descending. Our trip was kind of like that. We boosted the rockets to get us to our destination, almost went into space, (went really high) and had to come back to reality without burning up the plane.