Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Preparing for Family Trip to Rwanda

Global Family Rescue Transforming the world… one family at a time


Pahlow Family Rwanda Summer Trip
Today is the day that we have been waiting for. It has been almost two years of traveling back and forth to Rwanda and experiencing the world beyond Romeoville, Illinois. The children have had to watch and wait while we traveled the far reaches of the world. BUT NOW! Now God has called us ALL to go the uttermost part of the earth! Here is what the kids feel about going to Rwanda for THREE months (May through August):

“Hope (8 years old): I am excited to go to Rwanda because I have a picture in my head and I think they look like me, but their skin is dark and they have no food or water. And I want to help them. I know that they know we are coming to help. And I am scared of learning their language. It is cool though.”

Nate (12 years old): “I want to go to Rwanda to help other people and it will be fun to have an adventure. No kid I know has gone to Africa and that will be nice to do. My siblings are scared of getting shots, but I don’t really feel scared of that. I am scared of people stealing stuff from us there, like maybe our car or the Xbox.”

Michael (10 years old): “I think going to Rwanda will be fun because I can get to know the people. I want to be a pastor one day so that I can preach about how to help people. It is also going to be sad because they are very poor in Rwanda, but that is where we come in! But I don’t like long plane rides.”

Amber (13 years old): “I think going to Rwanda will be challenging for me because I won’t be able to see any of my friends over the summer but perhaps I will make friends there. I do feel like I will be making a difference in someone’s life by helping build houses or other GFR tasks. If I could change one person’s life dramatically, that would be enough for me.”

Our role this summer will be to host several teams (40 people) as they come to Rwanda to see for themselves the widows and orphans, the survivors of the Rwandan Genocide. We will be building several homes for sponsored families and serving the people surrounding them. We are looking at partnering with 2 local churches, and possibly planting a church in the mountains. As a family, we are planning on interviewing sponsored families to update all the U.S. sponsors. We will also be encouraging our staff, meeting with government officials, meeting with other NGOs, Supervising projects, and learning the language.

Needless to say, we are all looking forward to going together. It is a big jump for us as a “typical American family”. However, we need your support to get there! It will be a long trip and expensive as well. Could you please help us? We can not do this without your help. We need to raise about $18,000 which includes airfare ($10,000), house rental ($3,000), utilities ($1,000), food ($1,900), transportation, projects, etc. Remember, all donations are tax deductible. Donations can be made online at our website with Paypal. When sending a check, please fill out the enclosed donation form and send it with your check to:

Global Family Rescue
P.O. Box 529
Wheaton, IL 60189-0529

We love you all,
The Pahlow Family
Serving Widows and Orphans in Rwanda