About a month ago, some of my cohort members and I went to go see Frozen 2 at a movie theater in Kigali. I am a big fan of the first Frozen movie, and honestly anything that involves Scandinavia (holla at my Denmark friends and family!).

While we were all expecting an awesome movie, I don’t think any of us were expecting it to be quite so relevant to our lives. From Olaf having multiple existential crises and debating what it means to grow into adulthood to Kristoff finding unexpected friendship…what I connected to the most was Elsa’s fight against the invisible force that was calling her to new places and new adventures, which is showcased in the killer song “Into the Unknown”. While I am sure this song is applicable to many people in many different scenarios, I felt it was truly applicable to the calling I felt last year to apply to the YAGM program.

If you had told me last year at this time that I would be living in Rwanda, I would have laughed in your face. This time last year I was working at an amazing company, I was starting to build some great friendships with my co workers, and I even had plans to move into an apartment together with one of my best friends. I had “did it”. I did what you are “supposed to do” after you graduate from college…nail down a full time job with salary and benefits and opportunity for growth. But in the back of my mind…I just had a feeling that this wasn’t it for me. I shoved this voice deep down and kept on working, because that’s crazy, right!? I had it made! I did everything right. I didn’t need anything new.

“Into the Unknown” Lyrics

“I’ve had my adventure, I don’t need something new
I’m afraid of what I’m risking if I follow you Into the unknown”

I had heard of YAGM multiple times throughout my life, mostly at university and through various camp friends who had done the program. It was something that always interested me, and was actually my backup plan post grad if I didn’t find a job. But I did find a job! Easy peasy. Can cross that off the list? …right? Yeah…not so easy.

The deadline for YAGM applications was in February. At this point I was 4 months into my job and feeling more and more settled…but there was still that feeling inside of me that this wasn’t for me.

As I was mindlessly scrolling through Facebook one evening, I saw the post that would set everything into motion. A small little post from YAGM that applications were due in 4 days. 4. Days. The stupid little voice in my head almost screamed at me that I have to apply, and quick! The next thing I knew, I was opening the application and starting to fill it out.

“Into the Unknown” Lyrics

“What do you want? ‘Cause you’ve been keeping me awake
Are you here to distract me so I make a big mistake?
Or are you someone out there who’s a little bit like me?
Who knows deep down I’m not where I’m meant to be?”

Part of me felt like I was making a big mistake. What was I doing??? Throwing away a good job with awesome benefits and amazing friends? I hadn’t even discussed this with any of my friends or family yet (sorry mom and dad!), but there I was. Applying for a program that I knew was going to massively change my trajectory in life without even discussing it with anyone. But as crazy as I felt, I kept going. Because deep down…I knew I wasn’t where I was meant to be.

Over the next few days I kept filling out the application and frantically asked people to be my references last minute, all while trying to convince my parents I was not being *totally* irrational and also keeping everything a secret from my work friends. I was a little stressed out. But also, oddly excited. As crazy as this all seemed, it also felt so right. For the first time in a long time…it truly felt like I was moving in the right direction.

I sent in my application in the nick of time, and then began the waiting game. Soon enough I had a phone interview, and shortly after was invited to go to Chicago for a weekend in April to interview for either the Rwanda or Madagascar cohort.

By the time April rolled around I had *mostly* convinced my family that this was a good idea, and I was feeling more and more sure that this was the right thing for me to do. Next, it was time for the final interviews. After a whirlwind weekend filled with canceled flights, snowstorms, interviews, discernment, connecting with old friends and meeting new friends…I was offered a place with the Rwanda cohort. When my name was read off that I would be in the Rwanda cohort, I felt excited, but overwhelmingly at peace. Something inside of me just knew this is where I was supposed to be.

“Into the Unknown” Lyrics

“Don’t you know there’s part of me that loves to go… Into the unknown”

For all of my life, I’ve always thought I was a person who doesn’t like a lot of change. I love being at home with my friends family in a routine that is familiar and comforting. But…increasingly throughout of my life I have discovered a part of me that loves to go “into the unknown”. From going out of state for college to studying abroad in a country I had never been to, to applying last minute to a program that would send me to a new country for a whole year…I think I can confidently say that there is part of me that loves the adventure of the unknown. Maybe it’s because I am still trying to “find myself” and my “purpose”…but maybe it’s just because we are all called to dive into the unknown at some point or another. If we never let ourselves be swept away into the unknown, it is impossible to find what truly makes us thrive.

As we enter into a new year and new decade, I challenge you to listen to that little voice in your head that calls you into the unknown. The “unknown” will be different for everyone. For some it may be as small as trying a new type of food that you aren’t used to. For some it may be exploring a new part of your state or country. For some it may be moving to a new country that you’ve never been to before. No matter how small or large, pushing ourselves into the unknown only helps us grow and discover who we truly are. Listen to that voice inside your head. It’s calling you to amazing adventures that you can’t even dream of. Now if only my little voice would tell me what I should do with my life after this year of service is over…but that’s a problem for another day.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout my various dives into the unknown. I wouldn’t be able to do it without you.

YAGM is currently accepting applications for the 2020-2021 service year. If you are feeling the call into the unknown (or you know a young adult that would be a good fit!) please visit https://www.elca.org/Our-Work/Global-Mission/Young-Adults-in-Global-Mission for more info and applications!

Check out the “Into the Unknown” song from Frozen 2 by the ridiculously talented Idina Menzel: https://youtu.be/gIOyB9ZXn8s

Peace,

Marie

Every year since I was 2 years old, my mom and I have gone to see The Nutcracker ballet around Christmas time. We have seen The Nutcracker more than a dozen times in Colorado and we have seen it in Las Vegas, New York City, Chicago and even Toronto! It truly doesn’t feel like Christmas until we are both seated in a darkened theater and the first notes of the classic Tchaikovsky masterpiece ring through the audience.

It wasn’t until August and I was already in Chicago for YAGM orientation that I came to the crushing realization that this would be the first year since I was 2 that my mom and I wouldn’t be able to go to the ballet together. After a tearful phone call home, my mom and I came up with a plan. We were not going to let this tradition die.

This past weekend, it was finally time to put our plan into action. After some time zone calculations, we both set up our laptops and loaded a YouTube video of the Royal Dutch Ballet performing The Nutcracker. At 11pm my time, and 1pm for my mom, we both hit play and the first glorious notes of the overture flowed into my ears and signaled to me that it is officially Christmas time!

Throughout the show we chatted via iMessage and shared our thoughts and opinions on the dancing, costuming and set design. Despite some buffering issues due to my unreliable internet connection, we were able to watch the whole ballet together, even though we were thousand of miles and continents apart!

After the show ended, I laid in my bed with tears streaming down my face. I was indescribably grateful for modern technology, but even more than that, I was indescribably grateful for the relationship I have with my mom. It was magical to be able to keep our tradition alive despite not being able to be physically together.

As we all dive into the holiday season, I wish nothing but the best to you and your loved ones. I pray that this season brings you deep joy, peace, time with the people you love most and the opportunity to engage in your own traditions that make the holiday season so special!

Merry Christmas 🎄

Marie

This year commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Lutheran Church of Rwanda (LCR), and the jubilee celebrations occurred from October 25th through the 27th. There were many international guests, and the days were filled with joyous music and conversations to celebrate all that the LCR has accomplished, and all that is to come!

The jubilee celebrations for me started on Thursday, October 24th. The Sierra Pacific Synod (SPS) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is a companion synod to the Lutheran Church of Rwanda. They wanted to participate in the celebration, so some delegates from the synod came to Rwanda to join in on the festivities! On that Thursday, part of the group came to visit me in Mayange, where I am living. They first came to our home and my host family and I were able to greet them and welcome them to Rwanda. We shared some conversations over bread and tea before we headed out to the Nyamata parish so they could meet some members of the congregation. We were greeted immediately with joyous music and dancing. After some welcoming words and introductions of some of the leaders of the congregation, there was a mutual q&a session where the SPS group asked questions to the congregation, and the congregation also asked some questions to the SPS group. It was really interesting to see the questions that each group had for each other! After some more music preformed by the choir, we all had lunch together at the church and had more time for fellowship and conversation.

It was honestly kind of strange showing a group from the US around the community that I now call home. Even though I only knew one person with the SPS group (Savannah, who happens to be a past Rwanda YAGM!), I did feel a connection to them since they are from the states…but I also simultaneously felt disconnected as well because while I am absolutely still American, I feel like parts of me have blended into this community here that has so graciously embraced me. It felt like a weird limbo some where I wasn’t entirely apart of either group fully, but apart of both groups at the same time.

After lunch at the church, the SPS group said their goodbyes and departed for Kigali. I also went with the group as all of the YAGM volunteers were meeting up either that evening or the next morning to participate in all of the Jubilee activities!

When we reached Kigali, we made a pit stop at the Rukunda Foundation. The Rukunda Foundation is an NGO in Kigali that’s mission is to help street children get access to education and have a safe space to be after school and on the weekends. They offer not only tutoring and a safe space for children to play and be with their friends, but they also help mentor the children so that the kids know they have an adult that will not only hold them accountable, but give them unconditional love and support too. To find out more about the foundation, please visit their site here:

The next day, Friday the 25th, we woke up bright and early (4:30am bright and early), and the SPS group, two of the YAGM volunteers and myself headed off on a bus to Kirehe. Kirehe is located in the southwest of Rwanda, right by the Burundi and Tanzania borders. On the way to Kirehe, we picked up the other 3 volunteers so the whole cohort was reunited, yay! The festivities that day included: the dedication of a new church, a parade through the streets of Kirehe (including a brass band and choir from Tanzania!), and the ordination of two pastors into the LCR. Many choirs from across Rwanda, as well as the one from Tanzania, sang many beautiful songs and there was lots of dancing and energy, as is typical for a Rwandan church service!

After lunch at the church, we headed back west to a city called Rwamagana, where we visited one of the top secondary schools in Rwanda: Rwamagana Leaders School (RLS). RLS is also where Savannah served when she was a volunteer, so it was a wonderful welcoming home for her as well! We were enthusiastically greeted by the students and teachers at the school, and some of the students even performed some traditional dances for us! We were then given a tour of the dormitories (it is a boarding school) and the classrooms as well. The students I spoke with were incredibly intelligent, thoughtful and compassionate. They all have incredibly bright futures ahead of them.

Saturday, October 27th’s festivities took place first in Kayonza, where there was a dedication of a new and improved church building, as well as a cornerstone laying ceremony of a new seminary that is being built. After the church service in Kayonza, we headed back to Kigali and prepared for a gala dinner that evening. At the gala dinner, there were presentations made about the history of the LCR as well as the five year plan that the LCR has for what it wants to accomplish. Some goals include: starting a women’s development and opportunity center, getting the new seminary up and running, and building a guesthouse next to the parish in Kigali that would be used as a source of income and also a place for important guests of the church to stay.

Sunday October 28th was the big jubilee celebration day in Kigali. LCR members from all over Rwanda, as well as the international guests, gathered at the exhibition center in Kigali to share in the joy and celebration of 25 years of service. The YAGM volunteers were asked to assist with “protocol” of the event, so we helped seat guests and answer questions that anyone might have! As apart of this, we also wore imikenyero (im-e-chen-yeh-row), is which is the beautiful traditional dress that is worn at special events.

The celebration on Sunday lasted about 6 hours and included: many performances of various choirs from across Rwanda as well as the one from Tanzania, traditional dance preformed by the youth of the Rukira congregation, speeches given by the Bishop of the LCR and other distinguished guests, readings from the Bible, a sermon given by the general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, communion, and an exchange of gifts between the international guests and the LCR.

And just like that, almost as quickly as it began, the jubilee was over! We said goodbye to the SPS group and the other guests from the states, and the YAGM cohort had some bonding time before we departed back to our host communities.

It was such an honor and joy to be able to take part in such a big milestone for the LCR. This church is innovative, energetic, joyful, ambitious, compassionate, and I hope its next 25 years are just as rewarding and fruitful as the last.

I think the ELCA has a lot to learn from the LCR…but one of the main things that we can learn is how to be more joyful in church! I have never experienced church with so much lively music and dancing and honestly just the outward celebration of the wonderful gift that is the unconditional grace and love that we receive from Christ. I know that jumping around and dancing in church isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I think we can learn how to be more openly passionate and joyful like our sisters and brothers here in the LCR, even if that looks different than dancing up and down the aisles at church 😊

Until next time,

Marie

Well, I did it guys. I made it successfully around the sun one more time! While this wasn’t the first birthday I’ve had away from home, it’s the first I have had outside of the USA, and definitely the first on the African continent! And…it was also the first birthday that was celebrated with a surprise party!

I was honestly not sure what the day would hold for me when I woke up on my birthday. I have been told that birthdays are celebrated differently across Rwanda…in some areas a birthday means having a party and throwing water on the birthday girl/boy…in other areas birthdays aren’t really celebrated at all; so I was prepared for anything.

During the day, my host family didn’t bring up my birthday at all, so I figured that maybe they didn’t celebrate birthdays here. I was a little sad, but also ok with it. I had been receiving lots of love from people back home and my fellow cohort members, so I figured that was good enough.

The day progressed as normal. My host parents went to work, I played with my host brothers, and it was overall a good day. Then, after dinner, my host father asked me to go for a walk with him. It seemed a little abrupt, but we also have gone on evening walks previously so I didn’t think much of it. We strolled around our village but when we made it back to our house, I knew something was up… all of the lights in the house were off. My host father was also helplessly grinning, so that definitely gave it away that something was up.

Before we went inside, my dear friend and host family member, Alphonse, came outside and cleverly asked me for my phone saying he wanted to take a picture of the sky. He then kept my phone (which I found out was to take pictures of the event on it).

Then I was ushered inside the dark house. As soon as I entered, the lights were flipped on and I saw the smiling faces of my wonderful host family and even some of our neighbors and their children. They all started singing happy birthday, and all of the kids threw flowers on me like confetti. While I was gone, they had decorated the walls with balloons, and set a nice table cloth on the living room table and brought out a cake. Everyone sang happy birthday in three languages (English, Ikinyarwanda and French), and I was so overcome with joy and gratitude that I’m sure I was just stupidly smiling the whole time. We then cut the cake and while we ate, some of the adults gave some very nice speeches about me and each other’s hospitality. We all hugged and laughed and ate cake until we couldn’t eat anymore.

Even to this day, I can’t help but grin from ear to ear when I think about that day. Not only was it the first surprise party I’ve ever had, but it was thrown by people that I met a mere month ago. I am constantly humbled and grateful for the incredible amount of love and hospitality that I experience every single day here.

I honestly and truly hope that everyone can experience this level of radical hospitality at least once in their life. But even more than that…I hope that everyone can give this level of radical hospitality, because that is what we are truly called to do.

Until next time,

Marie

*disclaimer* I wrote this post a little over a week ago, but my wordpress account and I have not been getting along and I couldn’t get anything to post for over a week 😦 so my apologies for that! I will do my best to post more regularly if my internet connection permits it 🙂

I have officially been in my host community for a little over 2 weeks, and wow so much has happened! As with any adjustment, there have been hard and frustrating moments, but there have also been many moments of joy and happiness.

So…what is happiness?

To me, happiness is:

The extreme amount of patience and grace that people have with me when I can’t even communicate basic things in Kinyarwanda.

The children in the village who are slowly learning that my name is not “muzungu” (white person), but Maria! (Marie is difficult to say sometimes, so now I just introduce myself as Maria haha)

The orange Fanta that my host father buys me a couple times a week because I had mentioned at one point that we have orange Fanta in the US.

The fact that my host brothers are VERY slowly becoming less shy around me. It is quite the process, but progress is being made.

PINEAPPLE. The pineapple here is easily the best I’ve ever had. It is unbelievably sweet, juicy and flavorful.

The comforting warmth of mugs filled with warm milk and mixed with coffee grounds and sugar that we drink everyday for breakfast and before bedtime.

The students at the primary school I am working at asking me hundreds of questions everyday. The questions range from “What is your name?” to “What is the tallest mountain in the world?” to “How many airports are there in the USA?”. Their curiosity is endless and I love how excited they get when they successfully say something correct in English!

Unexpectedly joining the teacher’s volleyball team at my school! This last week we had a game against a rival school and I even got to play in2 out of the 3 sets. I’m not very good, but I had a ton of fun.

The smile on my host mother’s face when she quizzed s me on Kinyarwanda verbs and nouns, and I answer one correctly! (I get more wrong than I do right, but hey, at least I get some correct!)

The beauty of modern technology and the fact that al of my friends, family, and most importantly my dog (just kidding, Mom!), are all just a video call away.

Most importantly, happiness is the extreme amount of grace and hospitality I have received so far in my host community. The fact that they were willing to take in a complete stranger who can barely speak their language continues to astound me! They are some of the most generous and genuinely kind people I have ever encountered, and I am so blessed to get to spend almost a year with them.

Until next time!

Marie

Hello! If we have not met before, my name is Marie and I was born and raised in Broomfield, Colorado. Some fun facts about me: I went to college at California Lutheran University, one of my favorite places ever is Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp in Colorado, I have been to 18 countries (my favorite of which so far is Denmark), my favorite food is cheese, I have sprained my ankles more times than I would like to admit, and oh yeah…I am moving to Rwanda for an entire year!!

It has been my greatest joy the past few months to surprise people with the news that I am moving to Rwanda for a year. The reactions usually range from pure excitement, to trepidation, to straight up just not believing me.

“But Marie, WHY are you doing this?”

Glad you asked!

I am completing a year of service through a program called “Young Adults in Global Mission”, or YAGM as we often abbreviate it. YAGM is a program that is run through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (the ELCA).

“So…are you just going to evangelize and convert a bunch of people to be Lutheran??”

NOPE

The mission of Young Adults in Global Mission is not to evangelize or convert, but rather be witness to the lives of our sisters and brothers around the world and hopefully be of some service to the communities that graciously host us. A word that YAGM uses a lot to describe our mission is “accompaniment”. We will dive more into what exactly accompaniment is later; but the gist of it is walking alongside people in life, equally helping each other learn and grow in all aspects of life. For more information about Young Adults in Global Mission, you can find their website here: https://www.elca.org/Our-Work/Global-Mission/Young-Adults-in-Global-Mission

“So…what are the next steps?”

Well, I am currently gearing up to leave for my year of service on August 13th. On the 13th I will depart from Denver and head to Chicago, where all 70 of the YAGM volunteers for this year will gather for orientation. Then, we will depart for our various countries on August 21st directly from Chicago. There will be 6 volunteers, including myself, that will be in Rwanda for this coming year. We will not be living together, but since Rwanda is a small country (it is about the same size as Maryland!), we will be able to see each other on a semi-ish regular basis.

From now until the 13th I am spending as much time with family and friends as I can, while I frantically prepare all of my things and figure out how to pack for a whole year (yes, I procrastinated until the week before I leave to start packing and yes, I regret that decision). Please keep me and my fellow volunteers in your thoughts/prayers/whatever you do (send positive vibes into the universe? I don’t know your life.), as we prepare for this next year of radical adventure, change, and transformation. Sign up for updates when I post new blog entries so you can keep up with my adventures! Also please feel free to friend me on Facebook (you can find me at Marie Hynek), or follow me on Instagram (@marie_elizabeth11).

Peace,

Marie