Mookie writes!

We just received our first letter from Mookie. I can tell it's not her handwriting, but that of an adult. She is in primary school and her performance is considered average. The vocabulary in the note is more advanced and I'd love to hear her actual words, without someone "fixing" it for her. But, you know what? It just doesn't really matter. To know that there is a life on this earth that Dave and I can make a small difference in brings me such great joy.

Her name is given to us as Mukashyaka Alphonsine and since I have a propensity to give anything that moves a nickname Mukashyaka immediately became "Mookie" to us. Even my Wed night little girls call her Mookie when we're in our prayer time. The letter is signed "Alphonsine" so I may have to rethink the name. She says:

School is fine and I am studying well. I would like for you to pray for me so I can be brilliant in school.

I had plans to go this afternoon to the bookstore to find something that will show me more about Rwanda other than the incredibly horrific genocide. I need to know about the Rwanda that she lives in today.

My heart wants to know this child intimately - to know her likes and dislikes, what her favorite foods are and if she loves purple and pink like little girls here do. I want her to know that David and I love her already and we pray for her daily.