The sun pierces the dry earth with its rays, as it kisses our skin and blinds our eyes. 





I wander, trying to find my way, lost, but there is beauty in the midst of it all. 





My ears are filled with the laughter of children and those who pass me by on the dry dirt road,

my eyes smile with every passing smiling face,

My body is warmly embraced by small African children who cry “muzungu, muzungu” as they sprint towards me and wrap their arms around my legs, never wanting to let go.





I greet people and they respond back! There is an acceptance of the foreigner and they love and enjoy our presence. I grow weary on the journey but will press on. 





I see the endless hills of Rwanda, rolling on and on like waves in the ocean. Women are at work in their fields, as the sun beats down on their bodies. It is all so beautiful, breathtaking, a true blessing. 


Very soon, I am back to all that is familiar, the center; the place I call home.

By: Aleaha Gregor 

With a message, there must be a game to start things off! 

Demonstration of salvation through Jesus Christ! :) 

Speaking at Wed. Chapel! 

Soccer Game! :) 

GOSH! TIME FLYS!

I cannot believe that I am already halfway through practicum! It is crazy to think that I have been working at the wonderful Center for Champions for already two weeks.

These last two weeks have been very exciting, thrilling, busy, and full of new opportunities for ministry. The kids have been such an incredible blessing to me! I praise God for the amazing friendships and relationships He is letting me build with these students and staff at the center! 

Let me recap for you my life for the last two weeks! It is an exciting one. :) 

This week has consisted of several trips to the local market in Rwamagana to pick up supplies for the center like mops, brooms, buckets, etc. The market has been pretty calm the few times that I have been there, which has been good but I am hoping to go to the market when it is busy! The market is always a fun experience and I want to experience it at it’s peak in business!

Whenever we go to the market we always get lost on the way back!  To me that just means more adventure. One day Allison and I got lost and ended up walking through a village area where we came to a lookout spot over the whole valley. It was breathtaking and so beautiful. Getting lost has really opened my eyes to more of Rwanda and the people and has allowed me to connect more with the community that I am living in. :) I am thankful for these times of being a muzungu!-an aimless wanderer. 

Also these past few weeks I have been working on an event that will take place on Oct. 27th from 1-5 at the center. It is called Champions Day and it is an afternoon filled with games like chubby bunny (I cannot wait to play this with the kids), music, potential dancing, a speaker and so much more. I cannot wait and the planning for this event is so much fun and I can’t wait for it to take place. The students are so excited! I also hung up the signs for Champions Day to warm the kids that it is coming! :) Get pumped. :) 

Also Madi (a student on practicum with me) and I this week made attendance charts for the catch-up classes that take place at the center everyday and we presented the charts to the classes! The kids got so excited because they are in competition with the other classes for attendance and the class with the best attendance gets a party with fanta and sambosa (two delicious food items here in Africa). From what I have heard the kids are taking it really seriously and everyone has been on time to class so far and the kids are having great attendance. :) All you need to do is tell kids that there are prizes and a party up for grabs in order to get them to come to school! That was easy! I am excited to see which kid and class pulls through on their attendance. Good luck! 

Also I have gotten to play tons of soccer with the boys! It has been awesome. They are so good and so competitive. :) From playing with them my legs are covered in cuts and brusies. I have been cleated so much on the field!  It is so worth it though. :) Also the field we go to is also home to a driving school and cow pasture. We play soccer in the midst of new drivers on motos and in cars and cows running around trying to graze. It is some of the best soccer games I have ever played in! 

One day I went up to pet a cow and it almost ate my face. I have learned to keep distance. haha. what an experience! The boys always try to get me to do funny things. :) I am so gullible. 

 Also every time I am there playing, people from the driving school always try to get me on a moto or in a car to drive! They say “Sista, sista, do you drive?” I say yes I do, in America. “Come come, drive the moto. Get on.” I tell them, “No, no, I can’t. If I do I will be on the first flight back to America.” Overall, every soccer practice is always a new adventure. I love it. 

A memorable part about my two weeks is that I got to ride on a bike taxi to a bus station. It was so exciting and was only 100 frank. I have found my new mode of transportation here in Rwamagana. 

These past two weeks have also consisted of experiencing two Umuganda saturdays at the center! The first saturday I got to help with mopping out different rooms! I really enjoyed being to help and work alongside the students in their act of service to their living community. We would flood each room with water and get to mopping! :) 

My second Umuganda which was two days ago consisted of going around with students and picking up trash around the center! This allowed me to bond with some of the different boys and get to know them more! I really enjoy the saturdays and being able to work and serve the center! 

I have also been able to teach some of the boys spanish and english! They are so passionate about learning and knowing new languages! :) Also the boys are really excited about Justin Bieber and so they have had me write up lyrics for them on songs that are written by him so they can memorize them and sing along to the songs when we play music for them. haha. Such great times at the center. The boys are so comical and have such great personalities. :) I thank the Lord for each of them. 

And lastly, this past week I got the amazing opportunity to speak in chapel both on Wed. and Sunday (today). This is a part of my internship that I have been looking forward to the most! I spoke on God’s love and salvation. We played a game to start off with and then we did an activity at the end to remind them of the love that God has for each and every one of them. It was a success and it seemed like the students loved it! They were really respectful and in tune with what I was saying to them! :) Thanks God for speaking through me and touching the lives of these students! Continue to let your work be done! :) I hope I get the opportunity to speak again! 

God has been teaching me that he does not call the equipped, but rather he equips the called! That was totally evident in chapel as God spoke and used me as His instrument! Glory Hallelujah! 

I am so excited for what is in store this coming week! :) 

Hey everyone! 

Today was a great and full first full day with Center for Champions! :) It was so awesome to get working and be apart of the work that is being done for the street kids here. 

Carrie, our supervisor, today told us about how Center for Champions got started. She told us that a man who was affiliated with AEE, which started Center for Champions in 2008 was driving down the road one day when he say two street children walking with a sack. He pulled over and ask the boy’s what they were carrying, thinking maybe they had stolen something, and what they told him stirred up the desire to build Center for Champions for street boys and girls and have a place that can provide, teach and help grow and nurture the children into the people they can become and are called to be in Christ. They boy’s told the man they were carrying the dead body of a fellow street kid. This is the story that developed and has allowed Center for Champions to become what it is today. This is the powerful story behind the beautiful work being done here and for the Kingdom of God. This story has touched me and has made me realize just how important this center is for these kids and there futures. 

Also today we got a tour of Rwamagana, got to go to the market with Carrie, meet people at the center and in the local community, see local shops where we can buy staples to eat if we ever get hungry, pet baby goats, talk about the goals and projects that are taking place at Center for Champions that we get to take part in, lead Coca, which is activity time for the kids and we played dodgeball with them, teach and play basketball with the boys all afternoon, and then finished off the day with introducing ourselves to the students who are boarding at Center for Champions and get to know and greet them. :) 

It was a fantastic day!

Some highlights from my day are having little kids run up to us while we walked on the streets and just wrap there arms around us and give us big hugs, looking at someone you have never met and them just smiling at you, playing sports and the laughter associated with that, and finally walking beneath a sky filled with STARS! :) 

“Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” 

Thank you Lord for this promise. :) You are good, always good! 

What’s up?!?! Rwamagana, that’s what’s up! 

Hello Center for Champions! Nice to meet you.

This is my home for the next month and I am so stoked for all that is in store. :) This is my practicum sight and where I will be serving, growing, changing, working, loving and being used by God for the whole month. :) OH God, you are so awesome. 

Today consisted of moving into my new home, a sweet guesthouse with two amazing roomies and fellow students Allison and Madi! 

We also met our awesome leader Kari who is totally awesome and fun! She is so passionate about the work she is doing at Center for Champions and is excited to use us and put us to work as well. She is filled with so much joy which just flooded and washed over me like a wave. I am grateful to work with such an awesome woman. 

We got a small tour of the compound and then went to a choir concert and kinda like a church service, which eventually just turned into an awesome time of worship and dancing to our wonderful creator with a ton of African students and kids. Pure joy and beauty! Never-ending smiles and laughter filled the room. 

Their songs spoke so much truth and these people are so in love with God and it just shines as they shout and sing to their God and dance for Him. :) Grateful to be a part of such a wonderful experience. 

Simple, yet powerful statements learned today: 

“Without God there is only negative outcomes, but with God there is positive outcomes and everything will be ok.” 

“Believe it and then live it.” Let it go from your head to your heart and then to your hands! 

“Do not live a life of lies.” 

Praise the Lord.

This is only the beginning! 

African Tribal Dancing Experience! 

Princesse and I 

Buying street food! We had rolex off the street which is eggs, tomatoes, onions wrapped in a chapati! So delicious. Hello Uganda :)