We are on a mission (with a plan for PEACE)

Saddleback Church’s Pastor Rick Warren does not do anything small… “love thy neighbor”, well loving Bob next door is a given, so how about loving… say the people of Rwanda, on the far side of the globe (eastern, equatorial Africa)? They are neighbors, albeit a few houses down from Bob.

In service of this love, Pastor Warren created the P.E.A.C.E. Plan… 

P-promote reconciliation, 

E-equip servant leaders, 

A-assist the poor, 

C-care for the sick, 

E-educate the next generation

When we travel, it is often to developing countries, where a healthy dose of loving thy neighbor is always needed. As members of the Saddleback Church community, we learned that we can bring together our love of travel, and serving others through the P.E.A.C.E. Plan… BOOM… freakin minds blown… where oh where do we sign up?

And sign up we did… after some consideration, learning about the various projects and teams, we gravitated towards eye care. So I know what you are thinking, Riad and Heather are pretty amazing, especially Riad with those devilish good looks, but amateur ophthalmologists too? Not exactly.

We chose eye care for two reasons, 

1. They tend to serve rural communities which means leaving the trappings of the big bustling city and head out into the great unknowns. 

2. We connected with the eye care leader, George… super cool dude, with an infectious passion to serve.

After a few training sessions and some hands on screenings in Orange County, Heather and I were certified fresh and ready to head out.

I won’t bore you with the preparation details… same general deal as our usual overseas trips… backpacks, French paratrooper boots, Korean skin care product, Malaria pills and of course, our Lonely Planet guide book, Rwanda 2015 edition.

Heather, George (the aforementioned super cool eye care team lead) and 9, count ‘em 9 bags of gear.

Depart LAX 6:40 pm 10/23/15, Arrive Istanbul, Turkey 5:45 pm 10/24/15….

30 mins later Depart Istanbul for Kigali, Rwanda… yes you read that correctly… 30 mins.

This involved duck, dodge, dive and dodging several unsuspecting Turks as we made a mad dash through Ataturk International terminal racing for our connection…. Last ones on board.

Arrive Kigali, Rwanda 12:45 am 10/25/15… so to my dear fellow Great White Northern Canucks... Canadians require visas to enter Rwanda, Americans, no problem, but Canadians, nope… gotta have one BEFORE stepping in country.

After some serious begging and crying (me, not Heather), and the promise to Augustine (the kind, wonderful and understanding immigration & customs control officer) that if ever in SoCal, I am taking he and his entire village to Disneyland... he granted me entrance into the country.  My joy and happiness knew no bounds.

Recall the aforementioned 9 bags of gear… well, apparently with a 30 min turn time, not even ze Turks can transfer bags from one plane to another that fast.

We arrived, gear did not.