From: Kirsten Fagerback <kirsten.arina@gmail.com>
Date: October 1, 2017 at 4:34:21 PM MDT
To: teragramt@aol.com
Subject: Fwd: Our visitor from Rwanda Sept 29-Oct 6

Hi Margaret,

I told Steve I would email you this so he would have a little knowledge of how I met Pastor Elson. :)

 

 

Wewill have a special visitor from Rwanda, Pastor Elson Mageza, September 29^th to October 6^th.  God brought us together in an amazing way!

 

In spring 2005 Pastor Elson wrote us to let us know that a girl named Clementine in his village of Muhura had received our shoebox gift through Operation Christmas Child. We communicated via email and I sent money and clothes to Clementine and her family.

 

 

Summer 2006 I visited them for the first time and it was the most amazing experience meeting Clementine and seeing what a huge difference my small contributions had made in their lives.

 

 

In 2007 Pastor Elson was attending a conference in Missouri and he came to Dallas for a week and stayed with us.

 

I was able to get Clementine’s little brother accepted into Compassion International and became his sponsor in 2009. We had a total of seven Compassion kids in Rwanda at one time and we have met all of them. We are now down to five.

 

 

In 2012 I took my kids, Kristin and Erik, to Rwanda and we stayed with Pastor Elson’s family.  We had contributed to building a new kitchen and dining hall at the school in Muhura and we got to see that. Over the past 12 years I have been helping several families with school fees and living expenses.

 

 

In 2014 I went back to Rwanda for Clementine’s wedding.

 

 

Pastor Elson spent Christmas 2015 with us in Dallas.  Unfortunately his family was not granted visas so he had to come alone.  While in Dallas Pastor Elson volunteered at Operation Christmas Child Shoebox distribution center with my kids and I. This year I will have him pack a shoebox too.

 

 

Last year Pastor Elson’s oldest daughter, Alli, was an exchange student in Nampa, Idaho and she visited us in Park City for her fall and spring breaks and we took her skiing.  We are praying for Alli to receive scholarships to be able to attend university of Idaho. Her brother Shalom hopes to be an exchange student fall 2018. Pastor Elson and his wife Chantal also have two younger daughters.

 

 Clementine 2012

Pastor Elson and Chantal 2006

Clementine’s family and their new house under construction in 2005

Their new house completed 2006

2012

Dallas 2015

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