Quakers Across Borders

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Pat Donahue and Family to Damange Chantal

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Pat
Date: Mon, Feb 14, 2011 at 6:45 AM

Hi Steven,

I hope you are doing well. The children are excited about the Skype calls here at 15th Street meeting.

It was good to receive the letter today that your wife gave me from Damange Chantal, who responded to my note. Is this the best way to send a letter to her? There was no address or email listed on the letter, so if you can, please give this to her.

Dear Damange Chantal and family,
Thank you for your letter and the beautiful picture of you and your children. Congratulations on your new baby boy, Iranzi Elisa! your other son looks like a fine young man also. My son is 9 years old and is named Daniel. He enjoys sports, especially baseball and soccer. I work as an administrator in a large hospital and my husband is a writer.

I hope you and your sons are well.
Your friend from 15th Street Meeting in New York,

Pat

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My dear friend living in America.

I wish you peace in Jesus Christ. I just gave birth, and am now in the hospital. But, God gave my child life - he is a boy.

So please pray for me.

Gisenyi Friends Church

Wishing you peace,

Your friends,

Domange Chantal

P.S. The child is named Iranzi Elisa!!

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Damange Chantal replies to Pat Donahue

Dear Pat,

Damange Chantal here at Friends Church of Gisenyi received your card and wrote back. Damange is the new mother seated in the attached picture. Please also find attached a copy of her letter. Domage is particularly amazing - she found the time to write the letter the same day she gave birth: Wednesday Jan 26!

Also, would you mind if I post the letter to a blog - QuakersAcrossBorders.blogspot.com ?

Sincerely,

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My dear friend living in America.

I wish you peace in Jesus Christ. I just gave birth, and am now in the hospital. But, God gave my child life - he is a boy.

So please pray for me.

Gisenyi Friends Church

Wishing you peace,

Your friends,

Domange Chantal

P.S. The child is named Iranzi Elisa!!

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Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Letter from Gisenyi - Jean-Baptiste Twagira

(my email: j.btwagis@yahoo.fr)

I am very happy to be directly faced with someone from another part of the world entirely. America is very far from us, but let us live together in Jesus Christ.

I am very proud of you, and of all the community.

May God bless you, my sincere thanks.

Jean-Baptiste Twagira

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Note: Jean Baptiste is the "dirigeant" of the church, meaning he does a lot of the direct management work, working with the church inventory etc. He also plays keyboard during the services. I tried out the keyboard, about a quarter of the keys only work half the time. The keyboard got referenced a few times in a recent church fundraising meeting.

Jean-Baptiste speaks very good French, and runs a refrigerated storage facility across the border in Goma along with Fabrice, another member of this church.

Letter from Gisenyi - Elitien Mutuyimana responds to "a child named Tennille"

My dear in Christ Jesus' name,

I am very well. I am studying in the third grade in elementary school (third form in primary). But, life is also not going very well because the life of an African is difficult.

May God bless you,

Mutuyimana Elitien

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Note: Elitien is the third grade-looking boy in the picture. Elitien just got a new baby brother! His father is Etienne Harerimana and his mother is Damange Chantal.