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B. Stephenson

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The Gift of Tongues
One of the things that has surprised us here in Rwanda is that the majority of people speak only Kinyarwanda. Returned missionaries and...
bethstephenson123
Oct 14, 20243 min read
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Become as this little child
For starters, the children here in Rwanda are melt-your-heart beautiful. (I guess I've said that already in previous posts.) Not that the...
bethstephenson123
Oct 8, 20243 min read
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I Met a Young Boy
I met a young boy, probably age ten or twelve; people here tend to look much younger than they are. I was on my way into the compound at...
bethstephenson123
Sep 30, 20246 min read
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Thirty years ago, I built a house. Seeing construction methods here gives me the shivers.
The grass in the foreground is being hoed into the clay and blended in. It reminded me of the children of Israel being punished by...
bethstephenson123
Sep 24, 20242 min read
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The underlying Story
This is a rewrite of an earlier article. I took out all the parts that I now have reason to doubt were true. But I didn't want to scrub...
bethstephenson123
Sep 16, 20242 min read
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A Pole of Forgiveness and a King-sized Bed
It's a woman's prerogative to change my mind. I promised to write about the inspiring efforts the people of this district are making to...
bethstephenson123
Sep 9, 20245 min read
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So Many Heroes.
This was a week of extreme contrasts. We've seen transcendent love and the depths of human depravity. From the Genocide Memorial on...
bethstephenson123
Sep 3, 20244 min read
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No Drive Sunday in Kigali
After encountering 9 roadblocks, off-roading on dirt roads, driving over a rice paddy, seeing a rural market in full swing and thousands...
bethstephenson123
Aug 25, 20244 min read
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Agatogo
This is called Agatogo. It's a stew made with plantains , other vegetables and some meat. The concept is great, but I'm guessing that the...
bethstephenson123
Aug 19, 20242 min read
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Welcome to Rwanda!
After 24 hours of travel, the jet landed smoothly. At 8:00 p.m. it's fully dark. The steps rolled up to the front and back doors and we...
bethstephenson123
Aug 15, 20242 min read
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First day
After one day at the Missionary Training Center, I'm feeling joyful. It's hard to describe what it's like to sit in a room with about 200...
bethstephenson123
Aug 5, 20242 min read
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A Strange, New Land.
A millennium ago, families set out in their long canoes across the sea, travelling (assumably) from Fiji, going almost due south. With...
bethstephenson123
Mar 22, 20242 min read
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Biblical ties in Chinese Legends
My friend, Brenda Ong is from Taiwan. She told me that there are very many traditions and legends in Chinese culture with clear ties to...
bethstephenson123
Jan 9, 20241 min read
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Remember the Night of the Star
A Children's Christmas Story by Beth M. Stephenson Painting:"A Snowy Christmas Tree" by Beth M. Stephenson Both the image and story are...
bethstephenson123
Dec 8, 20238 min read
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A Small Town in Southern Germany with a Wise Mayor
When I finish with the current novel I'm writing, the next one is going to be set in the little Bavarian town of Rothenburg ob der...
bethstephenson123
Nov 16, 20232 min read
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Some local Israel insights
Though this is primarily a history blog, I thought my readers might be interested in some things we learned regarding Israel the last...
bethstephenson123
Oct 8, 20233 min read
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the Do or Die Day wasn't so long ago that the French don't remember.
D-day finally came. June 6 1944 8 allied nations united to end the Nazi tyranny over Europe and hopefully put a quick end to the war. (Be...
bethstephenson123
Sep 22, 20232 min read
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Ever had a pasty?
First off, 'Pasty' rhymes with 'nasty' NOT Hasty. This is the second half of one purchased in Michigan's upper peninsula In the town of...
bethstephenson123
Sep 12, 20232 min read
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5'2" tall, Illiterate, and Brain Damaged: A Great American Heroine.
She was born into slavery and named Araminta Ross. By the time she was 5 years old, she was rented out to other slave owners as a house...
bethstephenson123
Sep 5, 20232 min read
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Heroes Among the Horrors
Thanks so much to Linda Pennell for inviting me to be a guest writer on her website, History Imagined. I think you'll love it. It's an...
bethstephenson123
Sep 1, 20231 min read
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