Today we got up and packed out from the guest house. (We being Mark, Jeremy, Steve, Matt and Me, Jules.) After a bumpy ride down the dirt road we unloaded and got to work building on a new house down the hill a bit. This site was beautiful, overlooking a valley. Instead of each worker running in their own direction, today we took a lesson from Henry Ford and made some assembly lines.
Or rather, mud passing lines. The Rwandan women were good at making little balls of mud out of the big pile, so we just stood to receive and pass along to the necessary spot.
After all the needed mud had been applied, our assembly line would pass bricks along, which was considerably more difficult. It was amazing to watch these 4 foot women tossing these 35 pound bricks along like champs.
We worked hard all morning and the walls rose more rapidly than yesterday. It was great to work alongside the people as a team.
Around one in the afternoon the rest of the team arrived, they had driven up from Kigali to see us and to meet the pygmies and the local church. They piled out of the vans all neat and clean. Our response? Grab handfuls of mud and run at them like dirty banshees.
John, Marie and Bob were quickly in the mudpit. Of their own volition, I might add.
Then we were welcomed into the church for an introductory service of the clean half of the team. This time the pygmy choir sang for us. They were amazing. Their harmony was the best I heard in all of Rwanda. Here we presented the clothing to the pastor to be distributed to the pygmies.
Then we presented the soccer balls as well.
By that time it was around 3:30 in the afternoon and we all needed to pile back into the vans to drive the 5 hours back to Kigali before dark. We did have a minor roadside detour because one of the vans had some trouble with gears. We stopped by a smoking truck that was being worked on by some maintenance men. The men helped us out and just as dark was falling, we pulled off and got back on the road.
This was an answer to prayer, because being stranded in backwoods Rwanda at night is not a safe situation.
After a very late dinner we all collapsed into bed.
Thursday August 14th
We had a nice breakfast together this morning. Around 9 we packed up and loaded all our bags into a van once again. We all headed to Remera to Esron's church to see the completed internet cafe! After much sweat, prayer and innovation, the cafe came together. When we arrived there were 5 Rwandans there working away online.
Marie was very relieved and thankful that God worked it all out in the end in His perfect timing.
We were able to have a nice team de-brief time in the sanctuary. Kevin Conklin and his wife met us in Remera that morning, so it was cool to meet with one of the EFCA leaders to share our trip with him. This was a nice time for everyone to talk about what God had shown them during our time in Rwanda.
Our translators were greatly appreciated and we thanked God daily for their selfless help. This is Vincent administering an eye exam on Terrance like so many they had translated for Dr. John:
Then we piled into vans once more to drive to the airport to catch a flight to Nairobi. We left Gary, Mark and Jeremy behind. Gary had another day of meetings with the Rwandan pastors. Jeremy and Mark were driving out to see a potential future location for work to be funded by Valley.
The flight went without any great incident and we had dinner in Nairobi and spent the night at the same Mennonite guest house we stayed in our first night in Africa.
Friday August 15th
Today was largely a play day as we had a red eye flight that night to catch out of Nairobi. We had a leisurely morning, eating breakfast and packing up for the trip home. Then we met again for devotions and another time to reflect on the trip. We talked about the characteristics of God we saw pour out during our time in Rwanda. Patience, Generosity and Thankfulness were mentioned several times.
We spent our day in a large mall in Nairobi bartering with merchants to buy traditional African souveniers: woodcarvings, beadwork, paintings and pottery.
By this time it was around 3 in the afternoon and we decided to try a walking safari the Richersons had mentioned would be worth our money. We arrived at the site and realized it was basically a glorified zoo. Our tour guide was named Elly and he strolled us past caged pygmy hippos, monkeys and hyenas. We were not particularly impressed.
Until we saw the white rhino.
Until Steve to Elly how much he had always wanted to touch a rhino.
Until one by one we hopped the fence and patted the Rhino. Then all of a sudden Africa has the coolest zoos ever.
Then we trotted over to the lion paddock to see the two lionesses and the male lion who had the most gorgeous dark mane I had ever seen.
He came right up to the glass so we could take photos with him. So kind.
By now it was closing time at the zoo and we were really the only people around. The zoo keepers asked if we would like to see the lions be fed. We said "Heck yes" and proceeded into a side paddock beside three feeding cages and the lions entered to their dinner which was a huge slab of raw meat. The zoo keepers banged on the cages and lunged at the bars to get the lions excited and they started to roar. Let's talk about an adrenaline rush, I had never heard anything like the roar of a lion two feet from my face.
Our group:
Our group after seeing the lions feed:
We left the lion area walking on air. After this we saw some antelope.
Then made our way to see Milo, the cheetah. Elly informed us that she was quite nice and that we could pet her if we tipped the zoo keepers. Our response? "How much do they want?"
Kneeling eye to eye with a cheetah was a mixture of fear and wonder. I was thinking how amazing she was and marvelling at her huge yellow eyes all the while knowing she could snap my jugular in two seconds flat.
The walking safari was the perfect farewell to Africa and we entered the Nairobi Airport with some spring in our step. Unfortunately 27.5 hours of flight will take some spring out of one's step fairly quickly.
But God was faithful and brought us home safely. Mark Nelson still hasn't gotten his luggage, so you can pray about that for him.
Last words:
We all agree this was an excellent but exhausting trip. It was great to be part of the global church. I loved standing beside my brothers and sisters in Christ and singing and praying for each other. I was blessed to meet the Rwandan pastors and see their passion for ministry.
One of the best moments in the trip was in a dark mud walled church. We were being introduced to the congregation and one by one we got up and said our names and a quick blessing. Then Gary, through a translator, told the congregation that we wanted to send blessings from one final group. He told them how a big group of people at home in Valley Church had sacrificed to send us here to Rwanda. Gary said that the people who sent us were praying for the Rwandan people and we were only there because of them. This got the biggest cheer by far. The Rwandans were on their feet clapping for our senders. Rightfully so. Praise God for his church.
The Rwanda team thanks our senders, I have never felt so well covered in prayer as my two weeks in Rwanda. Thank you for that.
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