Sunday 11/8 6:30pm (Rwanda time)

Sunday 11/8 @ 6:30pm in Rwanda (10:00am CST)

Muraho. Amuruku?

I can’t believe we only have one more day left in our Area Development Project in Rwanda.  We will spend time with the people of Rwanda tomorrow before driving town tomorrow evening to Kigali (Rwandan capital) where we will spend the night closer to the airport before getting up Tuesday morning and flying back to Nairobi. 

Tomorrow night we will be reunited with the other folks from New York who travelled to a different part of Rwanda and then Tuesday we will reunite with all of the people on the trip (those that travelled to Ethiopia and those who remained in Kenya).  It will be a great reuniting time.  We will spend a couple of days at the Massai Mara and will have a chance to share learnings, de-brief as a team, and relax at one of the most beautiful places on earth (although they have some things to prove to me if they want to out-do the beauty of Kenya).

We spent the bulk of our day in church.  I heard it said the “Americans have all the watches, but Africans have all the time.”  I’ve learned that to be true!  We got to the church around 9am (I think) and left there around 12/12:30 (I think).  Mark Radeke & I visited a Pentecostal church and we were treated like royalty including several songs of greeting, flowers, and hugs from everyone.  At one point our interpreter (Jean Paul) burst out laughing and couldn’t stop; Mark was finally able to ask him and it was because one child had said they were so blessed for having touched a white man.  One older lady said that this was the first time she had ever seen a white man in her church.  They were so gracious, thankful, and joyful that I couldn’t help but smile, yet at the same time feeling dreadfully unworthy and more committed than ever to help in any way I can for the people of Kivuruga.  After a while (hour or so), I was asked to share a bit, which I did and then shared a bit about what God requires from us – not the sacrifice of animals, but to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8).  The main message, however, was reserved for Pastor Radeke who shared out of James and how good gifts come from God as we endure hardship and trial (and in fact there is joy in that trial because we know that endurance will produce good gifts).  He did awesome and it was well received.  I’ve got the entire service on digital audio so if Radeke’s ever out of line I can bribe him with releasing him trying to speak Kenrwandan.  Our tour host, Mary, attended the Anglican Church (near the Pentecostal church) along with Mark Holm and Bob Jonsson.  It sounds like Mary & Homer both shared, with Bob deliver the main, 3-hour message.  The funny thing is that the Pentecostal service got done before the Anglican! 

An interesting part of the church service (in both cases) was the offering.  They have people bring their tithes & offerings during a song to the front.  Many of the people do not have currency, so they bring what they have and lay it on the ground at the front.  At the Pentecostal church this included 3-4 stalks of sugar cane (from different people), bananas, potatoes, eggs, and even a rabbit.  Then someone auctions these items off to the people of the church and the highest bidder pays for the item with the money going into the offering.  Watching that rabbit being held up & walked around was both beautiful (as a gesture of someone’s sacrificial gift) as well as surreal. 

At the end of our service, the congregation gave us a bunch of eggs wrapped up in bark from a banana tree – it was beautiful and incredibly generous of this very poor congregation.  Because of our travels, we gave the eggs to the World Vision local staff to do with as they feel is appropriate (after getting our picture with it).  Bob, Homer, & Mary also received gifts that they will be bringing home with them (don’t want to ruin it for you, but they are very cool!).

In each church, after the service, we met with the kids of the church and their Sunday School teachers to find out what they are doing, their successes, & their main challenges.  The ongoing theme for me in Rwanda is that they have so many people that are so unbelievable committed to the work of their community, but lack some of the basic resources.  Walking 60-120 minutes to get somewhere is very common in this part of the world; when I asked people how long it takes to walk somewhere, the answer is often 90 minutes (but with no scowl or negative tone). 

When church meetings were finally done and we were able to pry ourselves away from the people (both kids & adults), we drove up to the Kivuruga ADP headquarters again to chat about the process of Child Sponsorships.  The usual suspects were there once again including Jean Paul (perhaps the most impressive human being I’ve ever met, one of the 3 Jean Baptist’s we have met, Adeline, Tiffany, and William as well as others.  We were also joined by the person in charge of the sponsorships for Kivuruga; her name is Bibienne (unsure of spelling).  She was very impressive and her explanation of the sponsorship program was so helpful.  She did a great high-level overview and then we asked a lot of questions about specific areas we were wondering about.  We were so moved by the commitment by the many World Vision volunteers that make a program like this work.  I think of William who is the volunteer leader of the ADP Committee – he walks where he needs to go including twice/week meetings for the ADP Committee.  We were stunned to learned that there are 2 caregivers in every village (about 18 villages currently being served in the ADP out of the 38 in the ADP).  Also there are many volunteers that check on every registered child (includes all sponsored children) at least every 90 days to find out how they are doing on the schooling, health, and everything else.  They go to their house and organize birthday parties; they check in on them and their family; they bring letters from sponsors, read them to them in their native tongue, have the child write a letter & drawing back, and then return those things to the ADP office.  The people of Kivuruga are so committed to the well-being of the community and every resident, it was overwhelming.  This is one of the many things we have to learn from the people of Rwanda.  The value of family and community are something we have very little grasp of in America.  We catch glimpses of it, but you need to see how these people rally around each other.

One of the things that was very helpful to us was to understand the value of child sponsorship to the children.  The regular money goes to the community to increase the well-being of the specific child, but also the entire community.  That child then is also a recipient of the work done from the other child sponsorships.  The focus is on individual well-being through community well-being.  However, sponsored children receive the regular visits I talked about earlier, special birthday parties, the opportunity to write back & forth with their sponsor, the ability to receive special gifts from their sponsor, etc.  These children are chosen because they are the most vulnerable of the vulnerable and need the extra attention; child sponsorship is the mechanism to make sure that happens while improving the standard of living for all of Kivuruga.  Please consider sponsoring a child and joining us in this effort; $35 goes a LONG way in Rwanda. At the church offering auction (as I call it), consider that a rabbit went for about the equivalent of one U.S. dollar; that a group of about 15 fresh bananas (just picked) went for the equivalent of 30 cents.  Also keep in mind that we were told these prices are higher than market prices, because people pay more because the money is going to the church.

We came back and did a little shopping at the gift shop here; I got a few goodies which feels a little guilty, but I also know we are putting much-needed money in the local economy (and the store we were at had several articles showing how the people who make the crafts are those suffering from HIV & AIDS and this gives them some income).  The cost of the items once again solidified the impact the dollar can have in Rwanda.

Well, gotta run… we are going to have a meeting at 7pm local time (about 30 minutes from now).  We are all looking forward to seeing you upon our return.  We’ll need about 10 hours to tell you all the stories and transformation that has happened in us.

Murabeho, Steve & gang