Loving God and Loving Others

Our mission verse is the Great Commandment from Matthew 22 where Jesus basically tells us to "love God and to love others"! Today I am amazed and humbled as to how that is playing out at our mission project "City of Joy". The farm we are living on is bustling with activity.

Suzanne Evans and Susan Hearn are nurses from America. They have brought medicine and other donated items. They have been our guests for the past couple of weeks. Today they gave out donated bath and body items to our sewing group. The young woman's eyes were as large as saucers as they were given lotions and shampoo. They were so grateful. Now the ladies are out in the neighborhood giving items away.

I like what Francis of Assisi said "preach the Word of God every day, and if necessary use words". Today it is about the hands and feet of Jesus sharing his love through actions. Loving God and loving others.....

Vehicle Woes

We did everything we could to make sure we were getting a good vehicle. We brought it to a "certified" mechanic that we had used numerous times. He looked it over and said that it was in "good" shape. Since then we have replaced the water pump, fuel pump and filter and clutch. Now we are faced with an engine overhaul. I am not a "nuts and bolts" guy but apparently the diesel engine is blowing oil through into the air filter. A compression test done at the one and only garage that has such equipment, shows that we are at a "25" and the minimum range is a "27" so we are below the scale. So worst case scenario, replace the whole engine with a rebuilt engine. But this is risky because apparently you really don't know what you are getting with rebuilt engines OR....just start tearing apart the engine and replace whatever you find is wrong. Either way we are talking about a $4,000-$5,000 bill. We paid almost $12,000 for the 1994 Land Cruiser which is really a good price..so I have been hearing. I guess it isn't unusual to have this happen. The conditions of the roads and poor maintenance often lead to major repairs. The price of parts is what is so unbelievable. Rwanda is not an inexpensive place to live. Labor is VERY cheap but the cost of goods can take your breath away.

We will probably use Kabgayi Garage in Gitarama. Juvenile is the head mechanic there. He is young and seems to know what he is doing. The vehicle will get fixed in less than a week whereas the dealership garage in Kigali would need it for 2.5 weeks. We will have Juvenile take apart the engine and see what needs replacement...it could be that an engine replacement is the best option over piece-mealing it. Either way we will wait until our guests leave on Feb. 24th.

It has been a great utility truck. Hauling people, construction material and even goats. It is a long term investment that will need a few dollars to get it up to snuff.

Friends Come To Visit

We still enjoy keeping in contact with our friends from Gitarama. On Saturday they traveled by public van to Gatagara. They called and we came and picked them up at the highway. We brought them to the pottery place next to Gatagara Hospital. The pottery is made by the Twa (Pygmy) tribe. It is so beautiful! Everyone bought some pieces for themselves or for family and friends. We then took them back to see our farm. It was fun to have guests and to see them enjoy our "farm livin'". After a short visit we headed into Kigali dropping off all but two in Gitarama. Karen and Heather stayed with us as we went into the big city. We got rooms for the night in St. Paul's Hostel. The beds were uncomfortable but the price can't be beat.

Nurses Come to City of Joy

Suzanne Evans arrived on Wednesday and plans on doing some basic health outdoor clinics and also plans on going to the schools to help children learn about good health practices. Andria and I worked hard trying to get our house ready for guests. Susan Hearn, Suzanne's cousin, is also a nurse and will be arriving in a week. We spent time going to the District office yesterday to file the proper papers for permission for the outdoor clinics. We should hear back next week.
Here Suzanne reads to the neighbors. She loves to take walks through the neighborhoods and plays with the children. She took Emmanuel with her as a translator. The hills make it for a great workout too!

It is fun having guests. Suzanne made us French toast this morning. This weekend we will go into Kigali and spend the weekend running errands and enjoying the city. Suzanne's daughter, Tracy, has been our friend for a couple of years when we met at an orphanage in Gitarama. We saw her again this past summer as she was with her team from "Kids Play International". KPI is a nonprofit that introduces sports to disadvantaged children all over the world. They donated $1,000's to Rwanda last year and are planning a return trip this summer.

We hope to partner with Kids Play international as we develop our new Mission Center (City of Joy)- made up of a: church, school, community center and medical center.

Business is Business

I am out for my morning jog and often times people will run with me. The first person ran up the long hill with me while wearing big rubber boots! On the way back I heard someone else coming up from behind. As we neared our gate he said, "I have a thought for you". I didn't know exactly what he meant but I played along. He told me that he had written a letter. He revealed a large brown envelop and handed it to me. I opened the sealed container and began to read. His name is Cyprien. In four pages of beautiful penmanship Cyprien wrote about his life. He explained how he had to drop out of school because of money. He talked about how the neighborhood now had hope and had changed drastically since our arrival.

Then he spelled out a business plan for four enterprises: bicycle taxi, phone charging station, movie & music entertainment, tea & coffee house. I was very impressed with this young man. God has given him a clear vision of a future that betters not only his own life but the lives of others. Cyprien is looking for a loan to start these businesses. I have heard that some people are doing micro-loans and will research to see if we can connect him with a loan. I pray that Cyprien will continue to dream and hope as he loves Jesus!

Umuganda

Yesterday (Wednesday) was Umuganda for our Cell. Umuganda is a 1/2 day set aside for community projects. EVERYONE is required to participate. The national umuganda is the last Saturday of each month from 8am-11am. Our Cell has a umuganda each Wednesday morning. I found this out as we drove to meet the Cell Leader, She was in the middle of organizing the villages (smaller groups of families) into this weeks project. As we rounded the corner of a "cow path" in our Land Cruiser, I saw about 300 people cultivating and planting. It was amazing display of community action! Apparently the field was chosen to be a "shared" field and everyone will benefit from the cassava that they planted. Cassava is a white root that Rwandans use for all kinds of food. I can't stand the taste! Apparently their is little or no nutritional value in cassava and yet it is so easy to grow that everyone uses it.

As we walked around through the muddy fields I waved and greeted everyone. I even held a baby for a brief moment. It almost feels like we are politicians shaking hands and kissing babies. Part of what we are doing is building trust with our neighbors and it is important for them to see us as their neighbors.

We waited until the project was over and were hoping to meet with the 20 women that would start sewing on Monday. What I realized was that there was a lot more happening in the official business than I knew. Speaker after speaker stood in the middle of the crowd and shared information. This was their "news" time. One primary school teacher talked about the upcoming election, the other three speakers also spent time addressing the crowds.

Finally we met with our 20 women....well that was suppose to be the group. But apparently some of the men were also interested in some help. The men would like carpentry training and work. So after an hour of talking we told everyone that sewing would start on Monday and carpentry would be something that we would look at to offer the men.

We hopped in our Land Cruiser and I looked into the back and 12 people had also climbed in with us. We stuck it into four wheel drive and made our way back up the muddy path to the gravel road. It took 3 hours but it was a good meeting and a good community building event.

Christmas in Rwanda

We had our first Christmas in Rwanda. I wasn't sure what to expect but I knew it would be different than Christmas in America....and it was. It has been such a blessing to have found Christ Church of Rwanda (CCR). CCR is located in Kigali so we drive into the big city to attend the weekend service. Pastor Dave Jenkins and everyone have done a good job of welcoming us into our new church.

CCR had worship services on Friday night (Christmas Eve), Saturday morning (Christmas day) and on Sunday for a regular worship service. After worship on Sunday we were all treated to a delicious catered lunch which was a mix of traditional Rwanda type food and also typical American cuisine. So Andria and I spent time celebrating Jesus' birth by worshipping at CCR.

Santa even showed up after worship and before the lunch.

So Santa looked a little different but hey, we are in Africa! I think the biggest difference (and remember this is from a very limited perspective) is that the commercialism of Christmas isn't near the level of America. Some department stores had Christmas tress and lights as well as even Santa..but nowhere near the hype of America. I was also surprised with the lack of church attendance on Christmas Eve. Pastor Dave said a lot of families are at their families "Catholic" churches. Attendance was lower on Christmas Eve than it is on a typical Sunday.
But apart from the attendance and "hype" stuff it just felt very different. Being our first Christmas I am sure that it will evolve as we go. It actually was quite refreshing to be able to relax and enjoy and focus on the real "reason for the season".