Saturday

From early in the morning, there was great excitement in the SU grounds as a couple of marquees had been constructed on the bare earth terrace below our little garden.  The place was a hive of activity with people binding the guy ropes with brightly coloured fabrics and a florist busily creating floral arrangements – a wedding was afoot! Sadly, Andy, Alan and Eleanor had teaching responsibilities to fulfil at the pastors' conference (more later), so they had to leave Heather and Isobel to enjoy the wedding celebrations (as well as catch up with some team admin / note write ups).

Jacqueline, the manager of the hostel, dressed in a striking, voluminous traditional African red and black dress and was keen to tell us about the proceedings, so Heather and Isobel couldn’t resist the opportunity to stay home and watch a Rwandan wedding, whilst the rest of the team headed off to lead the second day of the conference.

Jacqueline had told us the wedding would start at 10am but true to form, by this time of the morning there were still swathes of coloured fabric being used to decorate the marquees, where crates of Fanta were being placed to warm in the sun, well before any of the guests arrived. As the preparations continued an incongruous blast of Country and Western style music interspersed with screeching Indian medleys issued from the amplifiers below.

Eventually the guests started to arrive to fill the two open marquees, which faced each other across the sandy yard. The guests were brightly dressed in a plethora of vibrant coloured robes, some traditional African prints and others more reminiscent of Indian sarees.  Two of the ladies, dressed in bright yellow and red matching outfits stood like bookends at the foot of the flight of steps down to the wedding location, ready to greet the guests as they arrived and to hand out gifts.  Jacqueline was very keen to explain all the proceedings and, shouted across to us when the groom’s party arrived at 11.30am.  The men were dressed in a modern equivalent of their traditional tribal costumes, so wore drapes of zebra printed fabric over their western white shirts, and carried carved walking sticks, those of the groom and best man being covered in goat skin, to signify the chiefs.  The groom’s and bride’s families sat in opposing marquees and then a very long discussion of the terms of the dowry ensued.  The head of each family held a microphone and negotiations over the giving of cows proceeded for an hour and a half.

Meanwhile one of the bedrooms adjacent to ours was buzzing with the activity of the burgeoning bridal party.  Heather reckoned that up to 100 people had been pouring in and out of the small room during the course of the morning and that about 50 people had squeezed in there at any one time!  This bedroom must have had Tardis like qualities as it was the same size as ours, which are not spacious enough for much more than our cases to be opened on the floor.

After over 2 hours of wrangling, it seemed that a bovine agreement was forged and finally the wedding commenced with a colourful parade of the bridal party issuing from the tiny bedroom.  The bride, draped in robes of salmon pink lace processed down the steps escorted by her brother.  Leading the procession were a group of ladies in pale lemon robes, and behind the bride, in yellow and white were a collection of ladies carrying beautifully decorated presents, smothered in ribbon and ruffled paper. 

The bride and groom seemed to be married comparatively quickly and the ring was place on the bride’s finger with their hands high in the air for all to see,  This was then followed by the ceremonial sharing of drinks.  Next the happy couple spent a long time distributing gifts to various members of both families, one we assumed, the bride’ father was presented with a cow boy hat on the end of a walking stick!  He dutifully then donned the hat for the rest of the ceremony!

The bride and groom were finally seated in a smaller ‘top table’ marquee to oversee the on going celebrations.  We were shocked when a man shouting and screeching burst onto the floor, dressed in what looked like a silver lurex halter-neck dress, reminiscent of a marathon runner’s space blanket, over a black shirt.  He was madly wielding a staff above his head and dancing around like a witch doctor!  The bride came out of her bridal canopy to join him, and he seemed to be serenading her!  Fortunately, Jaqueline came to our rescue to explain what on earth was going on.  Apparently it was all about naming the cow and providing some particular herbs to keep the cow clean!  After this peculiar performance another similarly dressed fellow continued the ritual - all highly entertaining!

Eventually a chef dressed in traditional whites appeared and led a team organising the arrangement of many dishes on a buffet. As the bridal party moved to collect their food an African choir, in vibrant bright colours, some with babies strapped to their backs, burst into swaying song to entertain the guests.  Their wonderful singing continued for ages whilst all the marquees emptied and then refilled, with guests carrying plates brimming with food.  The bride and groom’s ‘first dance’ could not have been more different to their western equivalent.  After ceremonially feeding each other with their first meal as a married couple they then joined the swaying choir for a boogie!  Kicking up quite a dust on the sandy ground, the bride and groom danced separately in their indomitable African rhythmic style.  The bride danced with the ladies of the choir, whilst the men gathered around in a circle and appeared to dance with their arms positioned as birds’ wings and stamped together as African cranes might perform in a sort of mating ritual!

We felt so privileged to have witnessed such a wonderful event, and though they must have been aware of our presence watching from our ‘balcony seats’ there were nothing but smiles and the bridal party were even happy to pose for our photos as the wedding came to a close in the heat of the mid afternoon.  Not only were we watching from above, but there was also a little crowd of local children, who had collected among the trees in ‘our garden’ and were joining in the dancing, holding a private party of their own!

No sooner had the wedding finished than the rest of our team returned from the conference. All had gone well with further teaching from Andy on refreshing our relationship with the Lord and more practical teaching on marriage and ministry from Alan and Eleanor. There was good interaction between pastors and opportunity for questions and comments which proved very useful. Alan and Andy managed to record interviews with the three pastors (and their wives) whose parishes are included in the SAP Programme and, from shared feedback, the conference was much appreciated.

After a quick drink and change of clothes, we headed off to negotiate with some local widows about the purchase of some of the baskets they make in their homes.  The ladies had laid out their handicrafts in the yard of Pastor Eugene’s home, so we took the opportunity to pop into see his lovely family of 6 children and his wife who was nursing her tiny new beautiful baby – another opportunity for the grannies, Heather and Eleanor to cuddle and coo over a cute bundle!

Please pray for: the healing of the Caesarean scar of Pastor Eugene’s wife; for the pastors and wives as they return to their parishes; for the sorting out of the baskets.

Give thanks for a good conference; for God's provision of our needs (food, hospitality, transport).

Friday:

We began the day in a leisurely manner having booked our breakfast for 8.30am, expecting our transport to arrive at the usual African time, somewhat later than the agreed rendez vous.  But oh no, we had not envisaged the punctuality of Pastor Eugene, who rolled up early, in a  muzungu time frame and was ready to whisk the team off to the Pastor’s Conference even before our morning eggs hit the pan!  Oops – fortunately we managed to divert him with a bread roll as we devoured our breakfast at breakneck speed!  So as not to cause alarm to our guest at the breakfast table, there were barely audible whispers among the team about the urgent need of imodium by one of our number.  Heather our resident nurse, who seems to constantly carry a condensed version of the NHS about her person, soon handed over the necessary supplies to save the day and enable the team to head off to the conference.

After Pastor Samuel’s announcement, that the conference was starting a little late, (leaving egg on the faces of the muzungus – metaphorical eggs for a change (!) - and a feather in the cap of the African pastors!)  the pastors’ and wives’ conference in the Anglican cathedral of Gasabo diocese got into full swing and we quickly made up time. Andy spoke on 1 Peter 2:9 looking at the importance of our relationship with God and all that it means to be 'in Christ'. He looked at four key areas - Where we are, Who we are, What we are and Why we are - in Christ  There was a very receptive atmosphere among the pastors and we enjoyed some good Rwandan singing.

Eleanor and Alan’s teaching session about the pressures of marriage and ministry was equally well received.  In fact, Pastor Samuel expressed how moved he was by their words as he worked hard as their translator.  He felt that Eleanor was speaking directly to him and into his marriage.  He joked that it appeared that Eleanor might have had a surreptitious discussion with his wife prior to the conference, as her words were so poignant.  He told us how he is so busy he never has time for his wife and family.  His day off is Monday, when his wife is at work, and her day off is Saturday, which is a particularly busy day for him with weddings and meetings.  He shared how his phone is always ringing and his wife threatens to confiscate his phones from time to time!

An American pastor, currently seconded by his church in New Hampshire to support the work of Archbishop Rwaje in Rwanda kindly lent the team one of his vehicles to travel back to our SU hostel.  Alan was trying hard to note down the route so that we could retrace the journey without the assistance of a street map, road signs or the guidance of an African pastor.

We had a short tea break at our favourite make shift café outside our rooms (ie Heather’s kettle and a few remaining Typhoo tea bags, accompanied by the local version of digestive biscuits.) Having watched the sun sink below the horizon around 6pm and fill the sky with an amazing orange glow, we made ourselves ready for the journey across town to dinner with the American pastor Brandon.

The trip in the borrowed Land Cruiser was not uneventful.  The initial challenge was to actually get into the vehicle.  One of the passenger door handles was missing so we had to enter from the other side. Unfortunately, though she was able to get inside by that route, Isobel clearly didn’t know her own strength, and when opening the door for Eleanor, found the interior handle crumbled in her fingers!  Ooops this now rendered both back doors disfunctional!  Andy was a little concerned by the fact that only one of the front and rear side lights were working and the only way to have the headlights on was at full beam!  The journey began with much-needed prayer that we would arrive safely and not be pulled over by the traffic police.  As we drove up the precipitous rocky road out of the SU enclave, it was little disconcerting when our human SAT NAV, Alan, on whom we were relying for our directions, instructed Andy to turn right, which immediately prompted other members of the team to chorus, spontaneously, ‘No left!’  Not a very promising start to a journey through the dark streets of the city!  In spite of this disconcerting start, we arrived at the American pastor’s home with only a couple of U turns en route.

In spite of Brandon sharing the same language, something seemed to have been lost in translation, regarding the dinner invitation.  We had been led to believe he was inviting us to a barbecue and so had decked ourselves out in the longest sleeves in our possession, having smothered ourselves in generous quantities of ferocious Jungle Formula bug repellent, so that rather than sparkling with jewellery at this western dinner party, it was the greasy Deet that made our skin glisten.  This was somewhat embarrassing as when we arrived at Pastor Brandon’s spacious, tastefully decorated ex-pat dwelling, and were ushered to our places at a large dining table, laid out with place settings in completely western style down to the glasses and napkins.  There was no hint of the fire pit barbecue, which we had been expecting and any mosquitoes were safely tucked outside beyond the window grills and tasteful cream silk curtains!  Once more we were the ones with the metaphorical egg on our faces, though some of our cheeks were so lavishly covered in oily repellent, that the egg would have slipped right off!

We were treated to a delicious meal beginning with Brandon’s home made vegetable soup, served with a dash of cream and finishing with a wonderful moist carrot cake, baked by the pastor’s wife Emily.  For couple of hours we were transported away from the real Rwanda to a little cordon bleu corner of the US of A.

Please pray for the rest of the conference to go well; for our meeting up with ladies who produce baskets to happen tomorrow and for the team's wellbeing.
Give thanks for a good first day of conference; for safe travel and good food.

Thursday

Heather started the day with the discovery that some livestock in her mattress had spent the night nibbling a neat little row across her butt!  Those of us who’d been moaning about the sweaty nights we’d been suffering on plastic sheeting, which crinkles every time you turn over, suddenly recognised the benefits and stopped our whingeing, realising that waking in a pool of sweat was preferable to being the meat in a nocturnal picnic.

There were many ‘oohs and ahhs’ when a pile of pancakes was brought to our breakfast table in place of the usual eggs.  Passion fruit and honey made a great pancake topping and sent us off to meet Pastor Samuel at the Land Cruiser in good spirits.   Once again we were heading out of the city to visit a rural parish.  We thundered along the dusty rocky roads, our skin and clothes turning the same shade of orange as the tracks, with every cloud of dust that was kicked up and blasted our way through the open windows.   Today the truck continued to climb beyond the attractive terracing on one of the valley sides into a rather barren moonscape, with very little foliage and a single lone bare tree protruding from the dusty open summit, which was being used as Kigali’s rubbish tip.  The whole area was covered in all manner of discarded debris, unappealing to the eye and the stench travelled with us for some distance.  Though the scene was grim it was not devoid of life.  It was pitiful to see people clambering over the tip and picking over the rubbish.   One particular lady sticks in mind, with a tiny baby strapped to her back, she staggered over the foul-smelling mound, prodding the garbage to find anything worth recovering …… this is poverty.

We simply drove on, glad to be moving away from the stench and thinking how cruel of the large city to dump its unwanted trash away from the city limits, on the margins inhabited by the poor.

As we arrived at Gasura parish a smiling Pastor Alfred was there to greet us.  Behind him a crowd of excited school children, all dressed in navy and white gingham shirts appeared from behind the church building, inquisitive to know who the Land Cruiser had brought to their rural community.  We were ushered into Alfred’s small home and barely an hour since stuffing ourselves with pancakes, we were faced with lunch.  The usual range of cooking pots were placed before us and Alfred’s wife lifted off the lids to reveal the customary dishes of potatoes, rice, chicken, beans, plantains and sauce, all a little unexpected at 10.30am.  After we’d served ourselves, a bench was pushed through the doorway from the yard into the remaining space in the room, followed by 5 of the church catechists, who then started filling their dishes and joined in our hearty brunch.

Alfred and his wife have 6 children in a tiny home, which is wholly inadequate for their needs.  Last year they began to build a new, larger home but sadly the government disapproved of their plans.  Between the church and their small home lie the derelict ruins of their deconstructed new home.  It had been built with mud bricks and the government felt this was inappropriate and so sent representatives to demolish the structure – very demoralising for the poor family after their hard building work.

Once again we were welcomed into their church with the most beautiful, rich singing, with a soloist singing an introductory few words and the rest of the church replying in typical harmonious, African style.  As usual we introduced ourselves and any mention of a child or grandchild generated a ripple of approval accompanied by a burst of applause!  When Andy mentioned his 3 beautiful, unmarried daughters, Pastor Samuel allowed himself a little, ‘ad lib’ in his translation, inviting any interested suitors to step forward! 

Eleanor shared with the congregation some of her thoughts and challenges as a pastor’s wife having to up sticks and move from time to time, unsure of what her new role would be and therefore having to trust in the Lord for his guidance.  Afterwards Alan spoke about the Kingdom of God as expressed in the parable of the banquet.

Back in the city we visited various handicraft projects, set up around the cathedral.  There were ladies making intricate jewellery, creating beads by tightly wrapping slivers of magazine pictures.   Others were manufacturing rustic lemon-grass scented soaps, which both Eleanor and Isobel commented were rather expensive …(oops once more they’d not counted the zeros carefully and having made this critical announcement, were embarrassed to admit that at 20p a bar these soaps were actually a bit of a snip!)  Continuing to be financially challenged Eleanor later really confused one of the seamstresses when she tried to buy some of their handicrafts.  We were all bamboozled when they seemed unable to give her the correct change after her purchase, and kept questioning us about the current exchange rate.  As the conversation proceeded we finally realised what the problem was – without wearing her glasses, Eleanor had inadvertently handed the poor salesman a note in Euros rather than Rwandan Francs – oops!

Please pray – this evening we had a visit from Joseph, who is hopefully going to assist us to sell baskets from the widows in Gasabo Diocese. Please pray that we will be able to sort out the practicalities involved; for the building of a primary school in Gasura parish; for the needs of Pastor Alfred and his family.

Give thanks for our team picnics of cheese, tomatoes, bread and jams; for good health and strength for the team; for safe travels thus far.

As soon as Pastor Samuel arrived this morning with a driver and land cruiser, we headed off out of the city through the bustling streets filled with people wandering everywhere, with motorbike taxis weaving in and out of people pushing wheelbarrows or carrying all sorts of loads on their heads, to visit the parish of Rutunga.  From the chaos of the city streets we were soon once again out in the beautiful hills, for which Rwanda is famous.  We travelled along the road between steeply rising terraced slopes.  The valley floor was a patchwork of small paddy fields, all neatly tended with rice at various stages of development - some full of bright green young plants, others awash with water as the tiny plants were being transplanted in rows,  White Nile Egrets amongst other tall wading birds were probing the paddy fields, with their long beaks foraging deep into the water.

Soon we left the valley floor and began the steep climb on a dusty, rocky red road up into the hills, affording us a panoramic view of the piercing green rice fields in the valley below.  We arrived at Pastor Damascene's home and were immediately introduced to the two cows in the stalls behind their home.  Damascene's wife was keen to show us how these cattle were being used in new bio-gas project, which creates power for their cooking.  We all gathered round for an in-depth examination of cow dung and how it is transforming their world!

This gave us a great appetite for the second breakfast that the family generously prepared for us. Once again we enjoyed an egg-free meal!  We were treated to chapatis, bananas and passion fruit before heading off to find one of Damascene's churches to be greeted by his church council and members of 4 of his congregations, who were all seated in the church with chairs lined up at the front of the building ready to seat us.

Having introduced ourselves, Heather and Alan shared some words of testimony and encouragement and the congregation responded in their wonderful vibrant song and dance.  Unfortunately they were very keen for us to join in their exuberance, so some rather stilted 'English dad-dancing' ensued.  At one point Alan and Eleanor appeared to be performing synchronised front crawl (without the water!) But the Rwandans just smiled, clapped and praised God all the more! (Video taken of this extraordinary event is available from Andy for a small fee or a snicker bar.)

Lunch was prepared for us, and as we signed Pastor Damascene's visitors' book it was clear that this family had already prepared lunch today for two other sets of visitors as the archbishop had visited earlier with a representative of Compassion's child sponsorship from the USA.  Once again we were humbled by this family's generosity.

Since the team's visit last year, the rural parish had raised funds to begin to construct both a church and a school building, which is an impressive undertaking, and hopefully a great encouragement to their pastor.

On returning to the city we made many interesting observations along the road, including the unusual sight of many men roped together to carry a massive telegraph pole along the road side.  As Heather commented, 'I hope they don't have to turn a corner!'  Then in the city, the traffic came to a stand still as the entire Rwandan army seemed to be on the move!  Truck after truck of troops filed past us as all other traffic came to a halt.

In a bid to increase the variety of our diet, we visited a supermarket in order to feed ourselves this evening.  What a treat to be back in the city and actually recognise some familiar foods in the shops! Unfortunately we weren't necessarily that careful when counting the zeros on the prices and Heather got stung for a mere £10 when buying a packet of almonds!  ...they certainly saw that muzungu (white person) coming!

Our rooms at the guest house are positioned in a row on the ground floor, all opening onto a garden over looking the city.  This evening we sat down outside our rooms at a table with our relatively western purchases spread out, to enjoy 'bread and cheese' (albeit at bit squidgy and warm!) as the sun slipped behind the hillside and the lights of the city twinkled before us.

Give thanks for our time at Rutunga and the joy we shared in song and dance; for all that has been acieved in the parish over this last year.
Please pray for the Lord to continue to bless the work of Pastor Damascene and his congregations; for the practical needs of the people, all of whom are reliant on subsistence farming.

Tuesday blog

Due to a lack of internet connection this blog is running late!

Tuesday morning was spent tying up loose ends. Andy had a few meetings, the banana fibre cards were finally checked, catalogued and selected for us to bring back to the UK with us (coming soon to a church near you), Isobel was shown two options for accommodating a teacher from the UK and she re-visited the King Solomon Academy to take photos to go with the job profile we will be putting together. It appeared that a local goat had recently given birth in the middle of the school field, and as Isobel approached slowly, so as not to scare the suckling kids, a little lad appeared as if from nowhere, concerned as to what this mystery 'muzungu' (white person) might want with his prize beasts!  He was easily distracted when she wiped the greasy finger prints from her camera and shared with him a selection of the goat photos she'd taken.  At this point, realising he had a photographer rather than a goat rustler before him, pride got the better of him and he called for a mate to come see the photos too!

Overnight Heather had managed to get onto the internet to see that she had passed her prescribing exams and is now a fully fledged prescribing nurse. Alan and Eleanor celebrated their 41st wedding anniversary (sheer bliss) so out came the champagne kitkats to go with our morning drinks. After an exciting lunch of hard boiled eggs (yes, again), toast and fruit, we paid our bills, packed up the land cruiser and climbed on board for the journey to Gasabo diocese. In order to enable six people to travel comfortably in the back, most of the cases went on the roof rack. As they were piled high, the various owners (us) looked on anxiously as a parent might do when giving their precious child over to the care of teachers on the first day at school. The cases were strung together with rope which was then tied to the roof rack. We clambered into the back of the car hoping to see our cases the other end.

The journey was pleasant, uneventful and relaxed. On reaching Kigali, we stopped at the side of the road and sat waiting. Archdeacon Samuel got out, and stood on the pavement talking on his phone. We sat, engine running, time passing, Samuel on his phone. When asked what was happening, Samuel said that he was waiting for someone. He went on to say that on Saturday he would be going to the wedding of his godson and just then his godson showed up, accompanied by a lady who was not his future wife. After exchanging greetings beside the busy road and whilst Samuel continued to talk with his godson, the lady proceeded to get out a tape measure and began taking Samuel's crucial measurements. His chest, his arms, his waist, his hips, his outside leg!! All measurements were noted down on the outside of a paper bag that had some shopping in it. The conversation continued, people walked around them. We watched and wondered....what measurement would be next? How would it be accomplished? Who would hold the tape measure? Surely not...... Six pairs of eyes stared in anticipation. The lady took hold of her tape measure and with a flourish - put it into her bag. We sighed with relief on Samuel's behalf. The conversation ended, Samuel climbed back in to the car and our night-time tour of Kigali continued.

On arrival at the guest house in Kigali, there was a hold up as we tried to wheel our dusty cases along the rocky path to our rooms.  Unsure as to what was happening in the darkness, we all gathered around to see the driver and a couple of others staring at the ground.  One was stamping his foot forcefully and another was grubbing around in the darkness selecting a substantially sized rock, which he then threw onto the floor.  On closer inspection we noticed a tiny baby snake slithering sideways along the path in a desperate plea to escape the menacing rock .... alas in vain....  We all felt a little sorry for the little fellow, meeting such a grizzly end, but we were also all wondering where the rest of its family might be.   This was happening right outside our rooms and we all noted that the gap under our doors was clearly big enough for his parents to crawl through!  I'm guessing that we all shone a torch under our bed clothes looking for his relatives before settling down to sleep!

Before turning in for the night we trooped down to a very large hall, where 5 places were set for us a at a large empty table. Rather curiously two chairs were stacked at each place setting, and as we sat down and tried to reach the table surface, it became evident why.  We were presented with a hearty meal, totally devoid of eggs - allelluia!

Isobel and Heather soon discovered an intriguing additional feature to their accommodation - situated in adjacent rooms it became apparent that when one of them turned on their 'shower,' it water began to flow abundantly out of the shower head next door!  Having both disturbed eachother at different times by this fascinating feature, they decided the only way forward was to synchronise the turning on of their taps!

Give thanks for all that was achieved in Byumba; for safe travel down to Gasabo diocese; for all who responded on Sunday morning.
Please pray for our time in Gasabo diocese, that we will fulfil all that the Lord has for us to do; for our visits to parishes and different projects; for contiued energy and enthusiasm.

Monday's Blog: (see below for Sunday's blog)

This morning we piled into the Toyota pick up once again and headed along the dusty, rocky roads into the hills bound for Gakenki, a parish perched high up on the terraces, just below the summit crowned with a deep green tea plantation.  The team had visited this parish last year to see its water harvesting project and was keen to see how it was progressing.  We were pleased to find they had been using the money raised to good effect, using some of the money to build a sturdy concrete platform in their new church.   Construction of this new building is on going and there are substantial heaps of rocks at the rear the building, in readiness to be split and laid on the earth floor.

We received the customary warm welcome from the resident incumbent, Pastor Emanuel and were invited into his home for a second breakfast.  We shared lovely aromatic lemon grass tea and were each presented with plates, filled with fluffy bread rolls from a local bakery and of course more of the ubiquitous boiled eggs!

Having been introduced to the family, in walked another young man, who ably introduced himself as ‘Innocent,’ with a second name in Kinyarwanda meaning ‘Determined.’  He told us that he is praying for his dream to come true for him to live up to his name!  Having listened to his inspirational conversation for only a short while, we were all convinced that he will indeed achieve this dream!  He works in a government office, where he openly shares his faith with his colleagues.  He told us that he finds Pastor Emanuel’s family inspirational and so he enjoys spending time there.  Innocent longs to work for an NGO (Non Government Organization)  because he came from an impoverished family, understands what it means to be starving, and has benefited from an NGO himself.     He impressed us with his profound words when he said, he believes a challenge is not to weaken you but to shape you.   He wants to work for an NGO where he can be inspired by others.

Innocent joined us to wander around the church and to discuss the current church projects.  Twice a week a group at the church come together to teach 47 people to cook and then they share the food, eating together. There is also a basket weaving project, whereby a group of people co operate to weave a mat together, which they then sell.

After our return to the guest house and a lunch of yet more boiled eggs, we proceeded to the Hannah Ministry in Byumba to purchase the baskets made there by the widows, to take back to the UK with us.  As today is a bank holiday, it was lovely to be greeted by a whole load of children just ‘hanging around’ at the Hannah Ministry, where they had been fed their daily meal and were just sitting chilling together.  On seeing Heather, whom they recognised from her previous visit, they rushed to her.  She got out her phone to show them pictures of her family and she was absolutely swamped by an exuberant scrum of children!

Almost as much excitement was later caused by Eleanor amongst the market traders as she wandered into the material section of Byumba market,  intent on buying a swathe of colourful African dress fabric.  Soon both Eleanor and Heather were charmed by some of the plethora of bold designs and wonderful rich coloured cloth for sale.

This evening the 2 grannies, Eleanor and Heather, were once more enchanted by some of the pastors’ children - this time it was Pastor Taddy’s 5 year old twin boys.  We were all invited to dinner at Pastor Sam’s home, where we experienced for the first time a taste of glutenous cassava bread served with cassava leaves.   As we sat eating and chatting together, Pastor Sam’s 5 year old daughter inquisitively stroked Isobel’s hair!

Please pray for the successful conclusion of projects tying up loose ends in Byumba before we depart for Gasabo on Tuesday.

Pastor Sam’s wife Janette and other pastors’ wives who are under various pressures bringing up their children, whilst working full time and supporting their husbands in ministry.

Sunday's Blog: We were encouraged by the number of young people attending the English service at 8am in Byumba cathedral.  Alan preached about the Lord’s prayer and its relevance to each of us in our daily lives.

The Youth for Christ Choir took us back to the days of the 1980s Billy Graham crusades with their renditions of Amazing Grace, I Surrender All and Blessed Assurance…  In song they moved from their seats to the front of the church swaying in a rhythmic conga formation to lead the worship.

As the English service drew to a close, the cathedral began to fill with church members in readiness for the following service in the Kinyarwandan language.   The cathedral’s wooden benches were almost full to their capacity, seating 1000, and though we found a few spare spaces on a bench near the back, our white faces were soon spotted by a church warden, dressed in a green and white cassock, who eagerly re-seated us on the front row beside the font.  Almost immediately 3 church members slotted themselves strategically between us on the front bench to interpret for us individually.

Andy, who was due to preach in the service, had previously been collected by another church warden, keen to get the service started and was seated amongst the clergy on the platform in the chancel.

Although the service was three and a half hours long, it was full of variety, music and colour.  A group of between 15 - 20 new members were welcomed into the church, introduced and then enfolded in a loving embrace by their brothers and sisters.  Several newly-weds were invited to the front for well wishing, 3 young people were baptised and Andy preached whilst Pastor Elson interpreted.  The service was interspersed by wonderful African singing and dancing led by 3 choirs. 

After Andy’s message, there was a good response from the congregation to Elson’s call, inviting people to give themselves to Christ.  About 30 young people came forward for prayer and were then taken into a side room where church members talked with them, putting into place a follow up programme.

Having eaten breakfast in a great hurry to attend the early service, we then returned in the early afternoon to ‘enjoy’ barely lukewarm porridge and hard boiled eggs.

We spent a gruelling afternoon coding and sorting hundreds, if not thousands of banana fibre cards hand made by a group of local widows, ready for us to take back to sell in the UK.  Fortunately Heather produced a packet of sweets to keep up our sugar levels and cheer us on through this tedious task.  By the time Andy returned from a meeting elsewhere, the large pile of empty sweet wrappers said it all!

Once again we were invited out to dinner in 2 pastors’ homes.  The 2 grannies, Eleanor and Heather, were in their element in Pastor Elson’s home as they spent the evening passing the young baby, ‘Heavenly Joy’ from one to another, cooing over her cuteness, living up to her name.  (until she covered Heather in baby rice!)    
      

Elson’s other children Shalom and Grace were also home from boarding school for a family wedding.  Alan enjoyed finding out about Pastor Elson’s involvement in the training and follow up to the post genocide programme of reconciliation.  This social therapy programme is based on post World War II material and has been funded by the Netherlands.

Meanwhile Andy and Isobel were being entertained at Pastor Etienne’s house.  We munched through warm roasted peanuts, trying to maintain a conversation with the family as the lights flickered on and off with annoying frequency.  A storm was brewing outside as the rainy season approaches.  Clearly Rwandan electricity struggles in such weather conditions.  After a sumptuous feast of local produce, Etienne invited Isobel to eat one of the lemons off his tree.  Hoping there had been confusion in translation, she accepted the offer, only to find that it was indeed a very bitter lemon and much wincing and grimacing ensued!  Etienne’s teenage boys tried to appear macho and proceeded to down their segments with virtually expressionless faces.

The jolly evening was rounded off by Andy organising a family game of bowls using Etienne’s home grown fruit.   To add to the excitement of the impromptu game, the ‘passion fruit jack’ was extremely well camouflaged on the concrete floor and to add another dimension to the challenge, we were periodically plunged into sudden darkness as the electricity cut out again!  A fun night was had by all!

Please pray for the young people who responded and also those who were baptised in the cathedral and pray for them to be discipled.

Give thanks for the opportunity to meet with local families and share meals;  the Cathedral was full and needs to be extended/rebuilt;  a youth group activity raised £2000 towards the building of a new cathedral.