Intro

I hadn’t planned on being back to Nygatare until Monday, but Paul had a free day today so he I am. A few breif updates before some details. I am feeling 100% and am free of the cold/flu whatever that was. Unfortunately now I think Paul has it so pray for a quick recovery for him! I am also getting more acclimated to the environment and have gotten used to hearing “monzungo” and not thinking people are talking bad. Actually there is only one instance in which I know of that someone has made a negative comment and that was when Paul and I were on him motorcycle driving by and some random guy shouted something. I’m not sure what exactly he was saying but Paul gave him a pretty nasty glare so I’m sure it wasn’t good. But other than that I have been able to have really good interactions with people. I have learned maybe a dozen words here and have a list Paul gave me of others I’m trying to memorize.

I also seem to have attracted a bit of a following among the little ones. When I wake up, when I return to my place, and when I go home to sleep there are kids awaiting my arrival. Particularity, Kevin and Caleb, seem to be there whenever I turn around. They are both in B1 (first grade).

I haven’t had any real issues with mosquitoes and continue to tuck in my mosquito net to my bed. With the exception of a crafty beetle I have yet to have any insects penetrate that barrier! I have also grown used to the bucket baths, the water is a bit cold but its do-able. The food has become a normal part of the day. It is the same thing everyday. I did find out that what I thought was some kind of squash was cooked green banana’s. Hmmm. So then I asked if that’s how they always eat them and said in the states we just eat them when the are yellow and we don’t cook them. So the lady who feeds us sent out for some yellow bananas for me. For those of you who know me you know I DO NOT LIKE bananas! But, I took them and ate a couple in front of her. It took some will power but I managed.

The Project

I continue to meet with people in laying the groundwork for this project. Thursday I met with a group of ten different pastors from the district. They represented a variety of churches: protestant, anglican, catholic, seventh day advent, and one or two more. I got to know a little bit about the churches. I learned that the biggest burden of resources on the church seems to be their taking care of the orphans and widows. Several churches also have started schools to help supplement governmental schooling. One church, the catholic church, had a program that was funded by a Bush initiative but that he expects to have is funding pulled through the Obama administration so they are scrambling to find out other alternatives. I also learned that the churches in general lack education from the top down. While there are a few pastors that have university experience there are only two or three with biblical training. They were eager to have some kind of training available that could be geared towards leaders, congregations and youth. There is some definite potential for that to be incorporated into what we are doing in this Highlands project.

Friday was a holiday so I wasn’t able to meet with anyone. I will be here in Gacundezi for another week before returning to Kigali for 3 days to meet with Dwight. After that I’ll be back out here for another two weeks. So, in the next week I need to continue to gather as much information as possible while making new contacts.

Volleyball!

The last thing I expected to do in Rwanda was play volleyball, but what do ya know, that’s what I did last night. I went up to the school with Paul to watch the football and volleyball teams practice. After about 15 minutes the coach, who was playing with the volleyball team, asked if I wanted to join. I was a bit hesitant having never played organized volleyball but I agreed to play. Of course he puts me opposite the 6’4” high flying guy at the net with a million mile spike velocity. They weren’t shy of going to me, almost immediately I was getting sets. Everyone was in a set position and was very good at their role. I caught on quickly and surprisingly began to hold my own. The guy I was up against was getting competitive and after he spiked one and caught me in the face (that was fun) my competitiveness came out to. I held my own against him blocking him on several occasions. Of course being as though the “mazungoo” was playing volleyball about 60 kids were watching so anytime he or I did something they would egg us on. He was probably getting the best of me 6 out of 10 times, but I was pretty happy with that. Towards the end of the game he went up and I got a big block on him and they all stared cheering. You could tell he wanted nothing more than to get even with me, but then two plays later I was given the perfect set and had my best spike of the game slamming it past him and about 20 feet off the arms of the guy trying to dig it. All the kids were yelling and one guy who apparently knew one English word was shouting “fantastic, fantastic.” It was a lot of fun and I think my Sunday night volleyball pals back in Phoenix would be proud!

Have I mentioned that God is good!

I continue to go deeper into God’s word. I have had a lot of time to read, which has been great. In the last week or so I’ve read through Matthew, Genesis, and book on poverty and most of “Surprised by Hope.” It is all melding together as I began to reform my understanding of the cross and of the gospel. As I have mentioned this has been an ongoing process for me the last few months but I now feel like God is really establishing a strong foundation for my understanding. The more I examine it the more I’m convicted to what we do now, today, in this life…it matters. Through Genesis, Matthew and N.T Wright I keep seeing this process of God fulfilling his promise of renewing creation. Bringing heaven to earth. While I’m still working through some of the concepts from the book, and finding some questions unanswered, I find myself agreeing with Wright that much of the western culture has developed an understanding that at death our disembodied souls will leave this broken place and be in heaven. Thus this idea that what happens on earth ultimately get’s thrown out, that Heaven is somewhere else waiting for us to inhabit it. But that isn’t correct, it’s not biblical. At the death and resurrection of Christ God began to initiate the process of “on earth as it is in heaven.” What we do now is a part of God’s kingdom being established and creation being renewed. Yes, ultimately God will finish this work through Christ’s return; and yes, we do not establish God’s kingdom, he does. But as image bearers of God, we were created to reflect him in all of creation. We are a part of this renewing in that he uses us, when willing (and sometimes reguarless of our willingness) to carry out his great plan.

I could go on and on about this, but alas I don’t have the time. I am eager to continue to dive into this though process and hope to have opportunities to talk through it with many of you upon my return. It has been a paradigm shift that for me, brings a new depth to my role within the kingdom, and the beauty of God’s active work in his creation. Amazing.

May you all continue to be blessed in your pursuance of His will. My prayers are with you!

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 at 5:35 am and is filed under Photography, Rwanda, Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.