We Are Now Brothers and Sisters

(Courtney)

My time so far in Rwanda has been so wonderful and so filled with activity that I can’t begin to describe it in enough detail. We have limited internet also, so I haven’t read the other blog posts. Hopefully there is not too much overlap! One of the most important things that I would like to share is how deep the partnership is between our church and the church at Gikomero. Before I went on this trip I didn’t really understand the depth of the partnership. Yesterday when we had lunch at Pastor Ettiene’s house he told us that we were no longer friends, but we are now brothers and sisters. He didn’t just mean us. On the wall in his house he has a giant photo of our congregation standing in front of our church building. He has your faces on his wall. I would love it if we felt so connected to them in America.

We got to spend some time with Bishop Jered the other day, and he shared with us that his life motto is “build your kingdom here and now!” This is one philosophy that leads him to greatly value our partnership. Together we are working to build God’s kingdom throughout the world. We will be with our Rwandan brothers and sisters for all of eternity, but our partnership builds God’s kingdom NOW!

Another thing that I would like to express how evident God’s presence is here. The people we have met have strong faith. They have been through things so horrific that we could never imagine. Yesterday Sarah met with a group whose name means “the ones who have chosen to be together”. They are single women whose husbands died, or who got pregnant out of wedlock who have been shunned by their families. In Sarah’s words these women have been stolen from and trespassed on and it is not ok. There are many women like this, and many broken families. The church (through God’s grace and guidance) has played a huge part in helping the people continue. For example, the Mother’s Union was started as a way to empower women to improve their skills and start businesses to help support their families. These people love each other and they love God. So many terrible things have happened, but there are so many stories of forgiveness and reconciliation. God is doing great things here, and we have the incredible opportunity to be a part of it.

Today was a blessed day. We spent some time teaching English to high school students today. 

Hillary and I were in the same classroom that we were yesterday, but today went more smoothly. Mostly this was due to our translator, Bernard, who we are so thankful for. We taught the children two songs, which they loved. We also read part of Psalm 136 and had them repeat “His steadfast love endures forever.” When we talked about ways to respond to the question, “How are you?” they wanted to know how to say “I have sorrow” and “I have fear”. We were able to point back to Psalm 136 and remind them that throughout this God’s love endures forever. I hope that in some way God spoke to them through our time together. At break time they asked us to play games with them. They taught us some games, and we taught them some games. It was just a really fun time!

I am having a wonderful time. Part of me could stay here forever, but a very big part of me misses everyone at home and I can’t wait to see you all and tell you all about my trip J