Days 7-10

Day 7 July 28, 2009
Muraho to Apostles’ Church family, my family and friends! I am learning so much from Rev. Gasana. He is a wise, patient and loving teacher. I hope he will be able to come to Raleigh to spend time with you all. I know you will absolutely love him.
This morning I woke up at 5:45 to the sound of Christine (our hostess) and Jean Baptiste talking as they filled buckets of water from the outdoor faucets. This is quite a process here at the guesthouse. The water has to be heated over a wood burning fire until it is piping hot. Then, the bucket is placed beside the tub. Another bin of cold water is placed inside the tub. I quickly figured out that by mixing half a cup of cold with a half a cup of hot equaled one cup of water for bathing. I got so fast at this process that I amazed even myself.
But back to waking up this morning. I lay in bed under our mosquito net for about fifteen minutes before rising to look out of my window. I saw Christine in the little courtyard and had to smile. She was walking, really dancing, with her hands lifted up singing His praises. By the way, she walks two miles to and from the guesthouse each day in order to prepare and serve our meals.
Our first stop of the day was at a church in the Ntenyo Parish. The church is a very large and beautiful building sitting on top of a hill. There was a wonderful breeze and banana trees growing everywhere. Rev. Calliste told our group that “God does miracles here,” and “prophets say things and then they see things happening.” He continued on to say that “prayer warriors pray for the sick and they become healed. In this parish God has a good plan for us.” His congregation obviously is thriving and growing. His comments about prayer warriors reminded me of the Apostles Prayer ministry.
We climbed into the van and continued our journey to the city of Butare to visit the Museum of Rwanda. I was happy that we were riding on mostly an “American road” as pastor Gasana would say. I hit my head on the roof many times as we sped along some “Rwandan roads,” as pastor Gasana would also say. But, I am not complaining. I trusted our driver Celeste completely, but my husband did not share this trust. As Celeste navigated the hilly winding mountainous roads without guardrails, racing past slow drivers into oncoming traffic, Patrick’s face told the depth of his feelings. I almost felt sorry for him.
I enjoyed the museum and learning of the history of Rwanda. It seems that the country has been pretty isolated from modernization until nearly 1900. It would also appear that Rwanda has suffered much over the last seventy years. I think the first missionaries brought the gospel to Rwanda in the 1940’s. At the time of the genocide in 1996, Rwanda claimed to be 90% Christian. Later at a genocide memorial, our guide stated that some were not really Christian. Many pastors of all denominations turned against their countrymen. After listening to Rev. Gasana, I have learned that many denominations are now joining together preaching that the Word of God is the only way that the people of Rwanda can forgive, heal, and have hope for their future. They are earnestly asking God to start a revival. They are working extremely hard to rebuild Rwanda. Bishop Rucyhana said later, “they get a joy when they toil so when they work for ten hours they are engaging hope instead of working one hour and crying.”
Joey took some great pictures of African dancers at the museum. We were treated to quite a performance. I hope you come to our follow up event to see this part of our trip on a slide show. A very pretty young dancer asked Joey to dance during the audience participation. Afterwards, Reverend Gasana said, “they dance together because they both are still looking.” This made everyone laugh.
On our way home we stopped at the Hanika Parish, which was established in 1945 by missionaries. It is a very large and well-established complex consisting of a church building, a health center, a primary school, two secondary schools, and a soccer field. Over 1,000 students attend the schools. While we enjoyed refreshments in the headmaster’s office, we were told that the men’s football team won the national championship title. It was getting late so we prepared to head back to Shyogwe. The school area outside was flooded with children. It was youth night, a time when values and morals are taught according to ancient tradition. They sure were having a good time. As we exited the gated entrance, Joey commented on the guard holding the AK-47. I don’t know what type of gun this is, but Joey was impressed. At one point I asked Rev. Gasana about the police and guards with guns. He said simply, ”To keep the peace.”
Our team had decided to give Christine a gift. Rev. Gasana suggested fabric so she could make a dress or a traditional wrap around. We stopped at a fabric store (booth really), and purchased a three-piece set of beautiful fabric. Rev. Gasana said that the best gift is one you get when you don’t deserve it. He also said, “She will be surprised, I don’t know if she will dance or what.”
After dinner that evening, we went outside to star gaze. WOW! We saw the Milky Way, Scorpio, and Castor and Pollux. The most amazing of all was the Southern Cross. It is absolutely huge.
I am going to end here. I have written too much, yet there is so much more to tell. Thank you for sending this team to Rwanda. Thank you for praying for us. Your prayers have been very evident. I am growing to care for and respect these people. The church here is truly making a difference in their communities. We are learning a lot from our Rwandan friends. Mwara muke (Goodnight).
Susan

Day 8 and 9 (and 10) July 29, 30, and 31, 2009
As I write this I am sitting on an American Airlines jet en route from Brussells to JFK in New York. It is 7:55 am Raleigh time and 2:55 Rwanda time. Jumping time zones can really do a number on you!
Yesterday began with a visit to the Shyogwe health clinic. They are doing a tremendous work there, educating people on basic health, testing and treating for HIV, TB, and Malaria, and providing birthing rooms and post-natal care for new mothers (who are released three days later and walk between one to four miles home!). From there we said goodbye to Shyogwe and headed for the Shyira Diocese in the northern parts of Rwanda. We were looking forward to visiting the Sonrise School that we have supported for years. Several of the Apostles’ members faithfully sponsor orphaned children in this school.
On the way, we stopped at the Genocide memorial that Susan told you about. It was incredibly powerful, moving and gut-wrenching. Over 250,000 of the country’s genocide victims have been laid to rest there. The Sonrise School was started as a response to the needs of the many orphans of the genocide of 1994. Besides the estimated 800,000 who were killed in 1994, some 500,000 women died within years of the genocide. HIV positive soldiers in a planned campaign to infect the Tutsi women of Rwanda with this fatal condition had raped them. Add to that some massacres by Hutu soldiers who crossed back into the country in ’97 and you can see that Rwanda has had to answer the problem of a generation of orphans.
We arrived at the Sonrise School at 6:00 pm after a long journey in our Toyota van faithfully (and often frighteningly) driven by Celeste up high and twisting mountain roads. The sights were breathtaking as we approached the home of the mountain gorillas at the foot of the highest volcanic peaks in the country. Exhausted and cramped we fell out of the van thankfully at the doorstep of the Ishema Hotel, in which our Shyira hosts had arranged for us to stay. It was gorgeous! The hotel is four years old and is a result of the entrepreneurial spirit of Bishop John Rucyhana. It employs over 100 workers, serves the tourist industry, and raises money for the ministry of the church. The bishops we have met are all very concerned to see the kingdom of God impact the economic development of Rwanda. It reminds me of our own desire to serve our city in bringing about real transformation.
So, we were exhausted, but we had reminded ourselves that our trip was not yet over, nor our mission to serve by listening, praying and encouraging. Sure enough, we were greeted by Bishop John and called into a meeting (after 20 minutes to unpack) where he graciously fed us with a snack, coffee, hot milk, and unbelievably delicious African Tea. However, we were fed even more by our time with him, when, after listening to a recounting of our adventures, he poured out words filled with vision, wisdom and passion. We concluded with a time of prayer that was so full of the Holy Spirit of God.
We visited the Sonrise School the next morning and the level of excellence blew us away. It was clear to all of us that God was giving us a picture of the types of things he wants to accomplish in the less developed diocese that we are now partnering with. It also became very clear throughout the course of the week how God is preparing us to enter into this significant partnership. Although we have supported Sonrise School in the past, the economic needs of Gikomero and their daughter parish of Mutara are where Apostles will have the most impact. In addition, Bishop Kalimba of Shyogwe would like us to serve as resource to the diocese by sending members with medical, teaching, administrative, business, pastoral, and English as second language skills. He wants to gather key lay leaders and pastors from around the diocese to receive training in practical skills from our people. In turn, we have told him that we are in need of their prayers, teaching and missions as we hope to bring some of them over to visit Apostles.
I know I have written so much, and there is so much yet to say. Let me close with two words of encouragement to you.
1. The mandate from our Lord is clear, we are now in relationship with our sister church in Rwanda, and we are called to pray fervently and expectantly. God is on the move and He is granting us the privilege of being part of a great work of His kingdom.
2. God desires to do an equally great work in His church in America and in our local setting of Rwanda.
From the moment this trip started, we had a strong conviction that the Lord had great plans for Apostles and us. His promise to us was that He would provide for us every step of this trip…and He truly has. As I write this we have not run out of anything we needed. (There is even 16% battery power left on this computer!) We were led by Him to make Philippians 2:1-11 our passage for the week in which we committed to serve with the “same attitude as Jesus”. As team leader, I can with pride in God’s amazing grace; humbly say He truly fulfilled this scripture in us. The passage goes on to read, “do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God, without fault in a crooked and depraved generation in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the Word of life.”
As we flew through the night, I was looking out our airplane window, marveling at the stars and the constellations. I thought, “That’s it! We only become blameless and pure when we grasp how Christ served us to the point of death. When we see that all of life is serving Him, each other and this world around us, we cease to have anything to complain about.
May you shine like stars,
In Jesus,
Patrick Dominguez and the Apostles’ Rwandan Mission Team