Thanks to all who are reading this blog. Welcome. I hope you will both enjoy this blog and receive true blessings from it. In addition, may the LORD move you to respond in prayer for us that we might shine His light and carry His glorious presence with us as we meet with our brothers and sisters in Rwanda.
Photo from the 2011 Rwanda trip.
History
Our partnership began about five years ago when we made a request to the Anglican Mission to be partnered with an Anglican congregation in Rwanda. We were assigned to the Gikomero Parish of the Shyogwe Diocese. The parish is located in a rural setting almost two hours from the capital city of Kigali. Rwanda is a beautiful country with rolling hills, green vegetation and many tile roof houses. The people of Rwanda are quite friendly and greet you by smiling and waving both hands in the air. The friendliness makes it hard to comprehend the horror of genocide that rocked this small country in 1993. Over 900,000 people died in the ethnic cleansing and almost as many in the years that followed through war-related wounds and infectious diseases. Yet, the people of Rwanda display a remarkable resilience. Many have found the grace to forgive their enemies while others silently suffer the wounds they received. It was not uncommon to speak to someone who had lost every relative in the killings. We were deeply touched by the Rwandan Christians and their quiet faith and joyous dancing in their worship services.
Our relationship with Gikomero and the Shyogwe Diocese can happily be described as warm, loving and growing. This is now our fourth trip to Rwanda while we have hosted the Bishop Jared Kalimba and some of his staff on two visits to Raleigh. On our first trip we learned that they were hoping to build a well in the valley and pump water to the top of the hill a mile away where the church, its' school, and medical dispensary are located. The well and pump would enable Gikomero to turn the dispensary into a health clinic. The clinic would serve close to 30,000 people in the surrounding community. By God’s grace we were able to raise over $80,000 to complete the project and the well is fully functioning today!
Its about relationship
Yet, the partnership is more about relationships then projects. We have taught English, preached sermons, brought gifts and provided scholarships and child sponsorships, but our greatest focus is on developing friendships based on our common faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We were very sad when Reverend Martin, the pastor of Gikomero died in a motorcycle accident. Our relationship with his wife Dancille and her three children continues to this day. We have been helping support her through medical school where she will soon receive an advanced nursing degree. This will enable her to support her family and carry out a much needed vocation.
We are also growing in our relationship with Reverend Ettiene and his family. He replaced Pastor Martin. He is an enthusiastic leader and prays for our congregation quite faithfully. Bishop Jared Kalimba is one of the most gracious and humble man of God you could ever meet. He loves the people of his diocese and has a great vision for church planting, economic development, education, leadership development and pastoral care.
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| Some boys from the 2009 trip |
This Trip
So we hope you will be in prayer as we prepare to leave early Friday morning. (We have to be at the airport at 4:00 AM!) Our trip will focus on furthering our relationship, deepening in understanding and prayer, learning from our hosts as well as providing some teaching on biblical basis for strong marriages, financial stewardship principles and an English as a Second Language intensive course. We also intend to visit the church, worship twice with them, exchange gifts, visit several compassion sponsored children, and bring back a report of the ministries and missions of our sister church, as well as determine if there is another mutual project with which we can partner with Gikomero. Please pray for safe travel, team unity, spiritual growth, health and that we be good representatives of Apostles and our Lord. Stay tuned as all of our team will be making entries over the course of our trip!
In Christ,
Patrick
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| 2013 Team: Courtney Williams, Hillary Dotson, Taylor Warren, Teresa Kincaid, Sarah Hughes, Eric Bolash, Lou White, Sam Bass, and Patrick Dominguez |
I took time to listen to all the feedback from our friends. It's really good to hear how the trip was good although it was not easy because of the long distance between our two countries! I would like to express my gratitude to all the team and everyone who sacrificed himself for the trip is possible. A big thank you to Teresa who sacrificed despite his advanced age. We always pray for you and we always recognize your blessings.
ReplyDeleteFrom Pastor Joseph SEHORANA (Shyogwe-Rwanda)