Team H – Monday

Thanks for checking our blog!  We are all convinced we will have to come back to this place and bring our families.  Yesterday was the best church service we have ever attended.  The worship lasted for 2 hours and was followed by 2 beautiful dances.  We were moved to tears as soon as we walked in.  God’s presence was definitely felt.  We had a chance to teach them about small groups and the importance of being in God’s family.  I don’t think any of us will ever be satisfied again with 3 songs to a service.  We laughed and cried…but mostly cried. 

A few fun things we noticed at the service were the dancing and jumping.  They do not sit still during their worship time….kart wheels would not be out of the question!  Also, when a Rwandan is moved by something they experience during the service they will walk up to the dancer or singer while they are still performing and put money in their pocket.  So, Travis, be on the lookout for some tips!

Last night after the service we went to the pastor’s house and spent time with his family and neighbors.  It is so different in Rwanda.  They really take seriously the commandment to care for the orphans and the widows.  Every Christian we have met cares for anywhere from 2-8 orphans in addition to their own children.  The pastor’s 5 daughters sang for us and we heard a few testimonies from a few of the “street boys”.   The street boys were orphaned during the genocide.  All of them lost their parents during the war and were left to fend for themselves.  Several of them have spent 13 years or more on the streets.  They are very grateful to the church we are working with because they have provided them with food and shelter…but most importantly love.  They are now all born again Christians.  We were able to give them a soccer ball and it was probably the greatest gift those boys have ever received.  We heard later from our pastor that they stayed up all night playing soccer.

Today we went out to the village where there is a sister church to our host church.  It took us two hours to get there and we all agreed what we saw was what we expected Africa to look like.  Most of the people in the villages literally lived in a one room hut.  The pastor’s brother lives in this village with his 9 children.  He herds about 20 cows for a living and they milk the cow each day for their daily needs.  They don’t have electricity so the milk only lasts for one day.  This particular village just received for The Purpose Driven Life books.  We were able to share testimonies and encourage them to live lives on purpose for Christ.  They felt so loved that we came all the way to their village instead of spending time in a bigger city.  Again the love for Christ was so evident in these people.  Our hope is that we blessed them at least as much as they blessed us. 

We gave gifts to the pastor to give to the village people.  Some of the gifts included candy, soccer balls and Frisbees.  It was a true blessing for us to watch their pastor give these gifts.  He sacrifices so much of his life for them and it was fun to see him give the children little gifts.  They had never seen a frisbee so it was a blast teaching them how to play (even the adults wanted to play).

This trip is really about building relationships with this church since we are the first group to come.  Some of those relationships include our pastor and a few members from the church who interpreted for us.  On our way to and from the village we really had some great conversations with them.  There is already a bit of sadness in our hearts.

SK:  Hi Hon!  Hi Ryan and Kyle!!  How are my Dudes??  I miss you guys so much.  I opened my special package from you – the picture with the banner in the backyard was SO AWESOME and made me cry.  Everyone loved it.   I especially loved Daddy hanging upside down on the monkey bars and Ryan blowing me a kiss.  Kyle’s huge smile brought me such joy.   How in the world did you get Katie to stay there and look at the camera?    Today was the first day that we left the city and went all over Eastern Rwanda.  Everyone was so impressed that I could pick out where we were on the map and that I could keep track of landmarks and such.  I told them it’s because of all my training from my dear husband!!   Once again, the supplies from Daddy saved me.  Today, out in the villages, the “Fresh Bath” wipes were an absolute necessity.    I love you all…….Mommy.

Houtzies:  Thank you for checking out our blog.  I loved your words of encouragement and I have so much to share with you while we’re pretending to hunt for sea glass (and the rest of our crew really does the hunting!)  Love to all the Houtzies.

 RH:  Mom, Dad, Sister and my Brother from another mother.  Thank you for taking care of my family while I am away.  I can not wait to get home and share the incredible things I have seen.