As part of our rest and relaxation day, we were privileged to take a short hike into the Bamboo forests of Rwanda, located in Musanze, to experience a ‘true’ Silverback family in their natural habitat. After trekking through thistle stinging bushes, moss covered bamboo as well as vine entangled vegetation, we came to our small family of Gorillas, which was not a large family, however had the largest Silverback of all families, named Guhonda – I think weighting at least 550lbs. Words cannot describe what we saw and/or experienced, since around 55 minutes into our observation, while being mesmerized at watching Guhonda eat; Johnny and I, as well as others were surprised when a Blackback (large male), gaited right by us, literally less than a foot away – what an exhilarating experience.

Good day from Musanze!

Brian

Friday was another beautiful day set to Rwandan Time. We wrote some thank-you notes, packed up, said a final good-bye to Pastor Elson and made it about 1 km before needing a small repair done on our van. It was “all good” as it gave us a little more time to soak in some final images of Byumba.

Before long, we were on our way back to Kigali, leaving behind beautifully terraced hills as far as the eye can see and big portions of our hearts as well.

Returning to Kigali was a bit surreal since it’s literally only an hour from Byumba, Gicumbi and yet is so incredibly different. Between occasional villages full of bright-blue uniformed children, we saw people of all ages pushing heavily-laden bicycles up steep slopes and the occasional small child just walking along the road all alone. Soon we drove along a valley with fields of sugar cane and rice, passing through communities closer together and with more industry.

All too soon, we reached Kigali and enjoyed one more leisurely meal with Emmy and our driver, DiSalle.

We’ve all grown to love Emmy so much and somewhere along the way we began thinking of him as a teammate so much that we still find ourselves looking around for him as if he’s just wandered off like Yohanna and Petero so often do.

After our second fare-well of the day, we piled all our luggage and 6 people including our driver Maurice into a land rover and set out for Musanze district, a 2.5 hour ride slowly up and down countless slopes with steep drops off the road into picturesque valleys.

Although we were headed to a new district, I wasn’t expecting things to be so different from Byumba as Musanze and Gicumbi are neighboring districts. Gone were the terraced hillsides and roughly paved roads. We passed soccer fields and agriculture predominant with banana and corn.

Part of the transformation is also that we’ve entered a new phase of our stay. No longer are we here so much on development work but have now become tourists seeking restoration. Our ride was quiet as some slept and some contemplated the last few weeks and even what the future may hold for us and the residents of Gicumbi district. 

When we arrived in the city of our destination (can’t recall the name right now!), I was very surprised to see how built up the location is with many hotels, very wide roads and tourist shops. I underestimated the tourist value of the location and what that meant for the development of the city—good or bad.

We were all quite spent and were facing a VERY early morning, so sought our beds directly after dinner with a blog half written…the gorillas weren’t going to wait for us to get our beauty sleep!

Thanks for reading and for your comments, they mean so much to us! Peter is also faring better and it was probably a good thing for him that it was a travel day full of long stretches of driving! Spoiler alert – he DID do the gorilla trek on Saturday and we were all SO thankful for that! Brian will fill you in on our Saturday in Musanze district later…

Megan

Today started like any other day, with early morning drumbeats, bountiful sunshine and promises of new things; and boy, did we experience great things!

We first visited multiple churches, and they openly shared their dreams and desires for church building and rain collection projects as well as for long-term growth and sustainability. After some further discussions, my heart became ‘heavy’ for the Rwandese people and God’s church. We were told that, due to past colonial theology, most of the church members within the local evangelical church do not biblically tithe. However, God is working mightily in their mist to raise up his church, in all dimensions. There is also great need for local job creation near each church, so the local congregation can remain intact instead of having their members move due to the lack of viable work. The pastors find that many people go church hopping, looking for what the ‘other’ can provide them. I trust that the continued development and infrastructure will increase the peoples’ active participation and investment in the church’s future.

Encouragement came to us in seeing a Tippy-Tap installed at a Pastor’s house, with some great improvements. It is awesome to see the Personal Health and Hygiene training being replicated and people being mobilized in the community.

In the afternoon, we were spoiled to see the Rugezi Wetlands. What a peaceful and miraculous place and words cannot describe its beauty! When we first arrived, a heavy rainfall greeted us with some hail. Yes, hail! Can you imagine this in Rwanda? What a neat experience that Meg Guillebaud graced us with, in showing us her dream of building a ecologically just tourist hot-spot right at the base of this divine panoramic landscape. What an impressive location, with awesome views, many waterfowl; a true bird paradise for the bird lovers out there. Another interesting fact is that this wetland is one of the major contributors to the Nile, the mighty Nile!

Halfway through our venture back to the guesthouse to meet with the ICC (Inter Church Council) for a debriefing of our stay, we were literally ‘stopped in our tracks’ twice. First, when our van got stuck on a narrow timber bridge and one of our rear wheels came right off and was dangling in mid-air! But…no worries! Within 5 minutes (maybe less) we had twenty five people assisting us so that we could continue, and that we did … murakoze cyane (thank you)!! A little later, after much noise and bouncing around, we got stuck in a huge boulder crevice. However, this time we needed to just exit the van to alleviate the weight so we could pass. I have to say, I would not trade today’s experiences for anything!

Arriving late to our guesthouse, with some sore bottoms and ringing ears, we had a short meeting with the ICC. We can honesty say that solid relationships were built, much love was shared, and that we have learned so much from these gentle, Godly men as well as their respective communities and churches — God’s church. I personally cannot wait to see what the future holds for this growing partnership.

Blessings from Rwanda,

Brian

This post may be a bit long and I promise lots of great details, but we’re all asking as a team that before you continue, please stop and say a prayer for Peter. He’s feeling a bit under the weather and we’re praying for a speedy and complete recovery tonight. Thank you so much!

This morning started like so many others - a cool breeze of clean, crisp air, a bucket of hot water outside our door, and the distant sounds of the Guest House employees pumping water for various early-morning chores. We broke our fast as usual to the sweet strains of a seemingly Rwandan National Icon: Kenny Rogers! Brian departed early for a meeting with the Anglican Bishop and Pastor Elson. He returned enthusiastic about the foundational meeting knowing that yet another key relationship was established.

We were able to pass on our 5 Proclaimers to Pastor Elson who’s now charged with distributing these tools that share God’s Good News in strategic places were people aren’t literate. The Proclaimers are essentially Audio Bibles in the Rwandan language (Kinyarwandan) and the distributors have developed them in 522 different languages.

http://www.faithcomesbyhearing.com

Our training was moved to a smaller venue which reminded me of a one-room schoolhouse. Most of our students know no English. The others know very very little. A few of us managed to share pictures from home during our first break today and hopefully figured out how to communicate “Brother,” “Wife,” etc., … One of the students said to me in crystal clear English: I want to dance! So we danced! Our music was clapping and stomping; it was wonderfull — I’ll never forget Rolandance and her determination to communicate!

Before our lunch break, we had a bit of a scare. As Peter assisted Brian with a lesson, he fainted. Fortunately, one of our students managed to get to him before he did a complete faceplant into the concrete floor. When Peter opened his eyes, Johnny asked “how pretty am I?” In true Peter Noonan fashion, he replied “You’re beautiful” with a contented smile! We found out later that he was really enjoying lying on the cool concrete floor :)

After a short rest in the van and a couple granola bars, he was back at training. He did take it a little easier for the rest of the day, but he still isn’t 100% and we want him to be able to participate in our activities tomorrow - our last day in Byumba.

Our training in Kageyo has now completed and we left there with mixed feelings. We were very encouraged that we were able to fit in two additional lessons over what was taught in Byumba, and many of the comments made were to the effect that they pledged to take what they’d learned and bring it back to their communities. In Byumba city, more of the population has had the opportunity to learn english. Given the greater language barrier we weren’t really able to learn many of their stories; however — while we laughed together over our break times trying to make sense of hand guestures and odd-sounding words, unforgetable connections were definitely built.

At lunchtime, I had the opportunity to practice my French, liimited Kinyarwanda and creative-sign-language with three of the Kageyo pastors — Jotham, Simon and Celeste. They of course didn’t believe me when I told them how old I am. (And they didn’t believe Brian when he backed me up, either!) They insisted that I stay in Rwanda rather than return home. All in good fun of course, they offered me a cow; I said “5 cows!” They said, “No problem!”

I’m learning so much from the people in this land. Here are a few of the lessons I’ve learned:

Read More

Today was the first day of our second teaching series. Just when you thought Rwanda couldn’t possibly get any cooler, we left Byumba for Kageyo (Kuh-jay-yo) and it got Way Cooler. If somebody told me right now that God put the Garden of Eden in Rwanda, I would totally believe it.

The amount of people at the training was slightly smaller at 25 and there was more of a language barrier, as none of them spoke any english at all. But the dynamics of the teachings was even better than last week. Everybody rocked and by now, the lessons are practically memorized. Cindy managed to surprise us all with an impromptu heartfelt African-drum-lead praise & dance session.

In other news, the baboon decided to pay our room a visit last night. Just about 10 pm we lost power in the Guest House and decided to hit the hay with nothing better to do. While laying there in the dead quiet and pitch black, without any warning whatsoever, the baboon smashed into the glass sending the window crashing open directly above Peter’s head. This led to much chaos and laughing on my and Brian’s part. Peter — not so much. Somehow, the hunters have become the hunted but I keep trying to reassure Peter that Rocky the Baboon just wanted to hang out.

After the lesson today, we were blessed with yet another awesome surprise and were introduced by Pastor Elson to Pastor Meg Guillebaud, who is 3rd generation missionary in Rwanda. We sat with her at her house over coffee and tea as she gave us a brief testimony of her life which was absolutely amazing. Meg’s grandfather did the first Bible translation of greek to Kinyarwandan and her father did the first Good News translation. She herself has done more for Chrisitian efforts in this country than I could even begin to recount.

Without a doubt whatsoever, I’m blessed to be with an awesome team in a trully awesome land and it just keeps getting better and better.

We ARE in paradise.

-Johnny a.k.a. Yohanna

P.S. Tomorrow we go banana picking (for Rocky the Baboon)

As I sit here and try to put into words the beauty of this place and the beauty of the Rwandan people we are with, it seems impossible to actually find a way to describe it. I know those who have been here understand this….The hearts of all we have met are some of the most gentle, authentic, and accepting hearts we have ever come in contact with.

Today we woke up to a huge rainstorm, thunder and all! After breakfast and before leaving to speak at church, the five of us had an amazing time of prayer together. Megan and Peter went to the Pentecostal church and Johnny, Brian and I went to the Anglican church. We all were asked to speak and felt incredibly honored to do so. (thank goodness we knew ahead of time!) It was a blessing to worship and attend church with our brothers and sisters in Christ and we truly ARE one body!

Church lasts much longer in Gicumbi than in Manchester! We began at 9:30 and got back by 2:00. We loved every minute of it. (except Johnny was hungry as usual).

After lunch, we walked on our own away from the town and into the smaller villages and homes and it was absolutely amazing how many people we bumped into that had been in the training! We greeted one another like long lost friends! We bumped into Pastor Gad who then invited us to walk to his home. It wasn’t too far, only 1.5 miles! But all that we saw and met along the way was completely worth it. Pastor Emmanuel then found us and took us to his home! Such generous and loving people.

I am falling in love with Rwanda and I think I can safely say the same for my team. What an honor it is to be here among God’s people, doing the work God is setting out for us.

Thanks to all of you who are praying. We appreciate it more than you know.

Imana ibahe umugisha – God bless you

Cindy

P.S. Pastor Elson, we want to say thank you for welcoming us and for being such a wonderful host. Oh and by the way, Johnny says that he will join the choir if you make sure he can wear one of the silk green shirts and provide all the coffee he wants.

Can you believe it? It has almost been a week that has passed since we landed in this beautiful land of ‘milk and honey’.

As for today’s activities, there was little happening, because there were some local elections. However, we did get the chance to visit two churches, an Anglican and Pentecostal. It was nice to have some down time, especially since we are branching out and attending multiple churches tomorrow. Sounds like a few of us may be asked to speak at church too :)

What has not been a surprise is the Rwandan love, thirst and sacrifice to learn new things which in turn we know will enrich, empower, and benefit their communities and villages. There are truly no shortages of ‘Hope’ — all things practical and spiritual, are achievable with God!

Lastly, words cannot describe, how blessed I am, in being here in Rwanda, with such gifted, fun-loving, and Christ-centered friends.

Brian

P.S. Pastor Elson, if you are following this blog, you’re truly an inspiration and blessing to me, as well as to the rest of the Living Amazi Team.