To describe the hotel we are in, the words low-end would suffice as accurate adjectives. The rooms are spare, but the water is hot and the beds feel good.
After 11 hours of recuperative sleep, we struggled out of bed, stiff and sore and still feeling a little road weary. One of the perks with our rooms is breakfast for 5 euros per person. Bread seems to be what breakfast is all about here. We had many more kinds of baguettes and breads than we could recognize, all served with Nutella and interesting jams. Coffee varieties were numerous also; with cappuccino, espresso, and hot chocolate dispensed about a dozen different ways from a machine. Orange juice and apple juice were the drinks of the day (oh, yea, Culligan water too).
There was no church around that we could see. We’re out near the airport in an industrial park, so we spent some time in devotion together after breakfast. Betty Grunstra shared an inspirational piece that seemed so appropriate for this day and for our situation from The Daily Bread. We were able to pull off this humble worship without benefit of the 20 lb. concordance that made Boyd Edmondson’s luggage overweight (again).
As we lingered at the breakfast table we reminisced about a pleasant dinner the night before in the neighboring hotel (our hotel doesn’t offer dining services). We dined with a fellow Rwanda traveler named Karl Jean-Louis, a Haitian-American. He is employed by the Ministry of Justice Department in Rwanda and was returning there to resign his position. The new organization he is going to work for is an NGO that will be based in Haiti doing charity work, such as securing medical supplies and relief for those in poverty in Haiti. We all marveled that the Lord had all brought us together with similar goals but in different parts of the world.
Because of his experience the last few years in Rwanda, he was able to give us some valuable insight on the workings of the government and how they relate to the churches and the people.
Being more familiar with the country and having friends scattered throughout, Karl was taking a roll of the dice today and flying into Burundi. He had no guarantee of a flight from Burundi to Kigali, but knew people he could stay with or arrange the 7 hour drive. We left him with our blessings and hope for his successful passage. It is a must that he be in Kigali on Monday morning.
With the guidance of the desk clerk, Soffie, she gave us instruction on where and how to secure a train to the city of Brussels to take a look around. We were pleasantly surprised to find that this was the weekend of the Folklorico (Folk Festival).
We have truly become “accidental tourists”. We had never thought to visit Brussels, but once here, find it a genuinely beautiful city. We took advice of several people we spoke to and walked to the Grote Markt (Grand Place). This is where the wonderful festival was taking place. We indulged ourselves in the Belgian waffles that are famous here at an alfresco café, and got up close and personal with the poepedroegers (literally puppeteers). These are the people inside the huge puppets that are part of the revelry of many festivals in Belgium.
But while we were watching these festivities, we were acutely aware that the festivities in the Ruhanga district of the Gitarama Region of Rwanda were going on without us. We were not there to present our proclamation, read letters of greeting, take part in the official procession, or share in the time of jubilation and recognition of the 100 years of the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda.
We are pained that when we reached Pastor Eugene that he and his welcoming committee were already at the airport ready to greet us…two hours before our scheduled arrival. The news of our non-arrival must have been as heartrending to them as it was for us. We still find it hard to believe this disaster has occurred. But, in two more days, we are sure they will be there to greet us once more. They are people of great faith, and we will not disappoint them.
Our comfort in this is that this time in between is a time of rest and recuperation from the grueling trip. We will be renewed and refreshed to begin what we have been sent to do.
September 22, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Betty – don’t look now but there are some very tall people following you!!