Finally in Rwanda!

Thursday, September 20, 2007

A good night’s rest has us all feeling better as we head out to the hills of Mpushi District today.  One traveler Googled Mpushi and all it returned was “a mountain top in Rwanda”.  I guess they don’t know that on that mountain top are four small, but thriving and happy Presbyterian Churches.

Our first stop of the morning, part way up the mountain, is at Nyarubuye (pronounced Niyarooya), the partner church of Calvary in Indiana.  There were many members of this congregation waiting for us and the drums and choir were going full tilt as we approached the church.  We were greeted by Mrs. Alphoncine Mukarugira, the leader for this church.  This building measures about 10′ x 14′, made of mud bricks and daub with a few tiny windows that measure about 1′ x 1′.  The dirt floor is cleverly sloped upward away from the door so that those in the back can see over the worshippers in the front.  The benches are made of stone. 

Their leader spoke with great pride about the 33 families that make up the 102 members of this congregation.  They feel they are small, but their members are spread wide throughout this mountainside community.

This congregation has several important associations in place, of which they are very proud.  They have a savings and credit association that could probably best be described as a credit union for their members.  The people save and borrow to help start businesses or help one another.  Another important association that the church is involved in is bee keeping, and they raise money for the church and its members by selling their honey. 

Alphoncine presented us with a special certificate created by them to take back to the United States for their sister church, Calvary.  We also presented them with a certificate of their partnership with Calvary from Kiskiminetas.  They were very happy and pleased to receive the Communion set that we brought as a gift from Calvary to them.

We were touched by the joyous and lively congregation in such a tiny and dark church. With much embracing and greetings we climbed aboard the Mpushi Express to head out for the next stop at Gitwiko, partner church of St. Paul’s of Northern Cambria.

We found the building much the same here, but perhaps a little smaller, a little rougher. There were some holes in the roof and daub fell on us as we shuffled around seating ourselves in the places of honor.  Each of the two little windows had a wooden shutter to cover them.  The benches were of mud brick, and some, just like in Kiskiminetas had brought their own seat cushions that were made like woven mats.

Dust mites were flying in the air in this little, dark building as the enthusiastic choir raised their voices in song and danced on the dirt floor the joyful way that Rwandans do in worship.  The very few songbooks here were battered and threadbare, but not one singer looked at them anyway.  They knew the words by heart to every song they sang.

They did not have a large drum here, but a small one with a bold sound that more than filled this tiny church. 

The leader shared with us that Gitwiko is composed of 28 families.  In those families, they have 35 married people, 17 youth, 28 small children, 33 school children of which 19 of them are in primary school.  Their women’s association grows cassava and peas to support them, and they are also working to establish a youth association.   At this stop, too, we were presented with a plaque for partner church St. Pauls and we in turn presented a plaque from Kiskiminetas to them as a church partner.

We were trying hard to stay on schedule, and doing a pretty good job of it.  So back in the Jeep to climb still further up the mountain again we go.  Next stop… Nyarurama, the partner church of Cross Roads Community.  The mountain road was getting worse every 100 feet, but for us it was worth the climb.  This partnership was a match made in heaven. 

One again, we’re in a small, tiny, daub church.  The little choir was rockin’ and dancing as we were seated.  This church only has pews on one side of the building.  Each stone pew held about 5 people at most.  The other half of the room was spread with woven mats.  As is tradition here, shoes are not worn on the mats, so there was a pile of shoes inside the door right in front of the mat.  The mat was full of people, mostly women with children, and as more children arrived they were seated there.

The enthusiastic leader shared with us that this church was once considered in another district, but when lines were re-drawn for regions, they were put right in between two regions, so they are geographically and literally situated at a crossroads.  The leader said there were 23 families on the 2 hills that made up the Nyarurama Church, 14 on one hill, 9 on the other.  Evangelism is their priority and they constantly pray and seek out through evangelism for others to join them.  One of the ways they evangelize is through music, and they were anxious to tell us that some musical instruments would be wonderful and welcomed in their church.  Other needs revolved around the need for goats and manure to help increase fertility of their crops.  Being near the top of the mountain, they lose much soil when the rains come, as it slides downward toward the valley.  They must work hard to keep the fertility up.

They presented us a wonderful certificate to take to their partner, Cross Roads, with original artwork created by one of the members of the congregation.  When we presented to them the stained glass cross that was created by a member of the Cross Roads Community Church, the leader immediately pointed out that this was another similarity between their churches because there was much artistic talent.

We found this to be a joyful church, with enthusiasm and optimism and brimming with faith. 

We thought we were on our way back to Gitarama, but Evangelist Leonard Byenda of the Birembo church of Mpushi invited us to “stop by” his church for refreshments.  Every event in Rwanda Presbyterian churches seems to end with the distribution of Fanta sodas, so feeling the need to share Fanta and also find a toilet facility we took Leonard up on his offer.  About 20 minutes later as we rocked and careened thousands of feet in the air, we accomplished Birimbo, Fanta and toilet facility.  It was also an opportunity to see the improvements made over the last year at Birembo, including a new floor and a prayer chapel.  It was here that Pastor Leonard surprised us by inviting us to his home, which “wasn’t far”.

Another 20 minutes later, we parked along the road and began a trek down, down, down into a very deep valley along a rutted and slippery foot path.  After a non-injurious fall by one of our travelers, Pastor Eugene deemed the trail too dangerous.  The look of disappointed on our friend Leonard’s face, spoke volumes.  Pastor Boyd expressed a willingness to venture on, so with our translator Jean Claude, Boyd, and Leonard Byenda ventured into the valley to the humble single room daub home of Leonard.

The rest of the travel team amused themselves by admiring the view, chatting with one of the many children that are drawn to us everywhere, and taking pictures of ladies washing coffee beans. 

After about 20 minutes, we saw the happy wanderers coming back up the mountain with a few other people that includes Leonard’s wife carrying her baby on her back, and also one of his children.  For Boyd Edmondson this was a dream come true in his life to visit in the home of Leonard, a friend he holds dear and admires.

So now, it’s mid-afternoon.  Our host family had expected us for lunch, and we arrived home to prepared tables and food being kept warm for us.  After this brief respite, we headed up a double set of mountains over washed-out, rutted, log-bridged roads to visit Musenyi, the partner of church of Shiloh, at St. Marys.

We had visited Musenyi last year and were touched by the need for classrooms for the many, many children there.  The church is a fine facility for Rwanda standards with a cement floor, electronic organ run by car battery and microphones.  The large crowd greeted us with much music and song, and the traditional greetings were exchanged.  At this church, school children came forward and gave us gifts of pineapple and artwork. The leaders presented us with a gift of a lamp to take back to the Shiloh congregation as a symbol that Shiloh has brought light into their church with their generosity.

Because darkness was beginning to set in, we had to move on quickly to view the two new classrooms that have been added at Musenyi, thanks to members of the congregation at Shiloh.  One classroom is completed except for putting up the black board and putting in the benches.  The beautiful cement floor had only been poured several days ago.  The second new classroom had completed wall, but still needed to have the cement floor poured.  Their dreams include a set of secondary school classrooms as well, and they are optimistic about accomplishing this.  There are no secondary schools in the area at all, and many young people leave the area because of this.

We left Musenyi to head back over the mountains to Gitarama for a dinner with Arlene Brown, founder of the Urukundo Orphanage in Gitarama.  The treacherous trip up the mountain was made worse by the darkness that set in, and it took about an hour to come back in.

The children in the girl’s house of Urukundo welcomed us with a dinner and entertained us with songs, both Rwandan and American, and performed their beautiful traditional African dances.  We toured the girl’s home, the boy’s home, the Christian guesthouse, and the health clinic.  All created within the last two years by Arlene and a dedicated staff of Rwandans with some help from American volunteers who come to visit for periods.

Arlene invited us into her home, and shared with us the plans for the new site where there will be individual children’s cottages, a chapel, a new guest house, schools and a clinic.  These plans are ambitious, but Arlene and her staff are confident.  Whenever asked how something was accomplished, she just kept saying “God is so good”.  She is amazing in her enthusiasm and dedication.

Finally, at 10:00 p.m., we returned to our host families and begin preparation for tomorrow when we will visit six partner churches.

We’re exhausted and marveling that we can keep up this pace (or can we?).  We’ll try.  That’s all folks.  We’ll update you more after we cover the Kabadaha region tomorrow.

Blessings.