Celebration....Rwandan Style

Our first Sunday in Rwanda. What an exciting, yet restful day all in one. We woke up and had breakfast today at our normal time, 7:30 am. We had a small breakfast and then packed 16 of us into a taxi van to head to church. We made it to church after the poor taxi van made some gurgling noises along the way and strained as we charted up small hills. When we got to church we pulled into, what looked like a driveway, and landed behind a building to what was a one room church with some other buildings surrounding it. It looked as if we had pulled into the driveway of a Rwandan home. The pastor and the church were extremely excited to see white people. They actually brought us into a separate room prior to church starting and for about ten minutes they expressed how grateful they were that we would visit their church and that they were very pleased to have us. They treated us much like most Rwandans have...like royalty, as superiors. We told them several times that we were pleased to be there and gracious for them having and welcoming us.

The church service began at about 9:15 am and we spent the first hour and forty five minutes, until 11:00 am, in worship. How exciting it was and so different from what we have ever experienced. These people truly have a reverence for God and who He is to them. They express their love, devotion, and appreciation to Him with both liberty and freedom. With hands held high they danced, smiled, and showed great joy that was an obvious devotions toward the Lord. Their worship was long, genuine, exciting, unconstrained, yet not wild. They truly express their joy with quick smiles and heartfelt worship for the Lord Jesus. It was very interesting as they had generational worship teams. They had different age groups come up front at different times. It was neat because about 20 young children came up front and led worship with excitement and vigor as well, pointing their fingers to the Lord in praise. It was very unique and very exciting. We embraced their culture and enjoyed their freedom in worship by joining the Rwandans. We definitely broke a sweat and loss some water weight by 11:00 am. Well worth it! Praise God.

The pastor requested Pastor Wade to come to the front and pray. Pastor Wade agreed and came to the front of the church and prayed as requested. He then sat down in his reserved seat in the front row. Note: They placed all of us at the front of the church. As I mentioned they truly treat us as superior. It is tough to combat this. After Pastor Wade sat down, the church was silent, and people were looking. Pastor Wade said to Tina, "I am not sure what they are asking." Through Jeanette, one of the girls at Tina's house who was at church with us, Tina replied, "They want you to preach!" With a very minor look of shock on his face, Pastor Wade stood from his chair and proceeded to go up front. We had not told the church that we were coming, but apparently when we arrived they had changed their plans as to who would be preaching....they just didn't mention it to us. Pastor Wade delivered a sermon where he urged the Rwandan's to allow their personal relationship with Jesus to be the change in their life. That God would be Lord of their life and that they would become more like Jesus. It was a very pointed, yet graceful message spurring the church along to become more Christ like. The church was very appreciative of the message. We then turned our group from the O.A.M.G, as expressed yesterday, into an overseas Oswego Alliance Worship Team. Cali played the keyboard and we sang some songs as the church photographed us and recorded us, much like we did them. They were very excited and enjoyed our worship, however we don't think that we will make the cut with Carla, our worship director, once she receives the video footage. However, Carla can definitely keep Cali on worship team as she led the way vocally and the keyboard. But hey, we made a valiant effort for the Lord. Next missions trip, we need to bring music sheets with us. We were at a loss for words at many points, not because we were awestruck, but we simply just didn't know. But, hey, they loved it and the Lord knows our hearts. After the service we went back to the room where they once again expressed their great thanks for us coming to the service and they had actually asked us to come back tonight (during our slotted Skype time). They gave us waters as a sign of thanks and requested Pastor Wade to pray for them before we left. They said they would be praying for us and requested we pray for them. We told them we would be back next week. Please pray for the Zion Temple.

After church we decided it would be a day to rest and we went separate ways. Not before Elaine was delighted with the Rwandan birthday tradition, which is having water thrown on the birthday person. She got wet, but actually enjoyed it as we were HOT! following church. Some napped while others did other things. Heather, Cindy, Scott, Elaine, and Jeanette walked down the road to buy some drinks for Elaine's birthday and some sodas for lunch. The store where they went was closed therefore they had to go to the "bar" to get drinks. While in the bar ordering their sodas, a chicken walked across the floor of the bar. Much to the surprise of our group, yet not a Rwandan eye was batted...yet another cultural difference. While at the bar someone stated, Mzungu (a term for white people that we hear EVERYWHERE we go as there are very very few white people here). Elaine responded, with boldness and secureness, "Yes I am!" On the way back the group stopped at the Pfunda Tea Plantation across the street and Cindy bought bags of loose tea for around .50 cents for Elaine and Scott. Very cheap for us. Once back at the house Elaine decided to take an afternoon Siesta. As she took her afternoon nap Cali, Scott, and Pastor Wade decorated the house for her birthday. Many balloons, streamers, and Happy Birthday signs were put up. Thank you Cali, Scott, and Pastor Wade and Happy Birthday Elaine!

Before dinner we had the opportunity to Skype into the Oswego Alliance 10:45 am service. It was an excellent opportunity to be able to share what we have been doing and what the Lord has been doing. We give a special thanks to all that made it possible. Bob Hageny, thank you for all the special attention you put into it....we enjoyed getting to see our loved ones greatly. We then huddled into Tina's living room around the computer and watched Pastor Verlyn deliver the message. Verlyn, we love you, and appreciated your sermon. Thank you! Following the service we got to talk to individual loved ones as Bob let families and friends into the sound booth to talk to us. Thanks again Bob...and thank you everyone!

We then had another delicious, delicious dinner. These ladies use all fresh fruits and vegetables and boy can they cook! We are thoroughly enjoying the food here. We have had papaya, passion fruit, small bananas, cooking bananas, fresh pineapple, fresh avocados, and fresh potatoes cooked into a plethora of items. Very tasty! Following dinner, we celebrated Elaine's birthday with some singing, cake, and brownies. Tina had some cake mix laying around and Cindy brought brownies with her. Elaine had the opportunity to Skype her family and open some gifts that Pastor Wade had brought along from family. We also had the opportunity to SPOT Elaine and each express what it is that we appreciate about her. We love Elaine!

We then concluded our night with the ladies around the house doing some dancing along with some crazy skits for us. They were very funny...these girls have a great sense of humor. They have creative minds, a genuine love for the Lord, great voices, and a phenomenal work ethic. Alice knitted Cali a hat today all in like an hour or two. It's a very pretty hat. These ladies have been serving us morning and night all while being displaced from their rooms due to us being here. Thanks again ladies! Please continue to pray for them and us as we head back tomorrow morning to Noel Orphanage. Please pray for God to strengthen us once again and to allow us to love on these kids again this week. We know where our strength comes from.