Last Friday we wrapped up our month in Rwanda.The country was beautiful, the people were lovable, and the ministry was refreshing. In case you missed it, here’s a recap on Month 2 – Rwanda.
Our Host:
We stayed with Pastor Moses of the Rwandan Gospel Center Mission Church. He is a senior pastor for an organization of pastors in the Kigali, Rwanda, area. Many of the ministry contacts that the World Race uses in Rwanda are found through Pastor Moses.Our Ugandan host was also set up through Moses! We stayed at Moses’ new home with his family. His wife Mary is a gracious host and an amazing cook.. His kids are Laurie, Deborah, Jay, and Josiah. The oldest is 8 and the youngest is only a few months old. They are a fun family to stay with. Moses has spent a lot of time in the states, so he understands English very well and uses plenty western phrases.He also likes to play jokes on us, like telling us we had to walk around the perimeter of the house in prayerful silence before entering as per culture.
Our Ministry:
We mainly supported the church through preaching. The church has a new location in the village of Busanza and another location in Remera. Pastor Paul and Pastor Moses were the lead pastors. We preached every Tuesday through Friday at one of the two churches and then both churches on Sunday. In the mornings, we typically led devotions for a sewing school that took place at one of the churches. They taught sewing and tailoring and in exchange the girls were just required to listen to a devotional. The girls there had a lot of joy and love and were excited to be in the class. When they graduated, the program tries really hard to buy them their own machine so they can start working. They were a great group and they will surely be missed.
Our Marriage:
This month we faced a couple of new struggles as a married couple on the race. Luckily we had our own room, which is a new blessing. We learned that celebrating birthdays are hard on the race. It was one of the first moments that Kristin experienced home sickness, and I struggled with not being able to take care of her the way I would normally take care of her. It was a hard couple of days. I also had to learn what it looked like to romance and seek out my wife when we are in a different culture and constantly surrounded by people. We did enjoy a wonderful date night of bowling! It was the only bowling alley in Rwanda and it was great.
Now we are getting set up in Kenya. It took a short flight and a long bus ride through the night to get to our next site. Looking forward to what God has planned for our team, our ministry, and our marriage this month.
Thank you to everyone who has continued to support us while we are on the race! We feel so blessed by your love and your prayers. Please continue to remember us as we approach our final financial deadline at the end of December.
