Week number one was spent working at a school owned by Pastor Moses, our host. It is for three- to seven-year-olds who have no parents, financially insecure parents, or parents who just don’t care. He told us that his heart was struck one day with the idea to open such a school when he was taking his own kids to their school and all of their playmates were telling them goodbye. It seemed unfair to him that his kids were getting a quality education while his neighbor’s kids were sitting at home all day. Thus, Heritage Christian School emerged. The mornings began with trekking up the dirt path of a big hill, boxes of milk in our hands and goats at our sides, to the school. We would help in the classrooms when we first got there, and then, after breakfast, we spent the afternoon playing in the big yard. There was not a single moment when both of my hands were not being held on to, nor a moment without a child entirely engaged in whatever I was doing, even if that was playing ring around the rosie twenty thousand times in a row. I have never met sweeter children nor children more interested in simply being held. It hurt to see how desperate they were for affection, but it made me so happy to be able to provide that.
Our second week in Rwanda was spent doing manual labor at one of Pastor Moses’ churches that had been shut down by the government. As I mentioned in my last blog, the government of Rwanda recently created new property laws for churches and immediately closed any church not up to code. We spent our days moving rocks around and shoveling dirt in order to create a foundation for the concrete floor that will come once the funds come in. I really enjoyed this week and being able to use my hands to physically build up a church that wouldn’t be making any progress if God hadn’t, in his sovereignty, placed my team and I there.
In the final week, we went back to Heritage Christian School to paint. The days were long and tiring, but the progress being made was so encouraging! We were able to paint all the outside walls, as well as inside of the classrooms. We added the alphabet, numbers, and the school’s seal to the walls as well. By the end of the week, it looked like an entirely new place. Seeing the satisfaction that Pastor Moses exuded when he saw the final product made it worth all the shoulder pain, the stained clothes, and the frustration of applying coat after coat after coat of paint. Throughout the week, we also got to see many of our little friends from school, as well as other, older kids who we were able to minister to.
Even though the primary task of each week in Rwanda looked different, there was some consistency. Every week we ended up at one or more services where we were asked to share; we got a lot of experience with African worship and sermons. Also, I spent most evenings this month playing hide and seek and running around with my host siblings, which was one of my very favorite parts of the whole month. Rwanda really grew to feel like home, and I am sad to have to move on but looking forward to what God has for me in Uganda!
