When we signed up for O-Squad, Rwanda was not on the list of
the 11 countries we would visit. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania were the three African
countries on the list. Well, three months into the journey, we had an email
announcing that Tanzania was replaced by Rwanda. Some were excited. Some were
kind of freaked out—-yeah, they had watched ‘Hotel Rwanda’. Some were
neutral.
I was one of the excited ones. Few things to mention about
my experience:
·
Though Rwanda was widely known for its past
history of genocide, there was no sign of chaos in the country. God has changed
the story of the country.
·
First time to minister to girls and women of a
sewing class. Devotion, lots of hugs and
smiles, dress designing and making were part of the ministry we shared.
·
First time to play soccer with boys. It lasted
about 15 min, until one of them stepped on my foot and became injured. Nothing
is crashed underneath my skin—just bruised and somewhat painful. It would heal
within few days.
·
Manual labor: digging and leveling out a piece
of land that would be used to build a home for a family. Sweet!
·
EVANGELISM had never been enjoyable like in
Rwanda. We would visit different homes, sit down and talk with them, answering
questions, making friendships, and talking about God—it’s a cool experience.
·
Alida, a 24 years old Rwandese woman, who spent
a lot of time with us at the house, was encouraged in her life to keep on
pursuing God. My friend, Shannon, and I, were invited to her home, where her
family were super welcoming. Couple of days after we arrived, Alida had just
overdosed on pills attempting suicide because of losing hope in her life. God
is merciful, and she is excited to live.
·
Almost all of the time, I was mistaken for a
Rwandese woman. How cool is that?
·
While visiting Nyamata Genocide Memorial, for
the first time in my life, I was in an underground room surrounded by the
remains of over 45,000 human beings. Sad, emotional, why am I still alive when
these people were brutally massacred—-?
·
Our hosts, Pastor Moses and his beautiful wife,
Mary, and Pastor Paul, were very loving and encouraging to us. I’ve never seen
any of them get irritated at any of us. They walked the godly walk, and set a
good example of Christians.
·
Talk about a clean city, and Kigali comes to my
mind. The government has passed a law —the morning of the last Saturday of
the month is dedicated to clean neighborhood. No transportation, no open
business, no driving your car until noon—-or you would be fined.
·
Kigali is a Peaceful city, especially after
visiting Nairobi and Kampala, it sounds like the quietest capital city in the
region.
·
Rwanda’s economy is known as an unlikely
successful story. The past doesn’t define the present. Amen!
·
Visiting my Eritrean-American friends, who had
moved to Kigali, was priceless. They made my stay to be a unique experience
than the rest of my friends. To say the least, I was super spoiled by them.
Thank you God, for providing such loving friends.
Thank you Rwanda, the Beautiful.
