Y’all. I thought the South American portion of this journey was going to be my favorite part of my World Race. Especially when I fell in love with the small Chilean town of Frutillar, and then the San Pedro de Atacama desert. And when I got to walk the town squares and mountains of Cusco, Peru, I honestly believed the beauty was unbeatable. And when I played soccer in the plazas of Lima, and when I went to waterfalls in the adventure town of Baños, Ecuador, and when I went to a soccer match in Medellin, Colombia all of the beauty of South America was unfolding before me, and I honestly couldn’t see how anything could be better.
And… Upon arriving to Rwanda, I realized how vastly I underestimated Africa. Everywhere I have been here leaves me speechless all over again.
Rwanda in particular was filled with SO much beauty. The thick greenery on the rolling hills, in contrast with the red dirt roads made for a stunning sight every single moment I was there. The sunrises in particular were each marvels… it was a complete joy to get up at 5:30 in the morning to watch them.
So.
When we got to the Kigali airport, after waiting for well over an hour to get visas figured out, we exited the building into a brand new adventure. Our hosts were smiling, waiting for us outside the airport doors… Moses was there. My only thought was of surprise— that Rwanda was not as hot as I had anticipated it was going to be. Many of us piled into a BRIGHT yellow bus and off we went into the complete unknown… And my month in Rwanda had begun.
As the night set in, and after a relatively concerning bus ride on red dirt roads, which were more potholes than road, we pulled up to a giant cement wall on a hill. I was told that was my stop. I got off into a pool of children who were SO excited to greet us, and dragged my 49-lb bag up a hill into the entrance of the gates.
I was home for the month.
Now, we had just traveled for THREE days from Medellin, Colombia to Bogota, Colombia to Madrid, Spain, to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Kigali, Rwanda. The time difference from Medellin to Kigali stood at 8 hours. The jet lag was REAL.
We’re welcomed into the home, we get dinner, brief introductions to those there, and we’re told that we’ll kick off with a traditional welcoming ceremony the next morning before heading to church… And then, I gladly went to bed.
The next morning, we had breakfast and then are led into a traditional welcoming into the home. Pastor Moses, his wife Mary, their children Lori, Deborah, Jay, Josiah, and Isaiah are all there. Mary’s sisters are there, as well as a local member of the church, Jacques. Everyone who lives in the compound is there, and they are (including the children) serious and quiet as Moses walks us through the tradition.
The youngest of our team was to lead (my teammate Aubrey), and sit on a stool in front of a bucket of water as we lined up behind her, hands pressed together. We were asked not to talk, and not to look back, or we would have to restart (which we had to do once). Aubrey was to stand up, put the stool on her head, step into and out of the water, and then walk around the perimeter of the house once. So, she did. We all followed her in stepping into and out of the water, and then in silence around the house with our hands still pressed together. All of this was in front of the entire family, so we could be welcomed into the home.
We walk the perimeter of the house, and get back to the door we started from, and Moses leads us inside. He kneels down at a coffee table and asks us to do the same. Our hands were still pressed together. We kneeled in a circle around the coffee table and look up to him for further instruction. A smile broke out across his face, and three words came out, “prank number one.” And that’s when I met Moses.
Moses is one of the most incredible men I have EVER met. By the end of the month, he ended up being like a father to me, and it was the saddest goodbye I have had on the entire World Race.
He is funny, and takes advantage of the fact that Americans don’t know what are and what aren’t actual Rwandan cultural traditions. He is a light-hearted, family-man who loves God. He went on many morning runs with Shelby, Riley, and I in the beautiful roads. He always greeted us with “good morning,” no matter what time of day it was. He even tried to get us to stay in Rwanda by helping us find Rwandan husbands!
Moses is a pastor and is working incredibly hard to re-open his four churches after the government shut them down last year (the government shut down 8,000 churches in Rwanda last year). He has a Christian kindergarten school up and running, and is in the process of opening a discipleship school for adults. He and his family are AWESOME. His wife, Mary, is the only person I have spoken in French with on my World Race, and it was incredibly fun for me to try to speak in a language I only know basic levels of. That family allowed me to feel right at home… even the two sisters (Lori and Deborah) let me in on a prank against their brother Jay… they were convincing him that he got the date of his birthday wrong, and that his birthday was NOT that day, but actually the following day. It worked for a few hours. What pranksters!
Anyways. Ministry in Rwanda ranged from teaching at the kindergarten school, to spending time in the community, to preaching at churches, to speaking at women’s groups, to manual labor — both creating a floor and painting a school, to helping Moses create a PowerPoint presentation (complete with financial tables!) to fundraise to make the changes the government requires for him to open up his churches. It was such a fruitful month, and the host family couldn’t have been any better.
On off days, Moses even took the time to take my whole team to the Kigali Genocide Memorial and the Kimironko Market (so we could get skirts made!), and he even took me to the hospital (yikes!)… I’m okay now… it was just E. Coli.
Moses introduced us to a brand new culture. He taught us the value in putting relationships above punctuality, in leaving space in your schedule so unplanned events have room in it too, and in living life in good, reliable community. Those are lessons you can really only learn by watching someone live them out, and I am so thankful I got to learn them from him!
I loved Rwanda more than I ever thought I would… And, you know, I think at least a good bit of that was because I got to spend that month with Moses and his family.
Thank you, Moses. For everything. Rwanda is BEAUTIFUL.
I hope you enjoy celebrating Christmas with my parents in Colorado 🙂
