If I was wearing socks, they’d be knocked off. I have been on African soil for a little over a week now and I am already in love with this place. This month my new team and I are living about four hours outside of Kigali, Rwanda in a small village called Kizirakome. Picture the typical Hollywood version of Africa, now remove the lions, that is what this village looks like. Small stone houses, red dirt roads, smiling bald-headed children, vibrantly colored dresses, women balancing random objects on their heads (really it defies physics). We are the only muzungus (whiteys) for probably 50 miles, so we get lots of stares and sometimes tears, but mostly everyone wants to be our friend.
On Sunday we went to church for the first time in Africa. The worship here is one of my favorite things I have experienced so far and I don’t say that lightly. Have you ever seen a grown man dance, shout, and literally jump for joy? Have you seen him do it for an hour straight? The only way I can describe it is Spirit-led. There were people kneeling, people singing, people crying, laughing, shouting, declaring, jumping rejoicing in the Lord. The service continued on in similar fashion; members of the congregation stepped up to the pulpit to share what they were thankful for or what the Lord was doing in their lives, resounding shouts of Hallelujah could be heard throughout the entire 4 hours and they never seemed to grow tired. After the service was over I was voicing my enjoyment to our host, Fatier, and she responded, “At our church, we believe that if we can give an hour to the preacher giving the sermon, then we can give an hour to praising the Lord. Worship is an offering to God, not something for our own pleasure”.OOF! Talk about conviction! Friends, all I can say is these people know how to rejoice in their Creator.
Later that afternoon, we got to check a huge item off our World Race bucket list: we went to a vow renewal (read wedding)! My team got to be there as the bride and groom came down the aisle, exchanged rings, received several cows, and toasted to their life together. There were also speeches made by both families, two different singing and dancing groups, and a message from a preacher. Honestly it was a lot of sitting and listening to speeches we couldn’t understand, but all of us were happy to be there for that special occasion. Another bonus: while we were sitting there they served us sodas in glass bottles and pieces of cake.
Mondays are our rest/adventure days. This morning Victoria and I woke up at dawn to go for a walk. We got to watch the sun rise over the hills around us. Everything was fresh and touched with gold. As we made our way through the village little voices shouted from all sides, “How are you?!”Before the end of our walk we had a gaggle of 12 children following us and giggling. The soil here sings and I can feel it deep down in my soul: a new wind, a childlike joy, an insane love.
