A Phoenix Rising

We were woken early today by the very vocal wildlife. Having arrived after dark last night we were unaware of the beauty of this location. Daylight found us on the shores of lake Kivu, in one of the most picturesque areas we have encountered so far.

We set off this morning to meet the small Diocesan team who support Bishop Jean Pierre in this missionary Diocese formed in 2020.

This region was one of the most severely affected by the Genocide in 1994, when, in 100 days over 800,000 people were killed and millions more fled to neighbouring countries. We saw the Genocide memorial on the site of what had been the sports stadium where, around 10,000 people were murdered having been told to go there for safety. It is impossible to comprehend the horror of those days, or the lasting trauma experienced by so many.

Largely ignored until now in the development of Rwanda there is much work to do here, and memories and trauma are rarely far from the surface. The challenges facing the church are enormous, and with only one church in the Diocese currently open due to the new building regulations, opportunities to reach out to the communities with practical support, that provides a platform to speak of Jesus love for them, is more important than ever.

We were impressed with the progress that has been made so far, including building a cathedral for the Diocese, sadly they have still not received permission to open.

Equally impressive is the reach of the work currently being undertaken by this small team. Work with families, youth groups, counselling, women’s groups, vocational training for unmarried mothers, income generation projects, bible study, the list seemed endless, and we could only marvel at all that was being achieved. Their enthusiasm was boundless, unfortunately their funds are not.  Imagine holding Bible study groups with only one Bible!!

Pastor Sylvere told us how much easier his work is having received a motorcycle funded by CHI. Previously it would take him 4 hours to walk to the Diocesan office, now he can reach there in 1½ hours.

Pigs are the livestock of choice for community empowerment and income generation; they eat little and grow and breed quickly. We visited the Diocesan Piggery Project which has already grown significantly from the three pigs originally purchased and has benefitted many families. They were some of the best cared for pigs we had ever encountered, and the results were evidenced by the many piglets of varying ages. As Bp Jean Pierre scratched the back of one pig he told us “Every creature deserves care”.

 A walk up the hill took us through the ‘town’, a busy dirt track on the side of the hill supporting a variety of goods being sold along the road. Sadly, the challenge of alcohol abuse was very evident, and we met an assortment of interesting individuals along the way.

The local children accompanied us, holding our hands, touching our skin, and laughing at our attempts at Kinyrwandan.

A final steep climb found us at the home of Epiphany, a mother of 6, and we heard how the support she had received from the church had enabled her to pay the school fees. Counselling and education on raising children had taught her not to beat her children but speak to them gently, she now spends time reading the bible with her children.  The neighbourhood children were all hiding in her shed, we counted at least seven. It appeared they had been boarded in, but we are sure that was not the case!!!

After a slow walk back to the church we headed off to Ruganda to sit on the hillside and spend time with the most wonderful group of women. Sharing challenges and opening up to others about the problems being faced is not part of this culture. However, women are being encouraged to come together and support each other through their challenges and traumas. These women now meet regularly to talk, share their challenges, and study the bible. We were honoured to join them and share with them. They were surprised to learn that white women experience many of the same challenges, they thought our lives were perfect!!

As the sun went down over the lake we bade them a sad farewell, how we wished we could speak the language, we would happily have sat and talked to these inspirational women for hours.