And The Bleat Goes On

The Kigali Guest House is in the grounds of the Cathedral and as we headed to the café for breakfast we were surprised to see a number of ladies, some with young children, sitting on the driveway. The were clearing the weeds from the cracks of the paving. This is certainly a labour of love, but they are happy to do it as a service to God.

Breakfast this morning did not take long, and was quickly followed by the arrival of Robert, the Bishop’s Secretary, he is also our Field Assistant and very good friend from Byumba.

We were soon on the road with a full schedule promised for later in the day. Two and a half hours later we arrived in Byumba, the place in Rwanda we call home. Rooms allocated and a lunch of traditional Rwandan food eaten it was time to head off again.

 Next stop Rebero Parish where we were due to hand out 50 goats provided by CHI. The gift of a goat makes a huge positive impact to a family, providing manure for better crops and eventually young. The first born is passed to another family as a way of giving back to God, after that they can be kept or sold to provide other basic needs.

As always, we were welcomed warmly, first stop, the pastors house for a traditional meal!!

Then outside where the choir sang and danced.

As with most parishes in Rwanda at the moment, the church is closed, but the government had given permission for the gathering and we sat outside, fortunately the weather was fine. Speeches and introductions over, it was time to distribute the goats, did we mention they had to be caught first!!!

Whilst Pauline became an expert goat catcher, Carmen traumatised a few young children by practising the little Kinyarwandan we know. For many of these children it is the first time they have seen a muzungu (white person).

There was chaos as everyone was gathered complete with their goats for a photo.

Then a visit to the nursery school, one small room on the back of the church with bare walls and no furniture, where a handful of children led by their very enthusiastic teacher, sang for us.

All to soon we bade farewell and set off along the dancing roads for Bisika Parish, where we had funded a motorcycle for the pastor, seven bicycles for the catechists, and 50 goats for the community. Once again permission had been granted for the gathering and a huge crowd waited for us, singing, dancing and forming a guard of honour along the path. It is always uncomfortable being received as if we are important, more so when, as we were running a little late by now, we were ushered to the table and seated under a beautifully decorated gazebo without having the opportunity to interact with the community. It was wonderful and encouraging to see the number of people gathered given that the church has been closed for almost a year. It shows just how hard the pastor and catechists are working to continue reaching their communities and spreading God’s Word. The gift of transport has made a huge difference to their ability to reach the often-remote homes.

Welcoming speeches, introductions and singing and dancing over, we were presented with gifts of beautiful traditional baskets. As the music began again, we were ushered away to the pastor’s house where a full traditional meal had been prepared.  Robert phoned the guest house to advise them not to prepare a meal for us!!

It was dark by the time we left Bisika and we were grateful for a driver able to negotiate the murram tracks very skilfully.  

If we learnt one thing today it was that the government may shut the churches, but the desire to worship and the faith of these communities remains strong.