Lost in Kigali

A predictable breakfast of bread, egg and banana has us feeling very much 'back in Rwanda'.

Google maps told us the Cathedral was over an hour walk, not the half hour we thought, so another cab ride was required for our 10am meeting.

We spent an hour in conversation with Archbishop Mbanda, Steven and Alexis, about the sponsorship project, before the archbishop had to dash off to another meeting, promising to order lunch and return by 12pm.

We continued to discuss, ate a very pleasant lunch and eventually at 2.30pm the archbishop reappeared. The next hour was spent discussing the church closures and training of pastors. Informative but worrying as it seems some small churches will never reopen. Where that leaves the rural communities at the heart of our work we are not sure.

Please pray for wisdom and guidance for the church, and for us as we consider where the greatest need lies in these communities.

Bishop Nathan Amooti had been waiting, rather longer than expected, for our call to say we were finished, but eventually we were off to the Star School to see the work recently carried out and greet Ken, the new headmaster. And of course receive hospitality, eggs from their hens, and bananas.

The new buildings were smart, and the windows and doors, now supporting glass panes, are much more functional, but the biogas system recently installed impressed us the most. Fed from the toilet blocks into underground tanks, and then piped to the kitchen, this eco friendly fuel will also cut the cost of cooking meals for the 1500 students.

It was getting dark as we left and we gave Bp Nathan the address of the guest house, which we had chosen over the Diocesan accommodation, to be nearer the Cathedral. Google maps is a relatively new innovation here, but we followed it diligently, we 'arrived at our destination' only to realise it was definitely not where we had stayed last night!!! After an hour or more of driving around, stopping and asking directions to a place no one had heard of, we went back to 'our destination' and knocked on the gate. We were not happy to discover that last night, the airport transfer arranged by the guest house, who had kept us waiting for over an hour, had taken us to a different guest house to the one we had booked.

This would explain why they had not seemed ready for us, and had tried to charge us more for the rooms. It also explained why we were so far from the Cathedral.

Fortunately it was the same owner and we were able to get an address. Our relatively early finished has proved to be anything but, and we can't put into words how bad we feel for Bp. Nathan, Vincent his driver, and Agnes, who had jumped in for a lift home.

Welcome to Rwanda!!!!