11/15/11 DAY 5: Hope House, Christ Church Rwanda, and more.
Post from Jana:
Hello from Rwanda!
It's been a full two days since the last time I wrote. I won't go minute by minute what I've been doing but did want to share some things. I did get to go by the Clothes Washing for the street boys. There are 11 boys who live full time in Hope House who were in the most desperate circumstances. Attempts were made to locate their parents and/or family members and no one could be found. They are able to go to school, have a home, spiritual guidance and houseparents who live with them. The Sunday Clothes Washing is for 30 of their friends that they have invited to come. These boys were given a new set of clothes. They come on Sunday and wash the previous week's clothes, eat a meal, take a shower and have a Bible class. The missionaries are currently in the process of trying to locate their families to see if they can go back home. If not, then attempts will be made to place them with families. It was wonderful to see them laughing and playing for just a few minutes respite from their difficult and dangerous life on the streets.
From there we went to CCR (Christ Church Rwanda) for the second service. It was wonderful to meet and worship with fellow Christians. Nancy did an awesome job with her presentation on God as the master potter. Her visual with the clay being thrown to become soft and then shaped on the wheel was very powerful. A very large group of missionaries and Nancy and I went out to eat at a wonderful Indian restaurant afterwards.
Later that afternoon, I went to a baby naming ceremony for a baby that was about 1 month old. His father works for Africa Transformation Network, the NGO the missionaries work with in their various ministries. We went to the house of Charles and Annett Mapundo. We were greeted with platters of Rwandan potato chips smothered in roasted peanuts- quite good! - and served Orange Fantas. The children present (there were about 25-30 ) then came up and suggested a name for the baby. The parents went back in a bedroom and pretended to consider the names the children had suggested. They then came out and announced his name (which they'd already chosen!). His name is Mark Mapundo. It was a cute ceremony with the kids trying to guess which name they would pick. Older men then stood up and pronounced blessings on baby Mark and his parents. Due to the genocide, many extended family members were killed so friends of the family or more distant relatives step in to take the place of parents or uncles during these important ceremonies. We then ate some great Rwandan food- green beans, carrots, macaroni, beef with sauce and french fries. It was great to celebrate the birth and naming of this precious baby.
Afterwards, I went out to a peaceful, beautiful restaurant ( we didn't eat that much at the ceremony!) with Louise and her teammate, Jill Shelby. We had a wonderful time eating sushi and dim sum and relaxing and enjoying fellowship as we overlooked the valley with twinkling lights. Jill's husband, Chris, works with the street boys as part of his ministry.
Earlier in the afternoon, Marty and the three older Koonce boys returned from their Boy Scout camping trip. They were able to make bows and arrows and do a ropes course at possibly the most beautiful, scenic Boy Scout camp I've ever seen ( in pictures). It was great to see all them and see how much they've grown.
(Please be advised: the following paragraph contains descriptions of Rwandan genocide)
On Monday, Nancy and I ran some errands with Dave Jenkins who then dropped us off at the Genocide Memorial Center. I've read so many books and seen documentaries on Rwanda and the genocide but nothing prepared me for seeing that memorial and trying to fathom the unbelievable suffering humans perpetrated on other humans. It broke my heart to see the testimonies of those who survived the genocide. They might have physically survived but the emotional, spiritual wounds are deep. I've also been able to hear some testimonies of Christians who survived the genocide. Thinking of James 1:2- "consider it pure joy, brethren, whenever you face trials ... " made me think of this Christian brother's testimony concerning the genocide. He said that he found it impossible to thank God for all he lost and what he went through in the genocide, but he does thank God for who he has become and how God has worked in his life since then. What a powerful testimony! I don't know what I would have done if I had to suffer through seeing my mom's head hacked open with a machete or my child clubbed over the head and thrown down a latrine while still alive. I'm sorry to be graphic, especially if there's any young people reading this, but these people went through this and worse. It was very humbling, very troubling and a very emotional visit to the memorial for me. The hardest part to go through was the children's section upstairs where about 15 children, ranging in age from 18 mths to 14 years old were memorialized with pictures. The last part was a room with just picture after picture of victims hanging on the wall. May God continue to heal the hearts, minds and spirits of those who suffered this awful time and also those who perpetrated it. Often the same people who killed live in the same neighborhoods with victims who survived. These people need God and His healing touch to move forward in their lives. Please pray for all the missionaries who are living and working here to help bring the good news of God's ultimate healing and love.
This post is already so long I think I will continue it later. I have been deeply blessed by being able to come to Rwanda, reconnect with my friends, the Koonces, and to visit and get to know so many others. I thank God that he has allowed me to do this. Tomorrow morning, very early, Nancy and I will fly to Entebbe, Uganda to meet up with some of the Christians from Kamapla. I am so excited to see them and to make new friends there as well.
Until next time- blessings!!!
Jana
Post from Nancy:
In the Morning, Jana and I went to see the Genocide Memorial. At the memorial, there was a museum which told the horrific story that took place over 100 days in 1994. It is also the location for the bodies of a quarter of a million innocent people, a small portion, of those who were brutally tortured and murdered.
Seeing the country today, you would not know that this had happened. Rwanda is clean, safe and orderly.
I knew that the memorial would be very difficult to see ... and it was. I found it especially difficult to see and process what I had seen, since I had just spoken to several people at church the day before, who had been through this very difficult time. In my lesson, I refer to the trials that we go through in life and that we need to go through them to build character and to shape us. I have a couple of examples of pottery that show the difference between going through the hot hot kiln (Furnace) until the piece is fully matured versus a piece that is removed from the fire too soon. The mature piece is shiny, full of color and beautiful. The immature piece is rough, dull and lifeless looking. The principle taught is that we need to go all the way through trials in order to take on the full character intended by the potter. As I reflected on the principle and saw the trials I saw the Rwandan's had gone through, this was NOT a trial intended by God. It was horrific and evil. Certainly, God is Good. He is also Sovereign and can make good from such horrible things ... and that is what He is doing in Rwanda today!
Nancy
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