This month started with our whole squad together in Kigali, Rwanda, for Debrief. We stayed at an awesome hotel, where we held worship on the roof and enjoyed quiet time by the pool. It was a refreshing time for our squad, after we dealt with a lot of challenges in Ethiopia.
RJ and I headed to a village right outside Kigali to be with Team Cool Wise Guys that Are Cool (CWGTAC). They were partnered with Pastor Moses, the “super host” of Rwanda. Unfortunately, they recently passed a very stringent law in Rwanda regarding churches – they must have a paved driveway, they must have at least 4 bathrooms, etc – and Pastor Moses’s churches had to close down because of the new regulations. This law is meant to deter the numerous “prosperity gospel” churches that have sprung up all over Rwanda, because they hurt communities and steal from people who already don’t have much to give. However, many small Christ-centered village churches have been caught up in the crossfire.
Even with the church closures, we were still able to help Pastor Moses and his family. I served with a few of the girls at a Kindergarten that was started by Pastor Moses’s church. I helped teach Top Class – the brightest 5-6 year olds at the school. My favorite part of the day was the hour we had outside for recess. We would sing songs, practice English words, and have at least 3 kids on our laps at all times.
That’s me with two children on my lap!
RJ and the rest of the team helped Pastor Moses pave the driveway of one of his churches so it can hopefully reopen soon. They carried heavy bricks and shoveled dirt. I was not sad to miss out on this ministry! 😉
Two nights a week, we walked about 2 kilometers to a local soccer field, where the church sponsored a soccer league. We would share a short message with the guys, and then RJ and some of the other guys would play soccer with the Rwandan boys. It got pretty intense!
Jon giving a message about Heroes to the boys.
After serving at the Kindergarten one day, we were asked to go to a secondary school and speak to a group of students. Little did we know we were walking into a worship service with about 100 high school students! It was one of my favorite memories from Rwanda. The kids were worshipping God with such passion, and it was a blessing just to witness it.
RJ and I headed back into Kigali to serve with Team Fun Bunch for our last week in Rwanda. We worked with Hope Rwanda, an organization that assists vulnerable women in surrounding communities by training, equipping, and empowering them in skills of sewing and tailoring through a one-year, Christ-centered program. They aim to grant dignity and community to women who have come out of prostitution, have been sexually or verbally abused, or have lived in extreme poverty. Each morning, one of our team would lead a short devotion and then we would worship with the women.
One Saturday, we worked with Love and Hands, an organization that partners with Hope Rwanda to provide education and community development to impoverished areas. We were at a school with 100 children, where we sang songs, helped the children make crowns that said “Child of God”, and played games.
Human Rock, Paper, Scissors is a hit around the world!
Hope Rwanda also operates transitional housing for men coming out of addiction centers to prepare them for reentry into society. We helped paint and brighten up the house for a few days.
On one of our last days in Rwanda, we were able to put on a “Beauty for Ashes” event for the women in the tailoring program. Beauty for Ashes is a program that awakens women to their God given identities, worth, and voices, based off Isaiah 61:
“To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”
Throughout the event, we studied scripture about our identities in the Lord, worshiped, made gratitude lists, drew and shared our stories, ate cookies and drank coffee, played some relay games, and painted nails. Here is a video one of the team members, Jen made:
Beauty for Ashes – Kigali, Rwanda from Jennifer Olson on Vimeo.
