Another Incredible Day in Rwanda

Today was a big day for our PEACE team here in Rwanda. Being Sunday, we participated in the regular church service this morning. Of the three hour service, we were given one hour to speak to the congregation.

It is difficult to communicate in words what it feels like to be among such committed Christians who have only crude walls, an uneven dirt floor, no doors, and only the vision of a roof to be completed some day when the financing is available. Despite the lack of physical things, this church is well organized, well led, and well attended for a community of this size. The potential is very evident and we are understanding more clearly why Saddleback leadership has chosen Rwanda to pilot a nation-wide implementation of the PEACE plan.

There were several hundred people in attendance at the service, including visitors from a few neighboring communities - Americans (or anyone white) are still not a very regular site in this country.

The first portion of the service was led by Pastor Osee and he tought on the 1st Purpose for our lives - To Worship God. It was incredible to see the curriculum developed at our church in the US, so very far from here, being taught and embraced by the Rwandans. As with each of the times we have met with the church members, we were greeted very warmly. The second portion of the service was about an hour of worship - led mostly by the various choirs. The music was wonderful and we enjoyed trying to sing along very much. The emotion on some of the faces in the choir was very powerful - knowing what happened here not so long ago you can almost read the minds of those still hurting. The final hour was ours and we filled it with a few songs sung by our children (they did fantastic), a few dances by the Lim family (Ohana style), and then a short "talk" as the Rwandan's like to say by John and me.

I am obviously not a Pastor and probably have as much to learn about God and the Bible as many of the church members, but with God's blessing and wisdom I was able to find the right words. Both John and I reinforced Pastor Osee's message on Worship and also spoke about the importance of Small Groups (they call them Cells) as they work to build their church and surrounding community. God was definitely present!

In the afternoon the ladies worked with the Children and this time it was more than 100 kids ranging in age from walking to pre-teen. John and I were in the church meeting with the church leaders and from the sound of things outside the children obviously had a great time. On our drive back to the main road, children ran along side the van, wearing their new crosses around their neck (that was the craft for today). The smiles are so big and they are so excited to be near our team.

John and I were waiting for the peace pipe to come out as we sat down with the church leaders. If you can imagine the scene from Dances with Wolves when Kevin Costner sits down with the Chief and his council it was pretty much like that. Communication is somewhat slow as we work through a combination of interpreter and leaders who speak some English. As in our earlier discussions there was a very comfortable atmosphere, laughter, and much common ground. We learned a lot about their needs and we did our best to answer questions they had about Saddleback, the PEACE plan, and our visit. They view us as experts and that is a bit difficult, but we know that God is working through us and trust that we are saying the right things.

As Kelly has said before it is really difficult to share all of our feelings in this format. I can tell you that this is a beautiful country, with a wonderful people, and understanding the horrible things that happened hear with the world watching is very difficult to take in when you are sitting face-to-face with people that you would gladly call friend at home. I am very encouraged by how well organized they are, how detailed their plans for continued development are, and how high the spirits are despite significant poverty and all that goes with it. We have been blessed to be here with our new Rwandan friends.

This update is gettting long quickly, so I think I'll stop here for today. We are off to meet with community leaders in the morning and will be meeting with the six "cells" or small groups in the afternoon. Please continue to pray for us as there is much work left to be completed.

God Bless,

Eric