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We found a house
We are very excited to share with you that we found a house to rent.
This was a big unknown for us as we packed up and moved to Rwanda.
 We feel very blessed to have found a 3 bedroom bungalow in the Kacyiru district--the same district as the AEBR office. The process in Kigali involved contacting a house broker who set up appointments. We looked at 8 houses; most were either very large or in need of quite a bit of work before we could move in, so in the end the decision was not difficult. We are happy to be only a 15 minute walk from the AEBR office. |
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Christmas in Kigali
Many people have asked about Christmas in Rwanda. As newcomers and foreigners, we are hesitant to call our Christmas a typical Rwandan Christmas, but we would like to share some of our experiences with you.
Leading up to Christmas, we asked a few Rwandans about their Christmas traditions. Sometimes the response was a puzzled look, but more often we heard about a special meal with family—a meal that would include meat or fish. Many people living in Rwanda do not have meat in their daily diet.
Besides the lack of snow, the most obvious difference we observed between Christmas in Canada and Christmas in Rwanda is the focus and centre of activity. The focus is not on buying, giving and receiving gifts. Both at Christmas and at New Years, God is the focus and the centre of activity is the church.
 We have been attending the AEBR Kacyiru church, so it was our centre of activity on Christmas Eve and on Christmas day. Christmas Eve began with a baptism service at church in the morning, where more than 50 people were baptized, and it ended with another service and choir concert in the evening.
In the afternoon of the 24th, we joined a group that brought donations of clothing and other items to one of the hospitals. We visited with patients and distributed soap and milk in the surgery ward. The clothing and cash that Kacyiru church collected during the month of December were brought to the hospital’s
department of social services. The cash donations
helped 5 patients, by covering outstanding hospital bills and the cost of two surgeries.
Christmas morning the Kacyiru church was full and everyone was dressed in their best. The congregation responded with big smiles when the pastor told them that they looked like maize. Our translator explained that this is a common saying when everyone is wearing suits; the suits look like the husks on corn. We felt right at home when part way through the service children dressed as Mary, Joseph, shepherds and wise men acted out the Christmas story.
Later in the service everyone was given the opportunity to give their gift to God, since God gave us his son at Christmas. First the men, then women, then young men and then young women were called upon to bring their gifts forward. This was new to us; at Christmas we typically give gifts just to each other. It prompted us to reflect on what God would like us to give Him; this Christmas and in the coming year. Our trust? Our obedience?
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Getting settled
We moved into our house at the beginning of January. It was great to finally unpack our luggage.
Since then we have been working at getting settled. We have been finding furniture, appliances and household  items; figuring out how to pay for electricity, water, garbage pickup and community security; and working at connecting internet at our house, etc. We also have been learning patience and learning to adjust our expectations. Everything here takes quite a bit of time to accomplish, so we have found that hoping to strike 2 or 3 things off our to do list in a day is not a reasonable expectation. We are looking forward to completing this transition and beginning our work.
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Prayer Requests
We have sometimes been slow to respond because we have had inconsistent internet, but we sincerely appreciate all of the encouraging emails and news from home. Your prayers for health and safety for us are being answered. As you continue to pray for us, we would ask for specific prayer in the following areas:
- Language –The plan has always been for us to move right into our work once we are settled, rather than spending dedicated time in language learning. Therefore we would ask that you please pray that we would be quick to learn some Kinyarwanda as we interact with people in everyday situations. We are looking forward to communicating with people in our neighborhood.
- Relationships – Part of our role is to act as mentors. Therefore please pray for insight into how we can be an encouragement to those we are mentoring, and pray that we would be particularly sensitive to cultural differences as we build relationships.
- Our response to poverty – Please pray that we would know now to respond effectively to the poverty and need that we see daily. We want to be more than simply observers as we walk to work each day.
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Thank you so much for your continued support, both prayer and financial.
If you wish to become a Partner in Mission please contact Barbara Keys at bkeys@cbmin.org or at Canadian Baptist Ministries, 7185 Millcreek Drive, Mississauga, ON L5N 5R4
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