Kayenzi once again

I made my way back out to Kayenzi Sector yesterday (the 13th). It took a while to get out there because I had wanted to go to church in Kigali at Rwanda for Jesus, so I couldn't possibly leave until around 11:30. Then it took a while to get a taxi, so I ended up leaving Kigali town around 1:30pm. The joys of 'Africa Time.' 

We got out to Kayenzi at around 3 and picked Christophe up at the center. He was all smiles, again. We made our way to his house, where a whole grip of people were waiting. His mother, sister, wife, kids, and one of his wife's work mates was there, waiting for me to arrive. It was so sweet to greet them all and to be greeted by the kids! Emeline ran up and gave me a huge hug, and though Marie was more reserved (she was bawling last year when our team went to visit because she wasn't used to seeing white people), she still greeted me. And then came Jean Paul! Last year he was only 3 weeks old when we met him and was all bundled up in blankets. This time he almost crawled right out of the house! He is a few days shy of one year old and is now pulling himself up to things, walking with help and standing on his own. He also uses the coffee table as a drum a lot! He is very healthy and vibrant, and everything a one year old should be. It was so neat to see him all grown up and big like that.

We shared a FEAST together, and I really felt like an honored guest. Its sort of hard for me to accept that kind of treatment, as I would rather serve them, but God is working on me and enabling me to be able to receive as well. (Who knew that receiving was difficult?!) We ate chips, meat, sauce, rice, bananas, pineapple, green beans and had Fanta to drink, of course. It was so delicious and I was so blessed to share that meal with such sweet friends!

We just chatted and shared with one another for a while. Christophe showed me the other mountain he had grown up on and the general idea of how far he had to walk to get to primary school. Goodness. I thought that warming my car up so the windshield could defrost in the Cottage Grove winter was bad! He walked at least 20 minutes to school and back twice a day. They had to go home for lunch, so 20 minutes to school, a trip home and back for lunch and then back again after school. I was just amazed. 

After visiting for a while with the family, we decided to walk from Christophe's house to the parish, because I wanted to visit Father Anatole. Before we left the house, though, Christophe said he had a gift for me. He went into another room and reappeared carrying a big book. As I looked at it I realized it was a Kinyarwanda Bible! I have been wanting one since I was in Rwanda last year and have been telling everyone this year that I want to find one. Christophe said he had two and wanted me to have one. I was speechless... I tried to read a few verses, and though I could pronounce most of the words, I had no idea what they meant. Oh well. I'll work on it.

Walking along the Kayenzi streets was wonderful. It brought back so many wonderful memories and I was so glad to again be walking step in step with my good friend. And then we made our way to the parish where I greeted Father Anatole (I've gone to calling him Padri, as most other Rwandanese do), along with Father Jean Pierre and Deacon Jared. Father Jean Pierre just arrived in Kayenzi a couple weeks ago and will now share the priest duties with Father Anatole. And Deacon Jared is only one year from being a priest himself. 

We visited for a couple hours before I decided I should head back to Kigali. It was dark, as it was about 7:30pm, and I didn't want to get back to Kigali town too late. All in all, it was a beautiful day spent with very special friends.