Gala at GItarama

Sunday was a gala event at Gitarama Presbytery. This is one of the seven new presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda (EPR). The church has restructures and moved from 17 regions to 7 presbyteries. Sunday was the installation of the new leaders of the presbytery and was also Partnership Sunday, celebrating the partnership between Kiskiminetas Presbytery of PC(USA) and the new Gitarama Presbytery of EPR. So it was a big celebration. I was there as a pastor of Gitarama Presbytery and as a representative of PC(USA), so I celebrated both events.

Installation of Presbytery leaders

Praise choir dancing

Since it was a large event, it was held outdoors, with tents set up on four sides of an open area in a square for the congregation to have shelter and an open area in the center for the installation, the choirs and the dancers. As part of the worship service, Rev. Boyd Edmondson of Kiski Presbytery, who with his wife Shirley are living in Gitarama for 6 months as part of the partnership exchange, preached the sermon. What a delight to hear a wonderful sermon in English and to rejoice in that growing partnership. After the sermon, the new officers of the presbytery were installed. The new president happens to be a good friend from PIASS where we teach together. That was an added blessing.

But to be honest, as wonderful as these elements were (and the reasons we were there), the real delight of my heart was the music and dancing of the event. There were two wonderful choirs who sang and danced for joy before the Lord and a traditional music group who entertained at the end of the service. The one choir used contemporary Christian music, complete with western style drums and keyboard. The fun there was the young drummer who was maybe 12 years old but knew how to get the most out of that drum set. The second choir sang more traditional Rwandan praise choruses and danced in Rwandan style. That same style was presented but the traditional dancers who used Rwandan drums and native wear. Each was wonderful in its own way but the contrast of the drumming was what captured my attention the most. Drumming is a part of life here and to see the two styles mixed and matched was fun.

Words fail to capture the joy of the moment. Pictures help, but the sound was the most impressive. Unfortunately, I was not able to capture that is a way to really share it with you but I did take some photos and hope you enjoy them. So this is more of a photo essay than a written one. Enjoy.

The young drummer

The traditional drummers

Traditional men dancing

The moves of the lady dancers

The Answering God

Tomorrow I am leading devotions on James 5:13-20, which encourages the faithful in prayer. As I was preparing, I reflected on my time in Malawi and how God so faithful answered my prayer for his protection and provision. Our Answering God answered in big and small ways.

The provision began in Kigali. I arrived at the airport at 7 a.m., two hours before my flight. As I approached the check-in counter, I was alone, except for the two ticket clerks. They jumped to action, one taking my check-in bag and the other my ticket. After a bit of conversation, the one handling the ticket decided that my seat assignment was wrong for my needs and reassigned me to an aisle seat at the front of the section, with extra leg room. He switched the assignment for both my flights. That certainly made for more comfortable traveling. When I arrived at Lilongwe airport, I discovered that, due to the ebola scare, the officials were carefully checking health cards. I fumbled for mine. I always carry it, but I was a bit flustered and couldn’t locate. The health officer looked closely at my passport and waved me through. (I later found it just where I had put it, safely in a small notebook to keep it from wrinkling.) When I got to the baggage claim, my bag was already off the conveyor belt and waiting for me. At the security check, I was waved through, without having to put my bag on the x-ray belt. Only when I got to my friends Sam and Lonnie’s did I see that the luggage had been tagged “priority” by the second helpful young man in Kigali.

Two days later, Sam and Lonnie and their son and I were traveling down to Zomba in Sam’s minibus. Our plans changed and we did not leave as early as we intended and then made a stop along the way. Before reaching Ntcheu, we saw an accident where a trailer truck had rolled over on a minibus. People were standing around and offering assistance, so we continued on our way. About ten minutes later we got a call from Sam and Lonnie’s daughter, who was meeting us in Zomba, wanting to be certain that we were alright. It seems the radio had reported the accident, with the information that the minibus was operated by a family traveling from Lilongwe to Zomba. It happened at the time we should have been passing through there, if we had not delayed in leaving and made a stop. (The family had a few injuries, but everyone walked away from the accident.)

My driver Maxwell and the minibus

Sam “loaned” me one of his drivers for whenever I needed or wanted him, so I would not have to do all the driving, particularly not the longer distance driving. Twice while he was driving for me he stopped to check something he heard that none of the rest of us in the vehicle heard. Once it was low tire pressure. He took the minibus to have the tire changed. The second time it was lug nuts that had worked loose and he quickly and easily tightened them. I don’t know that I would have heard either warning of possible trouble.

My flight back was delayed by four hours getting out of Lilongwe. That meant that I missed my connecting flight in Nairobi. Before boarding the plane, my name and two others were called to the check-in gate. The airline had arranged for me to take a later flight out of Nairobi and I was given my boarding pass there in Lilongwe. When I got to Nairobi, I realized that the same had not been done for many delayed passengers and there was a scramble to rebook flights. I was provided for.

Each of these may seem like small things, but I believe that God was answering my prayer and was protecting me and providing for me. I believe he is the Answering God.

Mututu Fundraiser

 Mututu parish is a rural parish on the Burundi border. I visited them before and was impressed by the young pastor’s energy and imagination as he brought solar power to the church and manse and then enabled some of the members to open a shop to cut hair and charge batteries, using the solar power. From the proceeds from the shop, they have been able to assist members with pig farming and goat raising and bee keeping. So when he invited me to come and preach for the end of a evangelistic rally and a fundraising, I accepted. An extra bonus was that one of my students is a member of that parish and he was doing his first year internship there. I would get the opportunity to see him, as well.

The old church that must be replaced

Since we have been having rains, I arranged for the PIASS vehicle, a sturdy 4-wheel drive that can easily go on the narrow, muddy roads to Mututu. Bosco, the driver, was more than willing. (He is a good sport.) So off we went at 6 a.m., to pick up the pastor at the turnoff from the tarmac road, so we would have a guide. He was with several members of a choir from a nearby town that was singing for the service, so we had a full car. The drive on the dirt road was about an hour. We had to stop once to repair a wooden bridge before proceeding, but otherwise, it was an uneventful trip, with lots of conversations. During the ride, the pastor explained that the district officials had decided that the church building was not good and therefore needed to be replaced. The parish determined that if that were the case, then they would rebuild nearer to the market area and the population center, rather than on the border, in the midst of farm land. So that was the reason for the fundraiser.

Joyful worship

The service was the end of the evangelistic rally of the day before, held at the market area, and a fundraiser, so it was a full service. There were two visiting choirs and five parish choirs. (One of the visiting choirs had walked 8 kilometers from a neighboring parish to join the service.) That alone makes for a full service. Add to that my preaching which needed to be translated, testimonies, and the fundraising, and it was a 4 ½ hour service. I was impressed by the energy of the worship and the singing of the choirs. Because of the solar power, the choirs were able to use a keyboard and that added a contemporary flavor to the worship. But I was more impressed by the giving of the congregation. This could be described as a poor, rural church, but they don’t see themselves that way. They see themselves as capable. From pledges for iron sheets for the roof, bags of cement, and selling items that some individuals brought from their resources, the church raised almost half a million Rwandan francs or $750, about a third of what they need for the building. They will begin and then do more fundraising when the next crops come in. The pastor is confident that they will easily complete the project.  He is pleased with the good beginning. I was greatly impressed once again by their giving and their determination.

Me with my student and his mother

After the service and a meal, where the ladies of the church fed the visitors and all the choirs, we took pictures, especially with my student. Everyone loves to have a picture taken with the muzungu (white person). We loaded the car with choir members and headed back the dirt road to the tarmac and finally to Butare. The rains held off the entire day. We arrived home at 5 p.m. It was a full and satisfying day. I so enjoy being in village services.