We loaded our transportation at 7:30 and headed to a preschool called Rugeshi on the top of one of Rwanda's thousand hills.
We were treated to their choir and a warm welcome by the Pastor there. At Rugeshi we played with beach balls, jump ropes and a tarp. Sounds fun, right?? The children were overjoyed! After lots of singing, clapping, and dancing we listened to Allison Coates deliver the Bible story about Joseph. The children here listen with complete rapt attention ~ totally focused on the story, answering all questions in unison. The Meis sisters danced for the 400 children then taught a few ballet moves to Amazing Grace to a very receptive crowd!
After singing the Doxology, we packed back into our vans and headed to Gitaryi- thinking we would follow the same model there that we had at Rugeshi. We had quite a greeting with two children's choirs (60 kids) lining the walkway into the church where each one of the approximately 1,200 children were singing and praising God at the top of their lungs!
We were treated as honored guests and sat on the altar where many different choirs sang about how they love Jesus and thanked Him for everything they have: from ears and sight to His word and food and friends! Their gratitude is so sincere and contagious!
We immediately scratched recreation and the craft we had planned and decided to just let Deborah and Rachel dance and tell our Bible story and sing with them. Their warm welcome included all of them raising their hands and asking God to bless us with more blessings than we can imagine! How humbling.
The Arch Deacon who runs the preschool, church and school at Gitari said they have over 15,000 children in their parish. He welcomed us in the name of Jesus and told us our presence was the answer to their prayers. At least 4 times he said he/they have been praying for new/better ways to to teach their children about Jesus and he thought Allison's approach with a hand puppet was great! He also said he would be praying for guidance and asked us to do the same as he has such a large parish of children.
At the Cathedral today we enjoyed a slightly laid back day at VBS. We'd trained the teachers on Monday and expected 6,000, but it rained, so only 2,000 came. This gave us a chance to hand off the VBS teaching and logistics. Though it wasn't perfect they are doing the teaching and singing, and we just help with eggs and crafts. Of course there are potholes: like the weather and one of the crafts being too juvenile for older kids. All in all we are thrilled with the last two days.
Prayer Requests:
We are expecting many more children tomorrow. Logistics are a constant concern.
We need good cloud cover, but NO rain! For stamina - with our schedule and patience and with the language barrier.
Also, for the correct number of eggs to be boiled and available for distribution to the children at the right time.
Everywhere, God is good!
We invite you to join us in a hearty Rwandan HALLULUJAH for all of His Grace is the last two days!
Blessings!
Praying!!! Thank you so much for the update :)
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