Reconciliation Retreat
Hey all! SO much has been going on this past week, and I have been so overwhelmed I've failed to journal or catch up on my blog. Hopefully I'll be able to do that tomorrow (Sunday) after Church.
Thursday the Team headed southeast to Kibungo for a Reconciliation Retreat. We stayed in Kibungo until today (Saturday) and then headed back here to Kigali. Tomorrow the girls and I are to lead a bible lesson/activity with the children of Pastor Paul's church. There are about 200 children. Oh my! I think we'll be focusing on one single theme: Jesus Loves Me. We've got a lot of planning to do tonight for that, but I think it should be great fun tomorrow.
The retreat was amazing. There were about 30 people in attendance, not including 4 pastors and our team of 6. There was much singing and dancing and praying and each pastor spoke about the power of the cross and the blood of Jesus and the mercy and glory of God. The focus was on finding the ability to let go of the hate each person has towards what happened during the genocide, to open room in their hearts for the love of God to come through. Forgiveness was key... The group split up into two Saturday evening, the women going in one room and the men going in another. Our team heard the stories of 4 women - their stories of their childhood, of the genocide, of their families, of the current state of life. Each of them have lived such difficult lives...
Early Saturday morning, Pastor Paul and Pastor Joseph took the Team to a refugee camp right on the border of Tanzania. Actually, it isn't technically a refugee camp, as everyone staying in the camps are Rwandese - they are internally displaced people, and they are all suffering. They all live in tents that are placed in row after row. They are out in the middle of nowhere. They have little to no water to bathe themselves or wash their clothes - most of them only own the clothes on their backs. The only food they receive is corn and beans. And they get water, but they have had to learn how to boil it and prepare it for drinking. Spending time at that camp was one of the most humbling experiences of my life. There were 717 people at this camp... more arrive daily... And most can expect to spend 5 to 15 years in that condition. *Sigh*
At any rate, there is so much to share, but that's about all I've got time for now. I must get going. Much love to all of you. And thank you SO much to all of you who have written me comments or emails. They mean the world to me... Keep them coming!
Thursday the Team headed southeast to Kibungo for a Reconciliation Retreat. We stayed in Kibungo until today (Saturday) and then headed back here to Kigali. Tomorrow the girls and I are to lead a bible lesson/activity with the children of Pastor Paul's church. There are about 200 children. Oh my! I think we'll be focusing on one single theme: Jesus Loves Me. We've got a lot of planning to do tonight for that, but I think it should be great fun tomorrow.
The retreat was amazing. There were about 30 people in attendance, not including 4 pastors and our team of 6. There was much singing and dancing and praying and each pastor spoke about the power of the cross and the blood of Jesus and the mercy and glory of God. The focus was on finding the ability to let go of the hate each person has towards what happened during the genocide, to open room in their hearts for the love of God to come through. Forgiveness was key... The group split up into two Saturday evening, the women going in one room and the men going in another. Our team heard the stories of 4 women - their stories of their childhood, of the genocide, of their families, of the current state of life. Each of them have lived such difficult lives...
Early Saturday morning, Pastor Paul and Pastor Joseph took the Team to a refugee camp right on the border of Tanzania. Actually, it isn't technically a refugee camp, as everyone staying in the camps are Rwandese - they are internally displaced people, and they are all suffering. They all live in tents that are placed in row after row. They are out in the middle of nowhere. They have little to no water to bathe themselves or wash their clothes - most of them only own the clothes on their backs. The only food they receive is corn and beans. And they get water, but they have had to learn how to boil it and prepare it for drinking. Spending time at that camp was one of the most humbling experiences of my life. There were 717 people at this camp... more arrive daily... And most can expect to spend 5 to 15 years in that condition. *Sigh*
At any rate, there is so much to share, but that's about all I've got time for now. I must get going. Much love to all of you. And thank you SO much to all of you who have written me comments or emails. They mean the world to me... Keep them coming!
posted by Cari | 7:25 AM
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