Off the Beaten Path

The month of April is Rwanda’s official remembrance month, although I’m sure not a day goes by where someone does not think of the horrific events that took place eighteen years ago. Saturday (April 7^th) was the main Remembrance Day and so everything was quiet and stores and other businesses were closed. On Monday many of the stores opened again even though the Genocide Memorial Week was still in progress.

Because of the memorial week we had the entire week off from school. My family and I left Kigali on Thursday morning around 6:15 to head to Gisenyi (Lake Kivu) for a mini-vacation. There is only one road to Gisenyi and it is one of the best in Rwanda...paved all the way. With that being said, we should have questioned a little further when the pavement stopped a mere hour and fifteen minutes later.  We stopped to ask a man walking along the side of the road if we were in fact on the road to Musanze. (Musanze is a town two hours outside of Kigali and one hour away from Gisenyi.) The man pointed in the direction we were headed, so we continued on. I’ve been to Gisenyi twice but this was the first time for the rest of my family. I knew that we were obviously going the wrong way because the road should be paved, not dirt. We stopped and asked a moto driver if we were indeed on the correct road. He raised his eyebrows in response. That’s all he did.

Now, you have to understand something about the people here…they can communicate entire sentences just by raising their eyebrows or making a low “mmm” sound. It’s quite fascinating really.

Because of the aforementioned fact, we did not think it too odd that the only response we got was a quick raising of the eyebrows…we assumed he meant “yes” because that’s typically what it means and so we pressed on down the winding, bumpy dirt road. We would stop periodically and confirm with people that we were going the right direction. We probably asked a dozen people and without fail they all told us we were going the right way.

Something else about the people here…they tell you what they think you want to hear. Anything is possible. They see that we want to go to Gisenyi… “Yeah, you could go this way, if you really want to…”

Somehow, some way, by God’s grace, we made it to Musanze after about three and a half hours of good ol’ African roads. We decided to stop for an early lunch and replenish ourselves after being cooped up in the car for so long.

Another detail…we were going to Gisenyi with the Jenkins Family (Caleb Jenkins is my boyfriend). They were planning to leave Kigali around 10:00am, so we weren’t going to travel together; we were just going to meet up once we got to Gisenyi. Well, the Jenkins caught up to us in Musanze. We made an executive decision to follow them the rest of the way to Gisenyi. After explaining to them which way we had come they told us that we were on the wrong rode to begin with. We should have gone straight at the bus station in Kigali but we turned to the right instead.

A trip that normally takes three hours ended up taking us five and a half hours. It wasn’t terrible though. We enjoyed the beautiful scenery and met lots of friendly and smiling people along the way.

We arrived in Gisenyi around 2:00 in the afternoon and spent the rest of the day at the beach. Unfortunately there were heavy rains the night before which resulted in flooding. Because of this the lake water was not clean and we were not able to swim in it. We did swim in the pool at a nice hotel in Gisenyi. The town of Gisenyi actually has several guest houses and hotels. We enjoyed an afternoon of Ultimate Frisbee, soccer, and the swimming pool. Friday had a similar theme where we spent the day by the pool enjoying the company of friends, pleasant weather, and the beautiful scenery of vast open skies, white puffy clouds, and the Democratic Republic of Congo directly across the lake.

On Saturday we went for a long walk to some hot springs, passing people all along the way. People, people, people. Rwanda is overflowing with people. Cute, innocent children running, laughing, and playing. Mothers carrying their children that are too small to walk or toting water to their houses. Men sitting by the side of the road…always people. After our walk we went to a different guest house where we were able to get into the lake. Again the weather was pleasant and the lake was beautiful.

Sadly, it was time to head home on Saturday afternoon. Even though the trip back to Kigali was much less eventful than our trip there, it was a perfectly clear day and I was blown away by the blue skies and rolling hills. There are several volcanoes in Rwanda and one particular one in Gisenyi that is just magnificent. At night you can see the top glowing orange against the black star-lit sky. During the day it stands tall and proud and we had a great view of it for a good amount of the drive.  We made it home in the standard three hours and I drove the car for about an hour and a half of that time, which was quite enjoyable (and familiar…I don’t get to do a whole lot of driving over here.)

We took picture after picture during this vacation. In fact, I was so excited to download the pictures and share them with you all that I accidentally broke the memory card and now all of our pictures are gone. There is something ever so devastating about damaging a memory card full of memories. I’m hopeful that we will be able to retrieve the pictures while we are in the States this summer, but nonetheless, I’m sad that I’m not able to share these pictures with you at this time.

Not too much else has happened since I last updated my blog. We have six weeks left of school. Six more weeks of concentration and discipline until we board the plane for the U.S. of A. I can make it.

The Lord continues to be ever present in my life. I find myself consulting Him and talking to Him multiple times a day. I’m waiting in expectation for Him to tell me what the next step of this journey will be.

I find myself thinking about my blog readers quite often…praying for you and feeling grateful that you would take the time out of your day to read into my life. Thanks for reading and following my stories from this wonderful year. 

A Joyful Heart is Good Medicine

I was driving down “Golf Course Road” (not the actual name of the road) a few minutes ago and I felt an overwhelming sense of love.  Love for my family, love for my friends, love for my God, love for this beautiful country that I’m so privileged to live in. The rainy season appears to have started (although, it’s not raining at the minute…maybe it’s an April fool’s joke) and so things are really clearing up. I can see perfectly across the valley at the houses scattered along the hill opposite us.  The sky is clear, the birds are singing, the grass is green, the people are smiling, and my heart is overflowing with joy.

I can’t help but think back to a few months ago when I was in such a miserably low state. The contrast of how I was during the months of November, December, and January and how I am now is the contrast of Billy Graham and Ellen DeGeneres...hardly even comparable. In those months of confusion and desperation I was never able to recall a single thing that I was thankful for. I was only concerned with the negative aspects of my life. Now, I’m constantly thinking of things that I’m thankful for. I do have the occasional “bad day” but I usually end those days with a smile on my face and joy in my heart.

“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6-7

Last weekend I went to Gisenyi - a northern location on Lake Kivu. I went with 24 other students and 4 KICS teachers for a Young Life retreat. We left Kigali on Friday afternoon and arrived in Gisenyi a mere four hours later. It was a great weekend on multiple levels. First, it was a lot of fun to just hang out with kids my age…to play ultimate Frisbee, football (soccer), and other group “team-building” games. It was so nice to spend an afternoon at the beach swimming or talking or playing volleyball. Secondly, it was a great weekend spiritually.  We listened to talks, we read our Bibles, we prayed, we sang, and we had group discussions. Thirdly, it was a great weekend because I felt like I really bonded with a few of the girls. I feel like walls are coming down and I’m finally starting to build relationships. All in all, it was a fabulous weekend (with very little sleep.) It ended all too quickly and before we knew it we were back in Kigali on Sunday afternoon. 

Yes, I am building relationships. This past week has been exhausting because of the lack of sleep from last weekend and being at school every day and having a lot of homework in the evenings, but it has not been a bad week at all because I’ve had people to talk to throughout the week and keep me on the up and up. It’s so nice to finally have people that I can talk to and laugh with and consider my friends. This gives me hope for next year. I’m looking forward to being in Kigali and maintaining these new friendships and building others along the way.

Time for a confession: I have been spelling muzungu wrong for all these months. I have been spelling it “mzungu” instead of “muzungu”. It’s not that big of a deal, but for those of you that read my blogs in great depth, I thought you might appreciate knowing the slight discrepancy.

This year has been like a race. I have gone up and down hills, I’ve fallen and at times been in last place, but more recently I’ve been catching up and running with the pack. I’m now rounding the corner and beginning the final stretch. I can see the finish line off in the distance. I’ve almost made it to the end. I’m so ready to get home to my beloved friends and family. I’m ready to see people face to face and share stories with them of what Africa is like and of what the Lord has done in my life. I’m ready to eat marvelously delicious American food, and shop and wonderfully beautiful stores. I’m ready to drive my ever so reliable car around the streets of Greensboro and High Point. But, I only have two more months here in Kigali and so I am, by no means, wishing my time away. I am definitely enjoying each and every day the Lord has so graciously given me, but I’m also dreaming of what is lying in the near future. I’m serving the Lord and committing my thoughts, actions, talents, days, and life to Him, and waiting in expectation for the next part of my journey with Him.