My notebook is fixed...........

Ministry Partners,

June 1 --- Today is Alfred’s final day at work before he begins his vacation, 25 days of ministry!

I awoke at 6:15 to a beautiful sunny Rwandan day, having breakfast at 7. I decide to not have the omelet breakfast but opted for a bowl of my granola and Rwandan tea.

The same team doing water wells is also here and two of the young men agreed to take a look at my computer. It turned on but after they left it stopped working again. I am thankful Alfred left his computer for me to use.

Pastor Wilson arrived at 8:30 and the excitement he demonstrated, verbally giving God praise, for the arrival of the crusade posters and handouts made my heart smile. We had a good visit talking about different scriptures as we waited for Pastor Peter to arrive. Pastor Wilson does well at English but there are times Pastor Peter’s translation is also helpful for him but especially for me to understand.

After Pastor Peter’s arrival we went over the agenda for the crusade and I asked for his input but he said he liked the agenda as presented. I gave him the needed funds for the rental of chairs and a sound system as well as funds for the construction of a speaker’s platform. He was extremely happy when I told him he could have the platform for the front of his church after the crusade. We had a great discussion about Rwandan cultural issues, I am still learning so much.

Pastor Peter is having trouble with his phone so we are going to the Commissioner General’s office to find out about the approval letter and to stop by Alfred’s office as he called and said he needed his computer. I am going to take my computer with me and find out from Alfred where to take it to find out what is wrong with it.

Alfred looked very “smart” in his new shirt, a gift from the friends at church. It was so fun to be introduced to every work associate of Alfred’s as he got teased by his co-workers and me. He has been promoted much and it is evident that he is very well thought of.

Then Pastor Peter and I were off to town but as it was lunch time I invited him to lunch at our favorite buffet place. We were there early so we were able to sit outside, usually the seating outside is already taken. The food is/was excellent and the cost is surprisingly reasonable for the large variety of items only $5. We had a great lunch finished off  with wonderful pineapple. For those who know me, it is my favorite at every meal if I can get it. We had a great visit about his work and the church that he holds at the IRM office property along with his family and children, two of his sons are at university now.

Then we were off to get Pastor Peter’s phone fixed. We walked down a dirt ally, between buildings to a back room type of shop, the size of a small walk-in closet. A tiny cluttered work shelf and 2 chairs filled up the space. I sat in one chair while the repairman sat on the edge of his work shelf. He left at one point to get a part but when he was putting it in he discovered it had gum on it. It was evident that this new part was used so he left again to get a new one.

The room was so tiny and with the heat, the room became stifling but I was concerned about offending this repairman who had been so gracious as to offer me his “office” chair. I chose not to wait outside and was pleased that the repairs did not last more than the hour and thirty minutes that we were there. I observed that he appeared to be knowledgeable about his craft and was glad when the repairs were done.  Curious Rwandan men heard about the Muzungu (white person) who was at the repair shop and came to peek in the door just to check. I would have liked a photo of the repairman and his shop.

Pastor Peter asked if there was anything else we needed in town and as we were also in the area of clothing I told him about the dress I had seen at the airport in Nairobi and wondered if we could find out if that type was available locally. We found one shop and although I did not see the dress I was looking for I did see one Rwandan style 3 piece outfit that I liked and I bought it.

I thanked Pastor Peter for waiting while I picked one out and he said “Why not, you waited patiently for a long time while my phone was being repaired”. He procured a taxi at a good rate as he had me wait down the street so we could be out of the city center area before the 5 o’clock rush. Costs for just about everything here is more when they see a Muzungu. The taxi dropped me off at Moucecore and then took Pastor Peter home to spend time with his family.

I tried on my new Rwandan 2 piece dress on and took the headpiece to one of the office girls here and asked her to put it on her head to show me how to do it. She smiled and laughed but readily showed me how. Then I went to my room and put the fabric on my own head and went back to show her and the other young woman.  I got resounding approval for the outfit and how I had done the headpiece. They said I was very very “smart” and that other Rwandans would highly approve. I could not help but laugh with then for I had bought the outfit to wear at home when I do my presentations or other times when I will be sharing about Rwanda.

Alfred arrived about 6pm for a dinner of Tilapia, macaroni w/sauce, beans, chips and a fresh carrot/tomato/avocado (my first fresh item to eat at this guesthouse and I will not do that again) with oranges for desert.

The teck/ICT technician person that does all the computer work for Alfred’s workplace was busy working on computers at a bank but he was going to come to Moucecore to check out my computer. He came straight from the bank and arrived at 9:15. Not good news…….it appears that the sales person at the electronics shop at the airport in Amsterdam did not sell me the correct cord. Although it allowed me to initially use the commuter, my notebook uses 12 volts and the power cable he sold me was 19 volts.

He decided to take my notebook with him to see if he could make the necessary repairs and Alfred left me his computer so I could get this journaling done. I wanted to get this Word doc. Copied and pasted into the blog but the internet is not strong enough tonight. Hopefully, it will be tomorrow.  

Enough work for today. Its midnight and time for me to go to bed.

June 2 --- I slept lat this morning, until 7:30. I guess my body knew breakfast was scheduled for 8, my clock is working but not the alarm.

Alfred’s wife, Blessing, is arriving today, a 10 hr. bus ride, at 10 for the weekend. She and their 3 children are current in Uganda as she is going to the university there to get her Master’s Degree like Alfred did. Blessing fits her name and she is just that, God has blessed Alfred by giving her to him for a wife. It will be so good to see her.

It is noon and they are about to arrive for lunch then Blessing will translate for me during my time with the 60 HIV/AIDS ladies at the office.

What a blessing it was to be with the ladies at the IRM office today. I shared about how/when God called me to preach the Gospel in the prisons and walking in obedience ever when I had fear. Then I shared some of my personal testimony followed by making the choice to forgive those that hurt us and that releasing to Jesus the bitterness and resentment we feel towards them then brings joy and peace into our lives.

 I knew the Holy Spirit had already prepared the soil of their hearts as 6 received God’s free gift of salvation and one rededicated her life sharing about how my message about forgiveness had ministered to her because until today she had not been able to make the choice to forgive. Thank you Lord for each one of these precious ladies and may you pour out your blessings upon them.

There were some interesting questions concerning forgiveness before we closed with prayer and then Alfred took a number of group photos and candid shots. The ladies had a hard time leaving…………we just ran out of time. We were only supposed to be with them until 4:30 but it was almost 6 when we finally drove away in our taxi.

Dinner was ready when we arrived back at Moucecore and after dinner we watched Courageous. Alfred and Blessing gave a big thank you to Skip and Nancy for the DVD. They will share it in couple’s ministry here.

Once again it is midnight and time for bed. The electricity went out about 1 ½ hours ago and the computer battery is running low.

June 3 --- Sunday morning in Rwanda, a very good day to worship and praise the Lord.

After a breakfast of French toast, pineapple and Rwandan tea Alfred and Blessing arrived to take me to Pastor Jerome’s village church. I first met Pastor Jerome last year and he wanted to give me his testimony. He said he had been a prisoner at the 1930 Central Prison when I did a crusade there and in 2010 he took the IRM Spiritual Leaders Training. When he was released he started studying with Pastor Peter, from the Rwandan Foursquare Church, who was one of the local follow-up pastors that was also involved in the training. He now has his own Foursquare Church and he has a heart for working with IRM, returning to the prisons to give his testimony and to share the Gospel.

He met us at the roadside and he was quite an elegant sight in his white trousers and white calf length coat.

We walked with up the hill on a dirt pathway only a short distance when we heard the beautiful singing coming from his small church. We had arrived a bit late as they had started at 10. After they finished that song Pastor Jerome introduced us stating how he first heard me preach in the prisons and that I was his Spiritual Mother. I was the first time I had ever heard myself referred to that way in a public setting.

It was a blessing of realization that brought tears to my eyes, the Lord has brought me so far and blessed my life beyond measure.

Choirs sang both young and older, then there were testimonies. My watch said 10 min. to 12 when Pastor Jerome stood and said a few words and motioned to the man sitting behind me who was sitting next to the wall. As Alfred, Blessing and I turned to look….. I watched the man stand up and remove the wall clock that was hanging there!!!!!!!!!!!! We just couldn’t help it, we started laughing out loud as did the other parishioners. I figured Pastor Jerome was preparing to preach a very long sermon.

 Then he handed the mike to me and one to Alfred. I looked at Alfred with a puzzled look as he said “Your turn to preach”! To which I commented, “Oh, I thought I was going to hear Pastor Jerome preach”. I asked Pastor Jerome how long I had to preach and he said, “I’ve removed the clock, no matter.”

I preached about “Making Choices out of Fear”, included some of my personal testimony, some about holding on to bitterness and resentment and some about the beginnings of prison ministry and IRM. I quoted Eph.2:8.9 followed by Blessing, Alfred and I doing the “Gift Bag” skit. I gave the invitation while Alfred sang a song of invitation and then we watched the Holy Spirit bring 9 to saving knowledge in Jesus Christ.

Pastor Jerome prayed over them and I had the privilege of leading them in a prayer of salvation.

Then Pastor Jerome asked me if I was coming again or did I want to hear him preach then. I said “You took the clock off the wall, go ahead.” And that is what he did for about 20 min.. By the time we had finished it was 1:30. Everyone was so gracious and allowed us to take photos and one woman introduced herself as also having the name Arlene.

Then Pastor Jerome asked that we stop by his nearby house before departing and of course it would have been rude to have refused……..little did we know that for this Muzungu it was quite far and uphill.

When we finally arrived at his house it appeared many of the people from the church were also invited and then, according to Rwandan custom, it became evident that we had actually been invited to dinner.

How gracious of Pastor Jerome and his wife to host such an event in my honor. The meal was delicious, especially the rice. In all my visits to Rwanda I had never eaten rice flavored in that manner, I had to restrain myself from eating more than my very generous portion.

After eating we thanked Jerome and his wife and made our way down the hill to our taxi and back to Moucecore. It was hard to see Blessing leave for Uganda at 5 but she need to get back for University studied and work tomorrow.

Alfred and I had dinner at 7 and the worked on IRM business stuff. I finally “kicked him out” at about 9 as we will have a very early and busy day tomorrow.

I have worked on this computer for 11/2 hours and I have been promised that my computer will be fixed and back to me tomorrow ….. I really hope so. The plan was to post at least every other day but this is apt to turn into a novel if I don’t get it back soon. We have no idea why Alfred’s computer will not let me get into my Gmail account or why the blog will not allow me access. Neither will accept my passwords…….hummmm.

It’s very late now so I’m off to bed.

That none would be lost,

Arlene