Saturday, July 13 -

Isa. 12:4 In that day you will say: “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.NIV

Ministry Partners,

Please pray for demon possessed lady that we encountered on July 12th. Pastor Aaron says the area is filled with witchcraft and shrines along with child sacrifice! Pray also for Pastor Aaron, Alfred and myself as we never know what encounter the Lord will present before us.

This morning I was awake before 6 anticipating our visit to Kasangati Prison which is a short drive from where I am staying. We were previously introduced to the warden there, Warden James, by Pastor Herman. There are a total of 168 prisoners at this prison with 16 of them being women. Unlike Rwanda, the women will not be allowed to be at the general crusade we will be doing.

We arrived at the prison promptly at 10 as the warden had requested and he was waiting for us having already assembled the men prisoners. The prisoners unloaded the Bibles & Discipleship booklets we had brought along with the bars of soap we had brought for the prisoners while Alfred and I visited with the warden and I gave him the gifts I had brought for him, a Bible/Booklet set, an IRM tee-shirt  and 2 ties.

Pastor Aaron was busy setting up the sound system and I could hear him “testing” the microphone sound levels. I first met Pastor Aaron in 2006 but have never worked with him. He is small in stature but VERY large in laughter and service with a humble spirit that makes him a joy to serve alongside. He is very good at translating for me and he is ever so dynamic, I catch myself speaking and then watching him. Sometimes his translation, like Alfred’s, is so lengthy as he grasps the concept and not just the words that I wonder………did I say all that?

 Pastor Aaron as well as Alfred drives us everywhere we need to go in our rental van and that is a feat in itself with the traffic here. It is much more congested than I have ever seen in Rwanda.

The prison & prisoners today had such a different atmosphere than the first prison. It did not take long for the prisoner’s faces to soften a bit and they were very attentive as I spoke. The men were sitting under a long narrow covered walkway while I was in a grassy area in front of them with the sun to my back. 107 received God’s free gift of salvation.

I ended the crusade by taking about “Forgiveness” of others or themselves and I noticed one prisoner weeping who finally lowered his face into his hands. 140 responded to the “Forgiveness” invitation.

I did not realize it until later but Alfred said that the warden had appeared behind me and listened as I shared my testimony. I could hear the women prisoners singing at times as I was sharing. How I wish I could have spent some time with them.

After I finished sharing the warden took the mic. and said some very nice things about IRM that he had actually written down on a piece of paper while some inmates brought the Bible sets and soap so the prisoners could see their gifts. The warden invited us to please return. I am happy with the positive relationship we now have with this warden.

After finishing at the prison, Alfred took us by the original home that he bought here. At the time he bought it he did not know where the children would be going to school and now that they are settled in a Christian International School where Blessing also teaches it became too far of a drive so Alfred has rented out the house but is still doing additional building on some of the property. It really is a huge amount of property and he has a complete design for additional buildings (rooms) where mission teams can be hosted.

He took so much pride in showing me all over the property and asking the renter to show me inside the house, it really is very nice. It's too bad that he and Blessing and the children cannot live here but now have a small rental that is close to the children's school. He was very proud to tell me that as he gets a small amount of funds he has the builders continue with his building project.

Pastor Aaron, Alfred and I sat on his front porch in the shade and had our traditional IRM lunch but I noticed that as soon as he finished his sandwich he disappeared but reappeared after a few moments with a very tall, thin beautiful young woman which he introduced as a longtime friend whose name was Irene. The tone of her voice and laughter made me like her almost immediately and I was very pleased when I found out that she will be translating for me during all of the Women's Meetings.

We both had an especially fun time as we teased Alfred  and I see that she does not cut him any slack either. We all got in the van and drove just a short ways down the hill to the place where she lives with her mother and a whole host of children only one of which is her son.

Then we needed to travel to Alfred's rented house so he could pick up some things. Pastor Aaron and I waited in the car but I just couldn't help myself as I saw three young children sitting alongside the road and I had to get out and take some photos of them.

On the way back to where I'm staying we stopped at the local market and picked up another loaf of bread for tomorrow and my dinner……. a small beef pie and a chicken pie, both to just be held in your hand and eaten. Once they are reheated in my microwave they actually are pretty tasty and since the food where I'm staying leaves a lot to be desired, they do quite nicely.

After leaving me at my room Alfred and Pastor Aaron took the van to get washed and checked all out before our trip tomorrow.

Since it is Saturday night the other side of the complex where I'm staying is playing VERY loud music but it is okay as I have lots to do to sort out all the contents of the bags we will need to load into the van tomorrow. I also have to pack a small travel bag as Irene, myself and Alfred will be staying in the area of Hallelujah Christ Ministries Church, Pastor Aaron's church, overnight. It's about a three-hour drive and just too far to drive back and forth for two days especially with the road construction that is going on in that direction.

I didn't realize just how tired I was as a set down on the small couch in my room and promptly fell asleep. When I woke up I realized that the oscillating fan that James had set up in my room had quit working and is was just too hot to be without it. As soon as I opened my door to go find James, there he was and he promptly came in and very quickly had it working again.

It's very late now and the music stopped so I guess it is safe to go to bed especially since the next two days will be very long ones.

The internet has be off and on so my emails may be delayed some but I will try and do my best.

Arlene