Mud slinging (day 8) and the day of many church services (day 9)

(written by Joe and Gabby)

Once the frame was up on the house, it was time for the best day in the building process, mud throwing!! This entailed the whole team standing in a long line rolling large blobs of mud along our human chain which snaked all around the house. The lucky person at the end of the chain had the job of throwing the blob; that is if the mud reached the end of the chain. We had a few casualties. Though these mishaps didn’t dampen the mood, as spirits and moral were kept sky high by Joe and Eric (one of the locals accompanying us), who gave a very energetic musical accompaniment… all morning!

By the end of our time at the building site; all of us thoroughly caked in mud, smiling, and rather chuffed with our efforts. We thanked the builders for letting us ‘help’ and left in high spirits, knowing we had all achieved something.

In the afternoon the team practised worship for Sunday’s services and “How great is our God” in Tuesday’s talent show at Jill Barham school, which we were singing with some of the Rwandan youth. I did not like the fact that I had to play the song 12 gazillion times though. God was not so great on the twelfth gazillionth time.

In the evening meeting we played games, chatted and had a general wind down sesh, many laughs #yolobanta were had and all went to bed wearing a smile.

Day 9 was a Sunday, meaning church day. Between us we attended and took part in three separate services.

 Service one:

-Language: English

-length: 1 hour

-Amusing aspects: Alex praying for the queen, and Rob’s angelic robes

-highlights:

·         Traditional manner old style hymns which was very nostalgic for many of us.

·         Another highlight was seeing people step out of their comfort zones. Rob preached amazingly on the feeding of the five thousand. Kitty read her testimony. Dianne led the service. Amber read from the bible, and some of our team performed a lovely and rather amusing drama.

Service two:

-language: Rwandan

-length: 2hours 30minutes

-Amusing aspects: mobile phones going off during the service. This modern tech seamed really surreal in service that didn’t even have windows or a floor.

-highlights:

·         The amazingly warm welcome we received from the Rwandans there, who all greeted us with singing and wild dancing.

·         Lisa’s preaching was fantastic! Her words were so inspiring she had the full undivided attention of every set of ears in the congregation.

·         Beth reading her testimony.

·         Seeing the children so eager and grateful to receive the gifts we’d brought with us, toys handmade by members of our congregation and family members of our team. One of whom has now passed away, so it was really lovely to her generosity impacting on the lives of the children.

Service three:

-language: Rwandan

-length:2 hours

-Amusing aspects: Rob in a dress, again. Kicking up the dust with some energetic Rwandan dancing.

-highlights: Rob’s preach, Hannah’s prayer for the church building, Drumming and dancing with the choir and congregation. Talking with the congregation after the service.

Feeling blessed by the wonderful people we’d meet and kindness, enthusiasm and generosity we’d encountered, our teams headed home for lunch.

After our super packed morning, we all went down to the nearby hot springs to relax and unwind. The hot water and slimy rocks made for some unforgettable facial expressions and amused looks from locals.