Thank You!

Many thanks to Jim Dvorak for finding our clock! (See the sidebar)

Rusty Writes:

(Rusty is a Let's Start Talking intern)
Greetings from Kigali, Rwanda
Bite'...that is pronounced bit-A,
It is Kinyarwandan for "Hello"...naturally you would say Nibiza, which means "I'm fine."
I don't even know where to start so here we go. My travels to Rwanda were very long and tireing, but the good news is that God has landed me safely, with all limbs, in Rwanda. We actually left the US for London the day of the subway bombing. We weren't sure at first if we'd make it to Africa that weekend, but it worked out, and we were even able to travel into London on our layover to see the sites.

We arrived at the Kigali International Airport on Saturday the 9th of July, and were greated by the Dean of Student's assist and about 10 men from KIST...Kigali Institute of Science and Technology...to help us to our guest house. My team, as well as myself were exhausted and suffering from jetlag due to the 7hr time difference, but we trecked on to the US embassador's house for a 4th of July bash on the 9th...Ya, I know. After checking into the guest house we were able to get some much needed rest, and after God put a fresh face on Rwanda. I litteraly didnt know if I could do it the first day, but it is amazing what sleep can do to change your attitude.

Almost three weeks have passed now and after adjusting to life here in Rwanda, I have to say that I wont be such a baby when I return home. We take so much for granted...like running water, and electricity, oh ya, and toilet paper. I am kind of a sissy so it took me some extra time, but I have learned the swing of things and God is strengthening me more, and more everyday...! (I can't wait for a LONG, HOT shower when I get home!)

Anyway, enough about me. Lets talk about God. He is so amazing! When we structured the logistics of this trip the impression was that we would be tutoring students from KIST, using LST(Lets Start Talking) material. Well, that wasnt enough for God so he changed the game plan. We are now tutoring...in CLASS, almost totaling 300 students. That means that we are actually teaching about 30 classes a week between our team of 13, and each class holds an average 10 people. We are using the book of Luke and having discussion over the readings with students of all religious backgrounds. In fact I studied last week with a Muslum whos name is Eisha, when translated in english is "Jesus." It is so cool. The LST team that I am working with is amazing. I am so blessed to be surrounded by other students who truly love God and strive to share Christ's love with everyone they come in contact with. Wow, God is so wonderful.

I brought some things from home that I thought the students would like; candy, pictures etc, but the best thing I brought were a few pictures of my life. It helps people here to get an idea of what life is like in the west. Its been great to share stories and experiences with each other, I'm learning so much from these amazing people.

I have so much more to tell you but I am running out of time at the internet cafe'. I will tell you all of the big details when I return. Just know we are safe, we are fighting for the cause, and God is blessing us abundantly. Isn't our Lord King amazing?

Please keep us all in your prayers, especially the Jenkins and their family. Thanks!

I love you all!
Imana Ishimwe "God Bless"
Rusty Linden

Community

We once heard an educated African church leader explain the sense of community in Africa with the phrase, “I am because we are.” A sense of community is the driving force in both the best and worst that Africa has to offer. In fact, as we were on furlough the things about Africa that we most missed related to the sense of community we shared. However, God brought us a wonderful new community at Oklahoma Christian and also through our new oversight with Quail Springs Church of Christ.

During our second week in Rwanda we were able to purchase a vehicle. It truly was a community event. We want to share the story with you.

First, though Rwanda has been more expensive than we anticipated, at this point we are afloat. Thank you so much for all of you that have been so gracious to our family and ministry. You are part of our community that has enabled us to come to Rwanda. In order for us to well function in Rwanda we need a 4 wheel drive vehicle. With the size of our large family we need one that will seat at least 7. Due to importation taxes and transportation issues of shipping vehicles from Japan and then deep into Central Africa vehicles are just expensive in Rwanda.

We priced new 4 wheel drive vehicles and found that we would need approximately $50,000 to purchase one in Rwanda. However, used vehicles are available in Rwanda. We found some that were about 15 years old that were asking closer to $6,000. However, there were several years we experienced in Uganda in which when we had an old vehicle and we spent $4,000 to $7,000 in repair costs per year. Buying used is not necessarily good stewardship. Also, the possibility of breaking down in the absolute middle of nowhere was something we wanted to avoid.

We came to Rwanda with a vehicle budget of $20,000. For this, we were very thankful to all our contributors who made the purchase possible.

As we were vehicle shopping we came across an auction for two used Rwanda government vehicles. They were standard model 2001 Toyota Land Cruisers. We went to view them. The person who showed them to us told us the starting auction price would be about $30,000. It was more than we had budgeted so it seemed out of reach. However, we thought we should go to the auction to learn and get a better feel for the price of vehicles.

The auction was done in Kiyanrwanda so we were tremendously disadvantaged linguistically. However, a gentleman at the auction offered to translate for us. We were surprised when the initial auction price started at roughly $18,000. We quickly decided to hop into the bidding. Dave was frantically working the calculator on his mobile phone trying to make sure that we did not bid above $20,000. To watch us must have been a truly humorous experience. In the end the vehicles were sold for just a little more than our budget. We had another Rwanda learning curve experience.

After the auction was over, one of the Rwanda government officials told us of another auction that would happen the next day. We went to the National Police Headquarters, and found approximately 30 vehicles. About 1/3 of them were absolute junk. They had bent frames and obvious problems. About another third were luxury vehicles. We found another third that seemed to be moderate in price, but still from what we could see functional. Of this group of moderate priced vehicles there was one 2001 Toyota Land Cruiser that we believed could meet the needs of our family and ministry. Its starting auction price was roughly $19,500.

The auction was the next day, and we knew that we needed to find a Kiyanrwanda speaker to stand with us. Dave called his friend, John Nkuranga to see if he could come to the auction with us. John was unable to come, but referred us to a friend, Emmanuel who was available. Emmanuel was in his early ‘30’s, married with 3 kids, university educated, and a former employee of the Rwanda Revenue Authority now trying to begin his own small business.

Now let us explain the events of community and reciprocity. Before Emmanuel and Dave arrived Emmanuel mentioned that when people saw an American at the auction a few might actually try to drive up the price. We expected that after years of living in Africa. However, the next bit that Emmanuel explained was surprising. He intended to visit all the other potential bidders privately, and ask for them to allow us to purchase the vehicle for the starting asking price.

When we arrived, Emmanuel’s predictions were right. There was a car broker eyeing the Land Cruiser. However, Emmanuel knew him and started a conversation. His name was Yusuf (the Muslim equivalent of Joseph). He had purchased 10 vehicles previously from government auctions, and intended to do cosmetic repairs, and sell it for a profit. Dave’s Kiyanrwanda is not very good, but he heard a few words. Later, Emmanuel explained the conversation. Emmanuel told Yusuf that by allowing us to purchase the vehicle he would be helping his country. We were missionaries here to facilitate development. Yusuf agreed to not bid upon the vehicle. (We can’t imagine this tactic working at an auction in the United States.)

The bidding started at approximately $19,500. No one besides us bid, and the vehicle became ours.

As we were leaving the auction we continued to visit with Yusuf. Our vehicle needed a paint job, and Yusuf offered the services of his garage. We now had a relationship debt to him, and realized that we would need to use his services when the time came to paint it. Also, in visiting with Yusuf we realized that he was the Vice President for the Rwanda Soccer Federation. Dave wanted to meet their leadership, and saw this as another one of our divine appointments in Rwanda.

We needed to pay for the vehicle in Rwandan Franks. The Rwanda Government did not have an account we could wire the money into so we needed to wire money into our personal account in Rwanda, withdraw it from the bank, then go to a Forex dealer to exchange the U.S. currency for Rwandan Franks, and finally deliver it to the appropriate Rwanda government office. (Yes. This involved Dave moving across Kigali with approximately $19,500 in currency.) As you can imagine Dave did not want to do the process alone and again called on Emmanuel.

After withdrawing the money from the bank we went to a Forex dealer that Emmanuel knew. On that day the current rate of exchange was 560 Rwanda Franks per $1. However, with such a large amount to exchange it was prudent to negotiate for a better exchange rate. Again, Emmanuel’s negotiation skills went into gear. Dave again heard him mention – missionary, development, relationship. The Forex dealer agreed to an exchange rate of 563 Rwanda Franks per $1.

Later in the day we drove home in our new vehicle. It has needed some minor repairs, but we are extremely thankful for it. This was a victory for our community in the U.S. and Rwanda.

So what does this experience teach us? Community in Africa involves reciprocity. At its best the community sacrifices for one another. Also, it recognizes that the business deals one makes are not just one’s personal business, but may affect many others within their community. We have heard older missionaries speak of similar experiences to ours of Africans giving a financial break to a missionary because they believed eventually their community would benefit. However, this experience in Rwanda was a very new one for us. We came away very thankful.

In return, we realize that already an expectation is being set for us. It will be expected that we use the services of those who have been gracious to us, and that our presence will benefit many in Rwanda.

We also can see that Rwanda’s best hope for development will involve the strengthening of the community. We must do all that we can to build community.

On the flip side, we can see how easy it is for the problems of nepotism and corruption to develop in a social system so geared away from individualism. Each culture comes with its own unique temptations. We pray that our presence will build upon the sense of community in Rwanda.

This past weekend, Emmanuel heard news that his mother is quite sick. As the oldest son he is responsible for her care. He has rushed home to help. We ask that you keep his family in your prayers.

Again, thank you for keeping our family in your thoughts and prayers,

Imana ikurinde (May the Lord Stay with all of you),

Dave and Jana

The Jenkins Family

Presenting the Jenkins Family:
Timothy, Dave, Ethan, Jana, Ruth, Caleb and Sophia.

Email from Dave

Thank you for all your prayers and encouragement of the last week. Timothy spent a day last week on an I.V. drip. His fever broke. He is still coughing, but he is improving. Also, it appears that water only runs in our neighborhood about once every one to two weeks. We have a water storage tank that will last for about 5 days. We are trucking water into our home to stay supplied with water. I wrote the following letter to tell about my favorite oldest daughter’s birthday party. I hope you find it enjoyable reading.
* * * * *

July 1, 1992 is a historic day in Jenkins’ family history. On this day, my favorite oldest daughter, Sophia was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has lived up to her name, and frequently amazed me with the wisdom that comes from her young mouth. Her social and cultural skills are exceptional, and she seems to be nothing more than an updated version of her mother, Jana. She is one of my favorite critics, and I know I can always count on her to tell me whether God really is speaking through my teaching and sermons. On of my favorite memories of her after church was her saying, “Dad. I usually don’t pay much attention to your sermons, but that was a really good one. You need to preach more like that.” Though she has great social grace, she also knows the value of tough lone decisions. One of my favorite memories of her involved a Saturday in which I was asked to resolve conflict in a local sports league in Kampala. At the end of the day, it seemed I did not have a single friend left. Sophia watched the whole thing. At the end of the day, she saw my weariness, and said, “You made the right decision, dad. The people from the other team really appreciated it. They thanked me for you after the game.” She was right, and in a few days, local radio stations were affirming the decisions. God has been exceptionally kind to us to have given us such a daughter.

July 1, 2005 was another historic day in Jenkins’ family history. After a little more than a week in Rwanda, my favorite oldest daughter, Sophia turned 13, and entered into a new stage of life. This is a time of many new beginnings for our family. Allow me to walk you through some of the journey that involves my favorite sermon critic.

Jana and I have dreamed and prayed about Rwanda since our first trip in 1999. We had always thought our role in the evangelism of Rwanda would be one of prayer and emotional and some logistic support for the first missionaries from Churches of Christ to enter Rwanda. Instead, God had different plans. One of our family presuppositions is that effective ministry comes from the strength of our family. We can not ignore our children, build “successful ministries” and expect for God to bless our family unfaithfulness. Practically, we have always tried to as much as possible incorporate our children into all that we do. In fact, as time has gone on, and on those rare occasions in which African church leaders reflect on what we have done to make the biggest impact on their lives they usually talk about the example of our family. Rarely, do I hear them talking about great sermons, ministry leadership, or cultural understanding (the usual sources of missionary pride.)

In the summer of 2003 I was privileged to travel to Rwanda with a group of university interns, Ugandan missionaries, and Sam Shewmaker for a survey. We would be gone for about a week, and I out of habit avoid travel away from my family. Jana and the younger children were unable to travel, but Sophia and Caleb were able to travel. Thus I brought them along. I had to argue just a little to include them in the group, and in one of my typical grouchy moments remarked, “These kids have more African experience than any intern. Their insight will be better. Also, after waiting 4 years for someone to take responsibility to go to Rwanda, maybe we ought to consider that our children are more likely to enter Rwanda as long-term missionaries than our interns.” I had no idea how prophetic my words were. The trip was wonderful, and again left me dreaming. Sophia, Caleb, and I enjoyed the drive, meeting Rwandan friends, and took a couple days away from the entourage to swim at a local pool and play catch on the beaches of Lake Kivu. I walked away thinking that Rwanda would provide a pleasant environment to raise a family. Sophia, Caleb, and I discussed what it would be like to move to Rwanda. (However, we continued to believe that it would be someone else other than us who God would give this grace to.)

The decision to take Caleb and Sophia to Rwanda in the summer of 2003 may have been one of the better decisions I made that summer. Last year as Jana and I wrestled with whether to move to Rwanda, we were able to include Sophia and Caleb in the decision. Again, Sophia’s simple wisdom spoke volumes to our decision. “Dad, there are lots of missionaries in Uganda. There are none in Rwanda. Some one needs to go. Dad, it will be tough, but we are the Jenkins. We can do this. Dad, I don’t remember what it was like to start the Kampala church. I want see it happen when I am old enough to remember it.” (I surveyed my 90 students at Oklahoma Christian this Spring Semester, and only 3 had ever seen a church planted. I pondered what we were doing for the future of evangelism if so few had ever practically conceptualized evangelism and church planting.)

However, to move to a new location with a teenager is quite a challenge, especially into a new country and culture where we had no ministry infrastructure to support us. Some would consider our timing to be unwise. However, the place of greatest safety in this world is in the will of God. Too many seeming coincidences have happened in the last year for us not to believe this decision is the will of God. God gave us an exceptional daughter. Allow us to tell about her 13^th birthday party. It may be the most significant event in our family’s history in 2005.

One of the most insightful summaries of ministry I have read says it is just being people’s friends, praying, and teaching God’s word. Sometimes we create plans and programs as a way to hide our relationship laziness. Thus we have arrived in Rwanda determined to make friends, and praying that God leads us to people who we can both give and receive a blessing from.

On June 20, our family got our last free moments before stepping onto an airplane at the Mall of America. Caleb, Ethan, Timothy, and I went looking for a birthday present for Sophia. We found a pair of earrings in a horseshoe design that seemed perfect for Sophia. We carefully hid them in our hand luggage, and headed for Rwanda.

When we found our home it appeared to be an almost perfect location for practicing the joyful discipline of hospitality. During our first week in Rwanda, our family began the process of visiting old friends, and making new ones. As we went through this process we invited people to our home on July 1. We were unsure what to expect, but the Lord brought just the right combination of people. We were blessed, Sophia celebrated a transition, and hopefully those who attended were also blessed.

On June 30 we frantically scrambled in our planning to host a party in a home we had only lived in for a week. We bought a cake, sodas, samosas (sort of Indian mini-hamburgers), and fruit to make a salad. Our American friends gathered ice cream. In the wee hours of the night, I found that I had hidden Sophia’s birthday present so well that I could not remember where I hid it. After a couple hours of searching Jana’s hawk eyes found it while I giggled at my own embarrassing forgetfulness.

On July 1 our first visitor was Sara Beth Matheny who arrived on a plane that day to survey the possibilities of working in Rwanda. Our next visitors were Sam and Nancy Shewmaker, and Greg and Sara Kendall-Ball. Then we were graced by Ancilla Akeyesu, the Director of Social Affairs in the Office of the President. I had met Ancilla on my visit in November. She came with her 3 sons who were the approximate age of our children. The next to arrive was Sam Mugisha and his wife Jackie. Sam is the Vicar of the Episcopal English church in Kigali. We first met Sam years ago in Kampala when as a student he gave us a tour of the Martyr’s Shrine. He seems to have a knack for being placed in locations to give others guidance. Next, one of our neighbors came with her children. Then Emmanuel, another Rwandan friend with a Ugandan heritage came with his wife and two children. He was followed by Anne Marie Kanyange who works in the Rwandan Human Rights Commission. Anne Marie is another friend I met during my visit in November. She came with some of her children and grandchildren. She was followed by Anne Gahongayire, the Secretary General for the Ministry of Gender with her daughter. The last to arrive was our friend, John Nkuranga, the Director of Protocol in the Office of the President.

Inviting a mixture of friends in a new location can be socially awkward, but we were pleasantly surprised by the interaction. At first, the children were quietly watching one another. However, with a little soda and birthday cake they were soon running and playing through our yard. The conversations among the adults seemed to flow easily. We just wanted others presence in our home for Sophia’s birthday, but each came with a precious gift for Sophia that blessed this transition year. We felt that we had received much more than we had given.

We continue to face our time in Uganda with growing anticipation for what the Lord may do through our growing friendships. Also, our children seem to be blessed by our first few weeks in Rwanda. We ask your continued prayers for their transition, and our much needed wisdom.

Imana ikurinde (May God keep all of you),

Dave

Email from the Jenkins

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers. We are now getting water trucked to our home about every 5 or 6 days. We have a large water tank to store water, but our family can only make it about 5 days with our best rationing. It appears that the water from the city only runs in our neighborhood once every 1 to 2 weeks.

Timothy was on an I.V. last week for a day. His fever has broke but he still is having cold symptoms. In fact, the rest of us seem to be coming down with it too.

Email from the Jenkins

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you for the many encouraging e-mails that we have received the last few days. We underestimated the struggle adjusting to Rwanda would bring to our family, and your encouraging notes have sustained us during the last few days. We are extremely thankful to be in Rwanda, our interns have arrived safely, and we are making many quality Rwandan friends, advocates, and advisors. The opportunities before us are larger than we have ever experienced. At the same time the cost of living is high, our kids are sick, and we have not had running water for about 3 days. We are close to overload.

We ask for your prayers for the following matters:

Wisdom: Please ask for the Lord to give us a greater measure of his wisdom. We are making so many decisions in our initial adjustments. May the decisions we make be the Lord’s.

Heath: Jana, Ethan, and Timothy have all had a bout of some type of tropical flu. Timothy has been sick for the last 3 days with a fever, and is having a difficult time keeping food down. We also have not had much sleep for several days as we are up with sick children. With no running water managing a sick household is becoming quite a challenge. Please ask for the Lord to restore our family’s health. Also, ask that our water will soon be running.

Lets Start Talking Project: Thirteen wonderful university students arrived in Rwanda this week. We have one of the largest opportunities we have ever experienced as Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (one of Rwanda’s leading educational institutions) is giving us an opportunity to teach English using the Gospel of Luke to their first and second year Francophone students (possibly as many as 600 university students in total.) May we be able to make the most of this opportunity.

Friends, Advisors, and Advocates: This has been an amazing answer to prayer. The Lord continues to allow us to meet so many people who are helping us learn and settle. Also, the Lord seems to be gathering a very unique and diverse group of people in Kigali to initiate this church planting. Last night’s Sunday house church even included an Albanian member of Churches of Christ, Maniola. She is in Kigali working as an intern with the United Nations Development Program. We met her last week at a restaurant as we were visiting an acquaintance. It was one of those divine appointments in which we realized that the odds of so many people’s lives intersecting in Rwanda could only be explained with the wonderful mystery of our Lord. May God continue to lead us to many friends, advisors, and advocates who can enable the planting of thriving churches in Rwanda.

Again, thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support that sustain our ministry.

Imana ikurinde (May God keep all of you),

Dave and Jana

Email from the Jenkins

We have arrived in Kigali. Before we left, one individual asked us, “So where will you start? For instance, where will you stay?” To be honest, we did not quite know. The unanswered questions are far greater than our plans and thoughts. We thought we had a furnished home reserved to stay in, but we received an e-mail a few days before leaving that it was not available. We went into scramble mode. We made miscellaneous phone calls and e-mails with no success. We had Rwandese friends looking for a place for us to stay, but absolutely no idea what our first days would be like in Rwanda. Not exactly the greatest situation to step into with 5 children between the ages of 12 and 2, but we are convinced this journey to Rwanda will be one of many uneasy steps for our co-workers, supporters, and ourselves.

We are writing this message to update all of you upon this journey. We will try to hit the highlights. We arrived at the Minneapolis – St. Paul airport with 7 people and 14 pieces of luggage. We thought we had all of our reservations confirmed, but soon found our understanding and the airlines were not the same. We had booked our international flights with British Airways who had reserved a domestic flight from Minneapolis to Chicago for us. When we arrived at the counter in Minneapolis we found that American Airlines had no record of our booking. Thankfully, we were early and the woman behind the counter was extremely kind and skilled. An hour later ourselves and our entire luggage was checked in. However, there was a thunderstorm in Minneapolis and our flight was delayed.

We arrived in Chicago late and needed to transfer to another terminal. We only had 45 minutes to make the transfer, and were assured it could be done, but as we arrived at the other terminal we were informed that we had missed our flight. The next available flight from Chicago to London was completely booked. We had a few tense moments, until again a kind and skilled woman began to look into our situation. It took some time, but in the end the only available seats were in First Class. “Oh, the cross we must bear.” We were upgraded to First Class free of charge, and had the most enjoyable plane ride ever from Chicago to London.

Our next flight was from London to Entebbe, Uganda. At first we thought this would be rather uneventful. We spent the day resting in a hotel. We were still frantically e-mailing and phone calling trying to line up a place to stay in Rwanda with no success, but Rwandan friends assured us that they would find a place for us. We stepped unto the plane at least expecting a non-crisis moment. But it seemed our fortune continued to follow us. The pilot announced that in the process of loading the luggage, a truck had run into the plane, damaged a cargo door, and rendered the plane unable to safely fly. Thus we began to unload ourselves, and waited another 3 hours before another plane was loaded and prepared for our flight. We loaded the plane, and expected to soon take off, but again there was some type of malfunction, and we waited another hour on the plane for repairs to be made before we could take off.

Our next stop was Entebbe, Uganda. In Entebbe we would take a Missionary Aviation Fellowship charter on to Kigali. Our primary concern was that not all of our luggage would arrive with us. In fact, we could not remember ever arriving in Entebbe with our entire luggage. We have always arrived in Entebbe with about 2/3 of our luggage, and waited a week or so for it all to arrive. We did not know what we would do if our entire luggage was not in Entebbe, and we had to begin a charter flight without it. Fortunately, it was all there.

The next hurdle was getting our Uganda Visas. We should have paid $30 per American for a Visitor’s Single Entry Visa. We planned to be in Uganda several times in the next few months so Dave requested a $50 Multi-Entry Visa that would save us money in the long run. He was informed that he would not be able to get one in Entebbe, but would need to travel to Kampala and wait several days for a Multi-Entry Visa to be processed. We thought, “Well that will not work. I guess we will spend more money on Uganda Visas in the next few months than we had hoped.” However, one of the Immigration officials knew Dave from before, and graciously offered $15 Transit Visas. With God’s help through a friend, a few dollars were saved.

We had a few minutes between flights, and were able to visit several church leaders and missionaries from Kampala in Entebbe, and enjoyed renewing our friendship. We will look forward to returning to Uganda in a few months to say our final goodbyes to Uganda.

We next loaded unto the Missionary Aviation Fellowship charter to Kigali. The plane was a single engine Cessna Caravan that seated 9 people. Unfortunately, our entourage was about 110 pounds overweight, and we left 2 pieces of luggage behind in Entebbe. (The pieces reached us a day later, but we were about $250 poorer from the experience. However, again we found a helpful person, the air shipment manager in Kigali had moved back to Rwanda recently from Kenya, and Jana and he shared some common experiences.) Because of our delayed flight from London to Entebbe, we were about 2 hours behind schedule.

The flight was absolutely beautiful. In fact, it was moving. We saw Uganda as we had never seen it before – the land where three of our children were born, and many friends made. As we flew over different regions we saw the home regions of many of our friends. Then we entered Rwanda - our land of many new dreams.

In Kigali, our Rwandese friends – Justine Rudasingwa, former Kampala Church of Christ member; John Nkuranga, Rwandan Presidential Director of Protocol; and Hope, the Assistant to Kigali Institute of Science and Technology Rector were waiting. They had lined up a mini-van and pickup to transport us, and also several housing options. However, after two hours of waiting they left to continue their busy day, and hoped that some misfortune had not fallen upon us.

We arrived in Kigali on Wednesday, June 22 at roughly 2 p.m. We unloaded the plane, went through immigration and customs, and walked out to an almost deserted airport. We saw no one that we knew. Dave had purchased a mobile phone on previous trips to Rwanda, and tried to make phone calls. However, the service was expired. Thus he had to trade money, purchase air time, and then opened our computer to find phone numbers. Thankfully, we reached the appropriate people, and about 30 minutes later were on our way to the place we would spend our first 2 nights in Rwanda. We wondered how things would have resolved without the conveniences of a computer and mobile phone.

We met Sam and Nancy Shewmaker, and Greg and Sara Kendall-Ball at the Hotel Isimbi, where would stay the first two nights. They are in Rwanda surveying possibilities. It was very enjoyable seeing their faces, and learning what things they had discovered in the week they had been in Rwanda prior to us. We continue to hope and pray for the Lord to bring more harvesters to Rwanda. The Hotel Isimbi was a simple, clean hotel. It had consistent power, running hot water, a small restaurant. It was in a busy part of town, and we continually heard the sounds of traffic and people’s conversations throughout the night. There were no comfortable chairs in the lobby or restaurant. For 9 of us, we paid $366 for 2 nights stay.

Since our original reservation to stay in a furnished house had fallen through, we spent our first day trying to find a furnished home to stay several months as we waited for our possessions to arrive from Uganda, and found a more permanent housing situation. We saw several homes. We ran into several difficulties. First, the expense of some furnished homes ran as high as $2,200 per month. The other was that landlords wanted at least a 6 month commitment while we only wanted to make a commitment of 2 to 3 months. Fortunately, our friend, Ann – the Secretary General in the Ministry of Gender, referred us to her friend, Joy who had a furnished home to rent. As soon as we entered Joy’s home, it just felt right. There are several new housing estates in Kigali for middle class families. Joy’s home is in the Gaculiro Estate. It is one of the first true neighborhoods we had seen in Africa with street signs, house numbers, an open park for children to play, and quiet residential streets for our children to ride their bikes upon. The house was a duplex with 3 bedrooms and very spacious living and dining room. It will be perfect to host fellowships. It had a small fenced in yard perfect for Timothy to play in. Joy graciously negotiated rent to $1,500 per month, and allowed us to make just a 3 month commitment.

We moved into the home on Friday, June 24. We had a great sense of expectation about what the future of our family and ministry would be in such a home. However, our eagerness was shortly lived as our power went out the first night. We scrambled to light candles, and then began to notice that we were going through a severe brown out instead of a complete black out. (Later the next day, Joy sent an electrician who discovered some type of fault in the home’s wiring that could be corrected so that our power was stable.)

We spent Saturday unpacking, organizing, and washing clothes. There was no washing machine or dryer so the washing was all by hand in the bath tub, and the clothes were hung out to dry. Unfortunately, we did not notice our water situation, and used up all the reserve water in the storage tank. As of Monday morning, we have gone 2 nights without running water, and are eager to take a shower or bath.

The home is the first home we have ever lived in Africa that does not have bars on the windows. It is a very pleasant feel. Kigali has an exceptionally low crime rate. Everyone we talk to remark about what a wonderful blessing the security situation is in Rwanda.

We have done some household shopping, and the cost of living in Kigali is remarkably high. In fact, at this point this is the area that has us most concerned about our long-term living in Rwanda. We came to Rwanda with significantly less than we believed we needed to minimally live and work. Already, we are finding our initial estimates to be short, and we are in the continual mode of trying our best to manage while we hope for something more to materialize. For instance in our initial grocery shopping we spent about $150 for what in Oklahoma would have been about $80 of groceries. We were just trying to buy simple breakfast and lunch meals for a few days. Maybe, the biggest surprise was paying $11 for a box of Cheerios. Kigali is much like what Uganda was like 10 years ago economically. The economy is rapidly recovering, but cost of living is high. There are few locally produced goods. Most items are imported from Europe, Asia, Kenya, or now Uganda. There are no large scale South African grocery stores. The stores are small affairs that import limited numbers of goods. We also have gone looking for a washing machine and dryer to purchase. We are struggling to keep up washing by hand. We had budgeted to spend about $500 on each appliance, but at this point are finding prices in the range of $900 to $1,200 for each appliance despite our best negotiating.

The bird life in Kigali has brought a unique insight. We have not seen a single vulture and only a couple marabou storks near man-made lakes. Vultures and marabou Storks are Africa’s scavengers. They are expected to be on the African plains following lion prides. Instead, today their most common environments are urban African jungles where they sift through piles of human garbage. There is not enough garbage in Kigali to support the existence of vultures and marabou storks. We find Kigali’s cleanliness to be refreshing.

Sophia had one interesting bird experience during our second day. We were eating at an open air African restaurant. Our children were enjoying eating the African food we had missed so much on our furlough. As Sophia was coming back to our table from the buffet with a plate full of food, a kite (a medium sized hawk like bird of prey) swept down and grabbed Sophia’s plate. After the shrieks and commotion the kite dropped the plate, and though unsettled, Sophia got another plate of food and continued our lunch.

The highlight of our stay has been the purpose we have come to Rwanda – to make disciples and plant churches. It is our intention to spend roughly our first 6 months visiting churches to learn what is happening in Rwanda, and hopefully to develop some relationships with other churches so that we will not be seen as an exclusive, strange, or cultic group. Dave was invited to preach at a local independent Rwanda church, The Church of Good Faith in Rwanda on our first Sunday. The worship was refreshing with lots of African rhythm. Once Timothy overcame his fear of new people, he couldn’t stop dancing. On Sunday evening we met with Justin Rudasingwa to worship, pray, and dream about the future of church planting in Rwanda. We left feeling expectant for what the Lord will do in coming years.

So, where will we start? Just simply by trying to live, make friends, learn, dream, and build brick by brick. The Lord has been good to us in our first few days in Rwanda. We have a furnished home to live in. We have made some good Rwandan friends to advise and help us. We are concerned about the high cost of living, but are able to live today so we will just keep going forward.

We thank all of your for your support, prayers, and encouragement that have brought us this far.

Imana ikurinde (May God keep you),

Dave and Jana