Monday (delayed due to no internet connection on Monday)

Another early start as some of us (Grace, Jim and Andy) were visiting three parishes along with Placide and our driver, Efraim. Valerie and Heather were going to be visiting the King Solomon Academy, Hannah Ministry and the coordinator of Mothers’ Union.

After breakfast, three of us joined Efraim in the car and set off for the three parishes. We were due to pick up Placide from the side of the road as we were passing by his parish. The rendezvous worked out fine and we continued our journey together.

Meanwhile, back at the centre, Valerie and Heather were waiting for their lift up to the KSA. After some confusion as to where the driver was, they got their lift and spent some good time meeting the head teacher and looking around the school. Their visit coincided with exams, so they were not able to observe any lessons.

Their time at Hannah Ministry was very positive. They were able to meet the cook, the orphaned children who are cared for as well as the leaders of the widows group who make baskets. We hope to increase our support for Hannah Ministry in the future by selling more of their baskets in the UK. We were also able to pass on some gifts of bowls, cups, plates and cutlery, sent from the UK.

Our visits to the parishes of Ngarama, Bugarura and Nyabihu, was relatively uneventful. Three journeys accompanied by a dust cloud with disappearing pedestrians. Three wonderful welcomes accompanied by the usual hospitality (food, food, food!). Three opportunities to meet the parish pastor and their leadership team.

In Ngarama, the church building is huge and round. The roof is steeply pitched and goes up very high to take heat away from the congregation. It has a metal framework with square box sections, just like a circus tent, so one could imagine trapeze artists swinging high over the crowd below. The roof will yield many litres of water once a water harvesting project (WHP) is installed.

In Nyabihu, it was good to see one of the recent WHPs in place. Final connections need to be made, but we gathered round, laid hands on the tank and prayed the Lord’s blessing on its part in the ministry of the local church.

By the time we were on our way back to the diocesan centre it was late and getting dark. Being so close to the equator, the sun sets very quickly and with no street lights, the dirt tracks can be hazardous at night. So we were grateful to Efraim for his careful driving and were pleased to get ‘home’ safe and sound.

Tomorrow we head off to Gasabo diocese for the second leg of our visit.

Thanks for reading and goodnight.