The Journey into Gahini (Day 3)

(We only have internet sporadically, so we will publish posts when we can!)

This post is written by Ryan Kildoo

After waking up from a night of playing games and enjoying each other's company, we ate breakfast, had devotions, and began our journey to visit the diocese. The diocese is located on top of one of the many hills in Rwanda. Rwanda is called the land of a thousand hills, and it definitely lives up to its name. Even the hills have hills! Today we visited the cathedral, the local hospital, and the school and library in Gahini.

We made our way up the dirt road to the cathedral where folks gather to worship. Some people drive cars, if they have them, but many people walk to church, which could be miles away from where they live. WE met one of the pastors and ate lunch inside the cathedral. The cathedral is a rectangular room with stained glass widows, filled with wooden benches on the right and eft side of the room with an aisle down the middle. At the far end of the cathedral, there is a raised stage with a podium, piano, and a number of chairs for the pastors. Some chairs have the pastor's name inscribed on them as a sign of respect. On the opposite end of the cathedral, there is a wall in which multiple bags are hung. These bags are used for tithes and offerings; no collection plates are passed like they are back home.

After eating lunch, we visited the school and met with the principal, Luke, He took us into his office and briefly explained how the school operates. The school is government funded, however, students have to pay tuition to attend the school. For one year, the cost of tuition is around $240. After meeting with the principal, we visited a classroom of students. We passed many classrooms on our way to the one we were visiting. Many students were gathered at the windows, wanting to have a look at us. It was almost as if famous people were visiting the school, and we were the famous people. In the classroom, the students were learning about photosynthesis and we were able to give them a break to spend some time with them. The classroom was composed of a room with a large chalkboard and a number of desks. At first, the students were kind of shy; who wouldn't be when a group of 18 people you don't know walk into your classroom and want to hang out with you? But it didn't take long for them to warm up to us and soon they were just as excited to see us as we were to see them!

After visiting the school children, we visited the hospital. It had the feel of an elementary school, having separate buildings for different areas connected by open walkways. While the girls of our group visited the maternity ward, we made friends with some children hanging around the hospital and played frisbee with them. They were all laughs and smiles and most of them followed us as we walked around the hospital. We took a tour of the prosthetics shop, in which they custom make devices for patients on site. It was an interesting process in what it takes to make a prosthetic device here. Our tour guide was a very passionate man from Kenya, who pointed out that women have bigger thighs than men. :)

All in al, we had a great time visiting the diocese in Gahini and getting to interact with some of the Rwandan people! Pray for us as we continue to build relationships within our

group and with our brothers and sisters in Rwanda. There are many more days ahead and the men, women, boys and girls that we have already interacted with, have blessed us in many and various ways. From a smile, a wave, or giving a high-five. Asking a child their name and what sports they like to play, throwing frisbee around, shooting a basketball or kicking a soccer ball. Or just sitting down beside someone and striking up a conversation. God and and God's love can be found and shown in the simplest of things.