Our first day in Cyangugu was spent visiting various ICM projects. ICM helps congregations build church buildings at a cheaper cost compared to if a congregation decided to build on their own. At first I thought we were just going to see the projects, however, we participating in Umuganda. Umuganda is a civic work day where individuals work on local projects. It is an interesting concept and I wonder what Greensboro would look like if we took part in Umuganda.
On my first visit to Rwanda, we participated in Umuganda. We helped build a wall onto a widow’s house. We had to carry large bricks down a ravine to where the widow’s house was. Luckily we made a long human assembly line and were able to hand off bricks down the line which made work a lot easier. The widow was a survivor of the genocide that had adopted children whose parents were killed in the genocide. When we arrived at the first location, we found men and women leveling land. They didn't have any graders or backhoes like we have here in the US that would make quick work of the task at hand. The only tools that they had were shovels, hoes, mattocks, and wheelbarrows.
There were two work areas; one area where all of the hoeing was going on, breaking up the top soil and moving the soil towards the bottom of the hill. The other work area was where mounds of soil where being shoveled into a wheelbarrow and taken to the bottom of the hill and emptied. We all got out of the van, grabbed a hoe or a shovel and began to work. We shoveled and moved dirt for about 45 minutes. The Rwandans taught us a song and at one point we were all singing and working together. Needless to say at the end of 45 minutes, I realized that it has been many years since I’ve actually worked a day in my life. We all were hot, sweaty, and dirty. We then said, “Murabeho!” (goodbye) and got back into the van and drove to another site where a church was being built and shoveled and hoed dirt around again for 30 minutes.
Despite my body hating life during that hour and 15 minutes of shoveling and hoeing, what struck me most was the joy and unity of the congregation. People of the congregation all came together and have been investing and sacrificing their time, energy, and what little money they have into building a church that will expand God’s kingdom in Rwanda. There is no telling the impact that this church will have in the future; all because of 20-30 folks had a vision of building a church and were willing to invest money, time, and doing the hard work, which can sometimes be the dirty work. It is also encouraging to me regarding the opportunities God has for Redeemer in the years ahead. Who knows what things that we can achieve for God’s glory and to build His kingdom when brothers and sisters come together with the same vision and are willing to put in the hard work. At the end of the day, apart from God, we can do nothing.
Typically when you go to a foreign country on a missions trip and work on a project it is called “Sweating for Jesus.” But what we did today should actually be called “Immanuel Labor.” Brothers and sisters in Christ came together and worked with each other to help build a church to expand God’s kingdom on earth. Imane Ishimwe! (Praise the Lord!)
written Ryan Kildoo
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