Day 12

Today we went to visit a church in bugasera. We stepped off the bus to find a beautiful church building, in the middle of the bugasera district, which serves three communities. Before the service started we took the time to go and visit some plants that had been planted in a field by a previous comfort Rwanda team. One of the original planters (archie) was telling us the the plants were orginally tiny. The plants were now huge... Bigger than archie (though that's not saying too much!). The most glorious thing though was that they were bearing fruit. These plants, planted by a previous group, were providing exactly the aid that they were meant to, and exactly the aid that was despirately needed! It was wonderful to see the efforts of the previous group were bearing fruit, and to think that the actions of our group will produce such despirately needed fruit.

After we had seenbthe fields we returned to the church and the service began. Again, the service was one of vibrance and worship. The people welcomed us warmly and praised God richly. The service lasted 4 hrs! Archie preached about Christ - who is our atoning sacrifice and interceeds on our behalf. 1 john 2:1-6. When the service ended we were offered drinks and time to mix with the rwandans.

After we had finished at the church we went to visit comfort village. Comfort village is a village that has been built up over the last few years by donations, from individuals and groups, to build houses for the community. Each of the houses is made of stone and cement and cost £6000 to make. The residents are charged with the care of the property, but are not charged any rent. Solace are in control of the project and established that the greatest need in the community was to build houses.

After our visit to comfort village we visited the genocide memorial in bugasera. This was a church (probably smaller than chryston church hall) where around 5000 Tutsis took shelter during the genocide. The Hutu forces surrounded the church and invaded. They killed almost everyone inside the church in many different and horrific ways. The things that they did are too horrible to mention here. The Hutus slaughtered the tutsis that had taken refuge there. Only 10 of the 5000 survived. Those 10 only survived because they were hidden underneath the dead. The church was still filled with the clothes of those who died there. The church also contained the tomb of a girl who was violently gang raped, then murdered. Outside the church was a memorial to a nun who had tried to warn the outside world that the genocide was taking place. In the grounds of the church were tombs containing the bones of all those killed in the area during the genocide. The entire team were emotionally devistated to see these things and hear these stories. We sat, as a group, heads in our hands feeling such sorrow. The question on everyones mind was "how could these things be allowed to happen?"

God answered this question for me. He told me that we had fallen so far because of sin. He told me that, while we are a people who seek to know Christ and become like him, the people who did these things did not know him and had turned in the opposite direction. He also told me of the need to spread the name of Christ all over the world. We must lift the name of Christ high, that all may come to know him, all may come to seek him and all may become like him. Only then will these things be gone.

After the trip to the genocide memorial we all went to safari's house for lunch/dinner. We spent some much needed time in fellowship, eating, talking and worshipping God. This simple time of worship was such a juxtaposition from the genocide memorial. It showed us that, while there is such sorrow in the past, the people of Rwanda are letting the sorrow leave them and embracing the joy of the lord. Alleluia!

Please pray for the teams last day together. Please pray that it would be a good time of fellowship, that the friendships would remain when we leave and that people would carry what they have learned home and that it would change their hearts.

Comfort Rwanda team.

Day 14

Really the only way to describe the team at the moment is exhausted. Our first flight left at 1am Rwandan time and second left nairobi at 7:10am Rwandan time. I think every member of the team has managed a few hours sleep, but I don't think anyone has had a good sleep.

For me, the journey - thus far - has been a great chance to reflect on the trip as a whole. I'll post sone final reflects tomorrow, after i've had a good nights sleep, but I think one of the key things I've noticed in the last two weeks was the joy of the rwandans. they do not spend their days asking "why me God?" or "why did this happen to me?" or even "do you even love me lord?". Instead they spend their time praising God, loving him for his grace, his provision, his salvation and his unfailing love. Without God, Rwanda would be dead. It is by the grace of God that Rwanda has survived and knows joy. Rwanda has known such sorrow, but instead of embracing it, they have left it at the cross, and instead embrace the joy of the Lord. Simply amazing!

We are currently sitting in Amsterdam airport waiting for our final flight hone. Please pray that all goes smoothly, that we would all arrive safely, that the second group would have a smooth journey and that they would arrive home safely too.

Thank you
Comfort Rwanda team

Day 13

Today was the final day in Rwanda. The trip seems to have gone so quickly but I think we ate all completely shattered from it.

Today we went to visit a group of genocide survivors in Rahooha (yes... I did make that spelling up! I'm sorry!) When we arrived in Rahooha, we again went to visit some more plants that a previous group had planted for the community. As with yesterday, it was wonderful to see the fruit coming to bear from previous work done by comfort Rwanda groups. It gave us such a feeling of hope for the work that we have been doing over here in the last 2 weeks. We then attended a service in which we were welcomed warmly, told stories by various survivors and invited to preach to them. David was preaching about Jeremiah 29:11... God having plans for our lives. After his sermon, craig gave his testimony speaking about how God has been working in his life, even though craig didn't believe in God all of the time, God was still working to draw Craig in. After David and craig had spoken one of the Rwandans spoke and said that he believed the survival of that community was evidence that God exists. He believes that if God did not exist, and if God had not been watching over rthem, then they would have been wiped out.

After church we had a quick football game - Scotland vs Rwanda. There were about 6 scots vs about 15 rwandans. Scotland won 5-4! And graeme managed to fall over again!

After the game of football we went to visit a girl who had been orphaned by the genocide. She was the oldest of 3 siblings and raised money by ploughing her neighbours gardens. She told us that by doing this she made around 60 pence a day, which she despirately needed to support her family. She also told us that she would love to get into sewing, but she wasn't able to afford to do the training. Sewing would be a far more lucrative job and really help her to support her family.

After this home visit, we returned to solace so that the group who are leaving tonight could get some chance to pack before going to pastor paul's house for dinner. By the time we got back to solace, we had about 45 mins to pack, and shower, before going to dinner. Gotta love a challenge! When we did arrive at pastor paul's house we were very tight for time for us to eat and then get back and get to the airport. We had some good time of fellowship, some music, some great food but sadly it was cut short by our need to get to the airport. Pastor Paul said a final farewell to us, in which he said that the important thing was that we came. Rwanda needs people to come, to see what has happened, to help them move on, to see the hope there is in Christ and to spread the word of Christ throughout the land. That was our most important function, that we saw what had happened, and we saw how people were moving on.

We did, thankfully, make it to the airport in time for out 1am flightly leaving Kigali. Now all that remains is the epic flight back. Fun.

Can you please pray for put safe travel home and the second group, who have tomorrow in Rwanda, and fly out on Wednesday morning at 3am

Thank you
Comfort Rwanda team

Day 11

Today we were working with some of the kids from friends of Jesus to machete the over growth that was on the site where the college will be built. (did that make sense?) I think quite a few of the guys had really been looking forward to the chance to do this - just a chance to use machettes and hack at some over growth... What's not to love?

Unfortunately at breakfast quite a few of the team (myself included) were not feeling very well. After some prayer (thanks David), some paracetomol and a whole lot of water we set out in the hope that we would be ok.

We arrived at about 10:30 and got started hacking away in pairs - one cutting and the other watching that there was no danger to anyone else. It was good fun, but hard work. We made sure that we were switching positions regularly so that we didn't get too tired. It felt good to be using our energy to do something really simple, but really helpful. The bus left us there and went to collect the friends of Jesus who were going to help us.

When the friends of Jesus arrived they spread out through the groups and started taking turns to cut. The friends of Jesus were very good at cutting the over growth and made their way through large parts of it fairly well. We had some good chats with some of them, while others cut, and then we switched places. After a couple of hours work, we had cut a down a big section of over growth and decided it was lunch time. We all climbed onto the bus, took the friends of Jesus back to the church, and headed into Kigali for lunch.

After lunch we returned to the church to meet up with the friends of Jesus. We spent some time with them there, playing games, singing songs, organising stuff and generally having a good time with them. After a few hours we returned to the hotel. For the first time on the trip we had an opportunity to go swimming and a few of us made the most of it. The pool was freezing, but it was just lovely to relax and swim.

The rest of the day was spent having dinner, reflecting on the day and relaxing. At reflections we considered the insanity of the whole trip. We thought about the things we keep seeing, and that they don't seem to be people acting normally. You would think that when someone does something horrific to you, the normal reaction is to hate them... So why is it that we keep seeing people forgiving one another?

Day 10

I apologise in advance for this post. Towards the end it discusses, in detail, the horrible things that happened to a genocide survivor. If you don't feel you want to read that please skip paragraph 5. It is included so that, those who want to, can get a taste of the horrors of the genocide. It is not included for shock value, but more so that we can see God working in this place.

1. We started today by setting off to visit the high school that pastor paul's children attend. It was their last day of term, and the kids were having their last exams before breaking up for their school holidays.

2. When we got to the high school, we were told that the kids were just finished their exams and were waiting for their parents to arrive to take them home. The head teacher met us and took us on a tour of some of the classrooms. We then stood out in the courtyard talking to a group of the school kids. Some of us were talking, others singing and some others took the opportunity to kick a football around. The kids were wonderful to talk to and to sing with. Pastor Paul had told me that a group of the kids met up for worship on Sundays, on campus, because they didn't go home at weekends and because they prefered that than to walk to the local church. He told me that this was something they arranged themselves. I felt really challenged by this, because it's not something that I would have done when I was their age. I think I would have convinced myself that I would walk into town for church, then, when the alarm went off on Sunday morning, rolled over and went back to sleep. It was a great testiment to their faith, and their hunger for God, that they were keen to do that.

3. Having finished at the school, we then went to the house of another person who was part of the healing and reconsiliation project. We spent the rest of the afternoon, and the start of the evening, helping this lady cement her floor. Men arrived and dumped a truck load of sand and a truck load of cement which we had to carry to moira's house. It wasn't very far that we had to carry it, but there was a lot of sand and a lot of cement that needed to be moved. It was good, enjoyable work, but very very tiring. Everyone was working together as a team to move this sand and help Moirai as much as possible. The sand was heavy to move, as was the cement, but everyone on the team, and a lot of kids from the community, were all helping - which meant that the job got done reasonably quickly. To put it in context, had you tried to move all of that sand and cement by yourself - using nothing but shovels and bags - it would have taken you weeks. Instead, it took the group of us a few hours. It was brilliant to think how great an effect this would have on moira's life - and all it took was a couple of hours of our time. It was also an excellent feeling to just be practically helping someone in such a meaningful way. (with that said, my t-shirt is completely ruined!)

4. I was touched today by the willingness of everyone to give of their time, and their energy, to help this lady out.

5. During reflections this evening pastor john told us a little of moira's story. He told us that during the genocide almost her entire family were killed. She was left with no one except her two grandsons. She was also brutally raped by a large group of men and who then cut into her head and left her for dead. As a result of the rape she contracted HIV. I think
This was such a stark reminder for the group of what we are still dealing with here, and the pain and suffering that people have endured. It is also a huge example to us of the kind of obsticles that our God is able to overcome! This lady was raped, repeatedly. She contracted a deadly desease because of this. Most of her family were killed. Yet she still praises God. Yet she still dances and sings with delight for what the Lord has done in her life! Stunning!

I think the feeling from the group today was that we were all exhausted, but that it felt awesome to do something practical to help someone.

Please pray that we continue to be a blessing to the Rwandan people and that our fellowship remain strong.

Comfort Rwanda team

Ps Kirsty asked me to mention her in the blog... So there we go!

Day 8

Today was our last day at the school. On route to the school today we stopped by a small refugee camp on the boarder of Rwanda, Uganda and tanzania. The camp contained about 18 families who had fled Rwanda and were just in the process of returning. Most of the families had been in the camp for several years, but had no where else to go. The camp was very sparse. Again there was no clean water source - the only source of water was the same reservoir as served gakagati. The camp was fairly small, containing small huts each eith a garden for growing crops. It is amazing how so many people can live on so little, relying on nothing but the provision of God.

After visiting the camp, we continued on to the school for our final sessions. Again the kids were delighted to see us. We started the day with an assembly, after which we split into classes and started running activities. The first sports group was primary 1 and contained roughly 160 kids! The team were all exhausted, and most of us were feeling rather unwell, but we were given the strength to carry on, and give the kids one final day of real enjoyment. At lunch time we held one final assembly for the kids in which we said goodbye. We told them that we would always remember them and that we would continue to pray for them to come to know Christ.

Having finished at the school, we went to the same house again for lunch. All completely exhausted we sat for ages eating, speaking little and just recovering some strength. Again, the ladies that owned the house had provided food for us. It was different from what we would normally eat, and enjoy, but we were just so thankful for the provision of something. After we had eaten we said a huge thank you to the ladies, who had given the best they had for us, and then got back on the bus and returned to solace. We were all filthy, and shattered, so the bus tide home was a great chance for us to just rest.

When we returned to solace, we were all hungry, tired, muddy and thankful for the chance to eat and then clean ourselves.

Before most of us cleaned ourselves, we took the time to sit, as a group, and reflect on the days at gakagati. Paul was leading the reflections, and told the group of his desire to try to start attending church. He told us that he had talked to craig who had told him that if he did not like the first church, to keep try and not lose faith, to keep going until he finds a home. What a glorious answer to prayer that is!

When craig and I returned to our room, we talked about how one of us should try to speak to paul about how to become a Christian. We decided to pray for him, and see if he approaches one of us.

Once we had showered craig, matthew, Paul, conner and myself went down to the church hall in solace, and sang song of worship. We were all shattered, but somehow found the energy to praise god. It was amazing. Our god is an awesome God! We then spent some time in prayer, then went to bed. Such an amazing day.

Please continue to pray for the school kids. They need help. They need a God who can give them all things. They need our God! Please also continue to pray for Paul and the other members of the team. That they would come to know Christ and have a deeper, and renewed relationship with him.

Amen
Comfort Rwanda team

Day 9

After a good sleep, a good breakfast and a great wash, the team are now feeling refreshed and restored. After breakfast we set off to visit the healing and reconsiliation project. This is a project run by pastor Paul between perpatrators and victims of the genocide. At the project the victims and the perpatrators work together to rebuild houses destroyed by the genocide.

At the project, the team got involved in helping to build two of the houses. Some of us were stomping mud, others carrying the mud into the house and some of us throwing mud against the Walls. It was great fun! After we had helped for a short time, we cleaned ourselves off and listened to the testimonies of those involved in building the house. The victim had suffered the loss of her entire family (10 kids & all her brothers and sisters) leaving only her two grandsons alive. The perpatrator had been one of the group involved in murdering her family. Yet here the two were reconsiled with one another, forgiving one another, and working together to rebuild both her house and the community. It was simply amazing! To see such forgiveness. Such an amazing ability to leave the hurt at the cross and move on. The work of God is truly amazing!

After we had worked on the houses, we had lauch and then attended two outreach services. The first of which was held in a garden outside a public hall, the second was held in a church. Graeme was preaching at both services and spoke about the restoration of peter. He spoke fairly powerfully, saying that Jesus was asking a simple question to everyone "do you love me?" At the end of each sermon Graeme asked if anyone could hear Jesus speaking to them, and if they did asked them to raise their hands if they wanted pastor Paul to pray for them, that they would come to know the healing and forgiving power of the cross. At the end of both services, people raised their hands. Through the power of God working in those places, people were saved.

It was amazing to see the power of God at work in those places... To see what God is doing there, the rebuilding of communities, the reconsiliation. The forgiveness! Amazing! Our God is an awesome God.

At reflections Paul and conner both told us they had been extremely moved by what had been said and the sermons in the two churches. I spoke to paul and suggested to him that he speak to someone he trusts in the group about how to become a Christian, and what it means to be a Christian. I also said to him that although he perhaps wasn't ready to become a Christian it would still be good for him to know.

Can you please pray for the people in the healing and reconsiliation project who heard me preach and were touch by it. Could you please pray that they continue to hear God's call on their life, that they know the healing power of the cross and come to know God. Can you also continue to pray for Paul, conner and the rest of the team that the friendship and fellowship would remain strong.

Amen
Comfort rwanda team

Day 7

We spent today running classes at the school in gakagati. On route to the school, we stopped at the reservior to see the only water that the towns people have access too. The water is vile looking. That's the only apt description for it. the water was essentially The kind of water you would get out of a muddy puddle. I have some pictures which I will try to upload, but that may have to wait until I am home. When we were at the reservior people from the town were arriving with their canisters to collect their water for the day. Some of the people were very young, others were very old. The humbling thing for me was to think that the people in the town have probably never tasted fresh clean water. Ever. Something we take for granted, and complain about if it is taken away for a day, is something that they have NEVER had!

When we arrived at the school today we were greeted in a similar fashion to yesterday, where you couldn't move a meter without hugging at least 12 children. Again, the children participated with all of the activities with such a joy and such a passion. It was great to see the delight on all of their faces. It is such a lovely experience to know that we are impacting on their lives so heavily - that we, just by our presence, are showing them the love of God.

After school today, we again held an outreach service for the community. Again a large crowd gathered to hear callum preach about the joy of following Christ and the freedom from sin that comes through him. at the end of the service the people were invited to publicly commit themselves to following Christ. Again a few people decided to follow God's way! Such a glorious thing to witness, people committing themselves to following Christ.

When we returned to the guesthouse we were served dinner. During the meal I had a good chat with pastor Paul who owns parts of gakagati and is responsible for the school bring there. He told me that they were just starting a church in gakagati, and that these outreach services were the begginning of that new church. This actually brought tears of joy to my eyes. To think that we are participating so heavily in the building of Christ's kingdom among these people is amazing. Paul also told me about the pastor, who is taking on the church in gakagati and the sacrifices he is making in order to start working there. He is moving from an area with clean drinking water, to one that is without water. Ge is making such phenominal sacrifices in the name of our Lord. It ois truly amazing.

Finally pastor paul told me about a conversation he had with the other Paul
In the group. pastor Paul was telling me that Paul had said to him that he had never been to church before, but when he returns he wants to find a church and start attending. How amazing is that? Oh the awesome, awesome power of prayer!

Can you please pray that tomorrow, as we bid farewell to the kids, they remember the love that we represent, and do not remember us for the materials we gave. Can you also pray for the fledegling church in gagakati and the pastor, who is giving up so much to teach these people of the love of God. Finally can you pray for Paul, that he would talk to someone about how to start following Christ and that he would find a church in arbroath that he can be at home in.

Amen
Comfort Rwanda team

Day 6

Today was our first day at the school at gakagati. It took us a Long time to get there and get going this morning as we had to wait for pastor Paul and his friends to join us before we could set off properly. They were meeting us at the entrance to the town we are staying in - nagakati - and we were all going from there. While we were waiting we started a game of football with some of the kids from nagakati. It was a nice was to fill up 20 minutes or so... Although graeme fell over twice! When pastor Paul arrived, we stopped playing and continued on our way to gakagati.

It was quite a long drive to gakagati On the way we passed several fields containing Rwandan cows with large horns in their heads. About 4 km from the school we passed by a reservoir where people were filling large water canisters.

When we got to gakagati it was around 12:30 / 1 pm. The bus was cheered into the town as the school kids had all gathered to welcome us. As soon as we stepped off the bus we were surrounded by kids wanting to hug us, touch us, shake our hands or even just ask us our names. They considered us such a blessing and we hadn't even done anything yet! As soon as got off the bus we were also hit with the phenominal heat of the place.

The first thing we did was hold an assembly for the whole school. We sang some songs with the kids and then did a puppet show in which there was a lost sheep! The kids really enjoyed it. We then all went off to a house for something to eat and drink. The owners of the house had cooked some veg and made some gingery tasting tea (which was really nice, but wasn't the best as it was scorching hot weather outside and the tea was boiling!). In preparation to eat we all washed our hands with muddy water taken out of one of the large water canisters that had been filled at the reservior. During the meal pastor Paul explained that the reservior (4km away) was the closest source of water for the village and that it wasn't a clean water supply. The water had to be boiled to make it drinkable. He explained that a source of clean water was probably the biggest need for the village. It was such a cry of sorrow for me because we take clean, running water for granted back home, whereas the people of gakagati have to walk 4km just to get water that needs to be boiled before it can be used! It also reminded me of the words of Christ "if anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink" I felt challenged that, as a people of Christ, we should be quenching the thirst of his people, both in the form of water, but also in the form of his word. It also hurt to think that while we were inside eating, the kids were outside, probably having nothing to eat.

After the meal, we returned to the school and started our classes. The classes we were dealing with were very large - at least 50 pupils per class. While the kids were in the classes the adults all gathered outside to see what was happening, and join in if at all possible. The classes seemed to go well, with the slight problem of people getting involved who were not part of the school. All in all it worked out well though. I was in the sports group which served as a reminder that people of all colours and ages all enjoy taking part in various sports.

After school was over we returned to the house and had another drink. We then went and participated in an outreach service being held by the school. At the service callum preached very powerfully about how we are all sinners, that we all need Christ and how christ bore our sins on the cross. Amazingly we saw the power of Christ moving in that place as 4 people went forward to repent of their sins and become followers of Christ. It is truly amazing that, though we are so different, we worship the same God.

After that we returned to the guest house with a renewed appreciation of it.

Can you please pray that the next two days here go well, that we are all protected from dehydration and other illnesses and that we would be a blessing to these people, not just thought to be one!

Can you also pray for Paul, one of the boys from Arbroath. He seems to be really engaging with the Christian aspects of the trip and it would be really great if he would chat to one of the team about what it means to be a Christian. Please pray that he would seek Christ and find him
Amen
Comfort Rwanda team

Day 5

This morning the group split into two groups and attended two different churches. One of the groups stayed at, and participated in, the service at solace. The second group - which was the majority of people - attended worship at pastor paul's living church.

The service at the living church was such a vibrant and charismatic expression of worship to God. The service contained singing, dancing, worshiping, praying, speaking and preaching. It was a truly awesome experience to see people worshipping God in such a joyous fashion! At the start of the service we were welcomed by Paul and the entire church. The people in the church were so welcoming and friendly it was amazing. We were not the only visitors to the church today, there were some Americans visiting along with another pastor from Rwanda. All were welcome in the church. One of the the strong messages from church was that we were all brothers and sisters in Christ. No matter colour, nationality or culture, we were all brothers and sisters in christ. It was an amazing church.

Phil was preach in the living church today, and he spoke of the need for us as a church to look, to see the needs of people, to talk to one another of Christ and to offer our right hands to help one another up.

After church today we traveled up to gakagati The facilities here aren't as nice as at solace, but in terms of Rwanda, they are very good. We must be thankful for what we have rather than expect more.

We finished the day today with a group of us joining the rwandans from the town in watching the world cup final on a big screen! It was an amazing experience to stand with the rwandans of the town and cheer on Spain to victory!

Day 4

Today we went to visit some widows of the genocide who support themselves by making crafts. The ladies taught us how to make a craft each. To make the crafts we used rolled up strips of calenders. I found this such an amazing experience, that these ladies would take something that would be rubbish, and turn it into something truly beautiful. Such provision of God, that these women would be given the skills and the materials to make such lovely crafts and support themselves. God provides!

There is also a lovely analogy of the Christian in there too... We, who are broken, soiled and made useless by sin, rather that being discarded, are made into something beautiful by the love of God.

The main event of the day however, was the wedding of Elizear and Amy. The wedding ceremony was simply indescribable (so I'm not going to try!) it was filled with dancing, singing and such joy! What struck me during the wedding was the love that the rwandans have for God. Though we speak diffemet languages, though we come from different cultures, though we wear different clothes, though we live in different circumstances and though we look different we both love, and are loved by, the same God! We are brothers an sisters in Christ! One body!

The other thing that struck me during the wedding was the strength of God's love for us. The preacher (pastor Paul) was talking about marrage as being unbreakable love. This lead me to think of the love that God has for us, that - no matter what we do and no matter how many times we turn our back on him - there is nothing we can do that will separate us from the love of God! We can, and will, be forgiven providing we repent and turn our eyes to God! All because of the cross. Amazing love!

On another note... Some of the group have started to notice that the school boys from Arbroath are really starting to engage with the Christian aspect of things. The boys are starting to get involved with, and really enjoy, singing the songs with us. They also seem to have started asking questions about us and about church. We feel this is amazing and would really appreciate some prayer for this... Although we came here to help the Rwanda people, we are starting to see God moving in the lives of these boys - that is truly amazing! Please pray that they would come to know Christ.

Thank you for your prayers
Comfort Rwanda team

Ps. Tomorrow (Sunday) we travel to the school up in Gagakati.... We don't know what we'll find there, but it is fairly likely that there won't be an Internet connection available. Unfortunately that means that there might not be any more blogs until we return on Wednesday. Please pray for us, with our trip up there and with our work with the school kids and community there

Thank you

All members of the Rwanda team are now here safe and well... And with no lost luggage! The second group arrived at around 9:45, promptly freshened themselves, and then joined the first group as we all went to see the Rwandan genocide memorial.

The memorial went through, in great detail, the events preceeding the genocide, the events occuring throughout Rwanda during the genocide and the work done immdiately after the genocide. I think we all had the same reaction to this. We all felt such sock that people can hate so much as to beat, mug, rape and murder one another in such horiffic ways. We all felt the shock and shame that, as this was happening, the world did nothing. We knew it was coming - we did nothing. We knew it was happening, even publicly condemned it - we did nothing. We finally offered aid after it was over - we did nothing. Evil prospers when good men do nothing. Why were we not screaming at the top of our voices that we needed to help... People were dying! Surely we had to do something!

How can God allow these things to happen? How can he allow such hate of fellow man, such violence? It is because we live in a fallen world, we have turned our will from God's way and we have chosen our own.

The second thing we did today was to visit some homes. The home I visited was no bigger that a bathroom... There was a matress for a double bed on the floor and about another foot either side of the matress. This was the home for two girls who were both students. The one we spoke to spoke with such joy. She spoke of her love of God and His grace to her. She told us that she, when she can, she gives money to help those less fortunate than herself. Such amazing grace! They often struggle to raise £15 for rent, a month, yet they give what they can to help those less fortunate! Such amazing grace! Such amazing reliance on God!

Finally we attended a stag/hen night for a couple who have invited us to their wedding on Saturday. In this we saw that God gives such joy to those who follow his will. The girl who is getting married was part of the group that came to Rwanda last year and had decided to stay. She heard the call of God in her life, to stay in Rwanda, and obeyed him. As a result she has met and will soon marry the love of her life. God has rewarded her for following Him. There is joy in following the will of our God!

Blessings
Comfort Rwanda team

Day 2 take 2

yesterday we visited josephine and marcelline, both of whom are sponsored by solace. They told us very moving stories of their experience of how they, and their families, were affected by the genocide.

Marcelline had s beautiful smile. I asked her what made her smile these days? Her reply - I am living and have hope!

Looking forward to jari farm visit today.

Day 3

Today we went to visit the jari community - which is a community sponsored by a church in Dumbarton. This involved a long bus ride up a very steep hill. When we got to the jari community we were greeted then we entered a hall for a meeting with the community. This involved singing, praying and preaching. During the meeting several members of the community talked to the group about their experiences of the genocide. They also showed us horriffic scars that they still bore from the genocide. For the whole group this seemed to make the genocide seem like real events... Until now we had read about what happened, but not seen the extent of the effects on each individual.

As part of the service David preached about laying our sorrows and our pain at the cross. We then prayed for the members of the communities that they would be able to do this.

After the meeting we went for a long walk down a hill to visit the homes of members of the community. It was so humbling to see how little they had, yet how thankful they were for it. Whereever we went we were greeted with such love and friendliness. The path back up the hill was long and steep, and when we arrived at the top we were completely exhausted, but we were welcomed by a large group of kids who had gathered there to see us. We spent some time talking with the kids, asking them questions and answering theirs. They loved having their photos taken.

As we were walking around jari, our guide was constantly saying to us "just one more house". We had to stop visiting house because we had run out of time and it had gotten dark, but this made us realise that the genocide didn't just affect a handful, but rather, there is always another house to visit, another story to hear and another person who needs the love of God.

I think the main thing that we saw and learned today was just how much passion these people have for the lord. During the service, when members of the community were getting upset or angry about what was being said, they would calm themselves by praying and singing to God. They found such peace in the lord. In every house we visited we were asked questions about ourselves and we were thanked for being there. We were never asked for donations or money or gifts, but our presence was such a calming influence on the people and such a blessing that they did not need more from us. It also struck us that, the hill that we all struggled to climb up, is a hill that those people have to climb to attend the church services and to attend solace. It was truely a long and difficult climb, but they do it regularly because of their love for the Lord. How amazing!

Hello and welcome to the Rwanda blog! Hope you enjoy reading it and we thank you for your continuing prayers.

Because of the size of the group going to Rwanda this year we have split into two groups to travel. The first group - who are traveling slightly earlier than the second group - is made up of all of the chryston folks plus some others from in and around Glasgow. The second group is mainly comprised of the folks from Arbroath.

The first group is currently sitting in a cafe in Nairobi airport waiting for our final flight to take us into Rwanda. Most of the group are playing UNO, some are out visiting the shops in Nairobi airport, but for some (craig roger) it has all been too much and he is curled up sleeping! Our final flight should leave in a little over two hours... Just enough time to watch some football!

Please pray that the last leg of our journey goes well, we all arrive safely, the second group travel well and arrive safely and that all our luggage arrives!

Thank you for your prayers
Comfort Rwanda group