Can I just tell you that within the past 12 hours I have had a cockroach come crawling out of my breakfast plate and a HUGE black and yellow spider drop down onto my shoulder and onto my computer…. AHHHHHH!!! Lol, it’s actually kind of humorous now but oh my word, as most of you know I am SO not a bug person. But praise the Lord, I didn’t even freak out like I normally do! Honestly, I don’t know how I kept my composure as I would usually be screaming and running like a little girl, but I think Africa is toughening me up a bit 
Besides the bugs, life here is fantastic 
Susie and I spent last week together, exploring different places in Rwanda and getting to know some of the staff at the guesthouse. Pastor Steven took us to a Genocide Memorial Site in Nyamata, which was extremely humbling and difficult at times to comprehend the death that surrounded the site. Over 40,000 people died in this church… Many Tutsis had run here during the time of the genocide, assuming that it would be a place of refuge because they were in the house of God. However, the priests turned on their Tutsi brothers and sisters, murdering all that were in the church compound. It is unbelievable to think that any man is capable of doing such harm to another person, especially a man of God. In the back of the church they had created mass graves for all that perished in the church. We walked down the stairs, underground, to see casket upon casket holding the bones of 10-15 people per box. Further in were the skulls and bones of many others… I could not think of anything else to do but pray at this point. I cannot even describe to you the feeling of walking around and in those graves, knowing that there is a unheard story for every one of them. Inside the church held the stained and bloody clothing of those that had died inside the church. The clothing literally filled the church, every corner, every pew…. What an experience.
Today I had the chance to talk with Didas, the guesthouse manager, who gave me a lot of background and history on Rwanda, including the effects of the genocide and how reconciliation is taking place in the country today. Gentrification has been happening at a very fast rate here, and many of the poor are being kicked out of their own homes to make Kigali “look better.” Ugh that is so maddening if you ask me! Last year Didas had wanted to build his own house but the government wouldn’t let him, because it wasn’t up to “their standards,” which basically meant it wasn’t big enough or nice-looking enough. As far as reconciliation, great strides have taken place to bring communities and neighbors together in peace. The Gacaca Courts have held trials in many villages, asking for the stories of witnesses, victims and perpetrators to bring justice to each community. At the end of this year, those trials will end and 740,000 perpetrators will be released from the prisons and into the communities as a way to reintegrate them back into society. These next few months will be months of incredible change and hardship, as reconciliation will truly be put to the test. Please pray for the reconciliation within Rwanda and that God would lead the perpetrators in repentence and the victims/witness into forgiveness. I will continue to keep you updated on the status of this, as it will be a huge time of change for this country.
On a lighter note, Susie and I got to see our first Rwandan soccer game on Saturday! Though they lost, it was still a lot of fun and very entertaining. Sunday night we taught some of the guys who work at the guesthouse how to play UNO…. haha they absolutely love it! We played for a few hours that night and made plans to play again the next day. I’m slowly picking up more Kinyarwanda every day and many of the guesthouse staff have been so good to me in that respect, continually re-teaching me the same words I forget over and over again Patrick and I made a deal that if I teach him how to use Microsoft Word and Excel he’ll teach me Kinyarwanda! So I think I may have myself a tutor! Not only that, but he will be teaching me how to do my laundry as well! Seeing as I’ve never handwashed anything in my life, I need a little help lol.
It will be getting dark fairly soon and I still need to walk back home so I better end it at this! I’ve had several people ask if they could pass my email on to others… feel free to do so! Please keep me in your prayers and keep me updated on your lives as well!
Many Blessings,
