Easter on my Birthday

  

 

Well today is not only my birthday, but more importantly it is Easter.  And as we celebrate  the resurrection of Christ and the blood he spilt to save us, I am reminded of how truly blessed I am.  I am blessed to have the family I have, the friends I have and the life that I have been given. 

 

We spent Easter in our church.  A traditional African service that lasts about 3-4 hours.  It consists of lots and lots of singing and dancing.  The people are so joyful when they sing and dance just praising Jesus as Lord.  During the service I was asked to introduce our team and tell them the reason as to why we are here.  I explained to them that we are here to love them and to prepare them for 40 days of purpose which they will start next week.  After which, Phil gave a greeting and Cindy gave her testimony.  Later on in the service I stood up and preached the sermon.  Having never done anything like that before, my nerves were off the Richter scale to say the least.  Which is interesting considering the amount of public speaking I do!   It was supposed to be 30 minutes long, with me speaking for about 15 minutes and with the translator speaking behind me it totals about 30 minutes.  However, because I was nervous I spoke for about 10 minutes at a maximum.  It may have even been shorter.  I don’t know how the people received what I said, nor do I know if what I said was any good.  My team and Shawn said it was, but they could have just been being nice. ;-)  Regardless, it was a blessing to be able to share the crucifixion and the resurrection with the Rwandese even if it wasn’t one of my better speeches! 

 

After church my team and Shawn and I had lunch back at our apartment with some undercooked chicken and the world’s best pineapple.  We then had a meeting with our pastor back at our church where he explained to us the five giants within his church and community, as the PEACE plan asks them to identify and seek solutions to.  Part of our job here is to help the church identify their giants and help them come up with solutions.  However, our pastor is such an amazing leader and so motivated to help his church and community grow and heal that he not only had the solutions, but he has them in place and they are working!  One of his giants for example is illiteracy, he has set up a program within his church where people within the community can come and take reading classes, free of charge, and they have a graduation ceremony where they receive a certificate of literacy.  He is so motivated to bring hope and healing and growth to not only his church but also the community, it is so refreshing to see.  He is willing to do whatever it takes to see a change in Rwanda and her people.

 

After the meeting we drove just a little ways down the road to see this church that was started by small group of 26 people.  They built the church and now they have over 100 members not counting their children (which would total for over 200).  The church itself was beautiful with a winding pathway up to the church and a large garden. 

 

The road to get there however was horrid!  It was an experience that none of us will ever forget.  If you have ever been on the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland you will have a very slight understanding of what the drive to this church was like.  It is a bumpy dirt road and because it was raining all night and all day it was very muddy.  There are large gutters on either side of the road that were about 3-4’ wide and at least 5-6’ deep (in the smallest parts).  Bouncing up and down on the road and sliding back and forth in the mud was an F-ticket ride for sure!  At one point when I slammed up against the window and by the grace of God our van stopped right before the back tire slipped into the big gutter I yelled “this I way more than an E-ticket ride!”  My big 2” binder came into good use as I used it for a head shield….you know me and my helmets!  HA!  But we survived, white knuckled and white faced we came out alright.

 

Shawn and Arthur met us for dinner up at New Cactus for dinner.  Once again it was amazing.  The restaurant sits on top of this hill and overlooks Kigali.  It is so beautiful up there.  You sit outside and the food is amazing.  Christophe our server, a friend of Shawn’s took care of us again.  Arthur made me a birthday card on the computer with my picture on the front that says “Happy Birthday Brittany Frick”.    He wrote me the sweetest message and had a picture of Shawn and I on the inside.   Erick from the PEACE office here in Rwanda called to wish me a Happy Birthday as well.  It was awesome.  Even though it didn’t feel like my birthday, probably because it felt more like Easter, which it should, or maybe because my brother forgot to call me!  Of course until my mom quickly called to reminded him.   Regardless the day was amazing and I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to not only spend my birthday in Rwanda, but more importantly Easter.