Stuck in the mud!

Today was a HOT day! I’m not sure exactly what the temperature would have been, but it was HOT! We all gathered together for breakfast again this morning and set off for the worksite. Today was a special day because today we were going to be able to purchase some of the items made by the folks who went through Simone Pierre’s programs. There were some awesome things there, and we nearly cleaned them out. I’m not going to list any of the items just in case you may be getting some of it for Christmas! After that we headed back to the work site. Today was a slower day due to a lack of cement mix and we were putting the braces on the rafters. We helped out where we could. One thing we did notice was that today there was a higher volume of local women there helping. It was explained to us later that after receiving their new goats on Saturday, many of those people wanted to get involved in what we were doing at the school and help any way they could. These people only seem to know how to give! Then in the afternoon we worked a little longer and then headed off to visit some of the people who had received livestock so we could pray for them and their home. It was great to see some of these people again and the excitement. They would greet us at their gates, goats in step, wanting us to show us their homes. One lady brought a few of us into her home, grabbed some hands and began to pray. We couldn’t understand what she was saying but you knew that it was a prayer of thanksgiving for what God had done for her. How often do we stop and give thanks to God for the things that we have? And just for a little excitement, on our way back, the rain started, and it rained hard. As I mentioned before, after traveling on these roads I will never complain again, well we got stuck in the mud, and stuck good. The men all got out and pushed and got dirty but that’s just one more experience we now have in Africa.
Before supper a few of us headed over to the market. What a zoo! There are people everywhere trying to get you to buy what they have, which is everything under the sun! I am beginning to learn that in Gisenyi, and maybe all of Rwanda, though it may look like complete chaos, everything seems to have a purpose and a certain order to it. At the market we were able to find some traditional items but was surprised by the amount of ‘Made In America’ items that were for sale.
Next stop was Simone Pierre’s home for supper and fellowship and then off to bed. Again folks thanks for praying for us and keeping up to date with us. We also want to thank you for all the support we received at home building up to this trip. In all the ways that you contributed we are thankful because we are really seeing lives changed over here in Rwanda. We’ll be home in less then a week!

Love, Project Lov Rwanda Team