RWANDA EXPERIENCES:
Pastor Doug Newton and I headed out on February 27th. We laughed about how long we lived without much sleep, showers or a change of clothes but having the opportunity to see firsthand some of the things going on in Rwanda was great. It was pretty awesome to be with Dwight Jackson, Ben Orebaugh, Justin Jefferson, Barry File, Nathan Dowling and others for what was less than 40 hours of time in Rwanda but we made the most of it. I am story teller so you here is the story.
We made several stops on the way to the farm from Kigali, meeting and excavating contractor at Karejo village (spelling?) where a church has been feeding over a 1000 children each week. They had called Dwight asking for help since they have a piece of land they own that if in good production could help meet this need but the land needs significant help with drainage to be productive. Just the kind of partnership that is encouraging. The church is trying to raise the $20000 it will take to accomplish this task.
When we pulled in to the PROCOM farm at Mpanga there was a large gathering of those who had been working. We later found out they were waiting as each one got to come to a table in the middle and get paid for their work. Right near them were Justin and Ben watching and enjoying the people they have had the privilege of working with for the previous weeks.
Shortly after getting our stuff unloaded into the house we walked out to the field where Barry File was steadily working the land in preparation for the next planting. The dirt was beautifully black and healthy and it just smelled great. Barry had spent much of his day teaching Stephen, a local resident, how to drive the tractor but was finishing the day by himself.
When we returned to the house Justin asked us if we would like to ride to town and get a “soda”. They let us know we had no idea what an event this would be and they were right. As we started out of the driveway after dark we saw workers returning to their homes calling out for a ride and sure enough we stopped and filled the entire back of the truck with about 20 people and several more in the cab and started down the road. We soon learned that Justin had made a deal they could ride in the truck as long as they sang so we enjoyed the sweet sound of happiness and celebration as we drove into town.
We stopped at the store where a row of men sat outside and as Ben and Justin greeted everyone we went inside to buy a soda. Mind you they were in crates, warm of course, and we had our choice of Coke or many Fanta products. We were introduced to the owner that we learned rented his land to PROCOM and we visited with each one who wanted to talk with us and we got to witness how a happy spirit does much good in a community. While communication was broken with some miscommunication the fact was that the people were happy to be a part of what was happening in their village and on their land and it brought a smile to everyone’s face.
We headed back to a campfire of corncobs where we had fish, rice, potatoes and plantain and a sauce. It was wonderful and we had a great visit followed by a prayer time that was a blessing to everyone. The Farm manager, Jean Paul, who had not verbalized his prayer let us know he had planned to pray and he shared with Pastor Doug and I his blessing on us. It was a blessing to be received and we appreciated it.
The next day we rose to some instant coffee, instant oats, tea and bread and off to work everyone headed. Barry headed back to the field, Justin laying out an area for some footings and an expansion of the storage building so they could contain the bountiful harvest. It was certainly a satisfying experience. Ben was preparing to say his goodbyes and head back to Kigali with us for a Friday flight home. While Ben had hoped to get the beans in the ground in the front field he had his seed test plots in along with a garden for food for the farm employees.
As we learned the story better we learned that previous to last season in 8 days, with over 400 hundred workers and excavating equipment they had cleared the land of all trees and ant hills. This area is about 100 acres in our terms. You need to understand that some of these ant hills were nearly 15 feet tall and up to 30 feet long and it was all clay dirt brought up from deep in the ground. Much of this dirt was used to improve the road between the two lower fields but much of it just had to be spread over the ground.
Prior to the first season only one drainage ditch was installed to control water and get it off the low spots of the land. Once the land was cleared they had prepared it and planted it. On Rwandan terms the harvest was good but much of the land flooded out during the first season so a second ditch had to be put in along with better water control of water coming from uphill. These improvements led to a much more successful crop this season with beautiful corn / maize produced.
The maize was all harvested by hand and put in a crib created in the machine shed and on large black tarps in an area that drained well. The day we were there the workers were busy bringing dried ears of maize in bags over to the two mechanized “shellers”. Two men were repeatedly dropping ears of corn into the machines as others were bagging up the seed corn that was harvested. It was a wonderful process to witness.
Since the first harvest a mud brick house was built on top of the hill for staff and another mud brick dorm was built half way down the hill. We enjoyed a night of lodging in the staff house. Mind you we slept on cots and in sleeping bags brought along with us from Kigali. But with the cool breeze and a significant lack of sleep, we slept very well.
We asked Dwight about the churches in the village and there were several, but he said his concern was the lack of pastoral training. We left wondering how we might be able to facilitate training for pastors or what ways we might be able to both encourage and partner with this work.
We were able to have lunch with Jonas and Dorcas at their beautiful home in Kigali and Jonas continues to find creative business opportunities and shares his vision of being able to immigrate to America because he feels he can help business opportunities in Rwanda develop better by building some strong alliances with some American companies. Jonas has been an ally and friend since the beginning of Dwight’s work in Rwanda and continues to support and encourage this development.
That evening we had our first canceled flight and had to return at 1:30 in the morning to catch our second option which got us to Nairobi and to bed around 6 in the morning. Fortunately this was to be a rest day as we needed it. It was great to wake up to meet the rest of our team who had not got in much earlier than us from their flight over.
KENYA MISSION RETREAT AND KENYAN PASTOR’S RETREAT
For now I will just let you check out the blog and get a taste from Lori and Margie. I am sure we will make more postings after we get home but for now I won’t fill in too many details. I will at least say the prayer times and things we were able to be a part of were transformational for others and for us. It was a blessing to be here and to do what we were called here to do.
www.africaprayerteam.blogspot.com
Thanks Be to God.
Thanks for your prayers. We have traveled much, slept minimally, but been blessed abundantly.
We are grateful to the one who has given us grace.
The Peace of Christ to Each of You,
Dan Jewett
