Hello from Kigali…Christina here. 

Well we had a good day of worship and other excitements!  While Pastor Shane went to the other side of Kigali to preach and worship at the church of Steven, our translator,  John, Peggy, Neal and I worshipped at the Zarephath church just down the hill.  After two hours of greetings, prayers, and 5-6 choirs leading in song and dance, Neal got up to preach.  Another hour later we had the privilege to greet just about each person one by one as they left the church building.

Before I write about the next few experiences, let me preface by saying that life in Rwanda is full of risks and frequent accidental injuries.   Streets are congested and drivers of motorcycles, trucks and cars seem to observe some random set of self-determined traffic guidelines.  Often even city sidewalks are uneven and have large, loose pieces of pavement or holes.  While driving home yesterday, we saw a young mom on the back of a motorcycle taxi with what looked like a 3-4 month old size baby strapped to her back (no baby helmet).  With her right hand, she reached around to cup the bottom of her child, and with her left hand, held her phone to her ear.  I can’t even convey how scary this looked.

At the market today, a little girl was looking at Peggy and waving, not looking where she was walking and almost stepped into a big hole.  Thankfully Peggy was watching and yelled out in warning. 

Lastly, we ate lunch together at a nice restaurant which is like a mini day-resort for upscale Rwandans and ex-pats.  There is a large swimming pool, sandy area and miniature soccer field. It’s a  great place for families to relax and enjoy time together.  Suddenly, we heard two men shout from the upper level, pointing to the pool frantically.  A young 3 year old girl was flailing her arms and literally sinking down to the bottom of the pool.   After more yelling, and what seemed like an eternity, two men (one was her father) jumped in and pulled her to the surface.  At that point though, she was limp and her eyes were closed.   As the adults rolled her over on the patio pool side, she coughed up the ingested water (a lot!) and began to cry.   Praise God she is okay!  Needless to say, we were all shaken but thanking God.

While Shane boards his plane to return home, Neal and John prepare to teach the pastors tomorrow on the books of Micah.  Peggy and I also are finishing our thoughts as we look forward to speaking to a group of women tomorrow down in the south, near the Burundi border.  Thank you again for your prayers!