Moving on From Christmas

January 15, 2010

Though Brad and I definitely missed our families and friends, we had a great first Christmas together in Rwanda. We got together a lot with the other members of the Friends mission team and I think we all felt like family to each other. We had our own candlelight service, read the Christmas story together, had a Christmas Eve party and Christmas day feasting and celebrating (though Brad and I were sick starting Christmas day)! We spent time over Christmas break watching movies together, playing games, talking, relaxing, and eating special snacks and foods. We even had Christmas trees up in our houses! These are some of the usual things you might expect, some traditions we’re carrying on even though we’re in Rwanda. Here are some things that were a little different than Christmases Brad and I have had in the States:

Flip flops and short-sleeved shirts
Making my own sour cream for a casserole
Free Christmas trees!
Lugging our tree on our shoulders to our house in the rain and slippery mud (we got really dirty!)
Taking turns getting each other medicine and thermometers

Even despite getting sick, missing people, and missing traditions, God really took care of us this Christmas. He helped us find ways to celebrate His birth. He was near to us and healed us when we got sick. He helped us rest in the days following Christmas before we started work/ministry/language-learning/living daily life in Rwanda again.

Before Christmas break I (Chelsea) was feeling…I wish I could describe it. Something like dreading language lessons, having a hard time going to church, feeling really tired, etc. Of the things I feel like the Lord was saying to me over Christmas break, I feel like the main thing was to keep seeking Him. He just reassured me of His love and His strength that will help me keep going even as I feel so weak. These hard feelings aren’t just going to go away, as they’re a natural part of culture stress /culture shock/culture fatigue. Even so, sometimes it’s really hard. So, you can pray for me as I’m probably going to be experiencing different degrees of these feelings for awhile still.

Our Gisenyi Family

In order to have an opportunity for concentrated culture and language-learning, as well as relationship-building, Brad and I are going to try to stay in the homes of some pastors in different regions of the country for about 2-3 weeks each. Our first experience was for two weeks in October in the town of Gisenyi, in the Northwest corner of Rwanda on Lake Kivu and bordering Goma, Congo.

Relationships
When we arrived at Pastor Augustine Habimana’s home in Gisenyi we were warmly welcomed by him, his wife, Mama Erise, his nine-year old daughter, Erise, his four-old son, Sam, and his five-month old baby boy, Shamu. Also staying at the house at the time were his mother, nephew, and two girls that they have living with them right now. As the two weeks progressed, we felt like we had a home and a family with our new friends. We had many, many conversations together about things both light-hearted and serious. We played with the children, watched television (mostly soccer) together, visited churches, talked with visitors who came to the house, and visited families in the neighborhood. One time we walked to a church member’s house, then joined him on a visit to his neighbors to talk to them about Christ. It was interesting to be observing and praying for people during these visitations and exciting that the Friends church people are reaching out to their neighbors.

Learning
One of the most difficult things I did each day was to gather up my courage to “put myself out there” into some situation where I could learn something new. However, I had some very fun and fulfilling times learning/observing how to make some kinds of foods, how to wash clothes, how to go and buy things at the market, how to use a charcoal iron, etc. I would often write down words that came up in conversations and, later, Brad helped me remember them by asking me questions in Kinyarwanda. One day, Brad and I walked to the market to buy some fruit that Mama Erise asked us to get. She told us the expected prices and the quantities of what to buy, but I knew it was up to me to do the talking. I practiced ahead of time, and was nervous, but I did it! The ladies selling the food were kind, and didn’t try to make us pay an exorbitant amount, and for that I praise God!

Fun times
Sometimes Brad and I walked around town, one Saturday morning we had a great time kicking the soccer ball around with Sam and Erise, and every day we got to enjoy playing with little Shamu. He loved to smile and laugh! The first morning we were there, Mama Erise told her son that he needed to teach me Kinyarwanda, so he got out his book about constellations (in English) and I actually did learn a couple words. One morning, Pastor Habimana guided us on a thirty minute drive to the hot springs - a nondescript little place on the edge of the lake that had hot water bubbling up out of the earth. I had never seen anything like it before, so it was pretty fascinating. Also, one day we told our family that we wanted to cook something for them. So, we went through the sreps of buying the food, washing, cutting, peeling, and cooking (the whole process took about five hours). Everyone liked it and Mama Erise asked us to teach it to her a few nights later! This family cooks over charcoal and has places for three pots to be going at once. So, it was a new experience for us, but fun!

There were times I felt tired, confused, and even a little sick. But, there were also so many times I felt at home, excited to be learning, and loving our new family. God helped me so much to have courage, to give me rest when I needed it, and to just see the beautiful things He was doing around me.