Ingolofane, Ukuguru, Etara

We've had a pretty busy week! Straight into the life of YWAM Rwanda here... And I can hardly believe we've already been here a week. In some ways the time has flown, but in others it feels like we've been here a long time, leaving the other half of the DTS in Belfast seems like an age ago!

It's been good being here though, lovely to see people I knew from last year, and catching up, as well as seeing more of Kigali and learning more of the history.

It has been hot though... For one used to the Belfast climate suddenly transplanting myself into an almost equatorial situation has been a bit of a shock to the system. I've felt a bit sapped for energy these past few days, and it's probably a mix of the heat, too much sleep (!) (there's not much else to do at nights...) and a drastic change in diet! So, that'd be great if you could keep the team and I in prayer as we continue to adjust.

Also, i've found the language barrier hard this year. I was so frustrated yesterday when I was standing outside a shop, and a 3 year old came up to me, and I had no idea what he was saying... It just seemed to emphasize the barrier, so I was praying for ways to overcome this communication block.

This week, we have worked a few times with a group of guys who used to be streetkids.. a lot of them in fact still are, but being over 18 it's hard to call them "kids"! YWAM runs a ministry and has done for the last 8 years or so, where they work with this group of guys, playing football with them, and then also trying to help them get into training courses, and different ways of helping them find their feet. When we first heard about the football, I imagined it would be fun... as many of you know, I'm not the biggest footballer, but I figured I could keep up with some kids... I neglected to recollect that these guys have been training for 8 years...and are coached by an ex-Rwandese national player... Needless to say, I have spent a lot of time on the sidelines...

Today there were lots of younger kids hanging around though, but after exhausting my 4 Kinya-Rwanda (the local language here) phrases, I found myself sitting looking at them blankly, not sure where to go from there. All I found in my pockets for my disposal were a pen and a passion fruit.

I pulled the pen out of my pocket, and started drawing a picture of a house on my hand that was in the distance. Some kids started looking, grabbing the pen and drawing on their own hands. So commenced an hour of us laughing, drawing on eachothers hands and learning eachothers languages. It was only after we finished that I realised this really had been an answer to prayer, and that even though we couldn't properly interact, we could still have some fun and share. Here's some of the words I learnt:

Dog: Imoga
Cat: Epussy
Steetlight: Etara
Motorbike: Egaru
Umbrella: Umutaka
Bus: Imodoca
Leg: Ukuguru
Wheelbarrow: Ingolofane

As we got on the crowded bus that takes us home, I saw the man in front of me stealing a glance at my pen covered hands and forearms (pictures to follow..). Looking at him, I smiled and said "Ingolofane!" and then turned away. I like imagining him telling his family at home tonight about the crazy Muzungu (white man) and his wheelbarrow on the bus...