Yesterday was my last Sunday in Rwanda for this trip. I had the opportunity to preach three times; twice in the morning and once in the evening. The morning was a first time experience for me in Rwanda. Although I have preached for two different churches on a Sunday morning, this was the first time I have shared in Rwanda with one church that has two morning services.

Theophile and I accompanied Scott to the airport on Sunday. There was some question about his stomach as he prepared for a twenty-four hour plus journey.  He says he did fine on his flights. I am thankful for Scott and the contributions he made for the church leaders in Rwanda. He was a blessing to them and me.

On January 8th I communicated about Claver, one of the church leaders in the “Equip a Church Leader.” His home had been robbed the night of the 7th and he had to leave teaching. We have received word that the thief was caught and most things have been recovered. I am still waiting to hear more about how the judicial system in Rwanda responds to this situation. The thief is poor and will probably be shown mercy for a first offense. For a second offense, he will go to jail. I still have more questions.

Today we finish teaching our fifth group; three more to go before I board a plane on January 30th. This week I have been staying with Theophile and his family. Tomorrow we take our tents and head west (South Province) to teach two more groups. Then we will return to Theophile’s house next week for one more group in Kigali. God has blessed both the team and the church leaders.

Today Scott and I finished teaching our third group of church leaders on this trip. Tomorrow is the day we will visit Akagera National Park before Scott departs on Sunday.

Today and Thursday was my first time teaching in Nyamata. There were twenty church leaders from thirteen church backgrounds. This was a good group and they were very thankful for the teaching and filled with praise for the gift of the Kinyarwanda Study Bible.

Theophile and I have five more teaching locations on this trip before I return home.

Today we completed three days of teaching at Rusororo church about 35 minutes outside Kigali. We taught Three Lessons on the Holy Spirit to a group of 20 ministry leaders from 5 different congregations from various traditions. Theophile has shared with Frank and me the confusion about this topic that many Rwandan Christians experience. The lessons contain three main ideas: the Holy Spirit lives in every Christian; the Holy Spirit gives gifts to every Christian for building up the church; and the Holy Spirit produces fruit in the life of every Christian who keeps in step with the Spirit. As we began Monday it was evident that confusion does in fact exist and that the participants were somewhat uncertain about whether what we were teaching was in fact true. But over the following two days, after showing them what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit, you could see the positive reactions grow. As we concluded, there were many thanks from the group expressing how helpful they found the lessons. Several expressed to our interpreter that they had never heard these teachings before and were glad we had come to share with them. Thinking about that, I wondered how it was that they had not heard this before. These folks had their own Bibles in their own language that they took turns reading out loud from throughout our time together. How could they be confused about the gift, gifts and fruit of the Spirit? But in Acts 8, Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch had much the same experience. "'Do you understand what you are reading?' Philip asked. 'How can I,' he said, 'unless someone explains it to me?'" (8:30-31)

There are many differences between American society and Rwandan society. Some are obvious and some are more subtle. But I think for Christians in both countries, here is where we have one thing in common. Why do we believe what we believe about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, faith or the church? Are our beliefs based on what seems right to us? Are they based on what we heard someone else say or what we assume is acceptable to others?   God has given us His Word so we can know Him and become more like His Son. He has given us the church as a place we can come and find the answers to our questions together. Are you reading God's Word? Do you understand what you are reading? If you don't understand, are you seeking answers to your questions? If you do understand, are you putting what you know into practice? While it is true that I've made this journey to teach God's Word to Rwandans, I increasingly find there are lessons being taught to me as well. May God grant us all a spirit of humility and unity as we discover what His will is for our lives in the pages of His Word.

On Saturday, Scott and I were able to take a break after a hard, but satisfying week of teaching. We went to Theophile’s home. To Scott’s surprise, Miriam, Theophile’s wife, had prepared lunch for us. To my surprise, the meat being served was the old rooster. In the past I have talked about the rooster at their home that would wake me up at 4 AM. Often I have said, jokingly, we need to cook that rooster. And there he was on our plates. I was immediately reminded of the old American folk song, “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain.” One of the lines of that song says, “We will kill the old red rooster when she comes.” Yes, I sang that line for my fellow diners (with great delight I might add). Then I was informed that they now have chickens and a younger rooster. The two roosters were fighting, so they cooked the older one. I am now looking forward to my next rooster dinner.

On Sunday we worshipped with the Hermon Church under the tent. I preached, since Scott had preached on our first Sunday. Two Rwandan women, the Old Mama and Josie, are followers of Jesus in the Hermon Church. I have mentioned these two women in the past. Their love for Jesus, their joy in difficulty, and their love for the Church inspires me. “Thank you Jesus for encouraging me through two of my sisters in Christ.”

This has been a great week. Scott and I are very encouraged by these church leaders and their commitment to study. We experience their excitement for the things they are learning. And yet, occasionally we are reminded of the difficulty of life for these church leaders. Yesterday morning we were ready to begin when Claver received news that his home had been broken into and his possessions taken. He needed to catch the bus (about a five hour trip) and see about his family and deal with the robbery.

Please pray for Scott, me, the church leaders, Claver, and his family.

After a few days of visiting the genocide memorials in Kigali and Nyamata, we celebrated the Lord's Day with the Zarephath congregation. It was an inspiring and overwhelming experience. But Monday finally came and we were able begin the work we had come to do - teaching and training church leaders in the Word of God. They were as eager as Frank and I to begin. Many had traveled far and through the night to reach Kigali for this week's training.  Most if not all have families they left behind for the week. Most of these leaders left behind jobs that provide a living for their families. There is no doubt that the Word is a priority for these men. Their desire is to "rightly divide the Word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:5).

Monday began with Frank teaching Luke 12, 13 and 14. Their questions revealed they had indeed worked ahead as Frank had requested at his last visit. The group divided into three smaller groups, each taking one of the chapters and working together to identify the context and main idea. I was impressed with their work. Why shouldn't I be? There is nothing about these men that would necessarily prevent them from understanding the Word of God.  They are no different than me in the capacity to understand. All they lack is instruction.

In the afternoon, my turn to teach arrived. We took half the afternoon to cover a lesson on the nature of parables in general and how to read them to find Jesus' meaning. Then we applied that knowledge to Luke 15. One of the most exciting things a teacher experiences is seeing his students eyes open to the significance of what they have learned. There was obvious and genuine excitement as they worked through the parables in chapter 15 with the new methods they had just learned. We concluded for dinner with an assignment to explore two other parables that evening on their own and be ready for discussion the next day. After dinner, the men could be found in small groups all over the house reading, discussing and studying.

Tuesday as Frank taught, we discovered that while the group had made significant progress, there was still work to do. There are questions to answer as they refine their skills, practice the new methods, and discover truths previously unconsidered. But instead of being discouraged, we are excited. These leaders are willing to invest the time to dig deep in God's Word. They want to put in the work necessary to faithfully represent the truth God has for their congregations. I'm thankful for the chance to help them achieve their goals for the Lord's glory.

We are ready for our first Sunday on this trip. Scott is preaching and I think I am singingJ

Yesterday we visited the genocide memorial in Nyamata where thousands were killed inside and outside of a Catholic Church building where Rwandans had fled for safety in 1994. When we arrived in Nyamata we picked up one of our friends, J.M. Vianney, who had not been able to get to this church building in 1994. So he survived, but his wife, four children, mother and father were all killed.

The five of us arrived at the memorial and our guide was about to begin. A small bus pulled up, so we waited for that group. This was a group of theatrical students from Buffalo State College. Two men were with the college students; their professor and a man Scott and I had seen at the Genocide Memorial on Friday.  I mentioned to Scott on Friday, “I think that is Carl Wilkens.” On Saturday before we entered the building I introduced myself. He said, “I’m Carl Wilkens. Let’s talk after the tour.” Carl is the only American who stayed in Rwanda during the genocide. Hundreds of Rwandans survived the genocide because Carl stayed. We did talk until his group needed to leave.

The door was opened for more discussions concerning Rwanda. Also, the students intend to create a play from their experience in Rwanda to be presented in public schools in New York (www.annefrankproject.com). They assured me I would receive an invitation.

Scott McClimans and I meet at Dulles International on New Year’s Eve, boarded Ethiopean Air and headed to Addis Abba. Things went fairly smooth with only one slight issue. Our flight from Addis Abba was cancelled and we had no way to communicate with Theophile in Kigali. They put us on a later flight, arrived in Kigali, called Theophile when we landed, picked up “all” luggage, and went outside to be greeted by Theophile. Some of you know him as Theophile “I am coming” Rugubira. He got us to our rooms, took us to dinner and after about thirty hours of being up, Scott and I were both ready to get some sleep.

This morning Scott and I woke up refreshed and enjoyed our first Rwandan breakfast of 2015. After solving all the world’s issues we began to wonder when Theophile “I am coming” was going to show up. Late morning he showed up, we dealt with some of the trip preliminaries and headed to the Genocide Memorial in Rwanda. Tomorrow we will plan to experience the memorial at Nyamata.

I have asked Scott to share his experiences of the day.

As we flew into Kigali yesterday this land's remarkable beauty was on full display.  After my first breakfast with Rwandan coffee and Rwandan honey, we made our first of two visits to Rwandan genocide memorials.  At Kigali National Genocide Memorial the tragic history of Rwanda is preserved as a constant reminder to its people for the need to work together for unity and peace.  Displays explaining the roots of genocide in Rwanda, similar genocides around the world since the 19th century, and the children lost to the massacres here provide the unsettling picture of humanity at its worst.  One room in the museum displays the skulls and femurs of dozens if not hundreds of victims while outside stunningly beautiful gardens attempt to lend beauty to the mass graves here that contain over 250,000 bodies of  genocide victims.  It was a stark and grim contrast.

I never knew any of the victims. But one thing about the genocide was clearly recognizable: Sin-- Cain vs Abel writ large with nearly 1,000,000 victims. In Genesis 4:6 the LORD God said to Cain, "Why are you angry?  Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you, but you must master it." So Cain heard God's words, decided to do his own will rather than God's and went out to the fields and killed his brother Able.  Mastering sin.  Seeing the genocide memorials would make anyone wonder if such a thing is possible. Indeed it is. But only through the transforming power of Christ.  Paul writes in Romans 4: 11 & 14: "Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus...for sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law but under grace."

Frank and I will visit another memorial tomorrow.  We didn't come to Rwanda to visit the memorials, but how can you speak to people about grace without first coming to some understanding of their present reality? Thank you Jesus for the church leaders here working diligently to proclaim the gospel of grace to the hearts of broken, hurting and wounded people.