Kigali Klips - October 31/12

Our common sights might not be what you'd consider typical.  So here's a glimpse into our normal:

"Taxi" - Public Transportation

[AKA "matatu" in Kiswahili, "angkot" in Bandung, "oplet" in Pontianak]

Monday Update

On Friday the 19th, Caleb's KICS football (soccer) team had their semi-final game.  They didn't win, but it was an extremely exciting game and they played great!  The team has improved SO much since they started!  The Varsity season is winding down, but the JV team is just starting up.  Caleb will be able to play on the JV team, so he should be able to get some more experience & playing time (The Varsity team is under 18 and the JV team is under 14.  This means that the boys from the younger couple of grades on the Varsity team will move down and become the older couple of grades on the JV team...if that makes any sense!).

Warm-up:

 

The view at that field is absolutely stunning!!

On this past Saturday, we met Mom's language helper, Juliette, at a market to try to find cleats for Caleb.  It went well; we were able to buy Caleb's cleats (new ones, even!) and get a stool for our night guard, Faustin.

The view from outside:

 

When you first go in, there's an open section that is mostly produce:

 

 

And then there's an inside-don't-enter-if-you're-claustrophobic part (where we got the cleats):

After we finished at the market, we went with Juliette to ABC to have pizza for supper (it was umuganda, so no bagels in the morning).  Here's Mom & Juliette while we were waiting:

 

The past couple of weeks we've had a short-term mission team here from the Journey Church.  They spent most of their time in Gisenyi, but they're in Kigali again today & tomorrow before they fly out.  So, they're coming to see our house this morning, and we'll all be going out for supper tonight with them.

 

Just a couple more photos to sign off with:



I know it's blurry, but this is what happens when it suddenly
starts to down-pour.  Everyone heads for shelter!

Enjoying reading on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Kigali Klips - October 24/12

Our common sights might not be what you'd consider typical.  So here's a glimpse into our normal:

The Jacaranda Tree

Flowers & Bugs! (And a Frog!)

After an info-packed post yesterday, here's a flower-, bug-, and frog-filled update!

 

 

 

A while ago, we had another tree frog in our house.  When Dad tried to get it off the door, it jumped down onto Dad's toe, and then got a "ride" outside.

And then we had a caterpillar today...

And to finish off, our grasshopper visitor!

 

Regional Service - Kigali - October 14/12

Sunday, October 14th, 2012 marks the first time that Daddy preached in Africa!!!  This weekend was the regional service for "our" region in Kigali.  So, while we didn't have to travel to get to it, Dad did have to get a sermon ready! :-)  It was held in behind the church, in a school yard area.  It was sunny for the first few hours of it, and as a result both Mom & Dad got sunburned.  Caleb and I weren't in the front row, so we escaped!

As always, there were lots of choirs eager to present their songs:

This is our region's, Kacyiru's, choir, so we actually know a few people in it:

They had a keyboard, drums, and couple of guitars rigged up to a sound system.  Here's the tower of speakers!!

 

After being played for a while, the drums started falling apart (not
that they were together too well at the start!).

A little sound guy.

As more people arrived, they started bringing some more benches out.  Here's a couple of boys helping out:

Lots of umbrellas were out for protection from the sun!

A special part of the service was that a brass brand from Congo came to play for us!  It sounded really good, and Caleb really enjoyed watching the 3 trombone players!

Here's a picture of all the regional pastors:

Daddy preached on having hope during difficulties or tragedy.  There were lots of people who wanted to take a picture (or video) of Dad preaching...and there aren't the same cultural norms as to when and where you stand to take a picture (it was the same in Indonesia), so they'd be right up in Dad's face practically!

Those of you who are used to Dad's preaching will be glad to see that his use of props has made the journey with him to Africa:

As Dad's was preaching, the clouds came rolling in...

...and after he was done, as the business part of the service was going on, the rain started coming down!

Everyone scrambled to get our of the torrential downpour, and some men desperately tried to get the electrical stuff carried in or covered up (I guess the drums were the exception):

One bonus because of the rain was that the brass band played us some more impromptu songs:

A few other pics:

Now, to close off this lengthy post, a picture of my beautiful mother, all decked out in her Rwandan garb!  Pastor Andre's wife said that whenever her husband preaches, she dresses in tribal clothing, so she thought since Dad was preaching, Mom should wear tribal dress too!