We've arrived!

After four plane rides, three days of traveling, a brief trip into London, and catching a few cat naps here and there - we're finally in Kigali.

Our first day (Tuesday) in this beautiful land of a thousand hills began by meeting our gracious host, Phoebe. Phoebe is a native Rwandan who attended Baylor for her Masters degree. She has been a great connection for us and has taken care of our every need.

After settling down in the Hotel des Mille Collines, we spent the rest of the day relaxing and overcoming jet lag.  The hotel is famous for being the setting of the movie "Hotel Rwanda" which tells the story of the manager of the hotel during the 1994 genocide who saved a thousand Tutsi refugees during the 100 days of genocide. 

We were only going to stay here for a night, but have decided that this will be our home for the next seven days. We're very excited about this change of events since it is a beautiful location and the staff has been very accommodating. Of course, we're very spoiled with our amazing breakfast on the 4th floor with a view of the city that will take your breath away. Not a bad thing to wake up for in the morning.

Today (Wednesday) was our first full day in Kigali.

This morning we took a tour of the city - our four groups of students fitting into three buses to drive through the streets. Every few minutes you catch a glimpse of the valley in the middle of the city that is filled with houses with a backdrop of mountains.

We then took a detour to the local "mall" where the leaders exchanged our money into Rwandan francs while the students did a bit of window shopping and grabbed a cup of coffee.

Then it was time to head to the local university which is 

located on top of one of the many hills in the city. Phoebe (our host) once taught business english at this school so we were able to meet some of the students.

We attended their daily chapel service where we were treated to praise and worship by a choir. Then two of members of the Religion team, Ben and Morgan, shared about the resurrection of Jesus with the group.

 

After the service, the Social Work team headed to the Benishyaka Association. Benishyaka is an organization that was first founded to help orphans and women after the 1994 genocide but now focuses on HIV/AIDS education and helping those who are infected. 

They also teach skills to students such as sewing and tailoring. We were able to sponsor one of the orphans for a year so that they would be able to go to school and have the required uniform. This cost us 90,000 Rwandan francs, which is about $180. Not bad for helping a child go to school for an entire year. 

Tonight the Sports Team will be playing with local Rwandan youth, the Religion and Social Work teams will be visiting a local church, and the General Ministry team is going to be speaking to about 60 students. 

More to come about our experiences and how God is working in this amazing land.