(Note: Sorry for the
lack of detail in the post, but I figured you would prefer pictures over
writing! Pictures for this post will follow)
The next few weeks passed quickly. We had a fairly relaxed schedule. Nancy and Lloyd did most of the
teaching. We, the rest of the team, were
there to learn and be support.
I was sick two of the days of the first week, but was able
to get back on my feet by Friday. The
first week we had a group of lay leaders, and the second it was Catholic
priests and nuns. Because of the
language barrier it was challenging to communicate and form good relationships,
but I did my best. I even picked up a
tiny bit of Ikenyrwanda. It’s like
Runyankore in many ways.
On the 17th,
which was a Saturday, we had a large mass which had probably more than 3,000
people attending! The colors across the
hill were beautiful and the many bright, expectant faces, hoping for physical,
emotional or spiritual healing.
There we met Polish Franciscan nun and the group she was
with. She invited us to the orphanage
where she serves the next day, it is in Kibeho, which was where we were going
to go.
Sunday we went to Kibeho, and sang most of the way. Kibeho is a small town in the south of
Rwanda, where an official, church approved, Marian and Jesus apparitions have
occurred. Three have been officially
approved, and there are up to 20 people still in the approval process.
When we got there, I jokingly said I could understand why
Mary decided to appear here. The place
is incredibly beautiful!
Mary’s message was to warn the people of Rwanda against the
genocide, and the world against upcoming wars.
If you read what she said and showed the visionaries, it is a little
freaky how accurately she showed them what was going to happen if people didn’t
change.
The place is small these day, though someday it will be huge
I am sure. We were some of the only
pilgrams there.
After a visit around, we had lunch with the Paletine
Fathers, who have the BEST view in the whole world. Then we went to the little shop, run by one
of the visionaries who still lives at the site and who receives visitors. We got to spend some good time with her.
Then we headed to the orphanage we’d been invited to. It’s a home for blind children. And it is incredible! Their view was amazing too.
If anyone in
interested in a positive volunteer opportunity in Africa, this would be a good
one! Get in touch with me.
Finally, we stopped at the site where thousands of people
were killed, both during and after the genocide, people on both sides of the
conflict. It was a solemn church, where,
inside praying, people had been murdered.
Both on the way, and on the way home, we stopped at
Francis’s house. He was out guide,
contact, doctor and friend. We had met
his family the weekend before, but it was wonderful to sit and laugh and talk
with all of them again. I am truly part of the family now. I hope to go back to visit in January.
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