I sprung out of bed at 5:30am.  Apparently I have not adjusted to the 7 hour difference.  The dining room was open at 6:00 and for the second day I had the regular buffet menu which consisted of an omelet, cereal and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Lots of coffee.  At 9:00 we met in the board room of the hotel for a group meeting. All 15 of us had the opportunity to share some things about ourselves and what encouraged us to participate in Zoe.  Several of us gave intimate accounts of where we are in our personal lives, our motivators and our ambitions.  We also shared our thoughts about yesterday’s visits.  

Jeremiah 29:10-13:

This is what the Lord says:  “You will be in Babylon for seventy years.  But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.  In those days when you pray, I will listen.  If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

This is the signature verse for ZOE.  Hope is thriving throughout Rwanda.  It’s often heard that it takes an entire village to raise a child.  This proverb rings loud and clear wherever ZOE Ministries is.  Empowering orphans by supporting their God gifted skills is the key to the mission.  

This afternoon we visited the Genocide Museum.  In 1994, in a period of 3 months, over one million Rwandans were a specified target of the genocidaires for murder, rape and mutilation, so as to ensure that a new generation of Tutsis would not emerge. Hutu militia and the Hutu leaders’ primary objective was to exterminate all Tutsis.  The museum is a place of mourning and a place of education.  It’s very quiet with the exception of visitors’ audio devices depicting the history and origin of the Tutsis and the Hutus.  I could hear personal accounts of survivors stories on the audio devices throughout the museum. There were lots of tears.  The outside of the museum was surrounded by beautiful memorial gardens dedicated to families, relatives and friends of the 250,000 victims buried on the site. I bought a few times from the museum gift shop before meeting my fellows back on the bus.  

Our driver and guide, Jeremaih, gave us a wonderful site seeing tour of the Kigali.  We saw the US Embassy, the Presidents house, government buildings, the futbol stadium and a lot more.  We then went to the Hotel Des Milles Collines (formerly Hotel Rwanda) for a fantastic dinner.  We sat outside and the weather was perfect.  And no mosquitos.

Tomorrow we will experience a church service filled with love, dance and song.  That’s my kind of church!