Hope for Young and Old

Written by: Liz Henrich

This morning we woke to an early fog. We were told that means a hot day ahead. Everything was wet so we knew there was overnight rain. In several of the areas we have visited, there has been extreme drought. In the Bugasera district, where we are now, it is a little more tropical. We hear that it’s been a wee bit cold and snowy at home, yes? Great time to visit Rwanda!

We have a lot of hard work, but also moments of levity. Here’s Heidi attempting to help the staff at the guest house.

Today we met with the Ruhuha group. This cooperative is a mixture of several denominations, including Roman Catholic and Muslim. Our leader here Bishop Theophile connected with this group through pastoral leadership training, which he does in Rwanda. We met in a community building with 47 women.

The women here are young and old. It was evident that especially the older ones have led very hard lives. Some were in their 80’s.

We introduced ourselves and then I gave a short message about loving others, supporting each other, and working to use the gifts that God entrusts them with.

Then the Bishop explained how the microloans work and how they can grow their business or start a new one. They are grateful to us but they understand that the money comes from our friends and neighbors back in America who have chosen to invest in this important work.

The President of the cooperative, Nyarukiza, raises pigs and we were afforded a visit to the pig sty. She has 5 pigs and raises the piglets to sell. She will be expanding her business with the microloan.

After lunch, which included homemade sambusa and donuts (diet when we get home), we headed to see the Nykanga cooperative in Batima. As soon as we got out of the van we were greeted by our old friends, Therese and Nicodem from the Batima church. What a surprise for us! This is a special village for Stephen and me. It’s one of the first villages we visited on our first trip to Rwanda.

Introductions completed, Donna gave a message about the parable of the 5 talents. We heard several testimonies and learned what businesses they have. But they have difficulty because their capital is very small. The microloans will change things for them in a big way. These ladies will each get a $50 microloan.

It’s been a very long day, but oh so wonderful! I can’t wait to see what God has for us tomorrow.