Greetings from Kigali. I am writing this after a full day of church, a luncheon with other local missionaries, and a party back at church for our reading partners.
Little did you know that our LST team also doubles as a praise & worship team. After practicing almost three (3) hours yesterday and again this morning, our team along with a handful of Rwandans sang in front of the church this morning. That must have been left out of my debriefing agenda. We sang familiar songs like "How Great the Fathers Love for us." We also sang, or tried to sing, new songs in Kinyarwandan and Swahili. Mwamba sawa sawa means "Things are getting better" followed by something else meaning "The Lord is on my side." We enjoyed the singing and even learned some new Rwandan vocabulary. I think.
This evening, we hosted a party at church for our readers and other members of Christ's Church of Rwanda. We played really-get-to-know-you games, volleyball, basketball, and futbol. It was a lot of fun. The picture is my group in the "human knot" where we all adjoined each others' right and left hands, then tried to untangle without letting go. Sounds weird but you'll understand if you have played and everyone had fun. My facial expression is one of agony and not gazing into Chuck's eyes.
Thank you for your support and comments on this post.
--Nathan
10 comments:
Nathan-
I always knew you were a performer at heart. I'm sure that Preston Crest can use your new found talent.
Dad Nathan - from my time in the Meistersinger chorus - if you don't know the words - just mouth (no sounds) the word watermelon - has many syllables - sounds like things are going good - thanks for bloggin - mom
Isn't it amazing to sing in another language far away from home the favorites? When I went to Ukraine it was such a wonderful experience to know we share that bond with other Christians regardless of language or culture differences. Blessings on your work there. (I know Katie)
Getting to know you
Special Pains of Breaking Ice
In Chuck's big eyes, no?
Great post, Mr Pope! With the Lord things are Mwamba sawa!
I would say that it was not you staring into Chuck's eyes, but instead, Chuck staring into your eyes. Yes, you should be concerned.
Foreign Country? Check
Single Men? Check
Hum... I'm worried for you both.
P.S. Y'all are all awesome and I'm happy you're doing the Lord's work! We're praying for you!
P.P.S. Seeing as how the contest is going on, this might explain the drastic difference between the original message and the first P.S. And I think there's a word limi...
Hey this blog is awesome. We look forward to more pictures and stories over the next couple of weeks. (Kami)
Don't deny our love, Pope! (whew, I made the 5 word minimum!)
Fab post. I'm glad I'm not in a far away land with unpopular people. That would be tragic.
I have an overwhelmingly strong suspicion that the "things are getting better" song is wishful (prayerful?) thinking on their part, given that you guys have barely been there a week and you & Chuck are already sharing gazes.
My Prestoncrest friend, Nathan Pope,
thought his dating life needed some hope.
He thought he was in luck
After glances from Chuck,
But the rest of us all voted, "Nope."
How many points is THAT worth?
Oh, I forgot to mention that you guys are always in our thoughts & prayers, best wishes, etc. etc. etc.
It's also pretty cool to tell the friends & fam back home, "Yeah, I have some friends in Rwanda."
[Does the fact that I thought of that mean I'm a bad person?] ;->
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