Day 9

 

Leaving Rwanda is always bittersweet! We have had such a wonderful time making new friends and seeing old ones. Of fellowshipping with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Playing with the children and pouring out God's love on so many!

We went to church this morning at Pastor Salathiel's church and as always it was a glorious time!

We started off by reading Psalm 96:

Worship in the Splendor of Holiness

96 Oh sing to the Lord a new song;

    sing to the Lord, all the earth!

2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name;

    tell of his salvation from day to day.

3 Declare his glory among the nations,

    his marvelous works among all the peoples!

4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

    he is to be feared above all gods.

5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,

    but the Lord made the heavens.

6 Splendor and majesty are before him;

    strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

7 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,

    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!

8 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

    bring an offering, and come into his courts!

9 Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;[a]

    tremble before him, all the earth!

10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!

    Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;

    he will judge the peoples with equity.”

11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;

    let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

12     let the field exult, and everything in it!

Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy

13     before the Lord, for he comes,

    for he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness,

    and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Next, one of the pastors lead us in a worship song and then our team was introduced. We greeted the church and we all sang Here I am to Worship.

After we sat back down there were three choirs that sang and danced! 

This is the children's choir from the church.

The next two were adult choirs.

Then we had offering time.

My teammates Philip and Emma shared their testimonies and it was amazing!

Those of us who were on the kids ministry team were dismissed, while Pastor Tim from our church preached.

Mrs. Julie set the stage by having the kids slip their hands into the "brave bag" and pull something out. They didn't know what was in there, it could be surprising! But everything they pulled out was very soft. She went on to say that there will be times in life that are scary but we don't have to be because we have God!

That transitioned us into the testimony of David a Goliath. We acted it out and the kids really enjoyed it!

Emma did the Gospel hand presentation. Our translator Emmy is in the red shirt.

We sang some songs.

Then did two different crafts of headbands and necklaces. Mrs. Julie and Ms. Belinda showed us how to assemble them!

We sang some more songs and then it was time to say our final good-byes.

Pastor Salathiel's family prepared lunch for us, which was delicious!

Then it was off to the hotel to change into our travel clothes and pack up the buses with our luggage and ourselves.

We shared a second lunch with Pastor Jean Baptiste and his family. We picked up pizzas and they served us pineapple, mangos, bananas and freshly made banana bread!

I didn't get any pictures because I accidently packed my phone away in my suitcase.... ooops!

Once we got through security at the airport I was able to retrieve it, don't worry!

We said our final good-byes to amazing bus driver Jean Claude, Pastor Jean Baptiste and his family. We are all hopeful that this is not the last time we see them.

Until next time Rwanda!!!