Muraho (Hello) from Rwanda!
We have been in Rwanda in East Africa for ten days, and I think in the first part of our trip, we had a grand total of 25 hours of rest (sometimes called sleep) but, I am not so sure! Nevertheless, we have been blown away, “high and lifted up” by the energy of the (mostly) young Christians we have been blessed to be serving. As Nick and Michelle have shared, the first part of our trip was spent at The Grand East African Youth Conference, held at King David Academy in Kigali, Rwanda – assembling young people and their pastor leaders from 6 different East African countries. The days were long, but their worship music and dancing was amazing for me to see; their enthusiasm and love for God contagious, and their smiles, wow … we will never forget their smiles!
Being a part of this incredible experience was easily worth the entire trip. May God bless the work of this conference, keeping all of these young Christian leaders united and focused on Kingdom purposes in the greater East African community. We went from that high-mountain top experience to see some heartbreaking things at the “Catch Up” school, though we soon saw how God is working there to transform the lives of “forgotten” children. Earlier this week, our team spent two days at the “Catch Up” school (not the “Ketchup” school as I found out to my embarrassment; apparently Heinz does not sponsor this school!). Anyway, another amazing couple of days with a gentleman named T. Earnest and his daughters at a school for children who have “fallen through the cracks” in Kigali, Rwanda.
These children range in age from 3 to 20 years old and all have had challenging life circumstances from living on the street to growing up in broken homes and parents who cannot care for them because they are deep in alcohol or drug abuse. These are the lost and forgotten children of Kigali, Rwanda. But, there is hope …the Catch Up School is a Christian Ministry serving these so called “forgotten” children, teaching them first and foremost that they are NOT forgotten, that they are “wonderfully and fearfully made”, they are children of the one true and living God, the great creator God, that they have been created in the image and likeness of God for a purpose, and, that He loves them with an unconditional and everlasting love. This love is changing their lives. If this ministry and these children don’t grab your heart and tug on it like it is about to be ripped out of your chest, well … you need to check your own connection with the Creator. Beautiful, tough, innocent, just wanting to be loved and given a shot … these are the children of the Catch Up School. And, on top of teaching them about Jesus, and His desire to have a life long relationship with each one of them, the Catch Up School is also a school, teaching these children basic math, reading, writing, and social studies in preparation for them to entire the formal school system. An amazing place. Please pray for this ministry and these at risk children.
– William James Raphael Bremer III
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