Kingdom Hall dedication!

On Sunday, May 25, I was invited by Philbert, who works at Bethel in the Kingdom Hall Construction Department, to accompany him to a Kingdom Hall dedication where he was to be the main speaker.

This dedication program was for the Munanira Congregation, which is on the outskirts of the town of Gisenyi, located a three-hour drive west of Kigali. Gisenyi is a town bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo.

We left Kigali at 6:30am and headed westward. The day was cool, dry, and clear. This was the first time I had traveled outside Kigali, by the way, so it was a good opportunity to see what a different part of the country looked like. The two-lane road wound in and out of beautiful hills and lush countryside. Quite magnificent! Since we were traveling in the early morning hours, a fog had settled in the valleys we passed.

We arrived shortly before 10:00am, when the program was to start. I learned that the Munanira Congregation, with 55 publishers, is the only one meeting in this Kingdom Hall. (In the town of Gisenyi itself, there are four congregations: French, Kinyarwanda, Sign Language, and Swahili.)

The entire program was in Kinyarwanda (of course), so I didn't understand much. But the spirit and the joy of the brothers and sisters was evident.



The program began with an introduction by the chairman, a shortened Watchtower study, and then some interviews of publishers, with their observations on the building project (see photo to the right).

One of the interviewees said that an onlooker asked him, was this project done by Chinese? Because it was completed so quickly! (The Chinese are known for working fast.) The onlooker was amazed that it was all local volunteers who did this work.

Following this part was the dedication talk, at the end of which everyone enthusiastically applauded to indicate their heartfelt desire to dedicate this new building to Jehovah and his worship.

At the conclusion, we all sang Song #2, "We Thank You, Jehovah"!

The Kingdom Hall is located in an incredibly beautiful setting, atop a hill overlooking Lake Kivu, which is a 30-mile wide lake that divides Rwanda from Congo. Note the volcanic rock on the path in the foreground, due to the presence of a volcano called Nyarigongo.

View outside the Kingdom Hall

Afterward, everyone was in a festive mood. We had some sambusas (meat-filled turnovers) and boiled potatoes. I had the opportunity to meet some of the brothers and sisters in this congregation. Since this area is so close to Congo, many of them speak French.

Louise, Jean-Baptiste

Donatien, Jean-Pierre

Edward

Two elderly brothers whose names
unfortunately I did not get...

After the program, we had about 45 minutes to drive around and view the area before Philbert had to host an hour-long meeting with circuit elders at the Assembly Hall in Gisenyi. So we first checked out the headquarters of Bralirwa, one of the major breweries in Rwanda.

Then, we drove right up to the border of Congo. There are basically two approaches to Congo at the town of Goma, one called "petite barrière" and the other "grande barrière" (the latter in the photo below, which I had to take discreetly from inside the car).

I figured this will probably be the closest I will get to Congo, because first of all, the cost for the visa is rather expensive, and secondly, there is some question about whether the two towns on the eastern Congo border, Goma and Bukavu, are safe for foreigners in view of the occasional rebel conflicts.

Rwandans cross on foot regularly to do trade between the two countries, showing just their national ID. However, as tempting as it was for me as a foreigner to just walk across (at least from the looks of it), I concluded that confronting Congolese border authorities without a visa is not worth getting shot at. And anyway, why potentially spoil a wonderful theocratic day?

I did, though, get a zoomed-in shot of Goma from across Lake Kivu.

I was surprised that Gisenyi and Goma had such large, expensive-looking homes, this display of wealth quite the contrast to most other African border crossings I have had the pleasure (in a matter of speaking) of experiencing.

Finally, we arrived at the Assembly Hall, which has an adjoining Kingdom Hall. Like most other African venues, it is open-air with concrete seating.

Baptism pool

In the evening, we went to a hotel, where a brother, Pierre Celestin, works as a receptionist. He used to be in the Kigali English Congregation and serve in Bethel, but now he lives in this area closer to where he is originally from. Here is Brother Celestin with our car group (minus the photographer):

Benjamin, Rita, John, Philbert, Celestin

We returned to Kigali after 10:00pm, tired but happy that we were able to witness this milestone event!