District...er...Regional Convention

It's hard to get used to that new name, isn't it? After all, how long has it been that we have had districts? At least since the 1950s, when the conventions were called "district assemblies"?

Anyway, a number from our congregation attended the French regional convention last week. (Since there are conventions in only Kinyarwanda, Swahili, and French, and none in English, except in Uganda and Kenya, I thought this was my only option. The English congregation as a whole, along with all of Kigali, is assigned to the Kinyarwanda convention at the stadium in Nyamirambo. More about that one in August.)

The French convention was held at the Assembly Hall in Kicukiro, which is a 10-minute, one-bus trip from my place. (Or a half-hour walk, if you so choose.) You no doubt remember my post about the BSCC graduation. Well, the convention was at the same location.

I had originally planned to attend the entire French convention, but after the first day, I realized I understood maybe half of the program. It depended on the speaker's speed, accent, etc. Also, later that evening I unexpectedly got access to an entire official English program! So I skipped the last two days of the French one.

By the way, my bank funds became accessible, so after several days of self-denial, I'm back to eating at buffets and surfing the internet! It's interesting that on the third day of this restrictive regime, a brother said to me, completely out of the blue: "Brian, you look very thin and tired. Have you been eating enough lately?" So I had to tell him about the banking situation, and he insisted on lending me a few thousand to tide me over, even though I said I didn't want to bother anyone. Funny how this happened?

After all I've written about Mr. Han, my Bible student, I haven't yet posted a picture of him. Until now. Here he is, with his 6-year-old son. (He also has a 5-year-old daughter. And a wife.) They come from Inner Mongolia.

Also, remember the Ugandan man I started a study with? During the one and only study I have had so far with him, I learned he was a carpenter and explained my predicament of the table that wouldn't fit through the doorway. The next day, he graciously came to my aid by removing the table's top from the base (and they are very heavy, by the way), hiring a truck to transport it the half-mile to my house, then reassembling it inside the house! When I asked about the possibility of his making a small cabinet for me to cook on and store kitchen utensils, he said no problem, he had plenty of extra timber at his workshop to make such a cabinet and, moreover, he would put a marble top on it. All this, and steadfastly refusing to accept any payment whatsoever! Anyone who is so kind must be a real sheeplike person. So we are continuing our study and, in fact, he has plans to come to our meeting also.

Look at the table now! And I'm rich!

P.S.: I'm so glad to bask in 78° weather here, while Beijing has been 95°-100° recently!

La vie du point de vue d'un gecko

So it's a free day--one of three during the week--when I've read, studied, and watched everything I've planned or cared to, and now it's just lying here resting, waiting and praying for the water to come back on. Funny that among all the monumental problems in the world, this is what most occupies one's mind. Then, in the middle of a reverie on the subject of nothing in particular, I catch the sudden streak of something on the wall. It's startling, to say the least. What has invaded the sanctity of this domain? Does no one in Africa respect privacy?

Whatever it is, it decides to halt its forward progress on the uneven plastered surface and survey the landscape (or wallscape). What must be going on in its pinhead-size reptilian brain? Hmm... Is everything all clear? Cautiously at first, it moves its tiny legs, each sporting a fan-shaped array of toes, clinging to the wall with the great ease of a conjurer performing an anti-gravity trick that no observer can possibly figure out. Having determined that there are no tasty morsels in the air--but apparently not noticing the one around the area of my head--it glides smoothly forward, stopping periodically as if to satisfy itself of that conclusion.

Of course, the question must be raised: how did flat-foot get access? A few more moments provide the enlightening response. A thin crack in the corner of the ceiling, almost imperceptible to human eyes, presents itself. A contortion of the long body, a swish of the tail, and the visitor is gone.

One cannot help but watch in silent wonder, tempered with a somewhat disquieting feeling. But no, he (or she) is harmless. Just out for a late evening stroll, and hopefully a quiet dinner to boot.

While we're on the subject of invaders, I am reminded of another, though less benign. This one is oval-shaped, equipped with antennae, a semi-hard shell (at least one that can withstand nuclear attack), and a lot of legs. And, no less than...THREE INCHES LONG, including the feelers. Yes. As long as an index finger. Suffice it to say that one's immediate reaction is to jump on a table, if there were--in this case--a table to jump on. But then the next reaction is one of outrage, of an impulsive desire to call out the cavalry. That is, in the form of a shoe poised to crush this visitor out of existence. Unfortunately, this method of handling the situation is pretty well ineffective, given the instinctive abilities of the pursued, so the best one can do is chase it (whatever gender it is) out the front door. Hey, go bother the neighbors! They probably have better food than I do!

After such an exciting day, I can't do much better than retire for the evening, with thoughts of water, water everywhere ("and not a drop to drink") swirling in my mind.

The secret of...how to do without

Yes, the title of this post, taken from Philippians 4:12--note the new wording--has a distinct application to my life the past week or so! How is that, you might ask?

1.  No water

I knew this was a problem with the neighborhood I live in, but it has reached proportions never imagined.

There are frequent water cuts due to the fact that EWSA, the local water company here, has decided that water must be rationed during the dry season we are in. This means they turn the water on only at certain times, usually in the middle of the night, as I have discovered recently.

So last Wednesday I had a jerry can full of water, which was enough, I thought, to last a day or more. Then on Thursday at about 5:30am, I heard the neighbors filling up their containers using the outside tap. This water-gathering ritual lasted more than a half hour. By the time I decided to get up and use the bathroom at 6:30am, there was no water. It wasn't as though the neighbors took it all--even though that thought crossed my mind--just that the water company imposed their cut no doubt when they saw me, via specially planted hidden cameras, go for the tap.

OK, I went preaching that day, returned home, and still no water. So that evening I had, literally, a gallon left in the jerry can with which to take a shower. That means a half-gallon to use with soap, and the other half-gallon to rinse. Ever tried this? I was almost going to use the bath water to boil some eggs, but decided . . . no.

So that night I had the tap turned to the on position, with the idea that if the water came on in the middle of the night, I would hear it. Unfortunately, nothing happened that morning (Friday) or most of that day. Some cruel plot! But added to that situation was another small problem...

2.  No money

By the middle of last week, I was down to my last few thousand francs. But instead of going to an ATM and pulling money from my U.S. bank account, which I had done twice previously, I took the advice from a brother in the congregation (who works in a bank) to open a U.S. dollar account here in Rwanda. Withdrawing from an ATM kills you on the exchange rate, not to mention the high fees your bank charges. So having cash in U.S. dollars--preferably in large notes issued after 2006 for the most favorable rate--and exchanging it at a Forex is the best way to go.

By the way, the bank charges only $2 per withdrawal, no monthly service fees, and of course pays no interest. But at least since the funds are in U.S. dollars, they are not subject to the devaluation that would occur in the case of Rwandan francs. The franc has already devalued about 5% in the few months I've been here.

So on Wednesday I succeeded in opening this bank account and then executing a wire transfer from my U.S. account, though all this took several hours. The problem is that the funds are not available in my new account for 3-5 business days. This means I had about $8, which was to pay for food, transportation, etc., until possibly next Wednesday. So it may be oatmeal, eggs, and peanuts, for the next 5 days. (Even though you do need water for oatmeal, alas.) The other option is borrowing from someone. Or worse, doing what these unfortunate people on the side of the road do. We'll see! Though this may mean that on Sunday I will have to convince one of the brothers to spring for beer when a bunch of us watch the World Cup final.

3.  No internet

I have gotten so reliant on having the internet at home that going a week without it, due to lack of funds, may create serious withdrawal symptoms. But this may give me an opportunity to read all of the magazines through September--good thing that they are already downloaded--and catch up on other studying. But it may be awhile before you see another blog update...

So...the secret of how to do without? Just do it!

-------------------------------------

OK, enough of these mundane matters. Now let's consider the spiritual developments:

My records finally arrived from the previous congregation, so I'm now official here!

The Kigali English Congregation is planning soon to form an English group in a neighborhood on the other side of town (Nyamirambo). Also, the coordinator told me that he and the service overseer will be making special efforts to encourage the friends to take note of where the Chinese are, not just in Nyamirambo but all over Kigali, so that records can be made and the Chinese population can be adequately served.

A member of the branch committee told me that they are very interested in starting a Chinese class. This will be a real milestone, not only because it will be the first time the Chinese field has been addressed, but also because this will be the first-ever foreign language class conducted in Rwanda! There is another language spoken in the northern part of the country, and the branch is interested in having a class for this language also. But it sounds like the Chinese class will be the 'test case.' Since no previous class has been conducted before, the branch will very likely be the one to initiate the procedures, working with the local circuit overseer. So exciting times are ahead, and it's great to be part of the action!

Also, a couple of sources from Nairobi brought me Chinese literature recently, so now I have 3 Simplified Bibles and 1 Pinyin Bible!

It's interesting how the ministry, like life itself, has an ebb and flow. When I first got to Rwanda, I concentrated on the Chinese territory, obtaining 3 Bible studies in less than 3 months. But now, in the fourth and fifth months, since 2 of my studies went to China, the Chinese ministry seems to have diminished somewhat and I'm getting more English studies. You can't help, if you are preaching frequently, running into people (especially at the colleges) who are willing to study in English.

One recent experience I had was meeting this man on the street walking with his two small children. It turns out he is from Uganda--and therefore an English speaker--but married to a Rwandan who, according to him, is studying with a local publisher in Kinyarwanda. He said he even went to a meeting with her in Kinyarwanda in the downstairs auditorium of our Kingdom Hall but didn't understand much. (I told him, I can understand how you feel.) So I said, the English meeting is upstairs and, by the way, would you like to study the Bible in English? He took the Good News brochure and was interested in setting up a visit.

So, all in all, life here is definitely on the +++ side of the ledger, the minor inconveniences notwithstanding. And next week is the French convention here in town, so that will be something to look forward to!

Handling the doldrums

I have been in a mild state of malaise for the last few weeks, for the following reasons:

• we are presently in the hot, dry season, with a lot of dust in the air
• this time of year is accompanied by feelings of lethargy and occasional flulike symptoms
• two of my Bible students went to China, for an undetermined period
• it's the end of the service year--you know what that means

Yes, I have been getting enough rest and fluids. And, in the absence of anything productive to do aside from preaching, studying, and watching the World Cup (in which the local population has lost some interest due to all the African teams being eliminated at this point), I have decided to improve my language comprehension by watching Chinese TV drama. Since the internet signal here at my new place is very strong, having uninterrupted streaming videos is quite the luxury.

The advantage of Chinese drama, of course, is that you are hearing the language as it is spoken naturally and at normal speed. The downside is whether the dialogue is even the least bit useful in the real world that we inhabit. The first drama I watched was about this military guy who is being hunted, coercing this very pretty socialite to help disguise his identity, and you see them running on top of a train and then across a snowy landscape, being chased by a whole battalion yelling, "Stop!" "We will shoot!" "Don't let them get away!" OK, if I ever need to use those expressions in my ministry, I now know how to say them... ("Stop! I want to give you this magazine! Don't get away!")

I don't know what happened after that tense scene, because at that point my daily quota of data ran out. Seriously, though, there is a wealth of free Chinese video on the web; it's just a matter of being balanced (and selective) about watching it. Anyway, that's better, at least from my conscience's standpoint, than the awfully tempting practice of downloading current movies for free from websites such as uTorrent, leading to the question: Does Rwandan law have anything to say about downloading copyrighted material from the internet? (Answer: it's vague.)

On the bright side, my one remaining student, Mr. Han, has finished the book of Genesis in his Bible reading and has a number of questions. For example:

1. Genesis 4:17 says that Cain had a son named Enoch. Is this the same Enoch mentioned in Genesis 5:18, the one who 'walked with the true God'? How do we know?

2. If James 1:13 says that God does not try anyone, how can we explain God's testing Abraham by asking him to sacrifice Isaac?

By the way, Mr. Han has finally agreed that the way to make progress in understanding the Bible is by a systematic study. So our arrangement is this: we study the Bible Teach book for half an hour, then for the remaining half an hour he can ask whatever questions he has regarding his Bible reading (although we usually exceed this time frame).

Finally, my place is gradually shaping up. Remember the picture showing everything stacked in the living room? Well, this is what it looks like now:

I bought some 2m x 2m mats, so now it is starting to look like a living room. (Y'all know what a meter is, right? It's like an oversized yard. Just like a liter is like an oversized quart.) I also have a clothes rack for the bedroom, with two drawers, built by the same people who made the bed. So, although I still don't have a table or a sofa, have to cook on the floor (not my preferred way of doing it), and so don't feel quite comfortable yet inviting people over, things are slowly coming!

P.S.: See the latest page entitled "The varied faces of Kigali"!