What a day last Thursday was! First, that morning I discovered after arriving at school that my English class had been cancelled, so I decided to meet the field service group. Well, upon arriving in the territory, I had slowed almost to a stop to turn left into a parking space on the other side of the road, when suddenly: BOOM! I glanced in the rear-view mirror and saw a motorcycle plow right into the back of my car, followed by a cascade of four other motorcycles, all of whom obviously had been going too fast and following too closely. You know how accidents always appear to happen in slow motion? It was almost comical, watching these motos crumple over each other like dominoes. Well, I turned left to get off the road while all the moto drivers and their passengers untangled themselves. Then, a guy who spoke some English came up and said he saw the whole thing. But, he said, instead of pulling off the road you should have stayed where you were, because that way we can draw diagrams, etc. I replied, in America, where I'm from, you pull off the road because otherwise you'll be a hazard. Anyway, some of the brothers who had been preaching came over, by which time a crowd of perhaps 100 people gathered, typically, to gawk. I couldn't determine, in the ensuing confusion, which of the motos had been the first to hit me. Anyway, no one appeared to be hurt, and there was a medium-sized dent in my rear bumper, the kind that would cost a few thousand dollars in America to fix, but here only about $25, the biggest challenge being trying to match the paint. So, I concluded it wasn't worth pursuing, and besides that, all the motos took off very quickly, because they knew it was their fault. Okay, that was the bad news. Well, after about a half-hour of preaching in the territory, Benjamin, one of the special pioneers in our Chinese group, got a call from Bethel. Why would they be calling me? he wondered. The brother from Bethel asked him about Chinese meeting times, and then he added, please check your jw.org inbox. Well, there was a letter from the Service Department that said: "We are very happy to inform you that we have approved the formation of the Kigali Remera (Chinese) Gasabo Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. The congregation is formed as of November 1, 2018. Please receive our warm Christian love and greetings." (Interestingly, the letter waswritten in Chinese though addressed to the English Congregation.) Well, we could almost not contain our urge to start screaming! The announcement was made to the entire English congregation the following Wednesday evening. The new congregation will have 4 elders, 5 ministerial servants, and a total of 23 publishers, 18 of whom are regular or special pioneers, as well as 2 Bethelites. Our meetings will be on Tuesday evening and Saturday afternoon. I can tell you this: there could not be a more satisfying culmination to almost five years of my being here in Rwanda!
First meeting of new Chinese congregation!
By the way, we are the 10th Chinese congregation in sub-Saharan Africa!
Okay, it's true: I haven't posted in several months. There hasn't been much to report, however. In August I did go to Gisenyi, which borders on Lake Kivu. Actually, it was a long weekend with my friend Jacques and the family visiting from Belgium (in whose house in Kibagabaga we lived for six months), as a sort of final trip before they returned to Belgium to start the school year. The bus to Gisenyi took over three hours. We spent much time at the lake, and even took a boat into the lake—or should I say, across the lake—about 20 minutes away from shore. Then, on Monday, which was our last day, Jacques and Akim (the oldest son of the family) and I went across the border into Goma, DRC (Congo). You may remember, in my post dated July 28, 2016, my aborted attempt to get into Congo. Well, this time we had 'all our ducks in a row,' so to speak—in other words, proper papers, and nothing that would stir up the Congolese border authorities. We only had two hours to spend in Goma, and believe me, that's about as much time as you would need to see the place. We paid the American price of $5 per person for breakfast at a restaurant. Then, with Jacques right at home talking up a storm in Swahili, we managed to find the only tourist attraction in Goma: the chukudu in the center of town. What is a chukudu? you may ask. According to Wikipedia, it is a two-wheeled vehicle, unique to eastern Congo, made of wood and used for transporting freight. So, of course, we had to take photos of ourselves standing in front of this large man-pushing-chukudu statue, which is in the middle of a busy traffic circle.
Actually, if you Google "tourist attractions in Goma," you will find a whole list of things, including national forests, gorillas, etc. The truth is, however, that these tourist attractions are not directly in, but outside of, Goma. Some of them are several hours away. But we are justly proud of saying that we saw the principal attraction of Goma, the one that people come from halfway around the world just to have their picture taken in front of, that is, right before they get run over by a car. Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to see any guerrillas (the human variety, that is) for which eastern Congo is famous. But that's okay. I've been to Congo twice now, so I'm sure that with my spotless record and the fact that I didn't transmit Ebola to anyone, the authorities will let me in anytime, being that I'm a major contributor to their economy.
In my March 18, 2016, post entitled, "Observations of a Polar Bear," I said that ice cream shops haven't caught on too well in Rwanda. Well, times have changed (a bit). Now, two years later, in the new commercial building complex called Kigali Heights, which is close to the Kigali Convention Center, there is a new place that sells, get this, Italian ices. Yego! The ultimate, crème de la crème of ice cream! Yes, at Delizia Italiana, for the modest (by American standards, at least) price of 3500Rwf ($4.00), you can have two scoops of your choice of 15 flavors. I had heard all about this place from friends who did nothing short of rave over it. Rave over an ice cream shop? Well, when you taste the kind of ice cream that Africa generally puts out, almost anything is better. Especially these packaged chemical concoctions that come, probably by oxen, from South Africa, with 50 ingredients on the label, no less. I would rather slurp down some sugared battery acid, ha! But seriously, folks, this new ice cream shop has a special machine that comes from Europe (and no doubt is very expensive) to churn out this smooth, creamy gelato. Mmm, heavenly! Rwandans don't know what they have been missing all these years!
Also, on the list of newly discovered places (for me, at least) is the Ubuzima Cane Juice Bar in the neighborhood of Kimironko. They sell nothing but fresh sugar cane juice that is produced by a heavy-duty juicer, which the lady proprietor said comes from Canada and costs 2 million Rwf (about $2,300). You can get 300ml for 400Rwf, 500ml for 600Rwf, and 1 liter for 1200Rwf. You can actually watch them take long stalks of sugar cane, plunge them into the juicer, and in seconds you have fresh juice. Either lemon or ginger is added for free, and if you want both it costs a little extra. Delicious! And according to several online sources, sugar cane juice has numerous health benefits; it is good for fighting cancer, heart problems, high blood pressure, and amazingly, despite the very sweet taste, it is tolerable by diabetics. It is also good for the skin if applied topically. This place has me sold! I have chewed sugar cane in the past but always felt it required too much energy. It's one of those foods that has negative caloric value; you know, the amount of calories you expend is greater than the calories you receive.
Are there any sugar cane juice bars in America? If not, there ought to be.
Having just spent almost 2 months in America, I thought I'd make some observations on the way English is used. This can cause some confusion to those of you in Rwanda. So, let's clarify. First of all, in America, the word "smart" means "intelligent." In Rwanda "smart" means "well-dressed." So just imagine the following conversation: "Wow, you look really smart today." "How can you tell? Yeah, lately I've gone through various periods of stupidity, but I'm okay today." In Rwanda, if you want to say that someone is intelligent, you say he is "clever." "That boy is very clever." "Yeah, he's good at breaking in cars." Of course, there is also the American versus Rwandan (British) way of referring to things automobile-related: "hood" = "bonnet" "trunk" = "boot" "gas" = "petrol" "Gas" in Rwandan (British) usage means natural gas, used for cooking and heating, not what you put in your car. Think you know English? Think again.
No posts for over 2 months!? That's because I took a much-needed vacation (after teaching the Chinese-language course, you will recall) and traveled to the U.S. and Uganda.
For some reason, flying out of Rwanda and back to Uganda was several hundred dollars cheaper than coming directly back to Rwanda. (That is, when I booked this ticket back in October.) And it's only a 9-hour bus ride from Kampala to Kigali, which costs around $11. So my itinerary was this: Kigali to Doha to New York (JFK) on Qatar Airways, spend 4 days in New York, then on JetBlue to California for almost 2 months, back to Kampala for a week, and then finally return to Kigali. (By the way, if you land in any of the New York airports, you can either rent a car, which I was not inclined to do in a jet-lagged state, or take public transportation to get upstate to the Bethel complexes. Newark is the closest approach, but I didn't know this at the time. From JFK, it took 3 hours on 2 trains and a bus to get to this shopping mall in New Jersey, which is where a sister picked me up. That place is still at least an hour from Bethel.) So, how was the trip, you may ask? Well, this was my first time seeing Warwick, and of course it was incredible, though I only had a few hours there. (That's because I had 4 complexes to see in only 4 days.) You have to reserve a 3-hour spot in Warwick, which includes a 20-minute "tour" (consisting of sitting in the Kingdom Hall and listening to a lecture, very enthusiastically given, by a brother or sister volunteer), and then you have the rest of the time, if this is even humanly possible, to view the exhibits on the history of the Bible and Jehovah's organization. Shall we say that what you see blows away anything in any museum on the outside. There are many interactive exhibits; on some of them, if you leave your e-mail address, you will get a digital "gift." I also took one day to travel to Wallkill and Patterson. At Patterson, I visited my old department (Legal), but unfortunately saw only 2 out of the 20 or so I still remember. It was a Friday afternoon, and it was snowing, and most of the brothers in Legal were not there for one reason or another. I had a good friend in the department whom I saw for a grand total of 2 minutes. He was tied up, due to the snowfall, with making rearrangements for a circuit assembly the next day. So I told him, see you in another 10 years, ha, ha. (Yes, it has been over 10 years since I visited U.S. Bethel last.) Finally, I stayed one night at Fishkill, which houses elderly Bethel family members and also Bethelites in certain departments, particularly the Computer Department. It is a luxury apartment complex, but being 40 minutes away from the nearest Bethel complex (Patterson), it is like a neighborhood unto itself. Those who live at Fishkill work out of their rooms. So, imagine this: you wake up in the morning, and while fixing your own breakfast, watch Morning Worship on TV (and also the Watchtower Study the same way). Then, you sit in your bedroom, living room, or whatever, in your underwear (would anyone even know?) working on a computer all day. By the way, you also have to cook your own lunch and dinner, because there is no dining room. And, like all other Bethelites, you have to do your own cleaning and laundry. Aside from your roommates, you may not see another soul all day. So...does this feel like Bethel? There is a pantry at the apartment complex, where Bethelites can get vegetables, fruits, meat, etc. for cooking; and there is a commissary, where "luxury" items can be purchased (such as chocolate, for example), but even then, payment is on the "honor" system, because there is no accounting. Well, Bethel has changed a lot since I was there. I also visited a Chinese congregation in New Jersey, where I gave a public talk; and took a side trip to see the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut. At this gallery, there is a Bethelite (actually, he was being reassigned to the field shortly thereafter) who gives very interesting tours that connect the artwork with Biblical or historical facts. After this whirlwind tour of New York, I was ready to head out to California, where I had basically 3 objectives: (1) visit family and friends, (2) experience some cold weather, and (3) get fat. Yes. Every time I go to the States, I pick up about 7 kg (15 lbs.) in 2 months. The food there is too good! Not always the healthiest, however. Though I spent most of the time in the Sacramento, California, area, I did get to the Monterey area for a long weekend. My roommate here in Rwanda has a dream of being a marine biologist, and I knew that he would be frothing at the mouth if he found out that I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. (Sorry, Jacques.) Monterey Bay is a gold mine for marine life, and the Aquarium has one of the best collections in existence. There's not much more to say about my time in Sacramento, except that my parents are doing fine, we went out to dinner a lot (which explains the weight gain), and I did manage to preach with the Chinese congregation and a couple of English congregations. Finally, the last week of my trip was spent in Kampala, Uganda, where I stayed with a family I knew. Not much has changed about Kampala since the last time I visited over 2 years ago (yes, it's still characterized by dirtiness and disorder and traffic jams), but the friends there are great to spend time with. I went to 5 parties in 5 days! So, that's a summary of the last 2 months. But now it's back to the usual routine!
Yes! We finished the Mandarin-language course!! On Saturday, February 17, 2018, we arranged for a special program that included talks, interviews, experiences, songs, and Bible dramas in costume. Most of the English congregation was invited, as well as others who helped us with various aspects of the course. We had to shift the venue for the program at the last minute (for which there is a long story) to the house of Brother and Sister Rwakabubu. (You may remember the 2012 Yearbook account that described their young daughter's prayer that saved the family from killers during the genocide. Brother Rwakabubu is a current member of the Branch Committee.)
The dramas were (1) Jesus resurrecting Lazarus, (2) Lot and his family fleeing Sodom, and (3) Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea. So, when was the last time you saw African actors in Bible costumes speaking Chinese? Be honest, now....
There are several milestones in my experience with Chinese here in Rwanda, but this is undoubtedly the most memorable. Jehovah's blessing is evident on our efforts!
I just returned from a weeklong trip to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia (population: 3 million). This all happened because a longtime friend, who was doing somewhat of a round-the-world trip (and who by the way on this trip was the first person ever to visit me in Africa), proposed for us to travel together somewhere. So I decided on Ethiopia, since I had been through Addis Ababa four times in transit to or from the U.S. but never left the airport. My only connection with Ethiopia, aside from knowing the airport very well, was a German sister, Brigitte, who is in the Chinese group in Addis, and with whom I had exchanged a few e-mail messages. She has an interesting history. Years ago, she moved to Dublin, Ireland, to serve where the need is greater, then to Moscow, then to Siberia, then to China, and then to Ethiopia. She spent years in each place before moving either voluntarily or involuntarily. (Those of you in China know what that means.) She has been in Ethiopia for seven years now, and attended SKE two years ago. I also met a 24-year-old Ethiopian brother, Mikiyas, who is a special pioneer in the Addis Chinese group. He took the first (and only) Chinese language course in Addis five years ago, which was taught by an American couple who did not stay in Ethiopia. His Chinese is near fluent, probably better than mine.
Meeting for field service, Addis Ababa (Brigitte, standing at left; Mikiyas, standing fourth from left)
The Addis Chinese group, associated with the only English congregation in the country, is about the same size is our Kigali Chinese group, about 10 publishers. Yet, they have a territory of 70,000-100,000 Chinese people! Three or four times a year the group makes a preaching excursion, lasting up to a few weeks, to isolated areas outside the capital where there are Chinese people. They have experienced all kinds of weather conditions, and spent the night in all sorts of places. Last year's Memorial, with Chinese video, saw 22 Chinese people in attendance! So, they are seeing results from their hard work. During my visit, Brigitte took a car group of us in her white pickup truck to some areas an hour from the city where there are Chinese factories. She usually enters these compounds without much trouble, as long as the local guards don't see our literature. A pickup truck is a common sight at these factories, anyway. As a precaution, she throws her expired Chinese visa in the windshield. :)
One interesting thing happened: We stopped at a supermarket while I went in to buy something. Shortly thereafter, inside the parked truck, Brigitte saw a Chinese person on the street approaching (and it is not uncommon for us to stop in heavy traffic to chase down a Chinese person), and nearly broke fingernails trying to get the door open to preach to this person! But that person turned out to be...me! We all got quite a laugh over that one. Well, we did some tourist things also. We went to a place called the Yod Abyssinia Cultural Restaurant, where you not only get local food (including honey wine) but also traditional music and dancing, which get progressively more energetic as the evening progresses. We also went to the National Museum of Ethiopia, which houses "Lucy," the partial skeleton that is purported to be 3 million years old. And we checked out a place called Zoma Contemporary Art Center (no address, difficult to find, visits by appointment only), an environmentally conscious project where you can find mud-and-straw buildings with heavy wooden ornately carved doors, bathrooms with elaborate tile designs, and architecture that is artistically intriguing.
Bethel reception (appropriate picture!)
We also toured Bethel and, as it happened, were able to attend the special program of the Headquarters Representative Visit that Sunday. The program originated at Bethel and was tied in all over the country. I also attended the Pioneer Meeting with the elders of the English congregation, which was on the same day as the one I missed back in Rwanda!
