Successful trip to Congo

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.

Ice cream delirium, sugar cane juice

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.

The vagaries of English usage

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.

Trip to New York, California, Uganda

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!

Chinese course special program!

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!

Ethiopia

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! 

Yes, Ethiopia is worth a visit!

New house!

Some time back I had a great offer. Here is the background: My buddy Jacques from the French congregation was asked by a sister in his congregation to live in her house while she and her family are in Belgium for the next seven months. Most of the members of this family have already moved to Belgium, with the exception of the sister, who is the mother of the family.

This is a three-bedroom house in Kibagabaga (don't you just love that name?), a neighborhood with a lot of large houses, many of which would be viewed as mansions. The family to this point has not been able to rent their house, which would probably demand $500 a month, a large amount by any standard in Rwanda. It would be difficult to find someone to rent this house, unless it's a foreigner with a family, and then there is the matter of whom you can trust.

So, Jacques, due to his closeness with the family, is considered the "fils aîné," or eldest son (but obviously not literally), entitling him to free rent. But of course, there are two other bedrooms. So, I was asked if I would like to move in also. I could pay the same rent I'm paying now for my present house (100000Rwf, or $116), but look at what we're getting!

The house is fully furnished and has not only the three large bedrooms, but a completely stocked kitchen, including a fridge with freezer, stove, oven, microwave, and all cooking utensils. Then, we will have water every day (hooray!) because there is a 3,000-liter tank on the property. The bathroom has a bidet, if you know what that is. Not to mention the big-screen TV with countless channels, which are all in French. There is parking space for the car, which we don't have to share with anyone. We get a security guard who watches the property and the car all night and cleans the car several times a week, inside and out. He gets 20000Rwf ($23) a month. Then, we've hired Peter, my ex-Bible student, who used to do the cleaning at my old place. Peter will do the cleaning, washing, and ironing twice a week for 30000Rwf ($35) a month.

So, in early December, we met with the sister to discuss arrangements. She said I could pay the $116 a month. I asked her, even though we will be living in the house for seven months, two of those months I will be in the U.S. ... so would it be possible to pay rent for only five months? She agreed! I paid her the five months in advance, and so I'm set until July.

On December 12, we took her to the airport to catch her flight to Belgium. That was also the day we moved in. It took me less than an hour to pack my stuff, and Jacques took about the same amount of time to put everything he has into two suitcases. The advantages of a simple life!

By the way, they are building an annex in the back of the house that will have living quarters, kitchen, and toilet.

The deal is this: The family will be coming back in July for two months during the summer holiday. So, at that time we will have to move out. Probably Jacques will go back to his family's place in Busanza. But there is the possibility that I could move into the annex, assuming that it will have been finished and also that I am still in the country by then.

Finally, I asked my friend Clément if he would like to move in and take the third bedroom. He came over, looked at the house, and readily agreed! (Who wouldn't?) He will be paying rent also, but a smaller amount. So, at least the family will be getting something for their house. And we will be taking good care of it while they are gone!

Jacques

Clément

How about a video home tour? Here you go:

Hey, once I live in this house for seven months (or five, actually), how can I go back to a smaller place? And to living alone again, as I did for the past four years?

Official Chinese course!

Yes, we now have an official Chinese course!

This was approved by the branch, and started in mid-October. As of this writing, we are now in the fifth week.

There are 32 students, which is over the standard limit of 26, but the circuit overseer continued to add others who are classified as "observers."

We are holding classes every Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., except for umuganda (the public community service day on the last Saturday morning of every month), when they are scheduled from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The students, all of whom now have Chinese names, are doing very well, and we are having a blast! We, the three instructors, are using our collective creative abilities to try to make the course as instructive and interesting as possible.

After a video is created of the course, I will post on this blog.

So ... I never dreamed I would be teaching a Mandarin course in Africa!

Offering contributions for car rides—a cultural difference?

As mentioned previously on this blog, I bought a car back in January of this year. It is a bright red Toyota Vitz, which has served me well, especially in reaching with greater expediency the distant reaches of our English and Chinese territory. The car’s fuel economy was probably better in its younger years (it’s 16 years old), but that could no doubt be said of us humans, yours truly included.

However, there is an observation I would like to make—and would welcome any comments from the readership of this blog, which may be international (to some extent) in scope.

I take the car out, on average, four days a week in the ministry. It has been a real help, when you consider the time saved and what can be accomplished. But operating a car is expensive in Africa. Gas (petrol) is twice the cost of what it is in the U.S. So, when giving others in the congregation rides, I notice that rarely does anyone offer a contribution.

On two occasions, when conducting the meeting for field service, I pointed out what was stated in the March 1996 Kingdom Ministry, “Question Box,” about the appropriateness of offering to contribute for transportation provided by others in the ministry. I said that being in a foreign-language congregation or group naturally entails higher transportation costs. Unlike publishers in local-language congregations who walk everywhere in their close-by territory, we end up taking buses, taxis, and motorcycles more often. So, when someone gives us a ride, would it not be a loving gesture, as the Kingdom Ministry mentions, to offer a contribution to the driver?

Well, after these meetings for service, nothing changed. Hardly anyone offered to contribute for rides. Okay, operating my car is certainly not ‘breaking the bank.’ Yet, it is a considerable expense. And the publishers and pioneers take public transportation all the time, every day, so it is not as though they are destitute. (If you are in the English congregation, presumably you have ‘counted the cost’ of serving here in the first place.) They could offer to a car driver after a day in the ministry what they would have normally paid to take public transportation. But this is not happening.

Then, the thought occurred to me that possibly this may be due to a cultural difference. Back home, in the U.S., when I was in the Chinese congregation—and our territory was very large, the entire city of Sacramento—it was almost a standard thing to offer a contribution to a driver. It need not be large, but it nevertheless is a gesture of appreciation.

But, here in Rwanda, I had an experience recently that may explain the difference. I was picked up at the airport at 1:00 a.m. by a brother (and three others) in his car. Of course, I had asked the brother to do this for me in advance. But when I tried to give him some money to cover his expense—and because he had to come get me in the middle of the night—he refused to accept it. He, and the others, said that it would be uncomfortable to accept money in this situation because it would be as though I was ‘paying’ him for the service. And since we are friends, he wanted to help me out—and who pays a friend for a favor?

So, is there a cultural difference? Or maybe—picking someone up at an airport is a one-shot deal, but giving someone rides regularly in service are two different situations?

Readers of this post, what is your observation on this?

South Africa (Durban)

After a great experience in Johannesburg, Bethel, and Ukutula Game Reserve, it was now time to board a bus for the 8-hour trip to Durban, a city on the coast of the Indian Ocean.

I arrived in the evening of August 26, and was picked up by a brother, Wayne, who was to be my host. I knew Wayne because he has come several times to Rwanda as part of his work. He is in a long line of Indian immigrants to South Africa, Durban in particular, which by the way is the city with the largest number of ethnic Indians outside of India.

Here is a list of things I did or places I visited over the next week:

aquarium, bird park, golf driving range, timeshare resort, water park, bowling

Oh, we also attended meetings at the Phoenix East Congregation and participated in the invitation campaign for the regional convention, to be held in mid-September. I saw the stadium where the convention would take place. It was located very close to the beach. Yes, the Indian Ocean!

Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban

Umhlanga Beach, Durban

Was the water warm, you may ask? Actually, South Africa was just at the tail end of winter, so the water was a bit cool (20 degrees Celsius). When you first get in the water, it feels chilly, but after moving around you get used to it. It is definitely not as cold as the ocean off Northern California.

I stayed with Wayne and his mom and three younger brothers. We ate plenty of seafood and Indian food, not surprisingly, including this dish called "Bunny Chow" at a restaurant. It consists of curried lamb tucked inside a cube of bread. You eat it with your hands. Mmm!

Then, on the first weekend of September, we went to a timeshare resort on the South Coast, about two hours from Durban.

Finally, on September 4, I returned to Johannesburg for the flight back to Rwanda.

Exciting trip!

South Africa (Johannesburg, Ukutula Game Reserve)

I survived South Africa!

First, on August 20, I flew into Johannesburg, via Kampala (Entebbe) and Nairobi, starting in the middle of the night, and over a period of 15 hours. Pretty exhausting! Flying from Kigali to Johannesburg nonstop normally takes about 3½ hours, but of course this is the more expensive option. Have to watch that budget!

Anyway, upon landing I noticed how cold Johannesburg was. Daytime temperatures were between 10 and 15 degrees (Celsius), something unheard of in Kigali. South Africa is coming out of winter and entering spring. And of course, I had no jacket, no sweater. (All of my cold weather clothing is in the U.S.)

I was picked up by Patrick, a Rwandan brother who used to be in our congregation, and two other brothers who had just finished the last day of their regional convention. I was then dropped off at the flat where I was to stay for the next few days. This two-bedroom flat is occupied by Patrick's younger brother Colin as well as five Congolese guys (all Witnesses), most of whom are students at the University of Johannesburg. The university is conveniently across the street, but there are other areas of the campus further away.

Patrick and I went to town one day and looked around. Johannesburg is just a big city, in fact, the financial capital of South Africa, and not much to see from a tourist's point of view, so my main objectives were essentially to (1) change money, (2) buy a South African SIM card and a memory card for my new smartphone, and (3) avoid getting kidnapped. Ha! Just joking, although Johannesburg, despite having the reputation for being the carjacking capital of the world, is probably no worse than any other major city; you just have to be careful at all times.

Though my flatmates were pretty busy most of the time with their studies, we did spend some time in the evenings, talking as well as eating fufu and whole fried fish with tomato sauce. Though the Congolese are not particularly enamored of Johannesburg, they seemed to have adjusted to the lifestyle and the cold weather, and certainly the economic opportunities are much better in South Africa than in their native country.

On August 23, I hired an Uber car to get to Cedar Lodge, where I was to meet my American friend Jerry and his wife and two daughters, who had just come from the Mozambique branch dedication. Also in our group were another couple from the U.S. and a couple from Mozambique Bethel. Between the two nights of our stay at Cedar Lodge, we planned a visit to the South Africa branch. (Though I visited the branch 10 years ago, much of it has completely changed; in fact, they just had a dedication in April due to the enlarged printery.)

Sound wave of the name "Jehovah" spoken in English (wall decoration)

We met one of the animators of the Caleb/Sophia videos. He is originally from South Africa, served in Patterson for a year along with his wife, and then returned to South Africa after they had a child. He gave up a well-paying job and took up farming (something he never dreamed of doing) as part-time work to support his family while commuting to Bethel as an animator. What we didn't realize is that no one animator works on an entire video, because it would take too long and we wouldn't be getting the videos as quickly. Instead, each animator, wherever in the world, is assigned a small fraction of a video. Then, all the parts are put together to create the final product.

I must say, the South Africa Bethel tour is seriously high-tech, with all kinds of videos in multiple languages and hands-on displays, not to mention the elevated, window views of the printery, shipping, and laundry departments. I haven't yet been to Warwick (but probably next year), so the big question is, how does the U.S. Bethel tour compare?

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On August 25, we headed for Ukutula Game Reserve and Lion Park, northwest of Pretoria, where you can see lions, cheetahs, hyenas, and other animals. What an amazing experience! This reserve, interestingly enough, is owned by a Witness family, consisting of a couple and their grown children. They explicitly state that the reserve does not approve of hunting. It has been established for conservation and research purposes. There is a laboratory in the Conservation Center where research is done and biological samples stored for study and testing.

Our guide said that in the past, maybe 50-100 years ago, 70% of lions were killed by hunters. Nowadays, 70% of lions are dying of a disease called "bovine tuberculosis (TB)."
It afflicts cows, which then transmit the TB to other animals. There are only three kinds of animals that are immune to bovine TB, one of which is the hyena. (Hyenas can eat virtually anything and never get sick. How is this possible?) So, research is underway to determine how to create a vaccine that will save lions in the wild.

What is really unforgettable at the reserve, however, is the activity known as "Walking With Lions." Twice a day they take four male lions out for a walk (like you might do with your dog, sort of). It takes about an hour, and on the way the lions get to take a drink and also get fed dead chickens, which they can swallow in one gulp even while perched in a tree!

As tourists, we get to walk with them, only a few meters behind! The guides give you a stick and add that if you place it in front of you with one end on the ground, the lions know they are not to cross it. By the way, these lions are only 2-3 years old; once they pass that age, you can't walk with them anymore. And in the wild, the stick trick doesn't work, unfortunately.

So, how often in your life do you get a chance to have your picture taken with lions in the background? No barriers, no fences, nothing to keep you from being their next meal. OK, it's a bit scary at first, but these guides seem to have everything under control, and they boast of never having had any casualties. Yes, it was a small taste of paradise!

We were also able to get up close to four lion cubs, yes, even to pet them!

And yes, even, pet cheetahs!

By the way, there are two male cheetahs they allow you to touch. (And they are very specific about where you can touch them: head is OK, back is OK, but not the underside.) One of them is named Fast and the other is Furious. Between the two, Furious (the one in the video) has the nicer disposition, according to our guide.

Did you know there are only about 5,000 cheetahs left in the world?

So I would highly recommend visiting this game reserve. By the way, if you are a pioneer, they give you a 50% discount!

Next up: Durban, South Africa

What is a Rwandan prison like?

Interesting experience last week! We were visiting the former Bible student of a brother in the congregation. This ex-student was born in the U.S. to an American father and a Rwandan mother. He came here a few years ago to work as a church project coordinator (I'm not sure of the exact title), married a Rwandan woman, had two kids, and ended up staying here.

He studied the Bible with us for awhile, but then got too busy and stopped. And he never came to one of our meetings, even though he was invited many times. So it was a great surprise to the brother a few weeks ago when he received a call from the man's wife, stating that her husband was in prison and wanted the brother to come visit him.

He is in the main prison of Kigali, which used to be located in town, but recently it moved out of town to a place high up on a hill. It should be mentioned that this prison houses some really bad criminals, including those who were responsible for slaughtering others during the genocide.

We underestimated how much time it would take to get there: two hours on three buses. (The whole experience, round-trip, took about nine hours.) Since we are in the dry season, the road leaving town was full of dust, which is kicked up by all the vehicles.

Then, we still had an uphill hike through two security checkpoints, and a place where you check in your bags, including cell phones, tablets, etc. While the brother was checking in for us, I went to a kiosk where they sell everything from bottled water to beer, to buy something for the prisoner.

After this, we went to a covered waiting area with wooden benches to sit along with 500 other people who were visiting inmates. The way it works is this: You sign up to visit a certain prisoner, and then they call about 50 at a time, wearing either orange or pink jumpsuits (there is no difference between the colors, I was told), to the covered area. You are allowed five minutes with the prisoner, after which someone beats on this drum hanging from the ceiling, and then the prisoners return to their cells. Then, another 50 are brought in, and this process goes on all day until late afternoon. I should mention that the only day that visitation is allowed is Friday. Imagine that! Visitors make the arduous trip out of town, only once a week, for five minutes!

Well, we didn't see our prisoner for several hours, even after the brother spoke to the "chief" prisoner (yes, some prisoners due to good behavior, I would imagine, are allowed greater responsibilities, such as helping to coordinate the visitation process), who told us that, yes, his name was called. Of course, he has an American name, and maybe if it was pronounced with a strong Kinyarwanda accent, perhaps he didn't hear it called. So the "chief" prisoner said to the brother, I know that person you mentioned, let me go personally and try to find him. The result was that finally, after 3:00 p.m., the prisoner we were looking for came out. At first we didn't recognize him, especially with his shaved head, but he knew me because I have been on this Bible study before, and let's face it, how hard is it not to see someone Chinese in a sea of African faces?

So, how much can you say in five minutes? He said he was accused by a pastor in his church of misappropriating money. He has been in prison for two months already, and the trial is coming up in October. How long could he stay here? Anywhere from two months to two years. He did say that the pastor who accused him has apologized, so maybe this will work in his favor at the trial. How many people in his cell? About a thousand. Which means there is barely room to lie down. It's horrible. The prison provides only one meal of maize porridge a day. So, when visitors come, they can bring food, which the prisoners no doubt appreciate.

I asked him, has anyone besides your wife and us come to visit you? He said no, everyone in his church has abandoned him.

I can only imagine the despair felt by this man, who cannot speak much Kinyarwanda and thus has no one to talk to, facing the prospect of possibly spending years in this place. At the end of our five minutes, he was on the verge of tears.

Earlier in the year this guy, by the way, was robbed and beaten while walking late at night on a dirt path to and from his church. For some reason, he had his U.S. passport with him; that and money was stolen. Getting another passport was understandably a hassle.

So if and when he gets out, this is what I would tell him: Go back to America. Find a way to get your wife and kids over there, and don't come back to Rwanda. You will always have this hanging over your head.

The only bright spot of this whole situation is that maybe, after serving his term, he will realize that our religion is the only one that showed love to him and this will prompt him to do something for the truth.

"You are the only Chinese minister we know of"

Here’s an interesting experience:

About a week and a half ago, I got a call from a Mr. Zhang Yu, whom I didn’t know. This is roughly how the conversation went:

“Are you Mr. Zhou?”

“Yes.”

“This is Zhang Yu. I would like to ask of you a favor.”

“Do I know you?”

“You have come by our office, the Hunan Road and Bridge Construction Company.”

“Yes, but I don’t remember you specifically.”

“Well, we heard that you are a minister.”
“Yes.”

“One of my work colleagues died in a road accident recently, and his funeral will be this weekend. So we would like you to come and give a short talk. You are the only Chinese minister we know of.”

“Who was the person that died?”

“His name was Chen Xiong. He was 57 years old. Maybe you don’t know him.”

“No, I don’t. So, how did you get my name and phone number?”

“Mr. Han Kai, who has the auto business, recommended you.”

“Yes, I teach him the Bible.”

“So, the funeral will be this Saturday at 9:00 a.m. There will be a cremation afterward.”

I discussed this with Innocent and Benjamin, the special pioneers, and we decided to meet with Mr. Zhang personally at his office to get more details. Two days later we ended up spending an hour and a half with him, asking some specific questions about the deceased, and saying that we would agree to give a short Bible talk but not say anything about the deceased. We also obtained some assurance from Mr. Zhang that there would be no traditional customs, such as lighting firecrackers (to scare off evil spirits) or burning paper money, that would be out of harmony with Bible teachings and therefore offend our consciences.

So, on the Friday before the funeral, I spent the entire day working on a 12-minute Chinese talk covering (1) why humans die, (2) the condition of the dead, and (3) the resurrection hope. We had arranged that five of us from the Chinese group would drive to the funeral (which was to be in Bugesera, about 45 minutes away) armed with Chinese tracts to distribute to everyone in attendance.

Well, it was late Friday afternoon that Mr. Zhang called me, completely embarrassed and apologetic. He said that because some relatives coming from China would not be arriving until close to 1:00 p.m. the day of the funeral, they would have to reschedule it to 3:00 p.m., which he knew was the time of our Chinese congregation meeting (the second week at this new time). I said, okay, why don’t you give me your e-mail address, I’ll send you the script of the talk, and you or someone else can read it to the audience.

Though it was disappointing not to be able to give the talk I had spent so much time on, there were some positive aspects to this experience. First, it was very gratifying to know that we, the Chinese group in Kigali, are starting to be well-known. Second, preparing the talk was for me like a day of personal study, since I spent the whole day thinking about the resurrection hope. And finally, Mr. Zhang told me later that he did read the talk to the audience, but just the first two sections, because he felt the Chinese audience would not be able to grasp the concept of a resurrection.

My recollection of preaching at the Hunan Road and Bridge Construction Company is that with the exception of one man who ended up returning to China, no one showed interest every time we visited their offices. So, if Mr. Zhang was one of these (and I can’t be quite sure), then obviously the death of his colleague changed his attitude toward our message. In our long discussion, he told me that at 25 years of age, he is suffering a lot of stress and insomnia from his job, he misses his wife and one-month-old son in China, and feels that perhaps the Bible’s message can help him find greater happiness and purpose in life. So, he is now willing to accept more visits from Jehovah’s Witnesses. We will see where this leads!