As I write this, we are embarking on our final four weeks of
semester ahead of our return to the UK this summer. During the summer, we will
have time to reflect on our year here and will write a blog reviewing events of
this year, but for now there is plenty to report on regarding our work here
over the past couple of months.
At school we marked Holy Week with a series of Chapel
services differing in style. I (Gareth) helped with leading and preaching in
our Maundy Thursday service which took place on the basketball courts for a
change and focused on the radical saving ministry of Jesus. We prayed that
there would be no rain for the occasion in what is a very wet time of the year
here, however, we neglected to ask the Lord for less sun, and so we left the
court full of God’s grace, but rather scorched. I continue to engage with my
students in the classroom and ethics has been a real highlight of my timetable.
Here we are hot-seating students on various situation ethics.
Rachel continues in her teaching of Grade 2 and is receiving
good feedback from her work in particular this time receiving praise for how
inclusive her lessons are of the different nationalities represented in her
class. With her class she has led primary chapel over the Easter period too.
Rachel will be observed later this week by local Rwandan teachers who are
seeking to learn from her good practice.
Much of the school’s attention over the last few weeks has
been on remembering those who died during the 1994 Genocide of the Tutsi in
Rwanda. The whole of Rwanda stopped the usual pattern of life during Memorial
Week, and the country is now in the midst of 100 days of mourning. Our school
council has arranged a special week to commemorate the Genocide this week. As
you can imagine there is a somber atmosphere here at this time, and 24 years on
the hurt caused is still raw. This was evident this week when a mass grave was
discovered just outside of Kigali. We pray that we can all learn lessons by
remembering.
Please continue to pray for us, that we all end well this
semester and that our journey and transition back to the UK is smooth.
