07/12/2017 – Long, winding dirt roads in Rwanda

As we come to the middle of this week, I wanted to catch you up on a few of the pictures you might be looking at accompanying today’s blog.  On Sunday when we participated in the outdoor meeting outside of Butare, the road leading to the location looked like this coming to the worship site.  It was incredible to look up and around the long curve of this road. People came and came and kept coming. All of them had to walk to get to the meeting on the mountain.  Many of them traveled up to 3 to 4 hours walking.  They came from every corner of this region.  Even the pastors walked there themselves.  These long winding dirt roads are the staple of transportation in Rwanda!

The pastors who come to class this week also have to journey by bus or hired transportation of some kind.  They do not own vehicles.  This week we have 55 pastors who have gathered here from literally every part of Rwanda.  Some are from the southern section by the countries of Burundi and the Congo.  These men work and live in extraordinary conditions of life.  However, you would never hear one of them complain or feel sorry for themselves.  They do not doubt that God is real and has a plan for their lives.

The men are hard working students.  In the pictures you see them working right after class has been dismissed for the day.  They are beginning their take home tests.  Their zeal is the same in class.  They take notes, ask intelligent questions, and show respect for the process.  Our goal to train the best student pastors actually begins on Friday.  While Grace meets with the ladies, I will be meeting with ten of the pastors.  Let me request your prayer for Grace’s class time as well as my time with the men.  Both efforts are crucial at seeing the Lord bring spiritual change and growth.

We will get some videos of the pastors singing up on the website and on Global’s Facebook  page soon!