ROCK COMMUNITY CHURCH
RWANDA 10TH – 23RD 2008
In
September a team from the ‘Rock’ was joined by others from Scotland and England to go to Rwanda. This is the first
time such a large team has gone from the church although both Alistair Macindoe and his daughter Claire have been before.
Overall it would be true to say that Rwanda and its people made a big impact on the team.
Rwanda suffered from a horrific genocide in 1994 from which it is still recovering.
Bodies are still being found and buried. The team visited the main Genocide Memorial in Kigali where there are mass graves.
Our main relationship is with L’Eglise
Vivante (Living Church) network of churches. During the first week, Alistair & Patricia Macindoe, Billy McClung and
Duncan Jack spend a few days ministering at a Pastors’ Conference. The rest of the team spent time with the Friends
of Jesus – street kids who the church house, feed and educate. In the evenings we all had great celebrations singing,
dancing and praising God!
In the
second week the team spend time visiting and ministering to Solace Ministries, a Rwandan charity set up to bring
comfort and practical help to survivors of the genocide. They visited the Craft Workshop which supplies to Comfort Rwanda,
and had a go at learning Rwandan crafts!
They visited the experimental farm in Kibuga and had a go at planting cabbages . They visited several orphan
head homes whom Solace support with help from Scotland.
They joined in meetings for ‘survivors’ – orphans who are now
in their mid-twenties. There was always exuberant singing and dancing with the team joining in. Giving testimony and
giving out food parcels.
The Rock
have ‘adopted’ a group of widows from JARI – a hill community outside Kigali. They have sponsored a cow
with help from many in Scotland and they ‘handed it over’ whilst they were there.
