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Feast of Trumpets in Giti
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Today, the Feast of Trumpets was a very busy day. James, Mr. Sobibugingo's son arrived first about 7:30 we chatted in the lobby until 08:00. James is teaching on the outskirts of Kigali. He speaks good French and English and frequently helps visitors as a translator. Mr. Mundeli arrived at 8:00 in a taxi driven by Samuel, one of my usual drivers in Rwanda. Samuel drives a Toyota sedan, and Pierre, the other driver, has a van, so depending on how large a vehicle we need we use the services of one or the other. The Mundelis' grown daughter Myriam was also in the car. We greeted each other and drove off toward the outskirts of town. Just over the small stream that marks the edge of Kigali, we waited for Pierre to arrive with his vanload of church members from Remera, where the Mundeli's live. When they arrived a few minutes later we drove on a short distance to a hotel where Nathan and Moise are staying: 2000 Francs a night ($3.50). Mr. Mundeli said, that at that price there's nothing in the room but a bed, but for them, a trip to Kigali is not cheap so they have to count carefully. We paid for their meals during their visit, to keep them from having to borrow money.
The party complete we headed up the familiar road to Giti. The first half hour is on a very good paved road. Then comes the right turn toward lake Muhazi and the road become dirt. It's now the start of the rainy season, so the road is not in its best shape. When the rains come, they come heavily, and run off digs huge furrows in the dirt. The shock absorbers in Samuel's car were about usual for African taxis, that is to say way beyond the point when they should be changed. So the ride was bone-jarring. About 90 minutes on steep, rocky and crevassed roads, brought us to Giti.
I have interesting memories of Giti. Giti was one of the few townships in Rwanda where there was no genocide in 1994. The mayor of the time decided "in Giti there are no Tutsis or Hutus there are only Rwandans." And he made it stick. He had guards at the edge or the township to confiscate any and all weapons. No one was killed within their precincts. I find it more than interesting that the township in which we had the highest concentration of Church members in the whole country was one of the very few places where there was no slaughter. A Coincidence? If you like.
Around 1996 I was in Giti with my predecessor and African mentor Bernard Andrist, a Swiss pastor who loved Africa and Africans like few people I have seen. He had organized some educational aid programs in the name of the Church and so we'd been invited to a holiday festival, the occasion of which I have since forgotten. The First Lady of Rwanda was to attend, and Mr. Andrist announced to me as we were driving up the mountains, "by the way, I told the mayor that you would video tape the first lady's visit and that we would make him a commemorative video. There will be a camera there for you." I was not very happy to say the least. I didn't know what equipment I was to use, and I wasn't especially proficient at video taping anyway. I was pretty sure I would embarrass myself and our Church. But he wouldn't let me out of the job. "Don't worry, just do it, it will be fine" he said simply.
The festivities were colorful and fascinating. The were drums, lots of drums, and traditionally dressed warriors dancing with spears and shields, shaking and swinging their long yellow (fake) hair. That was before I had a digital camera so unfortunately I don't have photos of the occasion. I more or less figured out how to use the video camera on the fly, and started shooting tape. The wife of then-President Pasteur Bizimungu (who has since been ousted, convicted of several crimes against the state and very recently pardoned) came with a heavy FPR (Front Patriotic Rwandais) escort to assure her security. There were soldiers with machine guns all over, some with anti-tank rockets, and even a couple of anti-aircraft quad machine gun sets mounted on the backs of trucks. And I was the amateur cameraman, moving about clumsily, one of only two whites conspicuously in the crowd, trying to film the First Lady and the events. I remember moving very slowly, no sudden movements, smiling a lot at the soldiers who didn't smile back, but who watched me every second. The RPF felt betrayed by France during the genocide, and Mr. Andrist and I were speaking French.... I remember being very happy when that day was over. I did get to meet the First Lady however, and she was very gracious.
I later met the mayor who had saved so many lives, a principled but simple man who later moved on to other responsibilities. In front of the town hall in Giti there is an official Government sign that says in French and Kinyarwanda "Giti, the town where there was no genocide." That's certainly something of which to be proud.
We arrived at a few minutes after 10:00 which is when we had planned for services to start.
We started just a few minutes late. We sang hymns, there was an opening prayer in Kinyarwanda, and Mr. Mundeli made some announcement and statements of welcome. The chorale sang. We gave an offering, a beautifully colored, hand-woven Rwandan basket was passed around by the deacon, Jean-Baptist Sibobugingo. I spoke about an hour, going through relevant passages of Revelation 8-19 about the prophetic trumpets of Revelation with Mr. Mundeli translating into Kinyarwanda.
Following services, I showed the video I had prepared of last summer's trip which included Rwanda. One scene of the video showed my wife and daughters gamely dancing (as they had been asked to do) with the high school dancing troupe that had welcomed us to Remera. Before we got to that scene, just as the initial scene opened with Rwandan girls dancing, I set up my usual joke about how nearly all the dancers did well, there were just three who needed a little more practice. When the scene came with my family dancing along with the Rwandans, and I said these were the three who needed more practice, there was a tremendous outburst of laughter, not in a mean-spirited way, but because they were surprised, and delighted to see Westerners trying to follow along. (BTW, I got permission from all three of my ladies before that scene went in the video.) That was the most laughter I have ever heard in Rwanda, a country that, after all it's been through, deserves all the laughter it can get.
After the video, Etienne Rutamujyanye came forward with the children's Sabbath school group. They gave a wonderful presentation in French and Kinyarwanda about Abraham as
the father of the faithful. They sang and recited scriptures, and individual children came forward to recite solo various sections of the story they had learned. It was a delightful as it was heart-warming.
Mr. Mundeli mentioned that there were a few families that wanted me to ask a blessing on their children, following the practice of Jesus as recounted in Matthew 18, Mark 10 and Luke 18. I imagined there would be three or four, but it turned out there were eleven. There would have been a few more if I hadn't pointed out that Jesus blessed "little children" and that he took them in his arms.
I wasn't sure I could hold the 11 year-old long enough to ask a blessing! Mr. Mundeli assisted me as I held or laid hands on each one and askedGod's blessing on the little children. Some were six or seven and fairly big already so my arms were tired by the end of the ceremonies, but I was very happy to be able to officiate at such a joyful ceremony.
Several ladies had spent the previous day cooking a meal to be served to everyone. Sometimes Church members in the US, and Europe send some money along with me to offer a meal to brethren here. Such was the case today.
The feast-day menu included a small piece of beef (tougher, less expensive, and less appreciated than chicken...) half an avocado, a boiled egg and bread with some margarine, and a fanta, coke or tonic each. Doesn't sound like much to Westerners probably, but here it is a true and memorable feast.
After the meal it was time to start preparing the trip home. Loading the soda crates and food baskets back into the vehicles, we took our leave of everyone, shaking hands with every adult and child that came forward. After an hour on the road, at the bottom of the mountain, we made a small detour over to Lake Muhazi where Mr. Mundeli and I conducted one baptism, before heading back into Kigali. We dropped several people at their homes or bus stops before I got back to Chez Lando where I immediately started preparing for my early morning departure the next morning. Tomorrow I have a 6:45 flight to Nairobi, which means leaving the hotel at 5:15, which means getting up earlier than I like to contemplate, once again.
Days this good make the trip here worthwhile.
Latest Comments (3)
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Hey! (reply)
Sep 18, 2007 21:24 EST by fmeeker
Glad to hear everyone in Rwanda is doing ok and that your Feast of Trumpets went well. I can´t imagine what it must be like spending the Holy Days out there!
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Re: good day (reply)
Sep 18, 2007 12:19 EST by joelmeeker
Hello Jack and Mary,
Thanks for your comments. The story of Giti is really fascinating. Take care and have a great Fall season.
JM
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In reply to:
Touching to hear about the blessing of eleven children and their presentation on Abraham. Amazing that the mayor's decision made Giti a 'town where there was no genocide.... show all
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good day (reply)
Sep 16, 2007 07:55 EST by maryhendren
Touching to hear about the blessing of eleven children and their presentation on Abraham. Amazing that the mayor's decision made Giti a 'town where there was no genocide.'
Jack and Mary
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