Safari to Rwanda

This past weekend, our friends, Randy and Alice Matthewson (VISA missionaries to the Congo), escorted us on a safari to Rwanda. It was a wonderful trip and experience, and constituted a needed break from our work at Hope Africa University. Our destination was the Free Methodist mission in Kibagora, which we had not previously visited.

Kibagora has a well-developed hospital and medical center, a sizeable FM church, and this fall (2012), they plan to launch a Christian liberal university (like Hope Africa University). It is beautifully situated high above Lake Kivu. The views from our guest housing were spectacular.

On Saturday morning, we were given a full tour of the hospital and medical facilities. In the afternoon, we did a long hike (ca. 5 miles) to a local market and back, downhill one way and uphill the other…some of it very steep.

The drive north on Friday took ca. 5 hours; similarly, the return south on Sunday. The 2-hour drive north of Bujumbura, in Burundi is flat and the road is paved: half of it was in good condition; half of it was not. Crossing the border was a breeze: no visa is required by Rwanda for US citizens. North of the border, in Rwanda, the road climbs steeply and then down again: the landscape is quite mountainous and beautiful; the valleys are planted in huge tea plantations. Much of this roadway was unpaved and under construction: it was smooth enough, but we got COVERED in dust.

We have now visited all three of our Free Methodist missions and hospital centers in central Africa: Kibuye, in Burundi; Nundu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo; Kibagora, in Rwanda. Each has a good history of evangelism and social service. But all three are in need of continuing support, especially Nundu and Kibagora.