November 11, 2010

November 11, 2010 - The end of the day

It was looking pretty good, for the most part. We had just finished up breakfast, had a productive team meeting and we separated to our separate tasks for the morning. While Montse and Jose got the technical side of the trip ready, Rob and I left with Albert (A Genocide Orphan and success story himself) to CNLG, the center for Genocide Memorial Management. We were going to apply for legal rights to photograph and video inside of the very sacred genocide memorials in Rwanda. This is forbidden activity and what we were asking was quite impossible, we were understanding. The man we were supposed to meet with was not around until 2:30, so I had to commit to going back at that time, which meant, the rest of the team would go to my friend’s wedding without me. Rob was fine with missing the meeting to attend the wedding.
From that moment on, it was sortof all a blur. The team went to the wedding. It was one of three weddings for this special couple. The first of three, a civil ceremony at the government offices. The small room was filled with 20 other couples and families that were also getting married that day. It was a warm experience! They all enjoyed the experiences there until Albert and I came to pick them up at 7:30pm.
While the wedding went on, I met a boy named Sibomanna. He’s 15, tall and very handsome. Like a smart boy in his situation, he approached me to ask for money to help with his school fees, after presenting me with his report card. Instead of giving him money, I asked him to get in our car and to direct us to his home where I’d love to meet his mother. He had a hard time directing us. Soon after the truth came out, “There’s a family that saved me from prison. I used to be a street child and this family feeds me when I’m hungry. I’ll take you.” (All in Kinyarwanda, not english). So that’s where we went. And that’s where I met Becky, the house mother of 35 rehabilitating street boys. Becky’s Rwandan husband of 2 weeks has been taking care of these boys for the past 8 years. She just recently joined the team 2 years ago. When she saw the boy, she gripped him and didn’t let go. Almost sobbing, she said, “I’m so glad you’re back!”
The long and short: Sibomanna has been living on the street dealing drugs for the past 3 months. He has high ranking among his peers on the street and has a difficult time giving up the lifestyle, even for his own future. The drugs cloud his judgement and even though he had been staying in this home that paid his school fees, fed him, clothed him and kept him… the temptation won out. He was reluctant to stay at the new home, but wanted to come with me, after a short deliberation, he decided that after the house father came home, he would stay for a short while, then leave within hours back to the drug house where he kept his status of “iconic street boy”. We’re now aggressively praying for this boy… and fighting the thought of “it’s just another street boy. That’s what they do.” and replacing it with “This boy is God’s creation. And this is not where he belongs. Let’s get him out by the best means possible. Let’s pray.”
After this, we drove another hour to pick up the team at the wedding, came home, socialized with an old friend of ours that was visiting, sang a few songs, prayed and gave up control of the evening to the God of the Universe. It’s been a tough day for a number of reasons. But if the Bible’s correct (James 1), today was perfect.