Happenings and A Joyful Surprise in Kigali

This is a composite blog of many things 

happening before Christmas!

Little  Jacob growing up at Mama's in Gitarama.

A year ago he came to live at Urukundo!

 And this year… a couple weeks ago, little Jennette came to start her life with her new family and Mama Arlene. 

On the way home we saw this truck.. still upright! 

 Thought sure it would fall over going around the curve
but it didn't… HOWEVER!!

Another truck hadn't been so lucky going the other direction.
These kids were all watching the wreckage of a beer delivery truck across the street…. 

They were watching all the locals stuff their pants,
their shirts and their coats full of beer cans.  For most it was
like finding gold that had been dumped over the hillside. 

Probably one of the reasons the truck had gone over the hill… was the rains and floods that had overtaken the valley and river basin.
Driving had more than likely been treacherous.

Even the rice fields were too full of water.

Very sad actually….

Arriving back into town we found one of the main arteries
had been flooded and the road surface had lifted. 

They were piling up mud and shoveling it like it was snow.

This had been a blacktop road. 

Chunks of road surface had been moved everywhere.

 Made for tricky driving but the road was still open!  Imagine!

Walking in the mud might have been harder.Just so you know… there is never mud or dirt on this road.

So those were some happenings… 

but the joyful surprise was soon to follow.

A little background:  When we first took Kofi 

to school last fall and the form asked for his father's name

he said… "Well…my grampa thinks he's been dead for a long

time…that he had died in the Congo war,  but i don't think he did.  He's been gone for 10 years."

A year later when the kids were on school break, Kofi called me and asked if he could bring someone to the house for me to meet. 

Little did i know that he was bringing me the best

Christmas present he ever could have been given. 

   

Yes…. he brought his father to the house…
It was a week before Christmas...

The perfect time to take their picture by our tree.
I asked a lot of questions--probably too many
but i guess he had been living in Congo
getting his education.  Turns out he is now
a pastor and works in the agricultural field, too. 

He has reunited with his family in Burundi and
 wanted to meet us and thank us for caring for his boy,
 Kofi, who is here in Kigali...

It's hard to describe the joy and happiness
that was oozing out of Kofi when he introduced his
Dad to me… Bruce was tied up in the middle of
the day so he couldn't get home to meet him.

But the picture of Kofi's face and the joy in his Dad's
was a great way to kick off Christmas in Kigali!

God, the father sent his Son to earth…
but in this earthly story, the father came to meet his son.

Both events brought great joy!

And so we began the celebration of Christmas
and there's more to come!
love,
margie