Day 5 -Nyamata then and now

Written by: Stephen Henrich

Last year, on a different mission trip, we stopped in a little corner of Nyamata where some of the poorest families live and where Bishop Theo was already planning a Hope Center.  It was a quick visit and and the children seemed a bit frightened of us and very reserved.

This year, the Hope Center is in full swing with two classes of young children and room to grow!  The children, who were unable to attend preschool before, were now outgoing, friendly, animated, and very confident of their new abilities and confident in themselves!

We played with the kids (bubbles), read them the wonderful book about Jesus hearing our prayers, and handed out Jenisys’ prayer letter for them to take home.  It was a wonderful time!

Jenisys’s book and prayer letters! The kids are saying thank you to her…

The team took time before lunch to visit the Nyamata Genocide Memorial.  This memorial is powerfully important!  It captures both the indescribable evil of that time and the incredible stories of bravery of some who survived and the heroism of others who risked their own lives to help others. The memorial also honors some who gave up their own lives to save the persecuted.  Please take some time to read about the Genocide, especially what happened here in Nyamata.

In the afternoon, we met with a new women’s cooperative in Nyamata.  The meeting began with spirit-filled singing and some dancing! (Perhaps all meetings in America should begin this way – it gives the gathering a whole new paradigm).

We gathered information about each woman in the group, discovering our baseline information about who they are, the size of their families, what businesses they are in, what they contribute to the cooperative, and what their personal savings is right now.  In a year, when we return, it will be amazing to contrast the growth that we are praying for against these numbers!

The Bishop told these ladies that, after some training, all in the cooperative will be eligible to receive a micro-loan!  The excitement in the room was palpable!  Several women spoke glowingly of their belief that this infusion of capital will greatly expand their businesses and help them to save even more each month and to begin to realize their dreams!

What a tremendous way to spend an afternoon – meeting women of such courage and strength and then giving them a way to help themselves to succeed!  God is present in the midst of this group, and He is changing lives!