Blessings in Rwanda

Five days ago our team of five people arrived in Rwanda, Africa, after a very long flight. Pastor Cliff Stalwick and his wife Donna had asked us to accompany them several months ago,and at the last minute, fifteen year old Ben joined us. We're counting our blessings! Our luggage, all ten pieces, arrived safely and was not overweight! We had stressed about this when we found out we had to take along the remaining pieces of the Kenyan pastor's luggage. Pastor Kubondo had spent the summer in Canada and had been given things to take back including an electric guitar and laptop. (hence the opportunity to use the laptop for this blog and important banking transactions.) Our hotel room is reasonable, and the bathroom is not too far down the hall... We found out no one had made arrangements for an evening meal;we were far from restaurants and even shops, so ended up buying a few supplies and having a daily picnic in the hotel consisting of instant soups brought from home, and peanut butter, jam, honey, yellow bread, cheese and eggs. Our week of ministry with the Rwandan pastor is over. Apparently the week of the Fresh Fire pastors' conference was a huge success. The visiting pastors were most appreciative, and we have invitations to help them in Uganda, Tanzania, and Burundi. Pastor Stalwick taught the pastors, Donna taught the women. Terry thought he would be playing soccer, but ended up teaching the "youth" (anyone unmarried). Ben and I went into two classrooms in the primary school. When schedules and events were rearranged, and things didn't go as expected we all had to keep flexible and remind ourselves, "This is Africa." When I get another chance, and when I can post my pictures, I'll be sharing some highlights. Off to Kenya next!

Lesson from the Peaches

The peaches Ted brought from Kelowna, B.C. were ripe.  He had lovingly wrapped each one in a square of newspaper, and arranged them in single layers so they wouldn't bruise. Before we knew it, they were ready and needed immediate attention..  It was rather ironic that I'd given Annie most of my canning jars, leaving me only a small box full.  Off to the store to buy more.

Our assembly line was soon set up, and we chose our jobs.  Terry put several  peaches at a time into a pot of  hot water to loosen their skins, and got the water boiling in the big canner.  Ted slipped the skins off the peaches, and I cut the "naked" fruit and packed it into jars, arranging the wedges neatly to show off their outer edge.  We worked in companionable silence at our respective stations. I only commented to give the guys instructions.  After so many years of not canning, I actually remembered what to do.  What was different from those days was that there was no frenzied running back and forth, trying single-handedly to coordinate each step.
When we were done, we had 5 quarts and 19 pints.  It was satisfying to hear each lid give a soft "ping" as its lid sealed.
Terry commented, " We did that faster than I expected!"  It only took two hours and with everyone helping,  was a pleasant job.  Another wonderful example of teamwork!
 I remembered another time when the children were young.  Terry was busy elsewhere, so I enlisted the help of Christopher, 13, Stephen, 10, and Nicholas 8.  For three hours the boys slipped off skins, cut up, and stuffed 29 quart sealers.  Up to that point I hadn't realized what a great source of labour I had at home.  I tended to do things myself.  It was an eye-opener, born out of desperation.  As a reward, they each got to buy a sub (submarine sandwich) from the store, which was a huge treat at the time. 

Our reward: glowing jars of peaches cooling on the table.

Now you [collectively] are Christ's body and [individually] you are members of it, each part...with his own place and function.
I Corinthians 12: 27