Bukavu Training Center
Trip Start
Aug 26, 2007
1
14
Trip End
Sep 13, 2007
Bukavu, Congo - The Dem. Repub.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
We got started on time for the 3 hour boat trip on the lake, in what was a very well maintained boat for this region. The weather was very cool and cloudy and I was actually almost cold most of the trip. I am still amazed that the weather is so mild. Didi tells me it is like this most of the year. The entertainment on the boat was a showing of a pirated copy of Mark Wahlberg in "Shooter" in french. It looked like a good movie, but alas, my french is too poor to follow much of the plot :-(.
It was raining when we arrived in Bukavu and after the amazingly primitive customs experience (a table, in a grass hut with a visa stamp, no computers or even log books) we were submerged in a city that was ankle deep in mud. I don't mind dust as much as mud. Mud seems to get everywhere and stain everything for days. Pants, socks, shoes, luggage, all caked with mud. The small lake port is many meters below the main city and the track up the muddy path was a treacherous climb for the little car that had come to fetch us from the boat. It was like trying to get up a steep hill in icy snow about 6" deep. We nearly collided with other cars and pedestrians about 3 times while fishtailing our way to the main road above, which was also covered in mud. Huge puddles, or small lakes if you will, were along the side of roads. Didi had gone to university here to become an english teacher and many times on our way to the hotel he expressed how much he disliked Bukavu because of the mud. I quickly grew to agree with him.
After the check-in at the hotel we went to an old college friend of Didi's to have a quick bit of tea and then we went of to the church were about 90+ people had gathered to launch the new training center. In this group there were about 10 or more pastors from various churches that were anxious to be part of the training. We enjoyed a 3 1/2 hour service where the singing and dancing were some of the most lively and long I have ever experienced on the continent. The gave me an hour to teach and preach and answer questions about Cross Style. I was overwhelmed by the response! They were more open to the message than any other group that I have experienced in Africa. To say the least, I am very excited about what God is going to do in Bukavu. After I finished teaching teaching the sun had gone down over the hills, but they had a few more songs and presentations to do, so when we left the church it was nearly fully dark. We returned to Didi's friends home to enjoy a beautiful dinner of fish and ugali and then back to the hotel to get ready for Rwanda.
