After much preparation, travel, and prayer, our team touched down in Kigali, Rwanda on the evening of Monday November 24th. It was smooth travels on KLM flights and before we knew it, we were in the “Land of a Thousand Hills”.
For all the coffee lovers out there, and those who faithfully supported our team with coffee orders, I am glad to report that placing your coffee order was Job # 1 (Thank you World Relief for “making a way” for this coffee masterplan; also thanks to all our supporters at CrossRoads!).
So after a fairly good night sleep for most of the team, and after a wonderful breakfast at the guesthouse, a few of us headed to the Question Coffee cafe. Let me tell you, Rwandans know how to do coffee! This hilly region has fertile soils, plenty of rainfall, and produces excellent coffee.
Our roaster of choice, Question Coffee, is an amazing Rwandan enterprise that supports small, local groups of women by directly sourcing their beans. I’m including their link https://www.questioncoffee.com so you can read more of their inspiring story. What a great way to enjoy this local product and give directly back to those who need it. By purchasing directly through them, we not only get a great product to bring back to you, but we are supporting a great cause. We are certainly “Blessed to be a Blessing.”
We purchased 127 bags of coffee! For those who didn’t place an order for coffee before we departed… don’t fear… we are bringing home a few extra bags, which can be purchased from the team during the CrossRoads’ Compassion Campaign, which launches November 30th! Rwanda will be highlighted on December 21st and you can come hear about our team's experiences as we host our sharing event in the chapel after the 11am service.
After our morning coffee adventures, we headed to the World Relief office, where we were warmly welcomed (with a personalized cake!) and given a solid orientation. It was great to spend time with the staff and learn so much before heading to the field later in the afternoon.
Here are some highlights and observations captured from our orientation:
- World Relief is a bridesmaid to the church (the bride), serving in the background to let the bride be seen in the foreground, thereby glorifying the bridegroom, Jesus.
- They are developing leaders to carry on as trainers for future leadership.
- "The staff at World Relief are amazing. They are definitely not looking out for themselves in what they do. Their goal is to create independence away from them. They are not an industry."
- World Relief’s prayer and prep for this team is evident. We have felt very welcome and cared for.
- Through our orientation by Clemence (Country Director), we have learned about “Integral Mission” and “Flourishing Momentum”… “which use community members to solve their greatest needs”, with WR as the “convenor”.
It has been a great first day so far! Now we are off to Nyamasheke- a 7 hour drive.
