This year commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Lutheran Church of Rwanda (LCR), and the jubilee celebrations occurred from October 25th through the 27th. There were many international guests, and the days were filled with joyous music and conversations to celebrate all that the LCR has accomplished, and all that is to come!
The jubilee celebrations for me started on Thursday, October 24th. The Sierra Pacific Synod (SPS) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), is a companion synod to the Lutheran Church of Rwanda. They wanted to participate in the celebration, so some delegates from the synod came to Rwanda to join in on the festivities! On that Thursday, part of the group came to visit me in Mayange, where I am living. They first came to our home and my host family and I were able to greet them and welcome them to Rwanda. We shared some conversations over bread and tea before we headed out to the Nyamata parish so they could meet some members of the congregation. We were greeted immediately with joyous music and dancing. After some welcoming words and introductions of some of the leaders of the congregation, there was a mutual q&a session where the SPS group asked questions to the congregation, and the congregation also asked some questions to the SPS group. It was really interesting to see the questions that each group had for each other! After some more music preformed by the choir, we all had lunch together at the church and had more time for fellowship and conversation.
It was honestly kind of strange showing a group from the US around the community that I now call home. Even though I only knew one person with the SPS group (Savannah, who happens to be a past Rwanda YAGM!), I did feel a connection to them since they are from the states…but I also simultaneously felt disconnected as well because while I am absolutely still American, I feel like parts of me have blended into this community here that has so graciously embraced me. It felt like a weird limbo some where I wasn’t entirely apart of either group fully, but apart of both groups at the same time.
After lunch at the church, the SPS group said their goodbyes and departed for Kigali. I also went with the group as all of the YAGM volunteers were meeting up either that evening or the next morning to participate in all of the Jubilee activities!
When we reached Kigali, we made a pit stop at the Rukunda Foundation. The Rukunda Foundation is an NGO in Kigali that’s mission is to help street children get access to education and have a safe space to be after school and on the weekends. They offer not only tutoring and a safe space for children to play and be with their friends, but they also help mentor the children so that the kids know they have an adult that will not only hold them accountable, but give them unconditional love and support too. To find out more about the foundation, please visit their site here:
The next day, Friday the 25th, we woke up bright and early (4:30am bright and early), and the SPS group, two of the YAGM volunteers and myself headed off on a bus to Kirehe. Kirehe is located in the southwest of Rwanda, right by the Burundi and Tanzania borders. On the way to Kirehe, we picked up the other 3 volunteers so the whole cohort was reunited, yay! The festivities that day included: the dedication of a new church, a parade through the streets of Kirehe (including a brass band and choir from Tanzania!), and the ordination of two pastors into the LCR. Many choirs from across Rwanda, as well as the one from Tanzania, sang many beautiful songs and there was lots of dancing and energy, as is typical for a Rwandan church service!
After lunch at the church, we headed back west to a city called Rwamagana, where we visited one of the top secondary schools in Rwanda: Rwamagana Leaders School (RLS). RLS is also where Savannah served when she was a volunteer, so it was a wonderful welcoming home for her as well! We were enthusiastically greeted by the students and teachers at the school, and some of the students even performed some traditional dances for us! We were then given a tour of the dormitories (it is a boarding school) and the classrooms as well. The students I spoke with were incredibly intelligent, thoughtful and compassionate. They all have incredibly bright futures ahead of them.
Saturday, October 27th’s festivities took place first in Kayonza, where there was a dedication of a new and improved church building, as well as a cornerstone laying ceremony of a new seminary that is being built. After the church service in Kayonza, we headed back to Kigali and prepared for a gala dinner that evening. At the gala dinner, there were presentations made about the history of the LCR as well as the five year plan that the LCR has for what it wants to accomplish. Some goals include: starting a women’s development and opportunity center, getting the new seminary up and running, and building a guesthouse next to the parish in Kigali that would be used as a source of income and also a place for important guests of the church to stay.
Sunday October 28th was the big jubilee celebration day in Kigali. LCR members from all over Rwanda, as well as the international guests, gathered at the exhibition center in Kigali to share in the joy and celebration of 25 years of service. The YAGM volunteers were asked to assist with “protocol” of the event, so we helped seat guests and answer questions that anyone might have! As apart of this, we also wore imikenyero (im-e-chen-yeh-row), is which is the beautiful traditional dress that is worn at special events.
The celebration on Sunday lasted about 6 hours and included: many performances of various choirs from across Rwanda as well as the one from Tanzania, traditional dance preformed by the youth of the Rukira congregation, speeches given by the Bishop of the LCR and other distinguished guests, readings from the Bible, a sermon given by the general secretary of the Lutheran World Federation, communion, and an exchange of gifts between the international guests and the LCR.
And just like that, almost as quickly as it began, the jubilee was over! We said goodbye to the SPS group and the other guests from the states, and the YAGM cohort had some bonding time before we departed back to our host communities.
It was such an honor and joy to be able to take part in such a big milestone for the LCR. This church is innovative, energetic, joyful, ambitious, compassionate, and I hope its next 25 years are just as rewarding and fruitful as the last.
I think the ELCA has a lot to learn from the LCR…but one of the main things that we can learn is how to be more joyful in church! I have never experienced church with so much lively music and dancing and honestly just the outward celebration of the wonderful gift that is the unconditional grace and love that we receive from Christ. I know that jumping around and dancing in church isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I think we can learn how to be more openly passionate and joyful like our sisters and brothers here in the LCR, even if that looks different than dancing up and down the aisles at church 😊
Until next time,
Marie
Roaming Rwanda 