Arrival and.....Retreat! (huh?)

Travel

Our journey began in Dallas with a 2:00AM alarm clock on Thursday, July 23. We were warmly welcomed at the Kigali airport at 3:00PM Friday, July 24 by the McNatt and Thomas families and driven to our new home having completed 30 hours of travel.  Dallas—Toronto— Addis Ababa, Ethiopia— Uganda—Kigali. 

Flying is never fun, especially for those of us with long legs. 21 hours of flight time requires some follow up recuperation. Traveling across the world with children under the age of 7 can be trying at times, although they did great. Traveling across the world with twenty-one 50 lb. bags plus backpacks is an ordeal, although they all made it in one piece. However, we went from Texas to Rwanda in 30 hours! {with personal entertainment systems at our disposal and hot meals served regularly} Compare that with the travel journals of missionaries and world travelers in the decades and centuries prior to us and we had a quick and luxurious trip.

Retreat

Two days after our arrival we, along with all the new staff at KICS, drove six hours west to attend a camp/retreat at Lake Kivu (beautiful!) on the border of Rwanda and the Congo.  The camp is an annual event for any and all missionaries in Rwanda and has occurred every year since the 1940s.  

Although our house was still largely unpacked and our bodies still largely jet lagged, the five day retreat was an incredible introduction to Rwanda and God’s mission to her.  Our eyes were opened to the beauty of the land and the life of the people during the six hour drive, and we had the opportunity to meet, listen to, and learn from those who have been working here, some for years and some for decades.  In total there were about 130 at the camp including kiddos.  It was a little odd to enter the country and immediately “retreat”, and we had a sense that we didn’t quite belong among those who had already learned so much about Rwandan culture and done so much for the kingdom in the country.  But everyone was extremely welcoming and we quickly realized that the retreat was indeed an ideal place to begin our time in Rwanda.  To hear about the long and rich history of missionaries who had come before us and to begin to find our place among them was just what we needed.  We met some incredible people.  Everyone has a different role and different type of ministry but it all works together and God is given glory. The boys also enjoyed meeting and romping around with the other children, many of whom will be classmates.

The house is now unpacked and just about organized.  I begin work on Monday and school starts in two weeks.  Life has begun for the Davenports in Kigali.