A Beautiful Place

 Today was Sunday.  French-speaking Church started at 8AM.  A number of the team attended.

The worship music was exceptional.  

At 10AM we met at different staff homes for brunch.  Mike, Stan and Gary were at the Harlings.  Others were at other homes.  We had a great time of fellowship and the food was great.  We discussed a lot of issues relating to staff commitments here at the mission, and as to how the hospital reaches out to this community.  We learned that the greatest need at present is for adequate nursing staff.

At noon we loaded up to travel to a nearby waterfall.  It is truly a beautiful place, and we have talked of visiting it many times in the past, but never took the time to do so.  It was a grueling drive off the main highway about 8-10km.  Sometimes we were slipping in mud, other times we rode on a razorback where we could look straight down on either side of the road into valleys that were at least 500' below us.  We encountered a broken down truck needing an axle repair, and an actual tour bus.  How they maneuver those buses through the mountain roads must be interesting.  Most of us were I-TEC people, but there were a number of Kibuye staff and children along for the ride.  Most of us rode in the van we have been using this week, and the rest rode in the Land Cruiser.

When we got to the town where the waterfalls are, we waited in line and after paying the fees we got to the views below.

There are actually five waterfalls, including these two cascades right at the parking area. A short walk takes you to two more cascades with a steel suspension bridge spanning them.

One final cascade down this long stairway.

It was a good day to unwind after a long week of travel and work.  Two men arrived tonight at Bujumbura.  We haven't heard how their experience through Customs fared yet, but we will see them by noon tomorrow.  We will continue where we left off yesterday in the solar field and PowerPac.  Jonathan is feeling better now, but is not back with us yet.  Now Linda seems to be having some symptoms.  The virus or whatever it is that has been moving through the team has now affected a total of  six of us.   Most have bounced back quickly, others seem to keep symptoms hanging on.  Keep us in your prayers as we still have a fair amount of work to get finished.  Gary will leave Wednesday and several more (Wayne, Deb, Darrell, Don, Caleb) will leave Saturday.  The final week at Kibuye the team will be down to about six men plus Nora and the girls and Linda.  

Pray for us that the Inverter and Battery Commissioning will go smoothly.  We will begin updating firmware tomorrow, and installing the new Inverters and their conduits and wiring.  There are a number of other associated projects that will have to be completed before we all leave.  Praise the Lord for the spirit of servanthood in each participant on this team.  Praise Him for all that has and will be accomplished here so that the Gospel of Jesus can continue to reach out to this part of Africa.