A letter from Kay Day serving in Rwanda
July 2015 - Mutual Learning
Dear Friends and Family,
Greetings from Rwanda. As you celebrate Independence Day in America, it just so happens that we are doing the same in Rwanda. Independence Day here is July 1, but the circumstances here are quite different. For Rwanda, it is an opportunity to celebrate independence from genocide, the end of the killing.
Although that was 21 years ago, there are reminders everywhere of the horror, on the face of the land and on the faces of the people. One of those faces is a colleague of mine. Pastor Thadde is just a bit younger than I am. He bears a deep scar from his right temple to his chin, another veering from that one across his chin and yet another on his forehead, from his graying hairline to his left eyebrow. Amazingly, what I notice first when I see his face is not the scarring, but his gentle smile and compassionate eyes. He is a grace-filled man. When I finally gathered the courage to ask him about the scars, he said he would tell me the story when his English was good enough for him to do so in English.
That began our studying of English together here at the Protestant Institute of Arts and Sciences (PIASS), a school that is supported by five Protestant denominations, including the PC(USA)’s Rwanda mission partner, the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda. It turns out that both of us are teachers in this class. As I teach him English, he helps me with my Kinyarwanda. We learn words and phrases together. His English is improving since he works hard on it. We have moved from vocabulary building to practical usage. Since we are both pastors, it seemed logical that our reading text would be the Bible, so for an hour on Mondays we read together passages of scripture and then study their meaning. It began as a vocabulary building exercise, but it has progressed to a discussion of theology as well. It was inevitable. Sometimes he struggles for the words, but that is part of the exercise.
I come away encouraged and challenged each week. This week he chose Psalm 137 as one of the passages for reading and discussion. It is a lament of the exiles in Babylon. It is a difficult psalm because it ends with the wish of the exiles to dash the children of their oppressors against rocks. After I defined “dash” for him, Pastor Thadde shook his head and sighed. “This is not good,” he said. “It only continues the pain.”
I looked at his gentle, scarred face and thought that he knew the truth of that statement more than I ever could. I learn as much from him about grace and forgiveness as I can ever teach him about English. He encourages my faith each week, helping me to experience firsthand Paul’s admonition in Rom. 1:12 that we should mutually encourage one another in the faith. I praise God for that. Ministry is never one-sided. It flows both ways between Christians.
Thank you for your prayers for me as I traveled to Malawi. It was a blessed time of rejoicing with family at my son Thomas’ graduation. Thank you for sharing that with me.
Please continue to pray for the financial situation of Presbyterian World Mission, as funding is the key to the future of ministry for all of us serving in world mission. My heartfelt thanks to each of you who is praying for my ministry and providing financial support. If you are not currently supporting this work, would you please consider doing so?
Please pray for the end of the term here at PIASS. July sees the end of classes and the beginning of exams. That is always a stressful time for the students and a busy time for the faculty. I continue to pray that all is well with you.
In Christ’s love,
Kay (Cathie to the family)
The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 152
Read more about Kay Day's ministry
Blog: Day's Diary
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