A Thousand Hills and a Thousand Smiles
“Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” - Romans 15:7
Rwanda is a beautiful country. I think it would be hard for anyone to visit and not be struck by the rolling hills, lush valleys, shining lakes, and sprawling forests of banana trees. During the trip, I spent a good amount of time on our bus rides just staring out my window and taking in the beauty of the scenery. During our tour of Gahini, the town we stayed in during most of our trip, we turned a corner near the top of the hill and caught a glimpse of the landscape through the trees: sunlit hills as far as the eye could see. As we all savored the little vista, someone in the bus reflected, “They say Rwanda is the land of a thousand hills.” Without hesitating, our guide, Rodney, responded, “Yes, and a thousand smiles as well.”
What he said stuck with me throughout the trip, and the rest of the trip bore it true. The beauty of Rwanda as a country is matched by the beauty and hospitality of the people who call it home.
My interactions with total strangers as we drove along the roads became a constant joy (especially to an extrovert like myself). I loved exchanging greetings and smiles with people simply going about their daily lives–collecting water, returning from the market, taking a walk with their children. The kids were especially enthusiastic in their “hello’s,” often accompanied by squeals of laughter and shouts of “muzungu!” (the Kinyarwandan word for “a white person” or “a foreigner”). These smiles and greetings were tangible reminders that relationships and connection are universal, transcending any cultural or linguistic barriers.
The warmth with which we were welcomed in each town we came to was humbling. Meeting so many people who graciously welcomed us into their homes, shared their stories and lives with us, and invited us to rejoice in the fruits of our mutual partnership became a repeated lesson in generosity and hospitality. These people did not always have many material things to share, but the meals, stories, and culture that we shared were rich, marks of a fellowship built not on what we had or lacked, but on Jesus, who brought us together as one in His body, the Church.
I reflected constantly on the welcome we had received from the people of Rwanda throughout the trip. After many days, many visits, many meals, and many smiles, I suddenly felt like I too was at home here in some way. I felt that there were people here who supported me, people that I was supporting as well; a community that would welcome me back with open arms if I were to return, whom I too would greet with joy if they were to visit us in the US. In some way, it felt like a home. And in that moment, the metaphor of the body of Christ came alive to me in a new way, and the importance of our partnership with the Church in Rwanda became clear.
The partnership between our Diocese and the Diocese of Gahini is relationship-centric. It doesn’t focus on projects (though we do those) or finances (though this is critical) or resources (though we are attentive to these). The focus is on relationships, and in our relationship, we are living out what the Bible says the body of Christ is: different limbs supporting one another, bearing one another’s burdens, welcoming one another as Christ has welcomed us, rejoicing together in the Lord.
Seeing the fruit of this partnership come to life in the welcome and hospitality of the people of Rwanda has challenged me to consider what this could look like on our side of things, in our American cultural context. There is a lot to think about in this regard, but like most things in theology, perhaps in imagining what it could look like, we should take our cue from the children: sometimes, all it takes to welcome another is a smile.
Luckily, Rwanda has a thousand beautiful ones to give.
Michael