Strength and weakness

We had just spent 2 days on “strategic planning” – a difficult exercise with about 25 people involved, many of whom had little experience of the process and very little idea of what might realistically be achieved in a given time. The “wish lists” which were the first product of the sessions will require a lot of further work. Planning generally is a huge area of weakness in this country. There often seems to be nothing in the gap between the immediate action and dreams, between “we will do this now” and “it would be nice if”.
As the meeting ended, we turned to worship and as usual the unaccompanied singing was beautiful. This is one of the huge strengths of Rwanda : I have seldom heard poor or reluctant singing, nor experienced anyone being unwilling or unable to pray publicly.
The transformation as we changed from an area of great weakness to one of great strength was remarkable. There is a lot said about being “out of our comfort zone” and I often feel out of mine here, but it is also great to be with people when they are well within their comfort zone.