God has made a way

In Rwanda, a piece of land doesn't belong to an individual. When you buy a plot to build your house, you are actually paying for a title to use the land. We were looking to buy a piece of vacant land right next to the front gate of the university. Last summer, the owner said that the price for the plot is 10 million francs (about $20,000 USD). A friend of ours who shared the CASA vision gave money to buy the land. The owner got greedier when he learned that a missionary wants to buy his land. He raise the price to 30 million francs (about $60,000). We decide not to buy it. We believe that God has a place for us to build His house, so we waited on. When we were in Butare this summer, we found a piece of plot that is perfect for us. It is about 500 steps away from the back gate of the National University of Rwanda, and has a nice view of the university forest. This land has an interesting story. Here is the plot which the CASA is buying. Click the picture to view the plot.




Here is Chris' e-mail to the donor about the land.

Dear friend,

Your generosity has born fruit in Rwanda. As you can read below, CASA has just purchased property in Butare. In all honesty this plot of land is probably better suited for our purposes than the plot we looked at in January. We paid 8 million Rwandan Franks or about $16,000. We are using the money that you donated specifically for this purpose.

We are indeed blessed to have this land. Rwanda is a rock of stability in East Africa and land prices are rising quickly. The university plans to increase enrollment and this newly constructed "Christian Fellowship House" will be strategically situated at the university's back gate. I am posting pictures of the plot tomorrow and will send you a link to them.

The property has an interesting history which needed special handling. This plot once belonged to a president of Rwanda from the former racist government. The man was a professor at the NUR before being president and his personal home was on this plot. He went on to serve as president for only 3 months. At the conclusion of the genocide war, the patriotic army destroyed his house. The land has be vacant since then -- with a very small cinder block building in one corner.

Blessings, Chris