Let me set the stage for you…
It was our off day after an extremely eventful first week of ministry in Kigali, and we decided to head downtown for the morning. After spending a couple hours at a local coffee shop sending updates back home to our families and friends, Pastor informed us that we needed to leave because we were going to be late for the wedding we had been invited to attend the day before. The plan was for us to head back to our house and get dressed in traditional Rwandan attire and then all head to the wedding that afternoon.
So Pastor hurried us out of the coffee shop and onto the street as quickly as possible. Since we were already running late we didn't have time to wait for the public transportation to take us back home, so Pastor began rounding up a heard of motto taxis to take us back. I was hoping to avoid ridding on a motto taxi (the back of a moped) for as long as possible, especially in the city where the traffic is crazy and they drive like their the only ones on the road, but the ride was inevitable. So I strapped on my helmet, swung my leg over the side of the motto and clung for dear life to the strange motto taxi man who now held my life in his hands…help me Lord! I have never prayed harder in my life!
We were swerving through traffic, at what seemed to be NASCAR speeds, with cars swerving in and out of lanes all around us. I kept my head up trying to enjoy the scenery of beautiful Rwanda and make the best of this adventurous ride as I tried not to have a panic attack because of the crazy motto mans driving.
This is where our story takes a turn for the worse, literally. My driver had to pull into a gas station to fill up quickly, and by the time we got back on the road we had lost our caravan of motto taxis who had gone on without us. I thought nothing of it at this point because I figured my driver knew where he was going apart from following the group, nothing in this city looks familiar enough yet for me to realize that we weren't headed home. After about 10 minutes I noticed my driver had started to slow down and he had pulled over numerous times to ask directions. Of coarse he didn't speak English so I still really had no idea what was going on, but I was starting to catch on that he wasn't quite sure where he was going.
We kept on driving, and I started to pray that the Lord would help us find our way back home. Problem was, not only did my driver not know where my home was, but neither did I! There aren't really street names in Rwanda or addresses to tell people where to go, plus we'd only been here for 4 days and I wasn't familiar enough with landmarks or anything that would have been helpful to tell my very lost driver at this point. The only landmark I could think of was the Y.W.C.A building on the corner of our street, unfortunately every single person we stopped to ask directions from had no idea what I was talking about. I knew I was in trouble at this point.
Another problem was the fact that I didn't know Beka's (my team leader) number, because we obviously don't have cell phones with us on the Race so we've just never known that information. So I couldn't even call her to let her know we had been separated from the group and we were now driving aimlessly all over Kigali. And I couldn't remember Pastor's name, because I've only heard it once and its one of those crazy hard to remember African names. So I couldn't even ask people on the street if they knew our Pastor to call him. I was at quite a loss.
Strangely enough though I was somehow calm and at peace. I kept reassuring myself that the Lord had me in His hands and He would get me home. I knew instantly that this was a lesson in trust for me. There was literally nothing I could do but trust that even though I had no idea where I was or how on earth to get home, the Lord knew and He would get me there. So I kept praying for peace and direction from the Lord. I asked for wisdom and guidance to figure out a way to get myself home. And the Lord was good to guide me every step of the way.
I started to notice that we kept driving by weddings, and I thought that maybe I could find the wedding I was supposed to attend that afternoon with my team. So I had my driver pull into the first wedding and I asked some of the guest if they knew if a group of Americans were supposed to attend that wedding. They didn't speak very good English but from what I gathered that was not the wedding, so we drove on. We came across another wedding and I asked one of the guests the same question and to my surprise he said yes. I told him I was with a group of American missionaries that had been invited to attend a Rwandan wedding that afternoon, and that I had gotten separated from my group and was now lost and unable to get a hold of them. So I said I was trying to find the wedding we were to attend so maybe someone there would know Pastor and could contact him, or worst case I could just wait there in hopes they all would eventually arrive at the wedding.
The man again assured me that this was the correct wedding and that he didn't know Pastor, but he did know Patrick. Side comment, Patrick lives/works at the house we are living in, so I asked him to call Patrick. At this point I felt like I could take a deep breath because I was at least with people who knew my people, or so I thought. The man, who I later found out was named Louis, told me I could stay and wait with him and he told the motto driver he could leave. So there I stood; driver-less and at a random Rwandan wedding with a man I'd just met on the side of the road, talking on the phone to a man who I thought to be our Patrick. When I talked to Patrick he even assured me that I was at the right wedding and he told me to wait there with Louis until he arrived to help me.
So Louis invited me in and we sat with all the guests and had a lovely chat for half and hour while we waited for Patrick to arrive. You can imagine how commical this scene was, a random muzungu (white girl) walking into a wedding and sitting and conversing with a stranger in the midst of 50 plus Rwandans dressed in their best wedding attire. What I love about Africa though is that everyone is so friendly that they thought nothing of it and welcomed me in so warmly. I chatted with Louis about his life and shared with him my work here in Kigali. All the while I kept being introduced to his friends, other guests, and I even met his mother. Its ok, you can laugh at all this, I sure was!
Finally Patrick had arrived and we went to meet him at the entrance. My lingering fears were correct, this was not our Patrick. Turns out this Patrick was the groom for this wedding! Here I was not only crashing a wedding, but detaining the groom as he kindly tried to help this confused, lost little muzungu! He was so kind and I thanked him for his help and even congratulated him on his big day. I finally decided that at this point the best thing to do would be to head back to the starting point of all this choas and go back to the coffee shop where hopefully I could get wifi and contact someone. So Louis got me another motto, gave me his number if I needed any further help, and sent me on my way.
By the grace of God, when I got to the coffee shop and got wifi, a leader from my squad was also online and I was able to ask them to call Beka to tell her my whereabouts. Within 20 minutes Pastor was at the coffee shop apologizing profusely for all this craziness. I assured him I was fine, and had actually had quite the adventure all afternoon. So we headed home and I was able to attend the correct wedding with my team that evening.
Oh the things you experience on the Race! I never would have thought I would find myself lost in a foreign country with no contact to anyone I know, no way of communication, and no sense of direction. In a situation that was hard wired to create fear and anxiety and cause all sorts of panic, the Lord was so very good to shelter me under the shadow of His wing. He had me right in the palm of His hand the entire time and my spirit knew it. I was washed over with His peace that passes all understanding and I was deeply aware of my desperate need to trust Him alone literally with my life. When the Lord wants to teach you trust, He teaches you trust in the most profound way! Yet I can confidently say that I trust my Lord with my life! He has delivered me and will continue to deliver me from every circumstance I find myself in in life. He NEVER leaves me or forsakes me, His right hand is always guiding me, and His peace flows like a river over my soul. I can know sit back and laugh at the days events, and how clever our God is to orchestrate such comical scenarios with such a deep message involved.
I can now say I was never really missing in Rwanda at all. I was exactly where I was supposed to be every step of the way. I learned trust, reliance, rest and assurance in our God alone. When im abiding in Him and living in the center of His love, I'm always exactly where I'm supposed to be! And there’s no safer place in the world!
