Month 8 of the World Race, and the time of learning endurance.
This month has been somewhat hard for me. I have had plenty of thoughts of going home. In my head, it went a little something like this:
"Well I could go home now because I've gotten the feeling of the world race, I know what it's about, I can see what God's teaching me and how far He has brought me, I miss my friends and family, I'm not needed here but I feel needed at home, etc" These are all valid reasons to ship out. BUT……that's not what God called me to race to do, not to leave early. In Ecclesiastes 7:8-9 He says, " The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and patience is better than pride."
I have had to lean on God to give me strength to stay here. This month's ministry has been such a blessing, and that is one of the things that has helped. Each day we walk about 1 hour one-way to a village. We do house ministry where we just go a pray for people and share the gospel to whoever is open. Every house we walked into was very open to receiving this blessing.
A couple in particular were: Moses ( who used to be in jail and had low self-esteem) listened to our testimonies of redemption, gained hope that his past was redeemable, and gave his life to Christ. We later brought him a bible and he was so appreciative. Apparently, bibles are super expensive here so there are many christians who are too poor to buy one and go without.
Another person that we prayed for was a man named Manuel and also his sister. He had a very skinny left leg that was unproportionate to his right one. He was not born this way but when he was 12 he went to the doctor and got an injection in his left leg that stunted the growth of it. Malpractice here has no consequence, just unfortunate for the people it effects. We prayed over his leg and shared the gospel. He told us he wanted to accept Christ and his sister spoke up too.
It's amazing that all you have to do is be obedient to God and walk into the houses He's set up for these divine appointments. He will do the rest. We shared our life stories and how God brought us from various things such as drugs/alcoholism/ & abuse, to the opposite spectrum of freedom/new life/ & redemption. They were all blessed by this and we were blessed by them! 3 people gave their lives to Christ, and even if it were just one, it would've been worth coming to Rwanda.
( manuel getting his bible, and a little boy photo bombing with his butt crack!)
All in all my favorite parts of this country are:
the African children come running to you with open arms and smiles on their faces ready to hug
Jojion, the 5 yr old little girl in the village that showed me what it would be like to be a mother and helped restore that vision for me.
the African rain hitting the tin roof calms our souls
the receptiveness and openess to christianity
God has brought this country so far in 20 years from the genocide, strength resonates
the women carry their babies on their backs, and baskets of fruit on their heads while walking uphill on unsturdy roads in high heels……..makes me feel like a pansy.
Some of the funnier ones are:
they have western toilets, but don't think the seats are necessary……which makes for awkward fall-ins.
they love high-fives and will give them in place of hand shakes
they say wow to everything. example: "how was dinner?" "i liked it." "wow!"
no matter how poor, every man most likely has a dress suit.
Children scream "muzungu!" when they see you coming, and let the others in the village know, then they ALL come running and screaming!
and last but not least, the local transport busses are usually named something crazy. some I've seen are : Chris Brown, Akon, Roll up, Chocolate love, Shark attack, and a few others…..and they have pictures all over them too!
I have loved Rwanda and am not excited to leave behind the relationship we have built, or the people I've began to love, ecspecially Jojion. BUT…..it's another month of the World Race that has to come and go, so next we move on to KENYA! In Kenya my dad gets to come visit me for a week and do ministry with me! I'm so excited to see him and can't wait to see what that time holds. Please keep us in your prayers for safety, endurance, not to "check-out", and for clarity on the things I might do once I come home. This is about the point where you start thinking about plans for home, but can't quite actually make soid plans. Therefore, prayer for clarity is appreciated! Thank you to everyone who supports me, including family, friends, church members, and everyone else who even read these blogs. God Bless!
