The country of Rwanda is one of the smaller nations of Africa, yet its rolling green hills and thick forests impress beauty upon the eye of the beholder. We left Uganda last Tuesday morning to a tearful farewell by the wonderful friends we made in Rukungiri. It was a difficult goodbye, and the thought that we still have nine more months of hellos and goodbyes left sat heavily upon my heart.
As each kilometer of bumpy road passed behind us, though, I felt my spirits lift with excitement and anticipation for our month ahead in Rwanda. We were able to spend a few brief hours with the rest of our Y-Squad teammates on the bus ride between Kitali, Uganda, and Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda. Month two was quite challenging for many of our Y-Squad teams, but it seemed like the Lord has been doing great work in and through them, nonetheless.
Even though we had to drive three hours into Kigali, only to turn around and drive three hours back towards the Ugandan border, our day of traveling flew swiftly by. We arrived in Nyagatare at about 9:30pm, finding ourselves on a clean main street lined with small shops and restaurants. Although nothing was open, I could tell from first glance that this area seems to be a bit more developed than some of the other areas we have been in. A short motorcycle ride later, we arrived at our small apartment complex, our home sweet home for the next month. We are blessed to have an indoor toilet that flushes and a cold water shower this month. Even though the flow of water and the availability of electricity have been somewhat unreliable, we are grateful for our little place of solace.
Although we’re doing door-to-door ministry this month, it seems like the Lord has been stirring something new in our team with regards to healing. On our first day, we met an elderly woman named Margaret who had been in a severe accident several years ago. She had remained in the hospital for nearly two years, and after a long season of recovery, she was finally able to hobble around on a wooden stick. After praying for her, we asked her how her leg felt. She stood up slowly at first and tried gingerly standing on her leg. Then she became a bit bolder and started moving around without her cane. Pretty soon she was walking around almost normally, although she was still a bit tentative. Jesus is definitely still in the business of healing. Praise God!
I’ll be honest and say I’ve been battling a bit with my own faith in the midst of God’s ability to heal. I want in my heart of hearts to be the hands and feet of Jesus, but I get frustrated with myself when I feel like my faith may be too small, or that I should even take the least bit of credit for the healing that He wants to do. I am realizing that while faith is important, it’s God’s love that heals, and it’s His Spirit who is at work in and through us. We have no reason to take credit, and it truly is for His glory that we are able to serve. I feel like I’m learning how to differentiate between taking any sort of pride in being a part of God’s work and just being confident that He is the Great Physician and Healer, and that as His sons and daughters, He has given us all that we need to be a part of the work He is doing on this earth, including the healing He is releasing. I’m still chewing on all of this but I will post more as I continue to “work out my faith.”
In the meantime, thank you all for your continued prayers for safety, for protection, for travel mercies, for health, and for God’s continued providence. Your prayers are a blessing and I love hearing from you. Please keep those comments and prayers coming!
