My sweet daughter, Ashley, has been away from home on the World Race for over 7 months (at the time of writing this…7months, 9 days, 20 hours, 46 minutes…but who’s counting?). Ashley has lived in 8 different countries so far and has touched countless people’s lives during that time. I am one proud momma! I never dreamed my girl would want to travel the world as a missionary, but God knew. God has even bigger and more amazing plans for my daughter than I have.
Ashley spent January and February in Africa. She invited my husband, Jeremy, and me to join her in Rwanda for the Parent Vision Trip (PVT). I was thrilled to have the chance to visit my girl, although I wasn’t thrilled that the trip was in Rwanda. I remember joking with Ashley that I’d go anywhere in the world for the PVT, as long as it wasn’t in Africa. I knew a little bit about the history of Rwanda so I wasn’t excited about the idea of going there, and most people’s reaction to the news of us going to Rwanda was “Are you sure it’s safe to go there?” But, I love Ashley and desperately missed her, so I applied for my passport and started researching cheap flights.
Preparing for the PVT was exciting. Ashley sent me list after revised list of items she needed or wanted and I loved searching and shopping for each thing. I was so excited to see Ashley and hug her again! My main mission was to see my girl, and if some “God stuff” happened while I was there, all the better. Finally the day came- Jeremy and I were headed to Africa. I had never been out of the United States before, and I quickly learned that there is a learning curve to navigating other cultures and even other airports. Ask Ashley about my visit with airport police in Brussels! After lots of excitement and some anxiety (I’m looking at you, Brussels Airport), we finally made it to Rwanda. Jeremy and I made our way to our hotel- the Marriott in Kigali- to rest and prepare to see Ashley in a couple of days. Our stay at the Marriott was amazing. The hotel was the most beautiful hotel I have ever stayed in and the staff were so kind and welcoming. I even got to have two massages while we were there! I will admit though, that my anxiety was still a little high. We saw armed guards on many street corners, including across the street from our hotel, and we had to pass through a metal detector and have our bags x-rayed before we entered the hotel. I kept thinking to myself that there was a reason for all the high security, so I felt very nervous. It was very different from America for sure.
The day finally arrived for us to meet the other racers’ parents for our journey to our kiddos. Let me tell you, these World Race families are special! I made two BFFs while we were waiting for our buses to arrive. (Hi Deb and Joyce. I miss y’all!) Once all the parents arrived at our meeting spot, we all loaded onto school buses and started to our racers. Our bus had custom seat covers with lace doilies! As we pulled into the guest house property, we hear yelling and applause. The gates opened and there were our kids! I can’t even describe how amazing it was to see Ashley after such a long time apart. After lots of hugs and tears, and more hugs (and tears), Ashley showed us to our room. The guest house was no Marriott, but the hosts went all out to welcome us, from providing us with flip flops to wear to the bathroom to a mosquito net to protect us from malaria. The racers all had their tents set up in a nearby grassy area, but we asked Ashley to stay in our room with us- shhhh! No way were we going to spend 8 hours every night away from her. We stayed up late into the first night catching up with Ashley and updating her on our lives and how much her brothers and sisters have grown. Ashley soon fell asleep but Jeremy and I watched her sleep for a long time. It was so great just being in the same room with Ashley again. She seemed the same, but also different- more mature and so settled in her faith.
The PVT organizers had so much planned for us. We visited a village and got to help in a preschool and do road construction, and they also planned several tourist activities for us. The first day of ministry we went to the village to work in the preschool. The kids were absolutely adorable and the teachers seemed happy to see us. I was impressed with how fluently they spoke English. We took the kiddos outside and played with them. We taught them lots of songs, and they even taught us a couple of songs. We are trying to get our three year old to sing the Chimichanga song- so, so cute! Some of the kids seemed a little fearful of us, but others came right up to us and let us love on them. It’s amazing how hugs and music are universally understood and welcomed. We spent two or three hours at the preschool, but it flew by. We were all sad to leave.
I remember when we drove into the village that first morning, all the kids ran out of their homes to wave at us. I’d never seen homes that were so small or that were made of mud or old boards and scraps of metal. Some of the kids were covered in dirt and dressed in rags. I started getting anxious again and worried that I couldn’t handle being in the village. My eyes filled with tears at the poverty I saw, but the deeper we drove into the village, the more I noticed how happy and filled with joy everyone seemed. It was remarkable to me. I went back to the guest house that afternoon feeling very emotionally spent, but also filled with love for the kiddos I got to hug and play with. I realized that the kids were happy despite living in such poverty. My eyes started to open that maybe God had something planned for me- more than just getting to see my girl.
The second and third days of ministry were spent doing road construction. When I heard we were doing road construction I pictured us pouring asphalt and getting in the way. I was wrong! Day two we drove back to the same village and saw what appeared to be every man and woman in the village holding a shovel or pick axe, already hard at work. The road was more like a rutted and pot-holed dirt path. We helped the villagers dig trenches to help divert rain water and keep the road from getting worse. We also used the dirt we dug out to try to fill the ruts and pot holes. It was so impactful to me to see an entire community come out to work on a project together. Again, every person was kind and welcoming, and many were eager to practice their English with us. Women with babies strapped to their backs and even elderly people were out there digging and working. I’ve never seen such hard workers.
Day two of ministry ended and we were very tired and dirty, but so happy that we were able to help the village better their roads. On the way home we noticed people on the streets stopping and staring at us as our buses drove by. As soon as we waved, the people would smile huge smiles and wave right back. They seemed genuinely happy to see us. I could not stop smiling at seeing the joy on each person’s face. I was surprised to realize that I was falling in love with Rwanda.
One of the tourist activities planned for us was a visit to the Rwanda Genocide Museum. We learned about the genocide that occurred in 1994 where around one million Rwandans were killed in just 100 days. It was heart breaking to read about the genocide and to see the faces in photographs of so many genocide victims. While we were in Rwanda, we met a few people who lived through the genocide and they openly shared their stories with us. What struck me as remarkable is how the people of Rwanda have moved on from such devastation. The people of Rwanda have worked so hard to change the way they view each other and we heard over and over “We are all Rwandans”. Rwanda has made great strides to move past the attitudes and ideas that caused the genocide to happen, and it was so beautiful to see the hope and love the people of Rwanda have now.
Another activity planned for us was going on a safari. We loaded into Jeeps and headed to Akagera National Park. We drove through beautiful country, farmland and rolling hills. We got to see lots of people starting their days- collecting water from streams and wells and carrying huge bundles of bananas. We saw so many adorable kids in their school uniforms headed to school. We were told that Akagera National Park is one of the only places that still has the “Africa big 5” animals, and we were excited to spot as many as we could find. We saw baboons, water buffalo, zebra, hippos, wart hogs, crocodiles, elephants, more zebras, and even a giraffe family. We had a picnic lunch really close to a lake filled with hippos and got stuck in a sudden rain downpour. We even got to experience every racer’s favorite thing- a squatty potty. On the way back from the safari we drove through the village that Ashley lived and served in. Some of the racers were still there and they happened to be standing on the side of the street as we drove by. Our awesome Jeep driver pulled over and let us get out to hug racers that we know through blogs and meet others we didn’t know. It was so great! We visited for 15 or 20 minutes and were quite a sight as we all descended onto the street in that tiny village!
One evening we went to a Rwandan church service. There was a lot of loud singing and energetic dancing. Kids were peeking in through the open doors and windows. One sweet girl stood by the window I was sitting near and she reached in to hold my hand during the service. The church service was pure and joyful and there was even one racer’s mom who was healed from a terrible foot injury during the service.
We experience so much in one short week. We made friends with people- both American and African, experienced a people working hard to heal and move on from devastation, we tasted new things, saw new things, met new people, were the minority everywhere we went, learned some new words in Kinyarwanda, and most of all saw God at work. God is doing something special in Rwanda. God is doing something special in the racer’s lives. I am so honored that I was given a small glimpse of God’s movement.
World Race parents– if your racer invites you to PVT, please, please make every effort to go. It was an amazing experience to watch my daughter doing her “missionary thing” but it was even more amazing to see how God is moving halfway around the world. God has changed my heart. I didn’t expect to fall in love with Rwanda or with missions, but I did. I don’t know what God has planned for me now, but I know it is good!
Ashley- we miss you and love you so much. Thank you for allowing us to experience one week of the World Race with you. Thank you for teaching me how to bucket shower and how to jump in and serve when I was feeling anxious. We are so proud of you and can’t wait to hear all your stories about South America. Keep pressing on and following God. He has good things in store for you. ILYMIP!!
