All over the world we’ve been treated like royalty, and Rwanda has been no different. As Racers, we come ready for anything, equipped with tents, toilet paper, baby wipes and headlamps. Yet no matter where we go, people want to give us the best they can offer. It makes me want to step up my hospitality game. I’m blown away by the way people want to serve us, when by the world’s standards, they have so little.
And then I remember Jesus. He came down to earth to literally save us from ourselves and still chose to serve in humility. He made himself a lowly carpenter, born in the most modest of conditions.
He came to us and met us where we were, despite everything. Which really got me thinking about what that looks like for us as followers of Christ.
We had dinner with our host last night and he was preparing us for what church would look like. We’re going to be preaching at a (Rwandan) Pentecostal church, and we’ve been asked to be modest in clothing and embellishment (i.e. no jewelry). He specially ask that earrings be removed, so my teammate asked about nose piercings.
Now, quick backstory–I impulsively got a cute little tasteful stud in my nose back in Cambodia because ‘Southeast Asia and backpacking and the World Race!’ This is not something I’ve ever wanted, nor do I plan to keep long term, and I knew there was a chance it would have to be removed almost immediately. Three months later, it is still firmly planted on my face.
Five of the six of us have had our noses pierced at some point over the last seven months. Three of us remain. Our host asked that they be removed, but due to not wanting to inconvenience us, he backtracked and agreed to let them stay.
I cringed. As I said above, we are treated so kindly around the world, but I’ve seen a lot of accommodations made on our behalf that shouldn’t have been. This is one of them. You see, we have a daily choice to walk in obedience. I handed over my own rights, not only when I decided to become a missionary, but when I committed my life to the Lord. I have a choice to meet people where they’re at or choose to believe I am entitled to certain things.
The only purpose I have for being on this earth is to bring glory to God and invite others into deeper relationship with him. That’s it. So by forgoing what my gut says and letting a half-hearted ‘okay’ from my host dictate my decision, I’d be doing an injustice.
As Christians, we can have the best intentions in the world, but if they aren’t backed by a die-to-self mentality and a desperate desire for the world to know Christ, they’re in vain. We could go in and preach the very best message, but if we aren’t meeting people where they’re at or they’re distracted by our disapproving appearance, it’s never going to be heard.
As I’m writing this, it’s 4:30 am. An unidentifiable critter that I believe was a mouse just scurried across my sleeping pad for the third time and y’all, I am not handling it like a champ. So join me in laughing at what my life has become and the sense of humor God has.
Part of my ‘meeting people where they’re at’ is living on a mountaintop in Rwanda without running water, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Okay, maybe I’d rally for a toilet if given the option, but it’s a huge honor and privilege that the Lord invited me to share my life with the people of a tiny village named Busanza. That he uses me despite my brokenness. That despite all the ways I still ruin my witness daily, (Ya know, like my stellar decision to get my nose pierced in a third world country. Don’t worry, Momma, my nose has still not fallen off!) he trusts me enough to carry the Gospel. That every single day I fall short, and he still chose the cross because he wants me in eternity with him.
Every morning I pray to look more like Christ and to see the world and others as he does. I ask him constantly to use me, even if it means losing sleep. This daily results in opportunities that require me to say yes to discipline and growth. Today that looked like waking up at 4am with somebody I don’t even know on my heart. I knew this was an invitation to intercede, but only a few sentences in, I began to dose back off. Almost immediately, my new cheese-loving companion ran across my pillow. Jokes.
Y’all, if you’re chasing obedience with your whole heart, the Lord isn’t going to leave you on your own. The Bible says ‘the joy of the Lord is my strength.’ And I’m confident he got a good chuckle this morning as I darted off my sleeping pad and into obedience, as wide awake as ever ready to pray.
