On the 3rd of December I had to say goodbye to Rwanda. I had to say goodbye to my new African family. I cried. It was hard to say goodbye to my African brothers and sisters when all you want is just to stay there for a little bit longer. So I couldn’t stop some tears and I knew I don’t have to hide them. Actually, it was helping me to let go, to process, to grieve and find joy again. Joy in how blessed I am to be able to cry about saying goodbye because a hard goodbye tells me that there was a deeper connection, that my heart was fully there, that I was at the right place, that all I made there was worth crying for.
The tears didn’t remain but the impact I had in Rwanda and how Rwanda impacted me remains! God surprised me in one thing totally: he made me comfortable in door-to-door evangelism. What a legacy! I would have never thought that I would enjoy evangelism. But it was just so different in Rwanda then what I experienced so far in our western culture (and I think this is the whole reason for me being comfortable in stepping out): The people were so open and generous in showing hospitality and letting us in into their homes for talking to them, sharing a word from the Bible and praying for them. The people were hungry for God. The people valued the words of encouragement and the prayers we offered them.
So once I was reading my Bible in my room at the host’s home. I asked God for direction in what I could potentially share during evangelism. I came across the passage of the Widow’s Offering in Luke 21,1-4. I read it, didn’t think too much about it but had the fleeting thought in my mind that I would meet a widow and share the encouragement of this passage with her that all she has to offer is of so much value to God. I don’t remember how many days after that I went to a home and BOOM the woman shared with us about her life as a widow. I surely had this deep confirmation in my heart to know what I need to share with her. God just made a perfect way in speaking to her through me.
Another great encounter was with a witchdoctor. I just had on my heart to meet a witchdoctor and so I asked one of our translators (Moses) if we can visit a witchdoctor. Why did I want to do that? Because I believe that we are supposed to take the spiritual warfare for real and to take a stand there in authority as well. So Moses connected me with a witchdoctor. One of my teammate joined my heart in visiting her and so we went on a sunny Friday afternoon to her house. She invited us in and we sat next to her grandchild who was sleeping on the couch. Her face expression was hard but she was willing to be vulnerable with us. She shared that she’s a widow, that she needs another house to stay for rent than the actual one, that her son is in prison and that she has to take care and provide for the grandchildren and her daughter-in-law Ariane. She carries a lot of burdens what made me feel compassionate. At some point her daughter-in-law Ariane came into the living room where we were sitting altogether. Ariane shared her pain in the chest she had and that the roof of her house got damaged through the heavy rain. My teammate shared a word and we prayed for all of their needs, including healing for Ariane. A week later we visited them again. Side note: the roof got fixed meanwhile. Sitting there again in knowing of all their struggles the thought “Lamentations 3” crossed my mind. I opened my Bible without knowing what exactly is written in this chapter. But guess what? It speaks about struggles, about being into deep darkness, about how day and night is heavy upon oneself. But in all this grieve the writer speaks about how he still dares to hope while remembering the never ending unfailing love of God and his mercy which is afresh every new day. So I ended up sharing this chapter as an encouragement for them. Finally, we prayed for their requests again and continued speaking healing over Ariane’s chest. Before leaving Rwanda I wanted to say goodbye to them. We brought together some money for helping Ariane practically in buying rice, beans and corn for her and her family. Her joy was big when we gave the groceries to her. And praise Jesus! …her pain in the chest was gone away since we left after the second visit!
This are only two stories (but my favorite ones) from doing door-to-door evangelism 5 days a week. I was excited to meet foreign but open and lovely people. I was excited to get to know them, to share a word from the Bible with them, to discuss questions they had and to pray for them. What I enjoyed most was doing follow up in visiting them again and to just check on them again how they are doing. I won’t forget this answer of a prayer request “That you come visit me again”. WOW! Encounters like that made my day!
my new team “42 deep”: Catie Collins, Christy, Sarah, me, Rachel
After my heavy-hearted goodbye to Rwanda we traveled as a whole squad to Jinja, Uganda, where we had debrief for five days. We reflected the past four months as a team, got time to process things individually, had one-on-ones with squad mentor or coaches, spent input and worship sessions together as a squad and had some fun time with each other. This debrief included also a team change. My team is no longer Agape Vita. Now I’m in a team with four ladies: Sarah (she was on the Agape Vita team with me), Catie Collins, Rachel and Christy. If you want you can check out my new teammates: just click on their pictures on my blog’s site. I’m excited to see how God wants to use the formation of the five of us together as a team, how he wants go challenge us, calling us higher and growing us. Our team name is “42 deep” because we want to be deeply rooted (Col. 2,7) in God and to dive deep into what he highlights to have in store for us. We want to long and thirst for God as the deer in Psalm 42. With that not only my team changed, I got a new role as well: I’m the team leader of 42 deep. I appreciate prayers for wisdom in how I can serve and love my team well in giving directions and guiding them wisely.
I wish you tranquil advent days and send you greetings from Jinja, the source of the Nile!
PS: Rwanda, I hope I can come visit you again!
