HOPE filled my heart as I stepped off the plane into Rwanda. That torch of hope hasn’t been put out yet….instead it’s been lighting wildfires!
Let’s rewind a bit….When I was choosing which route to go on, I was stuck between this current route and expedition route. I asked God which one he wanted me to go on, and all I heard was RWANDA, and with that I chose route 3. Since then, I have been waiting to see if there is a significance with Rwanda….and God has answered!
Upon arriving at the ministry site, we were welcomed with bananas, water, and chocolate (or vitamins as Frank kindly referred to them as)! We were told the vision for the organization from Glenda and just had such a sweet time of talking. Our first ministry day we were told would be going to the Kigali Genocide Museum because we wouldn’t be able to minister properly to the people if we didn’t understand their history and all Rwanda has gone through.
Ministry has looked different each day. Where I am staying at is a home and training center for women who are orphaned, left prostitution, in poverty, and/or trying to better their lives. The training center teaches the women skills such as sewing and assets so they can become confident, fulfilled and faithful leaders, contributing to the sustainable development of Rwanda.
I wake up each morning and join the women for devotions. They do a lot of singing, asking for forgiveness of sins, more singing and dancing, a devotion (something God put on the heart of one of the women), praises and giving glory to God, maybe a word of encouragement from one of us if we have a translator, and then the day begins!
The women are learning to sew skirts and blouses currently (for their uniforms). We just go and hang out with them for a bit. The one day I learned how to say the Kinyarwanda alphabet and rewrote a bunch of sentences in their language. It was a lot of fun and the ladies were so excited that I was trying to learn their language.
During their lunch, we go and hang out with them as well. Tabitha and I sat with them the other day and just showed them pictures and videos and loved on them (and them on us).
Some of the women in the program also live where we are at, just in a different building. Usually at night, a few of us go and hang out with them. The one night Ashley and I were able to share parts of our testimonies and four of them opened up as well. So beautiful. So much beauty from the hurt they have been through. That evening then turned into a braiding hair session.
Two of the ladies got malaria so I often went to their rooms to check on them, pray with them in the morning and at night, and give them a cool cloth to put on their bodies.
One evening we set up our living room space for a crowd and had the women who stay here watch Tangled with us—with popcorn of course! It was an absolute blast! They were laughing even if they didn’t understand all of the English.
We also wrote scripture on the walls of the rooms where the women are staying, put on a fresh new coat of paint and literally sealed those verses into the walls, made curtains, and created a bright and renewed space for them. When we were finished, we had a dedication program, shared our vision behind the rooms and colors, and also prayed over them.
Besides working with these fabulous ladies, we also had an opportunity to work with the men in a similar program. These men are often orphaned who have graduated from the government drug rehab program. A lot of them because they are orphaned have no idea when their birthday is and just associate it with January first. Some of them have NEVER had a birthday party. So, we celebrated all of them! We had fries with them (and were supposed to have goat…but let’s just say the goat was giving issues). We played games with them. They were each given a present (a white t-shirt) and were THRILLED! Most importantly to them, they were given a speaker/sound system! You should have seen their faces—pure joy! We also sang happy birthday to them, ate cake, and just enjoyed each other’s presence.
We also went back and had a talent show with them (oh what fun!!) and enjoyed fellowship over goat and chips (fries).
The organization we are working with also has bought land and will start building on it in the near future so we went to the land, literally sewed scripture into the ground, and prayed over the land.
Sometimes, we even end the night with worship…and it turns into 2+ hours of beautiful worship!!
As a squad leader, I help place teams with ministry locations and then choose where to go. Before even reading any of the descriptions or placing any of the teams, I felt a pull towards one organization—and it’s the current one I’m serving at!
God has not disappointed. These snippets of what ministry looks like can’t even begin to describe my feelings for Rwanda and the hope it holds, for the people and their beauty in their stories, and for the heartache that is going to happen when I leave. God told me Rwanda, and it’s already been so special, so sweet: a new and beautiful aroma that I don’t ever want to lose scent of.
