As you read in my previous blog, my month in Rwanda was filled with unfortunate events. Well, this is the rest of the story:
The house we stayed at in the middle of Kiziracome village was a highlight for all the kids that walked by. The time we spent sitting out on the porch was always interrupted the stares of Rwandan villagers and by children’s voices yelling, “Allie!” “Hello!” “How are you?” Often I would go to the gate to greet them with handshakes and high fives. I knew after two weeks that I wanted to stay connected to this place after I left; I just wasn’t sure how. Our host, Fatier, has worked hard to reach out and support the community where she lives, including starting a sponsorship program, starting a school, and planting a church. I thought maybe she could be my connecting point.
During the last week of our stay a girl yelled over the hedge wanting me to fetch water with her and her sister. As we made the trek down to the well, I asked her and her twin sister as many questions as I could in the little English with which we were able to communicate. Brenda and Blandine were two intelligent, stoic, and beautiful 14 year old girls with six other siblings. It being midday on a weekday, I asked why they weren’t in school and they said it was because their father did have money to pay the school fees.
Bam.
That was it. My connecting point.
I knew in that moment that God wanted me to send them to school.
When we walked the water back to their house I got to meet their mother and younger siblings. The twins really wanted me to come back at another time to meet their father, so I told them I would be back. I told our host, Fatier, about the girls and how I wanted to make sure they had the money to go to school. She agreed to go back with me to meet their family. The meeting turned into a celebration as I got to tell the girls that I would be paying for them to go to the best school in the village. The parents, filled with thanksgiving, told me to keep in touch so the girls could tell me all that they learned.
You see, God’s plan was more than just to teach me about how He gives and takes away this month. He was teaching me of His a b u n d a n c e. Even when I am without He has given me more than enough to give away. I don’t know what would have happened if I had turned down that invitation to walk down to the well with them. I don’t know what would have happened if I had decided to sit inside wallowing in self pity. I thank the Lord for His grace that helps me see past the end of my own nose.
