Rwanda. One of my absolute favorite months of this whole year. This place carries depth and redemption. A place once torn apart by a genocide, now stands as a place of peace. The hills seem to go on forever and at night the stars multiply before your eyes.
This month the team I was with worked with Pastor Fatier and her church in a village about 3 hours outside Kigali. Four times a week we stood in front of the body of believers at The International Healing Center to share God’s Word. We also had the chance to visit a hospital, lead children’s fellowship, and visit local schools. Our assigned ministry was great- challenging and fruit-filled. But outside our assigned ministry everything seemed to be going wrong and so begins my series of unfortunate events…
First. Rats. Yes, you heard me, rats. In my bedroom, every night for the first week. Crawling into backpacks, crawling on the mosquito net, touching my feet and my head, crawling everywhere it shouldn’t be. There is nothing like being jolted awake, knowing the little creature was back…again. Lucie and I were in fight mode. We declared war against the thing.
Second. Thunder and lightning storms. If you know me, thunderstorms at night equals no sleep. Between the rats and the storms, I was not sleeping well at all. This week of very interrupted sleep was wearing on me. Why God? You know how much I love sleep.
Third. A twisted ankle. We have the blessing of walking to church and back everyday. It is a beautiful 5k each way, and I looked forward to it. But one night I made the mistake of not using a flashlight. I stepped off the road and wham. Twisted ankle. No walking for me. No fútbol with the kids for me. Why, God? You know how much I love these things.
Fourth. A stolen wallet. A wad of cash, two bank cards, and my drivers license, gone. Just like that. At first I was angry at myself for allowing it too happen (wearing your backpack on your front looks silly but do it anyway). Then I was angry at the person who stole it, whoever they were. How could they take advantage of me like that? God why did you allow this to happen?
Clearly, I had every reason in the book to strongly dislike this place. How easy it would be to just “check out” of life and not care. Oh the pity party I could have had. But behind all the frustration of everything I “lost” God was telling me that He had more for me in this country. And He did.
Read my next blog to hear about His bigger and better plan for me this month!!
