Rwanda has captured our hearts! We have only been doing ministry for 5 days, but we already love the people and what we are getting to be a part of this month. Rwanda is a tiny, but beautiful country. It is lush green and red dirt roads and so many friendly faces. We are staying with Pastor Peter and his wife (who we call mama) and are working with his son Moses who is our translator. They are so loving and have welcomed us into their home to share life with for the next few weeks.
Our days are full of different ministries! In the morning we teach at 2 different schools for about 1 hour each. The first school is for young kids, age 3-6, who are all absolutely adorable. We usually play games with them at first and then work on number 1-10 and the alphabet. At first they were shy and uncertain of us, but have slowly started to warm up to seeing so many white smiling faces. The second school is huge with over 900 kids, grades 1-6. Each day when we show up, we are immediately surrounded by hundreds of kids who all want to shake our hands or give us a hug. It is definitely overwhelming, especially when they all want to touch my hair or rub my white skin, but I can’t deny the immense amount of love they pour out on us. We usually try and play some kind of game with them, but it is difficult with so many of them at once. Afterwards we get to go into the classroom and share the gospel and how much Jesus loves them.
After teaching we go home for lunch – rice, potatoes, some kind of meat in red sauce, veggies (green beans or carrots or cabbage), and a delicious fruit (mango or pineapple or bananas). Mama cooks each meal for us and it is always so good, but it is exactly the same for lunch and dinner each day. By the end of this month it will sure be nice to eat something else!
Then we head out for door-to-door ministry. We are usually welcomed into homes and just sit and talk with people. To hear their story, learn about their families, see how they live, and tell them about the love of Jesus. It is beautiful. We have seen people accept Jesus as their Savior, we have gotten to pray for them and their families, and we have been completely blessed by people. I absolutely love getting to sit with people and see how God works all over the world. He is so good!!
Finally we end the day at the church where we spend time worshiping and sharing a message. They just love to sing and dance! It is so fun to join in and dance around and sing songs in another language.
This month has just begun, but we are loving it. I can’t wait to see what God does and what He is going to teach us in the next few weeks. Even though we have been doing this for seven months, I am still in awe that we are actually here and actually getting to be a part of the global church. God is so big and so loving. Seeing how He is working even in the smallest of homes is absolutely incredible, and I can’t even believe that He invited Andy and I to go on this journey with Him.
“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” – Colossians 2:6-7
