Ever wondered what exactly I am doing on the Race? Here’s a little insight to what this month has so far looked like for me + my team!
7:00am- I roll out of my mosquito net and grab my Bible + journal, then head out to the living room, where Fiona is sweeping + mopping the floor.
I sit on the floor of the living room and pray for the day, pray for our host family, friends and family back home, and for my own relationship with the Lord. I usually read His Word or listen to a podcast, which is always beautifully interrupted as host Mom + Mariana come in and tell us good morning.
8:00am- breakfast time! We all gather around the breakfast table and share stories of the crazy dream our malaria medicine has been making us have. We enjoy hard boiled eggs, bread, honey, bananas, tea, and teach our host family the beauty in a peanut butter + banana sandwich.
9:00am- We begin work for the day! many days, this has looked like working on our host Dad’s church next door. Many churches in Rwanda have been closed by the government because they are not clean enough, so they have to do preparing and construction until they can be opened again. We have painted the church, planted flowers and grass, and carry stones around back so that the workers can build a wall behind the church. It has been hard, yet good and rewarding work! Every day includes the neighborhood children surrounding us yelling “hi! hi! hi! what is your name?”, carrying rocks alongside us, and leaning up against our freshly painted walls.
Some days, we have gone up to our Mom’s church, which is a bus trip and hike up a big hill away. We join in as they worship, which by the way, is so so fun when you dance the whole time. More churches should be free in dancing and praising the Lord!! We join in the most powerful prayer sessions and listen to many testimonies of the members lives.
12:30pm- Lunch time! We enjoy some avocado, pasta, green beans, cabbage, potatoes (at every single meal) and end every lunch with fresh pineapple!
1:00pm- our afternoons are either spent going back to the church for more working or with some free time. In free time, we play card games with our 3 little brothers, Joshua, Mucyo Innocent, and Prince, or we spend some alone time with the Lord, or walking through the neighborhood as children flock yelling “mzungu!! (white person)” and coming to give us big hugs.
6:00pm- team time!! Every day, we gather as a team of sisters to catch up on how we are doing, play fun games, practice listening prayers, worship + whatever the teammate leading that day desires to do. We always desire to call each other higher in the time and encourage each other!
7:00pm- Our oldest brother, Joshua, takes CC and I on a run every night. This could potentially be my favorite part of the day! We run up the hill behind our house that CC and I have named “Mt. Everest” because of just how difficult it is for us to run it. Then, we run through town, dodging people and motorcycles and begging Joshua to let us walk for a bit. Children again leave their homes to run alongside the mzungus and I try my best to not wipe out on the bumpy streets in their yards.
7:30pm- Dinner time! We enjoy yet another fabulous meal that is prepared for us, again always ending with pineapple- what a dream.
8:00pm- Our nights are so fun in our home. They have looked like our whole family gathered around the dinner table hysterically laughing as Dad calls us the wrong names, and claims that his chair is “dancing” when it wobbles. Mom shares stories of how they met. The brothers beg to play Temple Run on our phones. We have gathered around and watched movies together. Dad will say we need to have a “meeting” which ends up us sitting outside sharing bananas and tea together. We pray over each other and share in faith of his church opening up again soon! We share in many dance parties with all of our friends that come into the home at night!
9:00- Wrapping up the day and climbing back into my mosquito net to fall asleep as I read my kindle.
And, If I am feeling boujee enough, I might even end the night off with a bucket shower before climbing into bed, who knows.
I wish I could express through a blog just how fun life is here! I wish I could express how funny our host family is, and how loved we feel. Once, we left the house for only 4 hours and when we returned each family member greeted us at the door with huge hugs telling us just how much they missed us. This is a small glimpse of the love they shower us in daily!
Prayer Requests:
- Pastor Innocent + his church to have the funds + materials to be opened again
- Full restoration for Rwanda from the terrible acts of genocide in 1994
- my team + our last week in Rwanda!
- our whole squad during the holiday season
