Rwanda felt like home. It’s crazy how a city like Kigali can seem so small once you get to know it so well. This month I ventured out more on my own or with just one other person and it was so nice. I mean we even knew the back way home.. that’s a big deal to know the city that well. There are so many more stories and moments I want to share with you, but for now I will leave you with this. Rwanda has been my favorite country to far…I don’t know if it is fair to say that yet, but my heart has a special place for Rwanda and it’s beautiful people. There are mountains, so many mountains and I know my heart will long for those mountains long after I’m gone.
This month we lived in the mountains and it was beautiful. This is the view above our house.
Here are some highlights from Rwanda:
Our month in Rwanda began with Debrief. Debrief is where our whole squad gets together along with our mentor and our coaches who fly in from the U.S. It’s was a week full of great worship, one on ones with leadership, debriefs with our individual teams, so many laughs, swimming, kayaking, and just being together as a family. We had debrief in Gisenyi, Rwanda and Kivu Lake was right across the street from our hostel. It was so refreshing and it was a beautiful week to recharge and dig deep.
This was our home for the week and it was actually the best sleep I got all month. 
Hanging out with these 3 is just good.
One of my favorite parts of debrief was the last night. Rich, one of our coaches, spoke that night and it was raining so hard outside and we were tenting so several people’s stuff was soaking wet. At the end of worship Rich had each of us pick up a rock and walk across the street and throw that rock, which symbolized something we wanted to give up to God, into Kivu Lake. It was raining so hard and we were drenched, but that night I threw fear in the lake.
Our host:
Our host this month was a man named Moise and his beautiful family. This man is so full of life and joy. Our first day at his home he told us we had to perform a Rwandan house blessing so he made us walk outside around his house while holding our hands together in silence. When we walked back into the house he looked at us so seriously and said… joke number 1. His jokes only continued from there. He was such a wonderful comic relief for me this month. He and his family welcomed us like we were there own children. There would be times when we were walking to ministry and Moise would walk up beside me and grab my hand and we would walk hand in hand down the road. He also called everyone his favorite favoritest… his favorite person literally changed multiple times a day. This sweet family has a special place in my heart and I miss them everyday.
Moise has two cute boys. Jay (2) or Dr. Jay as we called him spoke to us in Kinyarwanda all the time, but he never understood that we couldn’t understand him. Josiah (5 months), this sweet baby is the quietest baby I have ever met. He is so laid back and he let us drag him all over the house. If there were times and no one knew where Josiah was.. he was probably in our room. They were both happy in this photo, I promise.
Moise’s wife, Mary, is such a joyful women as well. She always had a smile on her face. She, along with several other women, cooked, cleaned, and did laundry for us for the month. They loved us so well. Moise also has 2 beautiful daughters. Lori (8) and Deborah (5) never let us go to bed without coming in the girls’ room to give us a high five or a hug.
Our ministry this month was preaching. Every morning we went into town and lead a devotional for the sewing school that was at our church Gospel Center Mission. These beautiful girls love Jesus, and I pray that the continue to seek Him everyday.
Every night a different teammate preached at church. In all I preached 4 times throughout the month and lead devotional 2 times. We preached at Gospel Center Mission in the city of Remera on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. We preached in the mountains by our house at Busansa on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday.
To be honest, at first I didn’t like preaching because I didn’t think I had anything to say. . . But I think the Lord is laughing at me as I type this because He gave me so many words to say, and He used me for His Kingdom to encourage so many people.
One of my favorite parts of church in Rwanda was worship. We danced, and we sang. We praised the Lord, and it was so good. If you weren’t sweating by the time the speaker began you weren’t doing it right. Our last night of church, each of my teammates had to dance individually to get our Rwandan names. We danced and then the congregation would decide on a name for us. There is a video, but I will spare you for now and show it later. My Rwandan name is Mbabazi and it means grace.
In the month of October we had two birthdays on my team… My birthday was at the beginning of the month in Uganda and Kristin celebrated her birthday in Rwanda. So we dressed up and went to a nicer restaurant and it was so good. I know it might not look like it, but yes these are considered dressy clothes.
Oh yeah also my brother got married and I flew home for a week. It was a whirlwind of a week and I was jet-lagged and my body was so confused as to when I should sleep and when I should eat, but it was so refreshing to get a taste of home for a week. I felt so much more like myself when I got back to Rwanda because my family and friends poured so much love into me during that week. I am so thankful that now I have a new sister. It is beautiful to see the Lord working in both my brother and his wife. The Lord planned this so perfectly because He knew I would get homesick and He knew that going home would make me feel more alive. Also if you can fly to Africa and back alone then you can travel almost anywhere I have concluded.
I am so thankful that I got to snuggle, hug, and laugh
with these 5 for a week.
Also my teammates sent packages to my house to bring back from the states… so I felt like Santa carrying a 36 pound bag of treats in the door when I got back. It was quite the homecoming back to Rwanda. I’m not sure if they were more excited to see me or get presents!
Sometimes on the race when it rains you take advantage of it… bucket showers don’t exactly wash long hair very well, but rain water does the trick.
This month the Lord broke my heart for the Rwandan Genocide that took place in 1994. That was in my lifetime… I was mind-blown as I found out more about it. My team went to the Genocide Museum our first weekend in Rwanda. I was pretty ignorant to the whole thing. As I walked through the rooms of the museum I held back tears as I saw pictures of innocent people dead. There are images I still can’t get out of my head. If you walk around Rwanda today you can see people with what looks like war wounds… they were a constant reminder to me of what happened not too many years ago. The Lord is restoring Rwanda, but there is still pain and hurt and I felt it. The Lord broke my heart for what breaks His. He weeps over His children and so do I.
After throwing my fear away at the beginning of the month the Lord started asking much more of me.. In Rwanda the Lord asked me to trust Him wholly, not just obey Him, but trust Him.
With learning to trust I am learning what I am actually trusting and that is His love for me. I am realizing that the Lord’ s love for me is bigger than anything I could imagine. “His love is wild for me, it isn’t shy, it’s unashamed, Your love is proud to be seen with me.” The Lord doesn’t give His heart in pieces.. His love is whole and it covers us and all of our mess.
Check out the song “Pieces” by Amanda Cook.
Much love, Carson
We’re doing the thing.
