Wow. These last few days have been wonderful, adventurous, free, and we got to see God show up in so many little instances and places.
I wanted to write about it all because I don’t want to forget!
Our squad has been in Kigali, Rwanda the last few days for something called LDW (Leadership Development Weekend). Basically it has been a chance for us to come together, rest, get together with our new teams, and be filled for the next month.
Normally I spend my time resting, reading, and trying to share about the month (via pictures, newsletters,etc.)
This time it has been much different. But oh so beautiful! At training camp a little over a year ago they shared within us that “ministry is life and life is ministry” and I thought I understood, but these last few days showed me that God has shown and grown me this year and our days were filled with opportunities to build relationships and pray for others and it felt so natural and authentic.
Okay! Where do I begin!!!???
So two days ago on October 30th my teammates Victoria, Vickie, and I were planning to pack our bags that day and leave our hostel to go to the hotel our squad was staying at. Surprisingly I got a message from a friend of our translator we had for the month to meet up!
{{Let me rewind a minute. So this past month we lived with our Pastor and got really close with the staff, teachers, students, etc.. After I shared my testimony at service our translator and friend shared that he just graduated from the university in the city with a theology degree and his classmate had a similar testimony as mine and this friend had been praying for someone with a similar story because he had a heart for people who struggle with alcohol and is praying about starting a ministry specifically for people who struggle with drugs/alcohol. I was excited too becasue God’s has revealed to me this year that I also have a heartbeat for people who struggle because that’s where God met me and changed my life forever. With all my heart I want that for others. So he tried to connect me with this friend and his wife. }}
Okay so the day we were getting ready to leave our hostel I got a message from our translator’s friend and him and his wife couldn’t find me on Facebook for a whole week and did that day (it was God, there’s a lot of Courtney Harrington’s in the world of Facebook)… it was divine timing. We met them for lunch and became fast friends. I shared my testimony and he shared his. His story is absolutely incredible. I don’t want to tell his story but I’ll say one thing… he struggled with alcohol and his now wife was the one who shared the gospel with him and their testimony is so beautiful, pure, genuine, and Christ centered!
Anyways.. we had a wonderful visit and they invited us to their house the next day for breakfast, tea, and an opportunity for everyone to share their testimonies!
So that night we got to hotel with our whole squad and the weight of leaving the ministry a few days prior that totally captured my heart would hit me in waves and I was emotionally and physically exhausted. So we met with our new team that night and I am on a team of 8 people and our team name is Safari (which means adventure in Swahili- because Jesus is an Adventure!)
Also, I know this blog is all over the place, I apologize. I haven’t shared yet that our last month of the World Race we were asked to pray into what ministry we will be serving at and I am going to a ministry called Gloryshiners in Nakuru, Kenya who does a variety of ministries but the one that was very clear to why I believe I am going is prison ministry. So it’s a bit of a plot twist because I will be going to Kenya instead of Uganda but thankfully the last week for our final debrief I am blessed to get to go to Uganda. I thought Uganda is why The Lord brought me on the Race but I trust His plan for me.
So the next day Victoria, Vickie and I went to our new friends’ house (the couple we met the day before). In Kiglai the main means of transportation is by moto. So basically you go to the sidewalk and wait and if you wait long enough you’ll be swarmed by moto’s who want your business. So even if you have a group of 3 you will be swarmed by a large group of maybe 8-10 of them who all want to take you to where your going. (Nervous face) So once you can translate where you are going and they understand where that is you have to be bold and negotiate a price. Of course they ask for way too much and you have to stern and sometimes you have to walk away until they follow you and agree with a fair price. So our morning started off with all of that 🙂 despite all the potential stress of all of that you hop on the back of a moto and pray your teammates and you all get to the same place safely, and just enjoy the ride. It’s pretty fun actually, they give you a helmet and you hold on to the handles on the back of your seat and cruise to your destination!
We all got to our friends in one piece and they were so sweet and met us to walk us to their home.
They live in a small but adorable apartment. I can’t describe the peace and comfort we felt to be in an actual home. God’s presence was so strong and present in that space. They warmly welcomed us in their home. Even though we only met them the day before, there’s something about meeting others who are your brothers and sisters in Christ, it felt like we’ve known them for years and we were just visiting our really close friends.
They showed us their wedding album and explained that even though their wedding was culturally different that their wedding was a lot different than normal in their culture. They wanted their wedding to be biblical and scripturally sound. Both of their hearts and lives are dedicated to Christ and it was so powerful and encouraging to see and feel in their home.
We spent most of our day there. They spoiled us with ginger tea, coffee, omelets, bread&butter, fruit (fresh oranges and fresh passion fruit, and bananas) and we brought them a sweet treat that they shared with us 🙂 It was so lovely. All of our conversations were centered around Christ and what he has and is doing in our lives.
They also showed us that they have a prayer room. In their tiny apartment they dedicate a room just for prayer! On the walls they have prayers for each other (wife and husband) and specific ways they prayer for each other and their marriage. It was beautiful. Then they explained they have mentors from America. One of their theology teachers (him and his wife). They explained how they have been mentors throughout their friendship/engagement/marriage and always point them to Christ. It was so encouraging and I don’t think I’ll ever look at marriage the same! They are so intentional about every part of their marriage and their relationship with Christ and putting him first.
So after that incredible visit we got on motos to go to the hospital. This month we spent time with a little boy who actually lived in the small space we shared with quite a few other people. Let me explain a small but of this brave little boy’s story (without sharing too much because it’s his, not mine!)
So apparently this little boy who is 12 years old has had a bone infection in his eh for over a year. A world racer from a while ago had a heart for him and God used him and they raised support to get him to a doctor. Thankfully they did because he could’ve lost his leg. So when we saw him his leg wasn’t in the best condition and had a long ways to go to heal. They had to wrap it everyday and took very good care and followed the instructions from the doctor.
Our first week at the ministry there were Australians (they lived in Australia but were native to Burundi, and other places in Africa) that
visited and they preached that afternoon. The sermon was about healing. It was very powerful and MANY people came to Christ that day. One testimony of healing was our little friend who made his way to the front with his crutches and explained that he was no longer in pain. We were excited but didn’t know HOW MUCH God had done that day.
My teammate went to the hospital with him the next week and apparently growth of his new bone which should’ve taken 10 more months to grow had already grown and the doctor explained that the infected bone needed to be removed ASAP. My teammate shared about the story and asked for prayer and financial support and the money needed was raised in a few short days.
So… we got motos to go to the hospital to see our friend after his surgery. What we didn’t anticipate was getting separated… my teammate communicated where we were going to all of the drivers and I have to take accountability for not memorizing the name of the hospital (names are different here and I just assumed we’d all get to the same place)… so that was my fault.. my moto wanted to go fast! So we zipped and zoomed … to the wrong hospital… and lost everyone else (smacks forehead… don’t worry mom I’m very much alive and safe!) My driver was very kind and concerned because he didn’t see the others. Luckily on our pursuit to find the others I saw a cafe. I didn’t have a way to contact my team without WiFi because most of us don’t have international phone plans and I was the only one of us that had a local SIM card. So.. I couldn’t contact them. I walked down to the hospital and a kind employee walked me around and explained I was at the wrong hospital because they didn’t do surgeries there. . So… I walked to the cafe I had seen earlier and purchased a water and a chapati to eat with the avocado I was carrying around. Praise Jesus He gave me his peace, I felt safe and certain I would find my friends and be reunited. I was able to contact the pastor and get the name of the hospital. So I found another moto and bargained for a fair price and he took me to the hospital. I was thankfully greeted by our friend who was our translator I shared about earlier. It was a huge relief we to be in the right place and have a trusted friend to guide me where to go. So I found the group and apparently it had taken me 45 minutes to get to them and they had been praying and were worried. (Sorry guys :/) God is good and he kept me safe. I learned my lesson! I need to always know where I’m going and have a plan if we get separated!
So at the hospital it was so good to see the brave little one who was out of surgery. He will be staying at the hospital for 6 weeks and they will have to operate again. So if you’re reading this and God is tugging at your heart to help please let me know, but please pray for him to heal and for everything to go well!
So in the hospital I got to have a good talk with Pastor. She is such a wonderful woman of God and ow as grateful to have a last visit with her. Then Vickie, Victoria and I prayed for others in the hospital who asked us for prayer. There was a woman who had a baby who had a brain injury because her husband who suffers with alcoholism was being abusive and the baby was caught in the crossfire (I’ve learned that it’s easy to be made at the person but it’s the sin I am angry at and not the sinner, it’s the evil I’m angry with), we also prayed for a young boy with a bright smile who has kidney problems, and a mother who was worried for her child that was away getting a haircut? (Language barriers are difficult sometimes) , and another sweet girl with kidney problems, and of course we prayed for our sweet little brother and his mother that we were visiting.
So after saying our last goodbye to our host and friends we were off on our next adventure (without knowing it)…
So Vickie got a moto home and Victoria is the treasurer for her team and needed to go to an ATM so I went with her.
So we walked for a while and the one we found didn’t work. So we kept walking and found we were but the university. I was about to ask someone for help to find and ATM and woman I made eye contact with we shook hands and I told her “I know you!” .. I just couldn’t remember where I had seen her face… so she reminded me that she worked at the hostel Victoria, Vickie,
And I stayed at the day before. We were so excited to see her again and surprised that in such a big city we saw someone we knew. She walked us to the ATM and we learned that she worked at the hostel but also was a full time student studying law! So we said goodbye once we reached the ATM, I remember thinking, man we should have prayed for her, it’s too late. . After getting the money we walked away and ran into her again! I knew God gave us a second chance. I asked if we could pray and she was SO grateful. She explained that she’s been working so hard and it’s hard to see the fruit of it and that it will be worth it someday. She explained that she had a huge competition the next day that her and two classmates were working on and they are representing their university. She asked for prayer for that and she said if they do well they will go on to compete with all of the schools in Africa!! We prayed for her right then and there unashamed ( which is something God has been growing me in. Instead of saying I’ll pray, just stopping, laying hands and praying openly and unashamed). She felt so encouraged and so did we! We exchanged contact info with her and then Victoria and I were on our way to find a way back to the hotel.
So we realized we were in an area we were somewhat familiar with which was exciting to somewhat know where we were in the city (we’re small town girls :)) We walked a ways because all the motos wanted too much and didn’t even know where we wanted to go! So we just decided to walk for a while and had a blast! We found some motos at last and zipped to our destination.
We made it just in time to session and that concluded our night. We slept very well!!!
So now for today! Sorry this is so long, I just have to get it all down!!
Today I woke up and Victoria shared she wanted to go to a coffee shop. My stomach was acting strange and not happy but after a bit it was all okay and I went with Victoria to search for a quiet place to spend time with God. Little did we know God had another full and exciting day ahead.
We walked out of the hotel and decided we wanted to find a space away from everyone (no offense, we love our squad, but sometimes space is good and hard to find when there are 30 of us)… so we found what seemed like a cute cafe (we were counting on the fact that it had the word Books in the title) on our GPS. We tried to find a moto and once we got one we were surrounded by (I kid you not) TEN drivers and none of them knew where it was based on our map. So we decided to hoof it there (it means walk ;)). So we walked for 45 minutes (mostly uphill) and event though we appreciated the exercise we were praying it was going to be worth the walk! God answered our prayers because it was an adorable place to spend our day. They had books everywhere, affordable and absolutely delicious food (vegetables you guys! We ate a salad and it didnt make us sick!!!!), good WiFi,
and it was just a peaceful space to be. I got to spend time in the word and event bought the books were small I learned so much! ( I read Philemon and Jude!)
After a while we were about to leave and the lady who had been in the cafe all day too happened to be the owner and we had a short conversation about the race and she shared about the cafe. We asked if we could pray for her and the cafe and she gratefully said yes! So we prayed for her and it was just so cool! She also gave us a brownie to share! It was so good! We also found that they had a water dispenser (which made us sooo happy because we have been using our water filters to save money on bottled water – and to have clean and cold water that we knew was safe and wouldn’t make us sick was so lovely !!! It’s the little things folks!)
So we were on our way to find an ATM again. We were walking on strange dirt roads and hoping we were on the right path when we stumbled across this art gallery! We followed our curiosity and ended up in the gallery and got to see the beautiful painting and I contemplated if there was any way I could shove one into my big pack… nope.. so after that fun little experience we continued on our journey to find an ATM and realized we were back at the HOSPITAL which meant that we just had to take the same route as the day before! So we made it to the ATM and it was a blessing to know where we were going! I also had needed to go to the store but didn’t want to go out of the way but there was a store right by the ATM and I was able to get soap and shampoo! Yay for toiletries!
After that we had to find motos home but it was raining and it was dark. We prayed the Lord would keep us and the drivers on the road safe! We got to ride on the back of the motos in the rain and it was pretty fun! We had to walk up a hill and go to our hotel and we walked in the dark and found our feet deep in puddles! Once we got back to the room and got strange looks from our teammates because we were soaking wet and they hadn’t seen us all day. We were off the chain.
So we went to Victoria’s room and our sweet squad mate gave us each an orange!
Later our squad leaders came to our door with notes and candy for us for Halloween!
So it’s been such an eventful last few days but through the crazy I feel full just knowing that God is in all the moments and orchestrates it all so beautifully. It also gives me peace to know that if I continue to seek after Him first this life with Him will feel more and more natural and “life is ministry and ministry is life” will just be normal life to me.
I hope that this is encouraging in some way. I’m sure I left some things out but I had to try to explain it!! God is awesome!!!!
Blessings,
Court
