Pastor Moses said I’d have to dance if I wanted a Rwandan name.
I told him I wasn’t going to dance, so I guessed I just wasn’t going to get a name.
Boy, was I mistaken!
–
When my host told me that my team and I were going to dance in front of the church, I wasn’t worried. I thought we’d get a little sway on and sing Kumbaya to the Lord. Three hours later, drenched in sweat, I had a better understanding of why Rwandans are so skinny (even though they don’t work out, as my host reminded me over and over again. “We do not exercise like Americans. We are too lazy.”) Sure, lazy was definitely the word I was going to use to describe worship, as I lay on my mattress underneath my bug net and tried not to think about my twitching calf muscles and my sore shoulders from waving my hands in the air for three hours.
So…
Pastor Moses: 1
Diana: 0
–
Midway through the first week, my team was with my interpreter Moses (not to be confused with Pastor Moses, or burning bush Moses…), and he began to assign my team names in Kinyarwandan. When he turned to me he gave me a name that meant something generic (I have it on good suspicions they just recycle names from past racing squads). I told Moses I wanted a name that actually meant something, so he thought for a moment.
Interpreter Moses: “Well, how about Kamikaze?”
Diana: “What does it mean?”
Interpreter Moses: “It means sweet, it means princess.”
Okay woah. That’s what my U.S. name means. Diana- divine, goddess, princess.
So I accepted Kamikaze, cause it was basically calling my name… hahhahahaha, get it?
Pastor Moses: 2
Mom: 1 (for naming me)
Diana: 0
–
If that had been my only interaction with the name, I think I might have forgotten its significance. But the next Sunday, as I preached in my host’s church, he introduced my teammate by her Kinyarwandan name. Since he didn’t know I had one, he asked his church to name me. I kid you not, it must have been a whoppin’ two seconds before a young man shot up from his seat and shouted, “Kamikaze!”
…
I see you, God, I see you.
Pastor Moses: 2
Mom: 1
Diana: 0
Holy Spirit: 100
–
And I began to piece together what this name actually means for me. My time spent with God, we’re usually in His throne room. I sit on His lap while we talk, or I lie on the floor underneath His throne, and He lies next to me while I fall apart. Or He teaches me how to battle dark forces as I train in the spiritual realm in the courtyard of the castle. All of my childhood, and even now, I’ve loved writing stories about being an unconventional princess. It’s one of my favorite subjects to write on- an unlikely princess living in a castle and her relationship with her father, the King.
Well, no wonder… Now I know why.
I thought that was all the name Kamikaze would mean to me. How silly of me!
It’s cool we can’t limit God’s depth. He must have put some good thought into these moments…
–
When I told Mom about being named Kamikaze, she busted up laughing.
“What?” I asked.
“Diana, do you know what a kamikaze is?” I shook my head.
It’s a Japanese suicide bomber. Pilots who would climb into their cockpit, knowing their last breath was coming soon, but completely willing to sacrifice their lives for the target in sight.
Mom raised her eyebrows.
“Whenever you’ve set your target, it’s almost impossible to get you off course.”
Pastor Moses: 2
Mom: 2
Diana: Still 0
Holy Spirit: Broke the scoreboard
