We have now officially been doing ministry in Rwanda for one week. We are staying with the most awesome family in a village outside of Kigali working with their church, Successful Christian Ministries. The family is Pastor Innocent and his wife, (Venocia) who is also a Pastor, and two of their three boys (Innocent and Prince), who are adorable, precious, and way too much fun. The first night we were here, it just felt like home. Those are just the kind of people we are staying with, and the Lord has immensely blessed us in that way.
Our ministry here consists of door-to-door ministry (more on that later), children’s services, preaching in church, and then just living day to day life here in the village. I am excited about this month and what it has to bring, that is until other things started happening.
Over the past week, one of my teammates was diagnosed with E. Coli, bacterial infection, and a parasite. Another teammate was diagnosed with an intestinal issue that she has to take medicine for that causes extreme side effects. A couple of my other teammates are just not feeling 100%. One of the boys has malaria, the other boy also has a stomach issue he is working through. I woke up yesterday morning very nauseous, which lead to me spending lots of time in the bathroom, having to leave church early before I ruined their floors, and just not really being able to keep food or liquid down or up, if you know what I mean. The pastor and his wife have been more than helpful through this time, and one thing that Venocia said was “The devil is attacking us right now.”
My first thought was that she was overreacting. My second thought was maybe she’s not, and that sounds scary, but my third thought, which the Lord clearly gave me, provided me with joy and excitement.
I think she is right. I think the devil is attacking us. He is attacking our bodies with sickness, he is attacking our minds with lies and thoughts of Why is God letting this happen?, we are being more of a disruption in this community than a help, can this just be over?!? This attack could be a scary thing, but GOD. We have God. We have the almighty, powerful, amazing, loving God on our side, in our hearts, and filling us with the Holy Spirit. That is an exciting thought all on its own, but that is not where my true excitement came from.
My excitement came when I asked the Lord, why is the devil attacking us?! I did not ask this question in an extremely nice way, more like a cry for help, a cry for relief, an angry question. However, the Lord answered me in a calm way. He simply told me, “I am about to do something big.” WHOA!!!
It all started to make sense. The devil would not attack us if we were simply sauntering through life with no purpose, if we came to Rwanda just to see the beautiful country, make a few friends, and leave with a couple funny or inspirational stories. Why would he attack us if that was our mindset? He WOULDN’T. The devil clearly sees the Lord working in this city, in this village, in this house, and he wants to try everything to stop it from going any farther. He wants to stop us from doing God’s work. Well, I have news for him, IT IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!
Do you get where my excitement came from? The Lord is about to do something incredible here, He is going to move big in this city, and He is going to use us to help Him. THAT IS CRAZY EXCITING! Here is a piece of my journal when I heard the good word.
“God, hear my prayer. You are strong when we are weak. Lord, get rid of the foothold the devil has here. He has no place in this home. Lord, rid this house of sickness. Rid this house of anything that is not of You. Lord, I want to be apart of all that You are doing here in this village. I want to walk alongside You to do Your work and to see Your name glorified. Lord, You are almighty and powerful, so deliver us from these sicknesses. Deliver us from the thoughts of sickness, the symptoms of sickness. I cannot wait to see what You do here. I cannot wait to be apart of it. God, You are good. Work here and show the people Your power. Do not let our team be discouraged, but rather use our circumstances for Your Kingdom.”
It may sound weird that I am excited about our sickness, that I am excited about our currently unfortunate circumstances, but I am because the truth of the matter is that God is doing exactly what He promised to do over this 11 months. He promised to do work in our lives and in lives around us. He promised to provide for us. He promised to move in our lives and transform our hearts. If this sickness is allowing that to happen, make me sick more often! I love seeing God work. I love being apart of it. God is good, and He has a much greater plan for our lives than we could ever make for ourselves, so God work. You do You, and I want to be as much as apart of it as I possibly can.
Pray for us as we overcome these sicknesses. Pray for us as we do the Lord’s work this month. Pray for us as we proclaim the name of Jesus. Pray that we put on the full armor of God, but do NOT worry about us. We are in the Lord’s plan, and He is providing in every way possible. I cannot wait to update my blog in a week or two with all that the Lord has done, but I can promise You, there will be more than enough stories of how He is working here in Rwanda.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Ephesians 6:1-2
“And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
