Praise You in the Storm
So we have been in Rwanda for less than a week, but already I feel something so different about the atmosphere. There is so much joy and laughter, and people have been so willing and ready to welcome us in with open arms.
On our first full day here, Kristen, our squad leader went out or a run, and when she came back she had a group of 40 some kids who wanted to play soccer, so Kristen invited us to come hang out with us and we had a BLAST! We played with them, sang songs with them, and some of them took pictures on Tyler and Anna’s camera (and they were great pictures! Here’s a sample of some of their work):
Then on Sunday, we went to our first day of African church. The service was about 5 hours long, and more than half of it was worship, and it was amazing. They were so excited to be in the Lord’s presence and they did not want to leave. There was jumping, dancing, shouting, and of course, lots of singing, but the worship was so full of the spirit it was amazing to see and be a part of. Two people from our team, Lee and Andrew, shared during the service. Lee shared about the importance of spiritual discipline and Andrew talked about true identity in Christ, and the coolest things happened. After the message, there is a time of response, and the pastor or worship leader asks the members of the congregation what they learned from the messages. It was so beautiful to see how the Holy Spirit spoke to them through what we had to share.
Then after that, it started to rain. We sang 2 final songs of worship that lasted another hour, and during that time it started to downpour. With a congregation of nearly 300 people we could barely hear ourselves over the sound of the rain on the tin roof, but everyone just sang louder. The rain was coming down so hard that it was rushing through the crack in one of the doors and flooding the front part of the church, and water was leaking from parts of the ceiling, too, but that didn’t stop anyone. Some people moved chairs back but they just kept on worshipping the Lord, and truly praising Him through the storm.
There is something so refreshing and peaceful about being here in Rwanda. Even though this country has experienced so much darkness in their recent history, I don’t feel the lingering darkness from that time. God has truly blessed and redeemed this nation, and the people here rejoice because God delivered them from their storms. Several people I have talked to asked us straight out what we thought about the Rwandan genocide. Of course we said it was a terrible thing and that we couldn’t imagine the devastation, and they would agree, but then they would look to God and say “Look where we are now. Look at the progress we are making and the blessings God has given us. We are so grateful.” What an amazing perspective to have on the world. To constantly thank God for His blessings, and being in an attitude of worship always. I am truly inspired by the people here and I can’t wait to see what God does in the month we have here, because we will not leave here the same as we came in.
