My heart has been squeezed for the people of Rwanda. Two weeks I’ve been here and a part of me feels home. I’ve been blessed to have already made friends and even family.
We went to Jaja’s home the first week we were here and as we walked in the house she hugged us and kissed us several times asking what took us so long. After talking with her a few minutes she tells us she had dreamt we were coming to her to pray with her and then we would take her to church. And that is what we did. Jaja, which means grandmother, has called us her daughters and given us Rwandan names. I am called Mutesi, which means ‘one who is highly cherished.’ Jaja is 89 years old and has known Jesus for 4 years. I told her I was telling my family and friends in America about her and she said, “next time you talk with them, tell them Jaja sends greetings and that I pray they stay strong in their faith and know God’s love for them.” This is just one of the awesome things that the Lord has allowed me to be a part of this month. I have been so blessed by Jaja.
Another friend whom I’ve been blessed to know this month is Peace (Mirembe in Rwandan). She is a survivor of the genocide that happened here in 1994. She shared her story with me and I feel led to share it with you. She is 25 years old and she has been living in Rwanda all of her life. Both her parents and her siblings were murdered during the genocide and she managed to escape. Being 6 years old at the time the genocide ended, the authorities placed her with a woman whom they thought was a relative. She has lived with her for 19 years and just last year she learned that they are not actually related at all. Peace is a member of the church we are working with named Gospel Center. She helps lead worship and loves to sing and dance for the Lord. She has a joy and passion that overflows as she praises the Lord and it made an impact on me the first day we met. In Rwanda, jobs are hard to come by and Peace has been unable to work and feels that she is a burden on the family she is living with. She was being sponsored to attend school to learn how to do hair so that she can have a job but the family that was helping her stopped support. For Peace to go to school for one year and get certified to do hair it costs the equivalent of about $150 USD for the whole year of schooling. Here is a picture below of me with Peace.
Her faith in the Lord inspires me. She has learned to really trust the Lord and rely on Him in ways I’ve never experienced. Her story touched my heart being that we are both 25 years old. I can’t imagine the pain that she’s experienced from losing her family. Meeting her on the street you would never think she is someone who has been through so much. Her name is Peace for a reason, she carries the peace of the Lord and shares it with everyone she comes in contact with. If you are interested in sponsoring Peace to go to school, please send me a private message by clicking on the ‘message me’ tab on the left of this page. Or email me at [email protected].
