What’s up friends?!
Over these past two weeks we have had the pleasure of living in a village about an hour outside of the main city of Kigali. We met our translator, January, upon arrival and he became a dear friend of ours. Out of our seventh months traveling the world, he is the best translator we have ever seen.
His humble heart, noble character, and genuine love for all people really struck me from the beginning. He has devoted his entire life to serving the Lord. He does not have much, but lives to serve and bless others.
He grew up living with eleven brothers and sisters, seven of whom have passed away. His parents separated when he was young which made finding funds to be able to complete his schooling a struggle. He completed his primary school with enough funds but could not afford secondary school. The administration agreed to allow him to attend secondary school on account of his leadership position as Head Boy. However, he can not receive his papers that have his marks and proof of completion until he pays the debt. The papers would allow him to apply for a scholarship and attend a university.
I wish I could capture his joyful personality and genuine heart after God in a blog post. He is always using his breath the praise the Lord. The faithfulness, glory, love, blessing, or power of the Lord comes up in every conversation. He has little catchphrases that get us every time such as: “For the interest of time”, “I shall try my level best”, “Allow me to worship the Lord”, “Let us share ideas about that”,“Yes thank you, God bless you”, “We will swim in the power of the Lord” to name a few.
Although he does not have a lot, he has immense joy and gratitude for what Jesus has done in his life. When he was 18, he met a man named Jeremiah who taught him English. Ever since then, he has dedicated his life to serving the Lord through translating. He has a huge passion to bring to gospel to people and make sure they have heard about what Jesus has done.
He lives in a tiny room next to a brand new English school across from a brand new church Pastor John (our host for the month) just planted. He translates for Pastor John in church for free. He knows and believes that the Lord as called him to the ministry of translating and therefore accepts no money for his service.
January has big dreams. He really wants to attend a university. He wants to complete his studies so that he may have more money to bless others and go where the Lord is calling him. He has a heart of adventure dedicated to the Lord’s will.
The Lord has put him on my heart and I would love to bless him with finances that would allow him to retrieve his papers from his secondary school and follow his dreams. I believe the Lord is asking me to play a part in this miracle for his life.
January is so special. He stands out in the kingdom and I was changed through watching him love Jesus and others with every part of his heart. I believe that the Lord wants to use him in mighty ways. I am fundraising money for him in hopes that we can allow him to retrieve his papers and apply for that scholarship.
If you would like to donate money please email me at [email protected]. You can send money directly to me and I will get it to him in the next week. He needs $637 to be able to retrieve his papers.
Thank you so much for all you have done already to send me here so that I was able to spend two weeks with him!
Here is a five minute video capturing small moments of our time with January and his joy in the Lord. If the link does not work, click on this link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQhgDKt_xwM&t=2s
