Back in Swaziland, I watched Tiffany love on a boy named Clive. He was a troubled youth whose parents had died from AIDS and he had been thrown out of his sisters house because as a prostitute, she needed the house for her nightly business. Clive was distant from most and had no real concept of the love of Jesus. Jesus broke Tiff’s heart for Clive and she poured out compassion upon compassion over him. His life was changed and for the first time he understood that God loved him because of the love Tiffany showed him.
For the most part, I have never considered myself to be that good with kids and when it comes to ministering to children, well let’s just say I am no where near close to par. Yet God had done something in my heart as I watched Tiff show Clive love and so when we got to Mozambique, I felt that God would open up a door for me to learn what it means to show a child the love of Christ. Enter RUDO.
Rudo is Jaco’s son. He is a 10 year old boy with a very strong passion for Jesus. Rudo is by far one of the strongest 10 year olds I have ever met when it comes to his faith. Rudo would go out with us on many occasions to share the Gospel. It was amazing to see a 10 year old boy share the love Christ with people. He spoke with such boldness and conviction. It was almost like watching Billy Graham when he was younger. There was a passion and fire in his eyes for the Kingdom. Rudo would go with us to the hospitals and pray hard for God to bring healing over the sick people of this very poor hospital.
For the first time ever, I began to see what it must be like for parents to disciple their child. We invited Rudo to come with us on our village outreaches to which he was always up for. He did not just sit on the side lines but was right in the middle of the battle. I will never forget one night we were having a worship night and part of this was to minister to one another. Rudo had a bucket of water there and asked me if he could wash my feet as Jesus did in John 13. I was totally shocked and had no clue what to say but I did agree to it. He began to encourage me in amazing ways that I will never forget. He told me how he saw Jesus in me and he admired me. I was pretty much speechless. Never in my life did I believe that I could have an impact of a child’s life like this. I proceeded to wash his feet as well and tell him that I would be honored to have a son like him one day.
Now Rudo is not perfect even though he is a strong boy of God. Right now Satan is trying to tear down Rudo through anger. As amazing as he is, Rudo has a serious temper and can go from loving to rage in less that a second. It was amazing to see as the course of the month went on, through prayer, compassion, and patience God start to reshape this area of Rudo’s life. All of a sudden, he was not getting angry as much and at times we could actually reason with him. We began to each him how when he gets angry, he can start praying and looking to the cross of Jesus for strength to control this anger. By no means did this issue just disappear while we were there, but God grew him and matured him in this area.
Rudo has a massive calling over his life and he will be used so greatly of God to change the world one day. It was such a joy to spend time with him and to be able to call him my friend. Rudo changed my life in some pretty amazing ways. For the first time, I saw Jesus use my imperfect self to bring love and grace to a young boy and see the hand of God bring transformation into a young life.
For God
For People
For the Nations
For the Kingdom
W
