Rwanda! A country of rebuilding! A country protected by the hand of God from the evil one! It was so evident God is in the plans to rebuild Rwanda. How else can they accomplish so much in just 14 years? Forgiveness, yet not forgotten. Suffering yet hope is in sight for the children of Rwanda. Compassion for the weak and less fortunate, love and community, and what an ultimate example of how to praise and pray to God the Father! I’m still processing what God just showed this very comfortable West Linn women! When God takes you out of your comfort zone, that’s where you find Him quickly! It’s where your heart gets broken to see kids younger or the same age as your own children living on the streets, needing to be touched, loved and talked to. It’s where I saw how $35.00/month to sponsor a child changes the lives of an entire family. It’s where I saw how healthy it is for women to stand up and speak about how wrong injustices are. Rwanda taught be not to be too comfortable because then I become complacent.
Still processing how God wants to use our trip! Thanks to all my teammates for a wonderful trip!
What is my part? That is the question that continues to come to mind as I reflect on this incredible journey in Rwanda. The need is great in Rwanda and around the world. For me, right now, God has connected my heart to Rwanda. God is doing amazing work through Africa New Life Ministries, and it was an honor to get to be a part of what God is doing. To be able to worship with women at the women’s conference was very inspiring. I loved worshiping together with Rwandan women, and sensing the presence of God even though I didn’t always know what I was singing for it wasn’t in English. To be able to love street children, and see their smiles as we took pictures and showed it to them touched my heart. I couldn’t solve all their situations, but for those minutes I got to give them love which they craved through holding hands and giving hugs. I was also able to help give them shoes, and enable them to laugh. To be able to see sponsored kids, and tell them that their sponsors love them, and pray for them was an honor. Sponsorship really makes a huge difference in the life of a child. To spend time with them, including my own sponsored child was a gift. They are so very grateful to be able to go to school, and to have a sponsor. To be able to share strategies which have helped me in my teaching was a privilege. It was wonderful to get to know the wonderful teachers at New Life Junior Academy. To teach art skills, and see the joy on kids, and teacher’s faces was so much fun. To be able to take food to the people at Kajayo was very humbling. They have so little and were so very grateful. I know that God sent me to Rwanda this summer. I got to be a part of this fabulous team, and great work in Rwanda. The journey continues, for as I process, and reflect, I ask God, “What is my part next? My heart has been touched, and changed. What do I get to do with that?”
The power of one. The power of one compassionate hand. The power of one loving word. The power of one individual believer with nothing else to offer but a reflection of Jesus. This power changes eternity one life at a time… this is the power I witnessed in Rwanda.
Of all the amazing, heart-branding experiences we encountered in Rwanda – from the love-starved precious darlings at the street children’s program to the food-starved, desperately grateful and faith-filled refugees at Kajayo – I was so seared by the impact of the power of one person taking action. Perhaps the starkest display of this power was evidenced in the difference between the street children – dirty, hungry, yearning to be touched and valued, and our sponsored children – clothed, fed, educated, loved, and thriving. I was blown away by the impact that one person, one action, one obedient follower of the Lord, has in the world. My experience in Rwanda taught me that I don’t have to be talented, great, or rich to be one who leaves a fingerprint, a lasting legacy, for the glory of God’s kingdom. I just simply have to see the opportunities around me and respond.
Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel.” The world is at our doorstep. There isn’t a single day that needs to slip by without us experiencing being the hands and feet of Jesus to those whose paths we cross. There isn’t a single day that needs to fade away, never to be recovered, without our lips testifying about the saving love of Christ to a thirsting, dying world.
Now I am back from Rwanda. My mission has only just begun.
On the question of what was the most meaningful thing on this trip, it is tough to pick just one thing. The time spent loving on and encouraging the street kids was most definitely a highlight and it was a reminder of how blessed we are and how blessed our children are. The impression the people living in the Kajayo refugee camp,will never leave me. The desperation in their eyes, the hunger on their face, the thin physique of their body and then the hope on their face struck me at a deep level. God loves each one of them as much as he loves me,yet for me I take that love for granted and I take the need for dependence on God for granted. It was a incredible reminder to be praying for these people, to be thankful in all circumstances, to lean on God for my every need and to all always trust God! I pray the team members are forever changed and that God will use these new experiences in their lives in ways they could never imagine.
It’s really good to be back and too bad we had to leave, if you know what I mean. This was a pretty powerful experience that I am still processing to understand. The genocide was 14 years ago, but the thought that I keep coming back to is that the genocide still goes on. Mass graves are still being discovered. A whole generation of Rwandan men is missing. Thousands and thousands of children have no parents. AIDS continues to take the lives of children born to women infected through brutal rapes. And yet, the country could not exist today without the grace of Jesus seen in the lives of those still there. How does a mortal human forgive the neighbor who killed your family members? The Rwandese are moving onto healing, and the only explanation of how that could be is through Christ. Miracles are alive and well in Rwanda.
When asked what was your favorite thing or moment about Rwanda? It is so hard to pick just one thing or one moment that touched my heart. Was it the street kids worshiping with all their hearts and loving Jesus? Was it meeting my sponsored child and family for the first time? Was it going to the refugee camp Kajao and meeting people who are starving yet so happy and saying God bless me? Was it the Art camp or the Women’s conference that touched me the most? I went with no expectations- I wanted God to show me and lead me. However, I did go with a heart for the Esther Home. Young women in their early 20’s living in a home just for them. They volunteer, go to school and study really heard. They all have tremendous stories, and most are orphans. Some very dear friends of mine who work for Avon and Clinique make-up companies donated make-up for me to take. Another friend donated body lotion. I went with a heart for theses young women. I had big dreams of having a girly time, maybe even a slumber party with them. Being that they are so busy right now the slumber party didn’t work out. Our team of ladies went to the store and got a bunch of goodies, including chocolate. We got the food set up and the make-up displayed. They ladies came out and we played with make-up for the longest time. It was so much fun! One girl brought out a little mirror so she could see how I was applying the lip gloss. Next thing I knew all the girls wanted me to show them how to apply lip gloss. They were full of hugs and smiles! That was a heart warming time for me. I love the Esther home girls (some of the girls are in the pic below)!
BARB
As I reflected on my trip during the long journey home, I knew there would be one memory that would be on my heart more than any other. I loved meeting my sponsored kids, working with the teachers, and seeing the hope and compassion of the Rwandan people, but it was the street kids in Kigali who broke my heart. They have been with me since I first met them and I know they will continue to be on heart and in my prayers as I return home.
These children wanted so desperately to be hugged, loved, and to just feel human touch. They were wearing tattered clothes and shoes and covered in dirt, but all of that faded away as they smiled and melted into a hug. It was so clear to see that they were just kids and so loved by God. I could see their love of God in their worship, hear it in their laughter, and feel it as they clung to my hands or put my arm around them while sitting on the ground.
I know I won’t forget them, my heart won’t let me. I am so thankful that Africa New Life will continue to love on them and show them how special they are in God’s eyes. I pray that someday I will be back to sit in the dirt with them piled all around me, just sharing the love of God. Even more than that, I hope that they find their way off of the streets and are able to make a life for themselves and get the education they deserve.
Now that I am home, I am excited to see how God will use all that I have learned to bring me closer to the woman he has called me to be. My time in Rwanda is over for now, but the adventure is just beginning.
By Sara Love (to read about Sara’s journey click here)
WE HAVE MISSED SOME CERTAIN FOODS….as you can tell the team is feasting on their most missed foods. Some have double or triple burgers and fries, some have mexican, some have Subway…
We are all scrambling for something to eat. We are in the Washington DC airport and looking for some good USA eats! We are tired but excited to see family and friends. We are arriving tonight at 8:53pm in Portland (UA251). This has been an amazing trip! I think words are going to fall short for a week or two.
