fun november stuff

i really should not be blogging right now (so much to do!) but i feel compelled to make up for the pathetic lack of updates in recent months.  plus, it’s always good to document fun times.

this week was just fun.  let me back up and say that i am actually not the type of person that is reliant on fun to keep me going.  i don’t get bored easily; i’m quite content just sitting at home with a good book; i don’t need exciting, interesting, fun, to survive.  (italizing fun seems to give the word more meaning.  fun. fun. fun?)  BUT, i do appreciate a good dose of fun here and there, especially after having gone for weeks here in rwanda without any.  so here’s my list of fun stuff from this week that i’d like to remember when i look back to my time in rwanda.

fun stuff #1: surprise birthday cake

we had our usual bible study gathering this past friday and j surprised me (i can’t believe he actually managed to surprise me) with a lovely cake from africa bagel company and a crazy clown hat that he coerced me to wear.  i love fun surprises.  (:

happy early birthday to me!

fun stuff #2: playing @ the orphanage

i love the kiddos at the orphanage j volunteers at.  we both do.  j had been gone for a long time (due to our trip) so i was curious to see what the kids’ reactions would be when they saw j again.  eve (i think it’s spelled “yves”), one of our favorites, absolutely shrieked when  he saw j walk through the door!  shrieked, flapped his cute little arms wildly, and ran around in circles, completely disregarding his mobility limitations.  it was just precious.  though we didn’t get to see many of the kids, i’m thankful i got to say goodbye to a few, and see their faces light up with the candy treats we brought them from sarah and bob!

yves (with a candy in his hand) and beata

fun stuff #3: the best indian food of my life

this is no joke.  it was sooooo good.  j took me to khana kazana, a nice indian restaurant in town, for my special day.  a friend of ours said she cried when she ate there–the food was just that good–and we laughed, but now, we fully appreciate her sentiments.  i am just so sad that i won’t be able to eat there more often!

#10. if you're ever in town, def order the #10.

fun stuff #4: thanksgiving feasting

we had the great privilege of sharing a thanksgiving feast with our friends, a dear older couple from the states, who have been such a great blessing to us.  the feast they prepared was just amazing, and the evening was filled with friends, food and lots of fun. (:

porkin' out!

thanksgiving shenanigans at the boy's table

and finally, fond memory #1: last scooty rode

our beloved “scooty” has been sold, and will be turned over to its new owner this afternoon.  we have loved our many scooty adventures and will miss being able to zip around town on it.  j is trying to convince me to let him buy a motorcycle when we get back to the states.  in your dreams, buddy!

last ride on our beloved scooty this morning

 it was easy to think of things to be thankful for this week.  the tougher thing, i think, is remaining thankful even when times aren’t fun.  i hope i’ll get better at that….  but for now, i’m just thankful for fun.  (:

epic

forget the korean church towel that j wrote about when we first got here.  this one takes the cake!

that’s right, baby: a korean church van (filled with rwandans) strollin’ through the streets of kigali!

we were @ a gas station across the street when we saw this today.  so funny.  totally made my day!  but i seriously have to wonder: there are no korean churches in kigali, so, where in the world do these things come from and how do they get here?

 

well, this is africa, where so many things remain a mystery.  i should have learned my lesson by now and really need to stop asking questions.  (:

hard to say

 

it’s almost 8pm. i ate dinner a three hours ago and now, i’m sitting cross-legged on a gray faux-leather upholstered chair at my favorite bakery in the world (paris baguette, how i’ve pined for you these past 19 months!) blogging as the automatic glass door slides open and shut every five minutes behind me and piano jazz lingers above me.

 

oh yeah–and i’m in hospital garb.

 

i was ecstatic to find that the hospital i’ve been receiving treatment at has a paris baguette on the first floor of the building. and an optometrist down the block where i was able to get a pair of prescription glasses for under $30 usd. and that the hospital allows its patients to leave the building for short periods of time when they’re not receiving treatment. and my roommate–an elderly lady who has been in and out of the facility since july after two leg surgeries–is as sweet as ever; the hospital food is great; the doctor is a bit wacky but fun and kind.

 

these are all little things but the bigger things–being able to undergo surgery with such short notice; being able to afford the surgery and hospital stays; getting multiple health issues checked into and treated through various means–have meant so much more.

 

this whole korea thing has really been a blessing. everything has somehow managed to fall into place despite lack of control or foresight or ability or resources. and now i am finally starting to believe that, yes, coming to korea was the right thing to do.

 

i’m still not sure why God has worked things in my life this way. i don’t understand why it had to be so hard these past couple months, or why he would choose to bring healing to me through such costly means when i know that with his mere word or will i can be made whole again. it’s hard, when i get lost in thoughts like these. i sometimes feel distant from God during those moments.

 

but for now, i am thankful for this moment. i’m thankful to have been able to see my family and a few of our dear friends, for all the good food i got to taste, and for moments like these where i can sit at paris baguette, enjoying a kiwi smoothie and blogging to help me process all of this. i am hopeful that much better days are ahead. (:

Claudine’s Story

Claudine’s life has been indelibly impacted by the genocide that tore apart her country nearly two decades ago. Both of her parents are in prison for crimes related to the genocide in Rwanda. She lives with her older sister and brother, who have grown up as orphans.

When Claudine was 15 years old, a 30-year-old neighbor who had once dated her older sister approached Claudine and offered her some food and a soda. He promised the young girl that he could help take care of her since she was an orphan. But he was merely interested in taking advantage of her vulnerability. Once she was inside his house, the man attacked Claudine, sexually assaulting her.

Claudine fled the house, terrified. At first, she did not tell anyone about what had happened to her. But she soon realized this would be an impossible secret to keep: She was pregnant as a result of the assault.  Bravely, she reported the crime to the local leaders in her small community. The leaders accompanied Claudine to the police office so a proper report could be filed.

Claudine, with her daughter and IJM Rwanda social worker

The local leaders then called IJM, who had a reputation within the community for helping protect the poor. IJM Rwanda responded immediately to the urgent cry for help, and a lawyer rushed to the police station where Claudine was about to be questioned. He stood beside the girl as she boldly spoke up about the abuse to the authorities.

IJM investigators helped police collect evidence that was used in court and coordinated the arrest of the perpetrator. The IJM legal team worked with the prosecutor to develop a strong case, and the trial was set for January 2011. As often happens in Rwanda, the hearing was adjourned until July 2011. 

In July 2011, two and a half years after the abuse, justice was finally secured for Claudine: The perpetrator was convicted for rape, sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined 560,000 RWF, approximately $1,000 (Rwanda is unique in that criminal and civil trials may be heard in the same hearing, as in Claudine’s case).

IJM social workers continue to support Claudine and her siblings. Her older sister enrolled in a course to learn to sew, and IJM purchased her a sewing machine when she graduated. Claudine gave birth to a healthy baby girl, now 2 years old, and IJM is helping provide for Claudine so she can get back in school.

There are scores of other girls like Claudine – children who are sexually abused and in need of an advocate to stand with them so their voice may be heard. Reporting crimes of sexual violence remains low, even though the law against sexually abusing children in Rwanda is clear.  Stigma and fear of rejection are compounded by a lack of confidence in the public justice system, and violence that occurs within the home is often considered a “family matter,” instead of a crime meriting legal recourse. 

IJM Rwanda started advocating for children who had been victimized by sexual violence in 2009, and this year, the office ramped up efforts to focus exclusively on this type of violent injustice.

Four cases have come to judgment – two ended with convictions against the respective perpetrators, and two are now on appeal. Four more cases will begin this year[1]. 

---

[1] As of 9/20/2011: 2 trials are scheduled in October, 1 in November, 1 in December.

a wedding, a funeral, and two births. oh, and a near-drowning experience.

 [folks, wordpress refuses to cooperate with me, and will not show the last 6 pictures i’ve tried to post from the wedding (hence the super-long caption…you’ll see.  after 3 hours, i give up!  😦  maybe another day.  so bummed!]

——-

one of my favorite times of the day is a little past 5pm, when j picks me up from work on our little red scooter (or “scooty,” as we affectionally call it) and we ride down the bumpy cobblestone road just as the primary school kids in our neighborhood, in their blue uniforms, are getting out of school.  some of them know us and will call out to say “muzungu!  mwiriwe!” (white person!  good afternoon!) and the younger ones will sometimes try to give us high-fives or yell “good morning!” or “give me chocolate!”–probably the only two phrases they know in english.

as we zip through the sea of smiles, with the cool afternoon breeze blowing over my face and the sun setting over the hills beyond us, i often have the same thought cross my mind.  rwanda has changed us forever.  rwanda will always be in our hearts.

six months into our journey, and boy, has God allowed us to experience so many things.  moving experiences.  a wedding (which was really an answer to prayer, as we had really wanted to be able to attend a rwandan wedding before our time here was up!), an unexpected and deeply moving funeral, and the celebration of two lives entering into this world.  and why not–let’s throw in a near-drowning experience in there as well (a story which i will let j tell).

the wedding
so, not only did God simply allow us to attend a traditional rwandan wedding–he allowed us the privilege of experiencing being in the wedding!  daniel* and caroline* are both teachers serving as missionaries with ywam.   their wedding, like most rwandan weddings, was a three-ceremony, two-day event that involved lots of planning and coordinating, driving around and shuttling people to different venues, singing, dancing and drinking fantas (they love their fanta here).  i think j drank a grand total of six bottles citron fantas in a day!

with three ceremonies and hundreds of family, friends and neighbors to invite, it gets pretty expensive to put on a wedding.  daniel and caroline work full time as missionary teachers and they are not paid for their time and efforts; they rely completely on the the contributions of the people who support their ministry.   it was really amazing to witness how God provided for all of their needs in planning and executing this wedding. 

day 1, part 1: the civil ceremony (the least exciting and smallest of the three)

day 1, part 2: getting ready for the traditional ceremony procession (can you tell i was super excited?)

j in the procession, looking quite manly in a leopard-print skirt

the bride's family, presenting the beautiful bride

the "king" and his bride

day 2: the religious ceremony (ps, j's entire outfit was rented from a shop downtown, and surprisingly fit!)

here comes the bride! (being walked down the aisle by a fellow ywam'er)

day 2, part 2: the reception (on the other side of town from the church ceremony)

cake and fantas for everyonej, fulfilling his duties as a groomsman by serving cake to the guests (and with such a handsome smile!)day 2, part 3: the second reception @ daniel's home, for close friends and family. let the singing and dancing begin!my two little friends, a & efriends & fam bringing gifts to the newlyweds: dishes, cooking oil, sacks of potatoes, a mattress! (not pictured)8pm: our first meal of the day. we were eating in the dark and j accidentally dropped his piece of meat on the ground, in the dirt. wanna guess what j ended up doing?the guests. a bit blurry, but i like this shot.

 

the funeral

j wrote about a funeral he attended when we first arrived in rwanda, but the first funeral attended that involved a personal connection with us was the funeral of eva,* a seven-day-old baby girl.  she was the firstborn daughter of phil,* a co-worker of mine in our legal department.  we were still rejoicing over her birth when we received word one morning that baby eva had died during the night.  it was awful.

the tiny coffin. seeing it made me cry.

 

the beautiful thing about this whole experience, though, was to witness how everyone in phil’s life pulled together in his family’s time of need to make the appropriate arrangements for the funeral and service, and how they left their jobs, their families and whatever responsibilities they had for that day and immediately responded to the family by being with them.  eva passed during the middle of the night and her funeral and memorial service took place at 2pm the following day without a hitch.  it was amazing.  family and friends bringing fantas and food, chairs for the service, pitching in for the coffin and securing the plot of land for the burial…this kind of quick, thoughtful organization would not happen in america.  i kept thinking to myself, over and over again: this is community, this is love.  and it is beautiful.

 

the births
i already mentioned the birth of marcus’ baby boy (the one with the adorably plump cheeks) but lucky us, we had the privilege of celebrating TWO births in one month!  my co-worker christine* had a beautiful baby boy a week after marcus, and he is so, so beautiful.  and what makes this baby extra special to me is that i named him.  (:  “david” means “beloved.”

 

so precious.

david looks just like his beautiful mama. sooo want to kidnap him! (:

 a near-drowning experience
we had the privilege of spending a week @ kumbya, a retreat center by lake kivu on rwanda’s western border, for a missions conference.  we’ve already mentioned how nice it was to have a break from our “work” and to get to know so many wonderful  people, but what we didn’t mention is that we had a very scary experience one day at the lake.  we definitely walked away from it with a deeper realization of the fragility of life and, at least for me, i wake up every morning now with a more grateful heart for the day he has given us to live.  i’ll let j tell the full story some other time, but for now, i just want to praise God for keeping us safe and holding us so close.  i feel like baby david in his picture above, snuggled safe and cozy in his little crib.  God has us in the paln of his rwanda-shaped hand, and it feels sooo good.  (:

beautiful kumbya

thank you, God, for the celebrations, sorrows and the very-close-calls in our lives.  they all connect us closer to you.

dear God

thank you for getting me up this morning after a deep, restful sleep.  it was dark when i got up–and you know how much i love it when i’m able to get up this early, for no other reason than to be up during the momentary stillness just after the birds begin to chirp but before the rest of creation stirs to life.

what a beautiful sunrise you created for me this morning.  i loved the shade of purple you used on the clouds and the bright red highlights cast on them by the sun’s rays.  you made this morning even more perfect by that cool, crisp breeze that gently blew over me.  took me back to our running days back home, when we would get up early on race mornings with excitement and anticipation.  do you think back to those days, too?  i remember how much joy you would give me as i ran through your beautiful creation.  you felt really close to me in those moments and i’m so thankful for them.

and, i almost forgot–thank you for sending freddy to our window this morning!  funny how much joy a daily visit from a little red-headed bird to our window can bring.  whenever you bring him by, you remind me of how you send new encouragements and joys to me each day.  they are new every morning….

it’s already august.  i can’t believe we’ve come this far.  the road behind me is a bit blurry and the road ahead isn’t visible at all from where i stand…but how i praise you that you know every curve, ditch and turn.  you have created this road, and you will enable me to travel along it as you have up to this point….

this point. 

God, it is really hard these days for me to focus on this point.  this moment.  i want to be fully present in this moment, this day that you have created for me, and you know how hard it has been for me to do this simple thing.  i need more of your peace, strength and wisdom to be faithful to the purpose you have designed for my life.  you have shown me that purpose is not some shapeless thing that lies somewhere in my distant future.  purpose is here, purpose is now, because “this is the day that the Lord has made”….

you do not create without purpose.

and, you do not create without love.

i, on the other hand, create lots of things without purpose.  worries and anxieties, obsessions, habits, grudges.  and they are most certainly created without a drop of love.  how different you are from me, Lord.  how i marvel at your perfection.

i guess i never really thanked you for this, but…thank you for creating me.    thank you for breathing life into my body and life into my spirit.  thank you for this life you’ve given me.  because i know you did it with purpose and and in love.  this morning, i am so thankful that i have been created with purpose and intention, and that i am loved by my creator.   i am sorry for all the times i complained about my life and failed to realize it as the precious gift it is.

last night, you reminded me of something very important.  even the “bad guys,” you created with love.  you created them with intention and for a purpose.  i remember, a year ago, feeling like i could never have compassion for these men who are used as instruments of the enemy to do such evil things to children.  and i remember thinking that you probably felt the same, that you were on “my side.”  how wrong i was!  last night may have been the first time i truly realized that there is nothing that separates me from these “bad guys” other than my Jesus to whom i have surrendered my life.   i am no better than the worst sinner on this earth, and whatever “good” there is in me is only through your grace, the grace of God.  craziness.  sweet, precious craziness.

well. 

i just wanted to spend some time this morning to say, thank you. 
thank you for your creation.
thank you for creating everyone and everything with purpose and love.
thank you for this life.
thank you that it was designed to reflect your love and magnify your glory.

may it be so.  today, tomorrow, always.

with love that grows deeper with each new day,
-d.

though my heart and flesh may fail

[from yesterday’s journal entry.  my only motivation in sharing this is to testify of God’s goodness towards me…may my life reflect the beauty of my Lord.]

7.11.2011

all my days, i will trust,
i will trust in you
though my heart and flesh may fail
Jesus, i will trust in you

-hillsong, “trust in you”

—–

yesterday marked the halfway point of our rwanda journey.  it also marked my first moment of absolute brokenness before God. 

i’m exhausted with battling against my body.  i’m tired of trying so hard to figure out what is making my body feel and react this way, tired of meds, tired of scrutinizing my diet and trying to alter it (for the umpteenth time) to make me feel better, tired of nothing working.  i’m just tired of it all.

i reached the breaking point last night when the inflammation and discomfort were so bad and my emotions about my body even worse.  i tried so hard to keep the tears at bay, but once those first few tears slipped through, the floodgates tore wide open.  i was sobbing.  my heart felt like a deadweight within me, my insides were collapsing from the weight. 

my mind was racing.  i can’t live like this anymore.  i have absolutely no more strength or hope left.  i can’t continue fighting this battle that has no rhyme or reason to it.  nothing makes sense.  maybe we should go back home?  i’m a failure, i feel so alone.  why is this happening?  why won’t God heal me?  maybe we really should just go home….

jeff encouraged me to pray, so i tried.  he left the room so that i could be alone with God.  the only words i could get myself to say were, “help me, God, help me.”  over and over, my sobbing muffled by my pillow, i cried out for God to help me.  i couldn’t muster up any other words to say.  if ever i have reached rock-bottom in this journey, this would be it.

i wish i can say that i was instantly healed after that prayer. or that i was suddenly filled with joy and peace.  i cried to Jesus for help for a good half hour and, when the tears finally stopped, got out of bed, washed my face, brushed my teeth, and went to sleep.

i woke up this morning with a terrible sore throat and what feels like an ear infection in my left ear.  i stayed home from work and remained in bed, sometimes awake but mostly asleep, until noon.

in the few moments of consciousness i had, two thoughts came to mind:
1) God desires for me to have more faith in him.
2) my body and flesh are nothing in relation to my spirit.

i struggle with whether or not God desires to heal me.  two sundays ago, we had a guest preacher from the states at gmc who spoke about Jesus’ desire to heal us.  he preached on the story of the man with leprosy who asked for healing from Jesus and used it to support his claim that Jesus is not just able but is willing to heal us all.  i didn’t buy it.  i thought about paul and the “thorn in his flesh” that God refused to remove from paul because it was for paul’s own good that the thorn remain.  i thought about the many people in this world who had faith that God would heal them or their loved ones from cancer, from HIV/AIDS, from whatever was plaguing their bodies…and how God allowed each one of them to pass from this earth without experiencing physical healing.  to say that it’s God’s will to heal all would mean that God was not big enough or strong enough or loving enough to have saved all these other people from their suffering.  and that, i know, is a lie.

quiet and alone, bundled under the covers with my thoughts, i related a bit to the old testament account of elijah, who, exhausted and discouraged, encountered the presence of God while he hid in a cave. 

• and the word of the Lord came to him: “what are you doing here, elijah?”  he replied, “i have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty.  the israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword.  i am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”  the Lord said, “go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”  then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.  after the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  after the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.  and after the fire came a gentle whisper.  when elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.  -1 kings 19: 9-13

God was in the gentle whisper.

i didn’t hear God’s voice in my loud sobs or my racing thoughts last night.  i didn’t feel  him acknowledging my pleas for help.  he didn’t give me words of encouragement or visions in my sleep.  i just heard a gentle voice speak into my heart as i lay quiet and still in my bed this morning, “i am here.  do you trust me?”

do i trust him?

today is monday, which means jeff headed off to the orphanage this morning to work on the kiddos.  we were there together last monday for the fourth of july and handed out candy to the children.  though children are always beautiful (particularly african children, of course), they are even more beautiful when they smile, and boy, does candy make them smile.  when i see these children and witness their struggles and limitations, it’s hard for me not to ask questions (in my heart), or to be sad.  why can’t this little girl move her legs?  why are this little boy’s limbs twisted and deformed?  why does he have to live the rest of his life without being able to express his pain or feelings in words?  my pain and discouragement become a bit smaller the more i spend time with them.

a couple of weeks ago, i read a passage in john chapter six, where jesus refers to himself as the bread of life after feeding a crowd of five thousand.  Jesus goes on to make a statement that struck me: “the Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.” 

the flesh counts for nothing.  the spirit in me gives life; the spirit is everything.  the flesh of my body counts for nothing. 

my body is nothing.

God reminded me of this passage this morning as i lay quietly in bed, wondering if i really trusted in him.  he reminded me that it’s not my physical body that counts for anything, here on this earth or in eternity; it’s my spirit that matters.  and my spirit, in its current state, was dying.

i thought about the beautiful kiddos at the orphanage, each with their unique physical and mental disabilities, and something inside me kind of clicked.  the Spirit gives life; their flesh counts for nothing.  there will come a day when their disabilities, their pain, their abandonment, will be stripped away and replaced with new bodies cloaked in royal robes in a place where there is no more pain or suffering.  memories of their sorrows from this earth will be vanished for all of eternity, and their spirits will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

God may care about our physical pains and abnormalities because he cares about the things that grieve us—but he is even more concerned about our spirits.  he sees past the flesh into the heart and examines it day and night.

he is examining my heart and pressing upon it the question, how is your heart?  don’t worry about your body right now.  how is your heart, and the spirit that dwells within it?

i lay.  i ponder.  i close my eyes. 

and in this tender act of love as he gently probes my heart, i can finally answer the question that came to me in that gentle whisper this morning:

yes, Lord, i trust in you.  i will trust in you.

a week of wonderful

[written by d]

congratulations to our friend marcus,* who just became a father for the first time on june 30 to a beautiful baby boy!  we made it to the hospital just a few hours after BabyBoy was born and man, is he a roly-poly BabyBoy if i ever saw one!  perfectly cute chubbiness everywhere.  really had to restrain myself from stuffing his tiny squishy foot in my mouth.  we’re just so thrilled for marcus and his wife.

ack! sooo cute....

(some of my coworkers were joking that the baby looked like j and not marcus because of his lighter skin.  “the baby came out a muzungu!”, they said.)

another “wonderful” from this past week was our encounter with a missions team from hong kong (“team hk”).  the team of about 30 has been coming to rwanda for 8 years straight now and are doing amazing, super creative and super loving work in this city.  we were blessed to have spent a few hours a day with them during the final days of their stay here and were deeply encouraged as a few of them spent time praying over us.  the picture below was taken after the group spent over an hour praying, just for us.

hk is home to some quality ladies!

though the time we spent with them was short, it was so sweet to be back in community again.  not that we don’t have friends here.  we do…but not ones that we can be completely open and vulnerable with, ones who will pray over us with their hearts, ones who cheer us on and genuinely desire to see us persevere through trying times and accomplish the task before us.  and to think that we’ve known them for only a week!  kind of crazy, but that’s the beauty of the body of Christ–in Him, HK and AZ become one.  (:  the timing of their trip was perfect for us, right in a season of our journey where we are needing more encouragement than in previous months, and though i know that the team had scheduled and began preparing for this trip way before we even stepped foot on rwandan soil, i feel that God sent them here, right now, just for us.  egocentric, i know.  that’s just how i roll.  (: 

we got to visit akagera national park for the first time, thanks to team hk’s inviting us along on their field trip.  we didn’t get to see many animals but the park was beautiful.  i think our tour guide felt bad about the lack of animals so she let us do the forbidden: get out of the vehicle and romp around in the middle of the park!

safari mischief! (if you look closely, you may be able to see a few giraffes in the distance...well, maybe not, but just imagine them)

God’s creation is wonderfully beautiful.  i have always been a tree-hugging nature lover and that’s one of the reasons why i love rwanda so much.  God created so many beautiful things in this country.  one of the things i loved most about running is the ability to enjoy nature while running through it.  i haven’t been able to run much (or, at all) since coming here but i thank God for our scooter, for invitations on roadtrips like this one, and for our big window in our living room, each for giving us the opportunity to enjoy and marvel at God’s beautiful creation.

and finally: at my work today, we made it one giant step closer to securing justice for one of our victims!  we’d waited six long months for this, and we are so thankful for our client to have finally received a portion of justice.

what a week of wonderfuls! 

i lift up my eyes to the hills–
where does my help come from?
my help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
– psalm 121:1-2

Don’t blame it on the rain

J-So it rained here in Kigali all day today, which is really strange since we should be in the middle of the “dry season”.  I finally got our motor scooter registered today but had to trek through the rain and got soaked.  I hate getting caught in the rain.  Ask D- and she’ll tell you how small things such as being out in the rain steal my joy.

Upon reaching home I finally got to change into some nice dry clothes and started to prepare my message for today’s YWAM support group.  The message was from the story in John chapter 9 when Jesus healed the man who was born blind.  When the disciples asked Jesus if the man was being punished for his sins or for the sins of his parents, Jesus told them that this happened so that the power of God could be seen in him.

When I left for the YWAM base the rain started to come down hard again (and got drenched again).  When I got to base and saw that no one was at sanctuary I remembered that on rainy days everyone stays at home and will rarely venture out.  We were going to cancel the support group but then we heard that 4 of the people showed up.  At first I thought we should still cancel due to the low numbers.  (We had a mission team from Hong Kong come out to our Nyabugogo group yesterday and had a record 45 people in attendance with some crazy praise, dancing, and worshiping.)  But then God spoke to me and said that even if there was a packed stadium that He would not enter that place if no one there was truly seeking him and that these people, though they are few, walked a ways in the cold wet rain just to come and be in His presence.  Little did I know that God was going to allow me to see His message unfold before my very eyes.

So there were 10 of us present.  Four adults, a child, 3 YWAM staff, and 2 of the Hong Kong team members.  The 4 adults were going around giving praise reports and prayer requests.  We got to the last woman, the one with the cute 4 year old son.  She was familiar to the group but had never been to one of our support groups before.  When I asked my teammate Andrew* why, he said that she never wanted to come.  She was sharing very quietly about the sad circumstances that have happened in her life. 

She started right off the bat saying how her husband left her and their son when the child was only 2 months old.  He  left, leaving them without money or anywhere to go.  It was so sad because when she said this her son said twice in Kinyarwanda “my daddy left us?”  The lady next to me started laughing and then the mother as well.  I know it sounds very disrespectul and cruel but in Rwandan culture if  severely bad news is mentioned they tend to laugh a little.  I think it’s their way of dealing with the pain in order to not break down.  She was telling us that she is unable to find work and does not have her own place to live.  Lastly she mentioned that she was unaware that her husband was HIV positive and now she was infected.  I’m not sure if her son was HIV positive as well.  Andrew also suggested that we should pray for her salvation.

After prayer Olive* was speaking with her and I could see the mother’s tears wetting the grey concrete floor.  Several of us came around to comfort her.  I shared with her the message of the cross and how, unlike her husband, God would never leave nor forsake her if she would repent and receive His beautiful Grace.  She reached the point where she was willing to give her life to Christ. 

God spoke to me and said that she was the reason why we needed to have the small group meeting today.  It’s not all about having a huge crowd; Jesus comes for people like this beloved sister who was so broken and without hope.  You see in the John chapter 9 in the first verse it said that Jesus was going along and that He “saw” the blind man.  When we tend to turn away and not pay attention to people in those situations Jesus is attracted to those who are the labled as the least in this world. 

Riding back home on the scooter from YWAM I was just so full of joy and honored to have more of a revelation of God’s love.  I picked up D and while heading home I was singing in Kinyarwanda “God is mighty” all the way home.  She was happy as well and told me how she was praying for me that I wouldn’t let being caught in the rain all day steal my joy and God had answered her prayer.  I am so thankful that God continues to reveal and teach me more and more about His “upside down Kingdom” where the last in this world will be first and those who were first on earth will be last.   Never let your joy be stolen and never ever blame it on the rain.

*names changed.

the reveal

all i gotta say is, 3.25 hours.  the time it took to upload this video.  TIA.

but we’re happy to finally be able to share with you the original, high(er)-quality version of our very first rwanda video.   [unfortunately, the higher-def version still looks really poor on youtube.  oh well!]

ta-da!

enjoy.  🙂

[if the embed didn’t work above, go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXRbGZbMgg4]