I have been home from Rwanda for almost five days and every ounce of me is longing to be back. I want to be walking the cobblestone roads and looking out at the endless sky filled with roofs covered by sheetmetal, mountains standing tall in the distance. The view of Rwanda is breathtaking if you just take it all in - but when you zoom in on the details, you begin to see the devastating poverty and desperate need - the broken glass that litters those streets and the dirty clothes that are hanging on the starving children standing before you. Jerry cans that announce water will have to be gathered from gutters and bicycles carry massive quantities of eggs and produce from the city to the villages. There is so much strength readily on display, though I would guess they don’t see that - this is ordinary life, this is survival.
I expected Rwanda to wreck me - but I had no idea it would fill me to the fullness of His joy and leave my heart EXPLODING with gladness. I have had a difficult time finding words to express how deeply moved and forever changed I am because of all I have seen and experienced in Rwanda. I knew leading the team was a calling - I knew He chose me and I was walking in obedience by faith in saying yes; but I didn’t have any idea of all He truly had in store for me upon arriving to love the least of these in Africa. My heartbeat will never be the same.
I want to share all the stories, I could spend hours recounting the incredible and amazing of His work in the land of a thousand hills. So perhaps over the next few days or weeks I will share a little at a time. I hope you’ll journey wth me - perhaps you’ll be changed as you learn of all God did in and through my team.
Today I’ll take you back to the very beginning of camp…
We arrived around 4:00pm and the children were already there. We saw a few of their faces peeking around corners, but they were taking showers and freshening up as many had traveled long distances, some walking several hours to get to camp. We found our rooms and began unloading supplies and then got the alert that they were ready for us. I was entirely unprepared for how quickly I would be impacted and struck by the 100 beautiful faces we would soon call our friends. We walked into the room where we would share all our meals together and they were lined up in four rows looking at us with eager anticipation. I was in tears instantly. So many of them had familiar faces as we had seen their pictures prior to our arrival. We were asked to introduce ourselves and then one by one each camper stood up and told us his or her name and their favorite food - most said chips (which are french fries) and a few said rice or beans or meat. There is no designation of type of meat in Africa - it’s all just meat. We became aware of how spoiled we are and how much abundance we live in quite quickly that day.
We served the children dinner - an African buffet with rice, spaghetti, bananas, chips, beans, some sort of white potato / yam / really interesting looking root vegetable, some green leaves that had been seriously cooked down, saucey that covered everything on the plate and then the meat. The final stop at the table was a huge plate of onions, some fruit, and THEN the fiesta - the largest variety of Fanta you’ve ever seen in your life - the treat of all treats for our kids. We served all the children heaping plates of food - more food than I could have ever eaten in a single sitting - and they devoured every scrap. They raised their eyebrows to say yes to wanting something and shook their finger with fury and said “oh-yeah” for no. Those lifted brows will forever be one of my favorite things about our kids. You can say a lot without uttering a word.
After dinner it was time for “African singing and dancing” - a sound I pray I can always hear in my heart - it is the beat of pure joy - a kind of worship I had never known before, but will absolutely NEVER forget. With gusto and fervor, the children sang out and ultimately erupted into dancing. One by one they extended their little hands towards us, asking us to join in and we were swallowed up into their circle. We began to attempt to stomp and follow along as we worshipped in one accord. I watched as huge smiles spread across the faces of each member of my team - there was no doubt we were tasting heaven - we learned in new ways that THIS is what rejoicing together looks like - THIS is the fullness of His presence and we were relishing every second.
Far too soon it was time for bed but our hearts were already growing - we were already learning to love more than we thought possible and camp didn’t even OFFICIALLY begin until the next morning. We still really had NO IDEA of all God had in store, but He was stirring, and we were now ready to run with endurance the race marked out for us. In only moments, those kids were inscribed on our hearts and we had been forever changed. With only a glimmer behind and so much lying ahead, God had captured me and written Rwanda into the very fiber of my being. Nothing would ever be quite the same…
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