We were loaded in the coaster - Americans and translators together, sitting intermingled side by side. All it took was pulling into the oh so familiar location where camp would take place. The tears flowed. I was overwhelmed with joy and anticipation of all God had in store. We had been preparing for weeks. There were literally 550-lbs. of supplies. There were pages of activities outlined in notebooks, every one had been prayed over. Now we were really here. Camp was about to begin. My heart was ready to burst.
We had spent two days becoming a cohesive team and it worked beautifully…
Sunday morning we went to CLA for church and out of my peripheral vision I saw Arnold sitting just a few rows behind us. My heart leapt. It had been nearly a year since I had seen my Rwandan friends and everything in me longed to JUMP UP and hug him right that very instant. As soon as the service was over I saw more familiar friends headed toward us, faces bright with excitement almost as big as ours. The joy overflowed as enthusiastic embraces abounded. Outside Joy, the lead of our translator team and a dear friend, waited patiently for us to join her. Joy and I have been working on camp together throughout the year, so seeing her was a long-awaited reunion. That first hug with Joy was one of the best moments of the entire trip. I am convinced there is almost nothing more beautiful than an embrace with a dear friend after months apart. Up to that day, we had only spent two weeks together, but our hearts are forever united because we love the same God and serve the same Kingdom. Joy is truly a sacred and special gift. When we were all finally outside there was an uproar as the entire team came together for the first time - a bond built on the foundation of Christ and virtually nothing else is required. Heaven is going to be INCREDIBLE.
Sunday afternoon Americans and translators joined together for lunch at Meze Fresh (aka Rwandan Chipotle and then headed to the top of Mount Kigali to go zip lining. Memories came flooding back as we drank hot mango smoothies - OH YES, hot. There is virtually ZERO ICE in this country, so the drinks are almost never cold. We tried to learn about one another and laughed hysterically as we soared over the beautiful skyline of a place that would forever mark each one of us. Monday morning we trained for camp. We spent some time just getting to know one another, then we went over the itinerary for camp alongside the heartbeat, purpose, and intention for serving the most vulnerable in Bugasera. Then we prayed together, had lunch, and loaded the coaster with supplies and personal luggage.
We pulled into the oh-so-familiar camp location and I was done - completely overcome. We walked through each aspect of the site - where we would have meals, where we would play games, selected small group locations, put our personal luggage away in our rooms and then we waited… as anticipation mounted… for word that it was time for us to come meet the campers. The minutes crawled by and every once in a while we saw a familiar face out the window and lost our marbles with more joy than we knew we contained. Finally about an hour later we received our official invitation: come & open camp.
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