"Sometimes the Bravest Thing of All is to Hope"

January 23, 2010

If you have ever visited Rwanda, you see incredible beauty, but you’re also often struck by is the deep ocean of visible suffering. You can see people drowning in poverty, sickness, and despair and you start to feel like you’re being pulled under. Because of your nationality or skin color, you may be seen as a possible savior and you often see hands held out in hopes that you could give them something...anything.
Many Americans tend to be infected by the lies that they don’t need God, that they can do everything themselves, but many Africans believe that they can’t do anything, that they’re worthless. When you see this it’s hard to hope.

I just finished participating in a week of Discipling for Development (D4D) training. David and Debby Thomas and Brad were the teachers/facilitators and I was in a group of 15 participants including pastors from the Friends church as well as other interested leaders from various organizations and churches. I know I can’t describe the values, methodology, and teaching methods I’ve learned in one short note. (If you’re interested in hearing more about that, please let me know). What I will try to describe is some of the evidence that God is at work and that His kingdom is advancing here on earth!

We all watched a video that showed testimonies from a Friends church in the Cyangugu region. One woman who has HIV only had one set of clothing. She would walk with her head down not wanting to talk to anyone, believing she was the lowest of the low. She would go to church and try to stay in the corners. When she got connected to the Friends church and what they were doing with D4D, she got connected to Jesus Christ. Now, you should see her! Her face is joyful! She proclaims that Jesus has brought her out of the pit and raised her up. She knows she’s loved and she knows her worth in Christ. She was able to buy more clothing, she’s taking care of a pig for someone else and will get to keep its baby as payment for her care (raising livestock is a huge way that people can make money here). She has a few goats and one is expressly for her child so that he can learn to take care of it and have his own way to raise money for school, etc. There are so many ways her life has changed. When asked if she would kind of stop going to church, stop depending on Jesus now that her life is better, she emphatically says she is never, never leaving her Jesus, who has done so much for her! One man used to rent a small room and he could barely afford the five dollars a month rent. He waited and waited for an NGO (non-government organization) to come and build him a house. Now, through D4D, Jesus is transforming his mind. He found a way to build his own house with the ability to add on in the future. One woman used to be a prostitute, one man used to get drunk all the time and beat his wife. And these are just a few examples out of many. Their lives are transforming through Jesus Christ!!!

So, as I was going through the seminar this week, I realized that I was being afraid to hope. But, I have seen that God HAS transformed people’s lives, He IS transforming them, and HE WILL continue! It’s not that it’s easy for people to change. It can be a long and difficult process. If it was short and easy, it wouldn’t last. So, please pray with me and hope with me!

“Look around at the nations and be amazed! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it.” Habakkuk 1:5

Moving on From Christmas

January 15, 2010

Though Brad and I definitely missed our families and friends, we had a great first Christmas together in Rwanda. We got together a lot with the other members of the Friends mission team and I think we all felt like family to each other. We had our own candlelight service, read the Christmas story together, had a Christmas Eve party and Christmas day feasting and celebrating (though Brad and I were sick starting Christmas day)! We spent time over Christmas break watching movies together, playing games, talking, relaxing, and eating special snacks and foods. We even had Christmas trees up in our houses! These are some of the usual things you might expect, some traditions we’re carrying on even though we’re in Rwanda. Here are some things that were a little different than Christmases Brad and I have had in the States:

Flip flops and short-sleeved shirts
Making my own sour cream for a casserole
Free Christmas trees!
Lugging our tree on our shoulders to our house in the rain and slippery mud (we got really dirty!)
Taking turns getting each other medicine and thermometers

Even despite getting sick, missing people, and missing traditions, God really took care of us this Christmas. He helped us find ways to celebrate His birth. He was near to us and healed us when we got sick. He helped us rest in the days following Christmas before we started work/ministry/language-learning/living daily life in Rwanda again.

Before Christmas break I (Chelsea) was feeling…I wish I could describe it. Something like dreading language lessons, having a hard time going to church, feeling really tired, etc. Of the things I feel like the Lord was saying to me over Christmas break, I feel like the main thing was to keep seeking Him. He just reassured me of His love and His strength that will help me keep going even as I feel so weak. These hard feelings aren’t just going to go away, as they’re a natural part of culture stress /culture shock/culture fatigue. Even so, sometimes it’s really hard. So, you can pray for me as I’m probably going to be experiencing different degrees of these feelings for awhile still.