Blessed, Stretched, and Broken
07/25/2018 ..
In May a group of women went to Rwanda to serve through our Rwandan Peace Center in Kigali. They were sent out to local churches to share about HIV/AIDS healthcare and Orphan care. They came home changed and inspired by the people they met there. Here are two stories form the trip.
Blessed & stretched, broken & overjoyed...
Wendy shares her story: I went to Rwanda to serve and teach, yet returned feeling overwhelmingly blessed and feeling that I was the one who learned more than the people I went to serve. I came back knowing more about God’s character, having a greater grasp on what it really means to forgive, a true understanding what having the joy of the Lord really means and a deeper desire to grow deeper in my relationship with the Lord.
I arrived with two of my teammates to our first training session feeling completely unprepared and unequipped. We had prepared in advance, and speaking in front of people was not something I had a problem with, yet when I saw the room full of eagerly awaiting parents at a school for disabled children, my nerves overcame me. With my two perfectly healthy children back home in our picture-perfect Orange County neighborhood, what did I know about parenting children with disabilities (some of them severe) in a poverty-stricken country? Our session began with our amazing driver and translator playing a guitar and singing a Kinyarwandan worship song, and was quickly joined by the angelic voices, clapping and dancing of the parents in the room. At that moment I had an overwhelming sense of calm and assurance that there was no better place to be than right where God wanted me to be. He reminded me that this was in fact His plan, and that He would make it work. I didn’t know what they were singing, but I knew the God they were singing to and I was overwhelmed at the joy in their eyes and voices as they unashamedly lifted up their praises to Jesus.
This inspired and challenged me to really consider the question Is Jesus Enough? I grappled with it on the trip and I am still working through it now. I know without a doubt that the answer is yes, I know that it stands true theologically and have seen it clearly in the people I was honored to meet and teach in Rwanda. But I’m not convinced I have made Him enough in my life. I have been challenged and encouraged through serving on a PEACE trip, to consider how strong my foundation is; and to ensure that I continue building on it so that no matter what storms I face my faith will not be shaken.
Not only that, but Jesus asks us to be his hands and feet to these people. We are on mission for Him every day, whether half way across the world or in our very own community. I came back from Rwanda with a new sense of purpose in this, with a newly discovered passion for teaching and speaking truth into people’s lives, with a renewed passion for Jesus and his beautiful people, and with precious friendships with Godly women that will extend way past our trip.
Interconnectedness - Reflections on a Rwandan home visit
Tristen shares her story: As Bahai shared, during our home visit, how special she felt; that the Lord picked her to have us come visit, tears of joy filled her eyes. She felt honored and humbled as a single mom with three daughters working as a part time cook. I, too, had tears of joy to be able to meet her and offer her prayer. Through a translator I told her I was experiencing those same feelings of honor and humility. In that moment I couldn’t believe how special I felt that God would pick me out of all the people in the world to have this experience. I felt honored and humbled that this single mom of three would allow me into her home to talk to her. I felt humbled by her excitement to visit with us and she expressed the same feelings about our excitement. Our tears of joy turned to into laughter as we recognized our mutual feelings. We both were overcome with joy at this very special meeting God had arranged. I felt a sisterhood and interconnectedness that can’t be adequately explained. God is big, so very, very big. This glimpse into the vastness of God forever changed my view of Him and humanity. God is so much bigger than I can ever imagine. His love, power and presence are infinite. He binds and brings us all together in amazing ways that grow our view of Him and deepens our faith. I stepped out of my world and into someone else’s and God changed us both as a result. We both walked away from that experienced blessed in ways that we would never otherwise be blessed. We both felt God’s loving hand on our lives. God used her to deepen my relationship with Him and vise-versa. I know I probably will never see her again but I continue to pray for her and the struggles she shared with us during our visit. I treasure this experience and ponder it often. In time, I will forget the details of that day. However, what I won’t forget, is how God showed up in a mighty way as I stepped out in faith to talk and pray with a stranger on the other side of the world.
We have so many opportunities at our church to serve, both internationally and locally. The Peace plan has information on out church website if you are interested in going a trip to serve others. Just click the link: