“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also
set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done
from beginning to end” – Ecclesiastes 3:11
I love to start my days with a nice morning run. It frees my soul and clears my
mind. As my neon green Nikes make
their way out to the muddy dirt roads, I am immediately greeted by people
staring, children laughing and a song of praise being sang somewhere in the
distance. As I weave my way
through the rocky roads of our village, I eventually find my way to the main
road. This road takes me up and
down the hills of Rwanda. With
every step I take, a new smile greets me, more sets of eyes stare at me, and
motorcycles and massive trucks wiz by me, leaving me with a mouthful of exhaust
that trickles down into my lungs.
I can’t help but smile and laugh at the reality of this life I
live. I often look up into the
misty morning sky and smile REALLY BIG at God for delivering me to this
place. As I was running yesterday,
the beauty of this so-called “third world country” overcame me. I have experienced more joy and more
fullness in Africa than I have any other place. Amidst human suffering, hunger, illness, death and disease
lies this unquenchable faith and deep-rooted joy in the Lord. My brothers and sisters here know that
joy does not come from material items, a paycheck, a college degree, an ideal
job, but rather from an all-sufficient Savior. Wow. What a
reality to seep into my soul on a casual Saturday morning.
I am so quick to think that beauty comes in the form of
cleanliness, a nice suburban neighborhood, all of our favorite cars in the
driveway, my favorite brands of clothes lined up neatly in my closet and so
on. My goodness has my heart been
led astray. Don’t get me wrong, I
am beyond grateful for the life I have been given and the comfort I have been
able to experience. I have been
blessed beyond belief. However, I
have found the true meaning of beauty in the eyes and on the faces of all my little
brothers and sisters here… With feet and hands so laced with dirt that a week’s
worth of showering won’t clean off the beautiful African soil. I have found beauty in the silence of
not being able to communicate a single word with people because of the immense
language barrier between us. I
have found beauty in the frustration of not being able to shower for a week
because of the lack of hot water or the fact that I am so exhausted at the end
of the day, I cannot fathom showering before bed. THIS IS LOVE.
THIS IS BEAUTY. All my
Rwandan friends understand that this life on earth is temporary. They understand that the Lord “has made
everything beautiful in its time”.
They do not question the Sovereignty of our King because they experience
the works of His hand DAILY. They
cry out to Him for food and He hears them and blesses them. They ask and pray with expectancy and
they receive. They do not keep God
in a box. They know He hears their
cries and they set their hearts on eternity knowing that the best is yet to
come. O my goodness I long for
faith like this. They teach me so
much with each passing moment.
They have given me so much more than I could ever fathom giving them.
This beauty and joy overflows my cup and makes me want to
serve harder, get dirtier, love bigger and dive deeper in my relationship with
the Lord. With all this to say,
God has definitely been breaking down walls for Rays of Grace. He is allowing us to make our way into
this new community. We have been
welcomed and received with laughter and smiles. What a blessing this is! We are hoping to build genuine relationships and to listen
to what the needs of this area are.
We are repeatedly affirmed that the greatest need is a proper
education. We are hopeful that the
Opportunity Program will be of great benefit to this place and that the same
model can be planted in surrounding communities around the area. We had dinner with some of our dear
Rwandan friends this past week where we were able to present our idea to
them. They were very hopeful about
this being a success. They really
spoke positively on the idea of training students in Rwanda first before
sending them to America for college.
Once proper preparations were undertaken, our friends believed this
would be quite beneficial for Rwanda.
They believe the knowledge and experience these students could
potentially bring back to Rwanda after four years of a proper college education
would create small steps out of poverty.
Now that Rays of Grace has a more defined path, we have
quite a bit of needs. We are
praying for the finances to get this program off the ground. Quite a bit of supplies are needed as
well as a need for more manpower on the ground here. Please pray that God brings trustworthy Rwandans into our
lives that are willing to help us.
If I have learned anything here, it would be nothing is too big for
God. He has planted me here, in
the middle of Africa, for a Divine Purpose. Ephesians 2:10 continually rings true for my heart – “For
we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God
prepared in advance for us to do.”
I can’t thank you enough for the endless amount of prayers
and love you have extended towards Rays of Grace. It affirms my heart daily to know that I have a big old
support system back home praying for BIG THINGS to happen over here. He is faithful beyond measure and gives
me so much more than I deserve.
THANK YOU ALL! Sending you
so much Afreekan love from the bottom of my heart.
Grace, Love and BIG HUGS!!!
britt :)
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