Perspectives on Rwanda, Part 1

Editor's Note: Today I present another letter from my friend who gives up so much to serve the children of Rwanda. She is a single woman of 70 years old who continues to amaze me with her vibrant life for the sake of Jesus and all that matters to Him. Don't ever say you are too old (or too "anything") to be used by God.

All He wants is a willing heart.

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It had been two years since I stepped foot in Rwanda when I arrived on September 12, 2014 for a 6^1/2 week stay.  I had come to experience first-hand the day-to-day “business” of Hearts for the World International (HFTWI), to see the incredible changes that had occurred since I had been there with the HFTWI ministry team in 2012, to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, teach English at Kamate Parent Primary School and see my sponsored children and their families, if possible, to represent HFTWI at the First Generation Vocational School’s 4^th graduation of tailoring students and the 1^st for beauty school graduates, to begin to learn Kinyarwanda, and for whatever else God and Pastor Stephen had in store. 

This was the longest period of time I would be in Rwanda and I wanted to see how that might figure into the possibility of longer-term missions for me, if that might be the call that God had on my life.  I had traveled solo to Rwanda before, in 2011 for 2^1/2 weeks to learn much more about orphanages and stayed with Pastor Stephen and his wife, Grace, and their boys at that time.  Once again they graciously opened their home to me for the duration of my visit.

I had a fantastic mountain-top week in Kamate, preaching at the new and thriving church there and teaching three classes of English each day covering every grade at least once.  What a joy to be with the students and to see them thriving, eager to learn, with an expectant “can do” attitude.  I attribute these qualities to a stellar group of teachers and staff, most of whom I had not met previously.  They are professional, competent and committed to their students.  I was very impressed with them and with the head master and assistant head master, who also assume teaching duties.  In the evenings we had unforgettable times of fellowship and I pray we see them all back again this year.  I also had a Kinyarwanda lesson each evening taught by the best Kinyarwanda teacher in the country, who happens to teach our students, too.

The school looks fantastic, all bricked in with windows and doors, newly refurbished walls and floors where needed, ready for a new year.  A new, larger, and more solidly-built latrine also has been added.  Kamate Parent Primary School will now be added to the official map of all schools in Rwanda, too.

It is so heartening to see the effects of student sponsorships, the bread and butter of HFTWI, on students, their families, and the community.  I started sponsoring two children in the same family two years ago, a family without hope living in absolute destitution.  With a little extra help, they are totally changed, love the Lord, have hope for their own and their children’s future. Words cannot do justice to the investment Pastor Stephen and the other pastors and teachers make in these children’s lives.

Kamate’s Needs for 2015.  The government is requiring French be taught again, so new teachers will be needed and at least one additional classroom, as well as added dorm space and renovation of the teachers’ dorms.  There will be an ongoing need for additional sponsors since new students are starting this year and many current students still need sponsors.

My time at Zaza, at the First Generation Vocational School, was rich.  I had an opportunity to address all the graduates on behalf of all of you who comprise HFTWI.  Not only was it graduation time, but a crusade followed the ceremony, with baptism and another crusade the following day.  Many new believers were added to the kingdom and Zaza’s First Generation Church was filled to overflowing on Sunday. There also was a wonderful and fruitful time for meaningful conversation with many of the pastors that were there for the various events.  Evangelist Emmanuel was my interpreter and shepherd, and I developed an even greater love and appreciation for him and his family.

Zaza’s Needs for 2015-2016. Ideally two, but at the minimum one classroom is needed to better accommodate the beauty school and to add a third vocation in the not-too-distant future, most likely brick-making, but welding is on the back burner for a later date.  A few sponsors are still needed for the tailoring class of 2015, for the new class starting this year and graduating in 2016, as well as for the beauty school students.  Just as each tailoring student graduates with a sewing machine, at the minimum, we want to be sure that each beauty school student graduates with the essential tools for his or her vocation. 

Thanks to my church, I was able to bring in 60 solar lights for Kamate families that didn’t yet have them, first aid supplies for the primary and vocational schools, and additional funds to be used for Zaza’s graduation ceremony, which was so special.

Pastor Stephen and his family are amazing people and I appreciate them so much.  It is not easy to have someone from another culture stay in your home for an extended period of time, and they did so much to make my stay as comfortable as they could. I must admit, and they will, too, that I was not always the most pleasant person to have around, as I faced some challenges I had not faced on previous stays and struggled with the fact that I struggled. However, that’s for another newsletter, perhaps.   I thoroughly enjoyed my times with Sedrick, Bush, and Joseph, our talks and walks, our prayer times, and play times.

What is far more important is that Stephen works more than full-time for the Lord as a pastor who mentors many younger pastors and oversees multiple churches, for Chosen Generation Ministries / HFTWI with its myriad parts and responsibilities, and as a husband and father of four sons.  It became very apparent as I traveled with him and through our many conversations that it is humanly impossible to do it all without cost to person(s) and/or projects.  He is exceedingly competent, a remarkable visionary, and at the same time, a humble man and very human.

Pastor Stephen’s Needs for 2015. Ideally, Stephen would benefit greatly by having a project manager or assistant to work with him. At the minimum he needs a very competent secretary to take care of the everyday multiple administrative tasks, to ensure smooth functioning.

It is amazing to see all that God has accomplished through his servants, whose ears are attuned to him and whose hearts are joined with him in providing assistance to those in great need.  In only seven years God has immeasurably changed lives and communities in Rwanda far more abundantly than many of us could have imagined, and all to God’s glory. 

Real Life Adventure in Africa

Serving others is a high value for our friends and our family. In this report, a good friend shares her experiences as she teaches and serves in Rwanda. Just a note: the "Mr. Taft" mentioned is not me but my father. Thanks, Dad, for giving of your resources so freely to help others.

It's not Disney's Animal Kingdom, but instead the real life Africa. Much more exciting and life-changing...

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FOUR BANDAIDS, ANTIBIOTIC OINTMENT AND PRAYER

My friend, Sydney, and I were packing our bags to travel to the Kamate Parent Primary School.  After a two-week missions stint in Rwanda in 2010, the rest of our Hearts for the World International team returned to the U.S., but Sydney and I had been asked long before we left to stay on an extra week to teach English to the 1^st through 4^th graders.* At the last minute I decided to throw in my miniscule, personal first-aid kit consisting of four Band-Aids™ and antiseptic lotion. I also had the always-needed-everywhere wipes in my bag.

During the second day of our teaching, a request went out for someone to administer first aid to a student who had fallen and split her knee open.  It was apparent I would be that person.  Calling on my very basic medical knowledge and prayer, of course, I cleaned the bleeding wound and covered it with two Band-Aids™.  One of the teachers interpreted my further instructions to the student of keeping the wound clean and dry and to see me the next day.  Most importantly, we prayed that she would have no infection and that the wound would heal.  Over the next couple of days, I redressed the wound and continued to pray for healing.  On the day we were to leave, her wound no longer required a bandage or ointment.  I had had just enough in my first aid kit to aid her, but, most importantly, there was always prayer. 

This was a wake-up call for our Hearts for the World ministry.  There was absolutely nothing in Kamate, or at the First Generation tailoring school in ZaZa, to take care of basic wounds.  

When our team returned the following year, we brought in two 50-pound suitcases of a wide variety of supplies, thanks to Mr. Taft, a very generous donor, who has a large heart for children in need. That led to a clinic being held every time I returned to Kamate and for one of the teachers, who had watched carefully each time I was administering first aid and helped me as needed,  and whose English was very good, to become the one who continued assisting children.

The generosity of Mr. Taft has had a large ripple effect.  Each time a team or I return, we replenish the supplies, and the community has been resourceful, as well.  So many benefits to the Kamate community come to mind, including parents who now come for aid, as well, but two encounters, in particular, stand out.

 In 2012 at the end of the clinic time, a young girl brought her friend to see me.  This young lady was quite unkempt, downcast if not depressed, with a very dejected demeanor.  She showed me some ulcers on her legs, some of which were oozing and were obviously infected.  

As always, I started praying for God’s wisdom to enable me to treat her appropriately and for his healing of her wounds, and we ended with prayer, as well.  I cleaned each ulcer and bandaged it and after ten minutes, each time I thought we were done, there was another sore she pointed out to me on her feet and on her thighs, as well as her legs.  I lost track of how many Band-Aids™ and gauze pads were needed and ultimately I wrapped each leg entirely in gauze to make sure the bandages stayed in place.  She left with instructions to keep her bandages clean and dry and to return the next day.  Throughout the rest of the day and evening I continued praying that God would continue to heal her wounds and make her skin as beautiful as the skin of all of her fellow students.  When she returned the next day, healing was well underway, there were no more suppurating wounds, and we repeated the same treatment and instructions.

*The fifth and sixth grades were added in subsequent years and in 2013 the very first class of 6^th graders graduated from Kamate Parent School.

When she came to see me the third day, which was the day I was departing, her bandages and legs were filthy and her healing wounds had re-opened.  One of the teachers knew her difficult family situation and made a decision with the others to intervene with the family.  Over the weeks and months that I was gone I continued to pray that she would have fully-healed and beautiful skin. 

I returned in the fall of 2012 and at the end of clinic one day, a young girl brought her friend to see me.  Her friend was tall, very stately, and beautiful.  “Don’t you recognize her?” she asked.  “No,” I answered honestly. “Should I?”  “Yes,” she said.  She was the girl who had had the horrible ulcerative sores.  Her life was changed. She was doing very well in her classes and was a leader in the school, and her family situation had improved considerably.  God had answered our prayers abundantly.

During the same stay, I had been informed that one of the workers who were installing a water collection system at the Parent Primary School had injured his foot.  Of the several workers there, he was the one who never smiled when I waved or said “Mwaramutse” (good morning) and appeared to be the most mystified, even foreboding, and likely suspicious about why I, an Anglo, was at the school.  As God had planned, he was the one who was hurt. 

His was a quite a superficial wound, which he had bound with a very dirty rag.  As I gently washed his foot, I found myself thinking about Jesus, who knelt to wash the feet of his disciples.  I then applied ointment and a Band-Aid™, as I prayed for healing.  From the cap he wore on his head, I believe the worker was a Muslim. To be touched in this way by a woman and a white woman, in particular, undoubtedly stretched his cultural boundaries.  Yet, this encounter changed him, and each time we had an opportunity to greet one another, he waved and smiled.  Only God knows what seeds were planted, but I continue to pray for him, that he will come to know Jesus as his savior and his hope for eternity and that others come into his life to water this seed.

Well, what are the “take-aways” for me and perhaps for you?  First and foremost, prayer to a loving God, in whom I have put my faith and have come to love and trust implicitly, avails much. (Proverbs 15:8; I Peter 3:12). Second, being willing to use my little bit enables God to increase that little bit abundantly in ways that I would never have imagined and in ways I have no way of knowing on this side of heaven. (I John 2:5, Ephesians 3:20), and third, when I follow the call God has on my life, and my desire is that my life glorify his, my joy, peace, and gratitude have no bounds (Galatians 5:22).  I am changed and I am blessed mightily when I give my life to God and walk with him where he leads me.

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Hope you enjoyed this post on serving in Rwanda. If you'd like to read the first report, go here. Of course, to see more about Hearts for the World International, a child sponsorship organization with incredibly low overhead and a small monthly fee to help a child, go here.