Rwanda: Serving and Loving

Friday, June 22, 2012

Jordan: Today, we spent the morning helping out at a conference for APRICOM on the YWAM base. APRICOM is an organization that aids widowed women, many of whom are HIV positive. The goal of the conference was to simply serve and love them. Throughout our time there, we washed their feet, prayed with them, and had an awesome time of worship. My favorite part, was when Mike got up and shared. He would speak and someone would translate and the group of women would respond accordingly. They  would say “Amen,” or cheer or nod in agreement, and In that moment, something very special happened. We went from being two separate groups from two separate cultures and two separate backgrounds to being a family in Christ. In that moment, we saw how God meant for his children to be: together.

Kayla: Early this morning we had a team meeting. At this meeting, we were instructed to find a partner and pray for them. We did not pray the usual “Dear Jesus, I thank you for ____. She is so wonderful” prayer, we simply asked God for one word or phrase to pray. My lovely partner was Jasper (: Jasper said that the words God prompted him with were “comfort zone”. Both he and I found this rather strange because whoever knows me knows, stepping out of my comfort zone is not very difficult because it is so big. We laughed a little and then continued on with our day. Later on in the afternoon, we were invited to serve at a banquet of sorts for widows (many infected with HIV/Aids). I was promptly placed at the door to be a greeter. At that moment, Jasper’s prayer began to become eminent. For starters, I greatly value personal space and these beautiful Rwandan women do not. They do not merely shake hands, they fully embrace you and touch their cheeks to yours. I greeted over 100 women just like this. It was beautiful once I let my guard down and allowed myself to fully appreciate the moment. As I was thinking my “comfort zone stepping” was over, I was prompted by the holy spirit to do one last daring move. In African churches, they do not sit quietly and worship. Worship to them is a full body experience with singing, praying and absolutely amazing dancing. I am very white. I do not dance. Or at least, that is what I thought. Of late though, I have realized that what I think doesn’t really matter. It’s all about God. As I was contemplating this concept, I found myself in the center of the dance floor surrounded by dancing and joyous people. They all looked at me for a second as if I were crazy thinking, I’m sure, “crazy muzungu! (white person)”. That second, to my relief, passed very quickly and I was welcomed into the group of dancers. They counted me as a part of their family, even though we have such different lives. It is amazing to me how they can allow us to serve them with no apprehension. This concept is very difficult for me to grasp, for I am very uncomfortable being served.  These women showed me so much about God and how he can be worshiped in so many forms. The small town in footloose would have had a cow at this hectic worshiping scene of Rwandans. Christianity is so amazing to me because of all the different cultures it envelopes. God can hear praises from someone speaking Kinrwandan, English, French, Chinese and it is all beautiful. Just as amazing, Rwandans, Americans, Dutch… we can all feel the intense love of God through our own expressions. The world of the spirit is incredible, it leaves me in sheer wonder.