The Land of a Thousand Hills

Soccer game in Kigali

Mountain and Sunset

The boarding school that we went and hung out at

View from the camp grounds

Sweet friends

       

Sorry for the absence in blogging the past couple weeks, the Lord has blessed Kelsey and I with the opportunity to visit Rwanda and see some sweet friends from camp that were experiencing the Lord’s work in another beautiful country that was so different from Uganda. Kelsey and I had quite a journey getting there! It was definitely an experience I will never forget. It all began with an easy drive to the airport outside of Kampala but soon became a whole lot of awkward moments, that always tend to happen when Kelsey and I are together. We got on the plane, had a dance party in our seats, landed in Rwanda 35 minutes later and there began such an adventure. We were informed by a friend to go hang out at a coffee shop in Kigali that is very “American” and easy to find. After we enjoyed some yummy food and African coffee, we went to the main bus stop in Kigali to hop on the bus that would take us to Musanze. Little did we know that this bus stop was HUGE and we were the only white people (“muzungus”) that were amongst approximately 400 Rwandans who didn’t speak any English. We had absolutely no idea what we were doing, but decided that we would soak up the experience and make the most of it. After asking many strangers where to go and what to do to get on the right bus, we waited for about an hour and were consistently stared at by little Rwandan children who had probably never seen a muzungu in their life.

            We finally got on the right bus to Musanze, or at least we assumed we did, and started the two-hour drive through the many mountains of Rwanda and just marveled at how stunning the country was. As we were marveling at the Lord’s beautiful creation, a Rwandan man behind us was worshiping the Lord and praying passionately for his people and their broken past. He was singing at the top of his lungs, not caring at all that everyone in the bus was staring and wondering what he was doing. Even though we could not understand a word this man was singing, his boldness to proclaim the gospel and shout out the name of the Lord without care was inspiring and encouraging to witness. We finally made it to Musanze and found our friends Julie and Shelby. Julie is taking the semester off of school at UGA to teach at a school in Musanze. Shelby is part of the Kivu Gap Year, and just finished up spending 6 weeks in Rwanda at the Kids Across Africa house. It was such a great time with camp friends as we all laughed, shared our hearts with each other, and experienced life alongside each other in a different country.

            Our time in Rwanda was a beautiful time of rest, relaxation, and basking in the gorgeous weather and marveling at the gorgeous surroundings. But more importantly, Kelsey and I were also encouraged by our sweet friends, challenged to look at Africa a little differently, and inspired and reassured that for both of us, Africa is a place where we will both someday live in the future. Being here for only a little over a month has confirmed to me that my heart is in Africa and it is these beautiful people that I want to come back and show the love of Jesus to. What that looks like, I’m not sure yet, but I do know that the Lord has a plan and that he is prevalently revealing His will to me each day that I am here.

Prayer Requests:

            >The Gap Year kids are climbing Mount Kilimanjaro RIGHT NOW! Please be praying for safety, strength, endurance, and positive attitudes.

            >That Kelsey and I would passionately seek to know the Lord more and that His character would continue to be revealed to us in our daily life here at Ekisa.

            >That I would learn how to love the people around me better. I can ALWAYS love people better. “Each one of them is Jesus in disguise” (Mother Theresa). I want to see each person I encounter as if they are Jesus and that “my love would abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight” (Phillipians 1:9) as I seek the Lords character and let His love for me pour out on everyone around me.

Miss you all and hope you enjoy the pictures :)

-Care