Prayers for Rwanda and God in the Details

My team and I leave in less than one month for Rwanda. Please pray for our team as we prepare to serve in Africa for a month - pray that we'd be salt and light to the people we meet and that we'd be blessings as we serve in a foreign culture. Please pray that we'd glorify God in our words and actions and that many people would come to know the Lord because of the love we'll show them.

Here is a story that illustrates God's sovereignty and the fact that He is working in all areas and details of our lives. A little over a year ago, my friend Mandy and I decided to "adopt" (basically, sponsor) a child from the ministry Compassion International. I felt strongly at the time that we should adopt a child who was living in Africa - I have no idea or explanation for why I was so adamant about Africa. Mandy found several children who looked adorable from countries in Latin America and China...but I wanted a kiddo who was living in Africa. So we randomly chose a little boy named Ruhumuriza Justin whose face was just too precious to pass over and we signed up to be his co-sponsors. I didn't register at all the country where Justin was living until a few months ago. In a Divine twist, I received a letter from Justin and in it he had written about his life in RWANDA!! In the letter, there was a note from the Compassion team saying that if I ever had the chance to make it over to Rwanda, I could schedule a meeting with the team and possibly meet the precious little boy whom we've been sponsoring. This is proof: God is in the details! I have not yet contacted Compassion International about my upcoming trip to Rwanda, although I would like to and might do so soon. But even if I don't get the chance to meet Justin, at least I'll be serving in the same region of the same country that he's living in and I'll get to see firsthand a small glimpse of what his life might be like! Of all the little children that we might have picked up a year ago...and of all the countries in Africa that that child might have been living in...and of all the countries in Africa that we might have chosen to go on a mission trip....Rwanda. Crazy or what!?

Here is some info on Rwanda for your edification and reading pleasure :)

Typical houses in the hillside of Rwanda are constructed of dirt floors, adobe walls and tin roofs. The primary ethnic group in the area where R. Justin is living (and the region around where we'll be serving) is Banyarwanda and the most common spoken language is Kinyarwanda. The regional diet consists of maze, beans, bananas, cassava, beef, rice and potatoes. Common health problems include malaria, worms and AIDS. Most adults work as day laborers or farmers and earn the equivalent of $30 per month (that's $360 a year)! 

Rwanda consists mainly of grassy uplands and hills that extend southeast from a chain of volcanos in the northwest. It is divided by several rivers and has many lakes. The climate is temperate with two main annual rainy seasons. We will be in Rwanda smack in the middle of their spring rainy season. Excellent! Rwanda's culture is an anguished story of three ethnic groups inhabiting the same country: the Twa, Hutus and Tutsis. The Twa were joined by the migration of the forbearers of today's Hutus and constitute a small percentage of the population today. The Hutus were agriculturalists and thus culturally in contrast with the Tutsis, who raised livestock. Tensions between the Tutsis and Hutus became the basis for one of the most devastating civil wars and genocides in world history. Today most families live in a self-contained compound. Those with HIV/AIDS number half a million. English is the official language of Rwanda, although French and Kinyarwanda are still used. Most Rwandans are Catholics; Protestant is the second largest religion. Compassion International works throughout the country, providing sponsored children and even many unsponsored children with Bible teaching, choir opportunities, health screening, hygiene and nutrition education, games and opportunities to serve the needy. CI staff also provide sponsored children's parents with development training and evangelism.

For more than 400 years, Rwanda was ruled by a Tutsi monarchy. In 1959, Hutus gained control of the government and forced Tutsis to flee the country. A Tutsi-led insurrection in 1990, fighting to return to their country, caused civil strife that cumulated in 1994 when over one million people were killed and two million fled to neighboring countries. A new constitution was adopted in 1995, and many refugees have since returned but the country still struggles with the devastating effects of the war and genocide. In 1999, Rwanda had its first local elections installing President Maj. Gen. Paul Kagame. Kagame was reelected in 2003 and 2010.

Please pray for the government and the people of Rwanda. The country has experienced much suffering and evil at the hands of sinful men, but God has been writing a story in Rwanda for a long time and though the country has suffered civil war and genocide He has not left His children alone there. Pray that the good Lord would write me into the story over in Rwanda, and that His light and love would shine through me and my teammates as we serve over there next month.