7/17/2014 – Rwanda and Congo

PEOPLE

The reason we serve God is because we love people. And serving people is serving God. There are many interesting stories here in Rwanda. I want to share just a few of the people who have impacted us in the last few days.

Alphonse
I previously told you that they have housed us in a large house. In the living room is one couch. There are 8 bedrooms, each with one bed. There are 7 bathrooms. And that is it. No kitchen, no water, no frills!!! But there is a house boy – Alphonse. Apparently, his job is to care for this house and anyone who stays in it. He washes our sheets (every day), he totes water for us in big buckets (so we can flush the toilet and “shower”), and he is the night watchman. The first couple of days, Alphonse had a blank expression and moved at a snail’s pace. We made it our goal to show Christ’s love to this young man through smiles, expressions of thanks, and small gifts (mostly American snacks we brought along). Now, when he sees us he breaks into the biggest smile!  He also moves much faster. This morning he told Pastor Fidele that he wanted to do our laundry. I have noticed the care he takes in cleaning our room. This afternoon, we are giving him a booklet with the gospel.

Mary
I have used pictures of Mary before. 35 years ago, Mary’s husband gave her H.I.V. He died 8 years later from AIDS, and one of their two sons also died of AIDS. Mary had just become a believer when she found out she was H.I.V. positive. So, she asked her church to pray for her. 35 years later, she is healthy, energetic, and serves passionately. She cleans and washes dishes all day. She gave her entire life to serve the Lord through this church.

Nadine
On Tuesday night as we were finally relaxing for a few minutes (we leave the house at 7:30 a.m. and often don’t return until 8:00 at night), the front door opened and Alphonse walked in with a young woman. We assumed it was his girlfriend, so we said hello but went back to our business. She came and sat on the couch and started in very broken English to tell us her story. She said Alphonse told her we like to pray, and she wanted to meet us. She told us that she has been attending a church for two years and that, on Sunday, she was born again. We tried to ask questions about the church, but the language barrier didn’t allow us to share much. We do know her father died leaving the family alone. She said she wanted to meet us so that she could learn to know God more. We have arranged a meeting tomorrow with Pastor Fidele.