Oh Jesus, You are so incredibly breathtakingly beautiful. I see You here everywhere. I'm in love with this country. I am in love with these people. Today was wonderful. This morning we went to the African New Life Church's Dream Center and learned about the different programs there. It's so incredible to hear the different ways the church is being the hands and feet of Jesus. I love when the church isn't just a place where people come to, but rather a community of people who leave the walls of a building and meet people where they are. After all, we are the church, right?
After we went to the Acres of Hope property and prayed about the work to be done there. Mike (our team leader) told us the vision and we walked the property some. The potential to be done there and the hope it will instill was tangible. The scenery was absoutely stunning. I fell in love with the country all over again.
We then went to the special needs orphanage and hung out with the children and some adults who live there. I loved them. This was the first time I was frustrated with the language barrier because I wanted to be able to talk more with the children. Because I couldn't, the best way to show love was physical touch. I loved loving them in that way. I held many hands and gave many hugs and smiles. Their smiles shone brighter than any star I've ever seen. They were incredible kids. It's heartbreaking to know that if they were in the U.S., the quality of care they received would be much more. The women who took care of them, however, were incredible- some of the most selfless people I've ever seen in my entire life. It was humbling and inspiring to watch them love on the children. When we first walked up, the children were all singing, laughing, and dancing in whatever capacity they could. It was beautiful. They are well loved and easily worked their way into my heart.
After our time there, we went back to the African Bagel Company to have a pizza party with the boys from the Home of Innocence. They sang and danced for us. It was really neat to see/hear them perform and watch how they support and interact with one another. These kids have completely captured my heart in the past few days. They are just so beautiful and their smiles....oh my gracious. I feel so lucky and thankful to be here and to have met them. I'm so crazy in love with this place, these people, this country. I don't even have the words. Holy Moly! Holy. Moly. Thank you Jesus.
As I reread through my journal and about the experiences I had in Rwanda, it's frustrating to know just how far short my words fall. I wish that everyone I know could have seen the incredible beauty that was evident everywhere you looked. I wish you could have held the hands of the sweetest kids and spent time with the people. I wish you could have been there, because I know without a shadow of a doubt, that you would have been just as captivated, fallen just as hard in love, and walked away just as breathless. It would have been impossible for you not to. Oh Rwanda, you have won me.
