My Last Weeks of Ministry in Rwanda…For Now

The last few weeks in Rwanda, I was able to do house visits with two team members.  With Luc, we went and prayed with some of our women/children.  We visited one woman who was part of the ladies who had sewn the masks for Canada.  She was having stomach issues and had been battling ulcers for some time.  But there was more… she had fallen ill and had people praying over her.  But these “intercessory” prayers were lies.  They told her that her husband’s father was going to come back and basically haunt her, like a curse.  Luc and I went and we spoke TRUTH over her.  We reassured her of her identity as a DAUGHTER of GOD.   This was definitely a spiritual battle and we had to fight it with truth.  She is still struggling, but we will keep encouraging her.  

Another house visit was to a woman and her son.  She has worked at the tailoring school as the cook and community liaison.  Her son has been battling some kind of urinary tract issue for 2 years now.  He’s often in a lot of pain, but has hopes of finishing school and going to university.  

Lastly, Luc and I visited two women who were accepted into the tailoring program for this year but who have not had the opportunity to start because of COVID and schools being closed.  They were a bit discouraged, but we came to bring them a little hope!  I had done some listening prayer for them and created little notes with words I heard God speaking.  Luc and I were planning got visit more of the ladies but COVID cases began rising and we didn’t want to take the risk of bringing anything to these ladies who cannot already afford so many things, including a stay in the hospital or quarantine.   

 

Emmanuel and I also did some visits.  We visited 7 men who have graduated from the Iwacu HOPE Home in Gahanga.  We sat down with these men and they shared their stories with me… stories of their childhoods often characterized by drugs, alcohol, poverty, and broken homes which led to being “caught” and sent to Iwawa the rehabilitation center.  Then, they came to HOPE and were received like children. They had a family. They learned discipline.  And most importantly they learned about a Father’s love who never gives up on them.  Most of the men we met with, have successful stories after leaving HOPE. I was able to write up their stories and hope that they will be shared to shed light.  

 

Another mask project started and it lasted a week.  We made masks for an organization in Canada #Notinmycity.  It’s an organization that is helping to stop human trafficking.  We only had a few ladies come back for this project because we only made 200 masks.  

 

Ministry for me also included loving on the kids down the street.  I’m still baffled by how much God had developed our relationship.  At first the kids would just wave and say “see you tomorrow teacher”.  I then gave a hug every now and then…and then it turned into pure love.  Every time I would walk by the kids would drop whatever they were doing, get these huge smiles, and come running!  Hugs would come next followed by dancing, flowers in the hair, and lots of laughs.  These kids have melted my heart for sure. 

 

Before I left for Kenya, I was also able to take a turn in leading the Team in prayer and worship.  We did an activity called listening prayer.  I had pieces of paper with names of the team members and names of the programs for HOPE.  We then took over an hour to just hear what God was speaking about all of those things and wrote them down. 

 

PS–I’m now safely in Kenya…update coming soon!