Thursday we went with Mike & Jerid to fix a water purifier at a large church (one that sees 3000 people a week). Now that one is working well there are 7 water purifiers in Rwanda that TTI has installed and they are all working well. We then went to minister at the feeding program for the last time with this team. It is on the same property as the women’s center (where they train women in sewing and salon skills), so my mom (Julia) preached a message of encouragement to the women while we were with the kids. Several women came forward afterwards for prayer, including one who sincerely rededicated herself to Christ. Jill and I shared testimony and scripture in the service with the kids. After we shared, the pastor there shared the scripture, “God is our refuge, and strength, an everpresent help in trouble” and he asked the question, “How can we make God our refuge?” Every kid who shared said almost the same thing, “because others have died, and I am still alive, that shows me that God is my refuge.” A few team members shared our thoughts on God being our refuge, and Mike summed it up at the end. He told the kids that in order for a refuge to protect you, you must be inside it. It was a very powerful salvation message. I was glad that the service went in that direction, because I definitely felt like we needed to share salvation with these kids. At the end of the message a whole crowd of kids came forward for prayer. Praise God for all this ministry this morning!
We also visited the Acres of Hope after this & brought with us the pastor and his friend who had been working with us at the feeding program. We checked on our trees (doing fine) and then we prayed a blessing over the land and the work God is going to do there, as well as his provision. The verse that was mentioned after the prayer was “He who began a good work will be faithful to complete it”, and a team member also said that verse was what had been going through her mind in regards to the property as well.
That evening we visited with the kids in the Kanombe Home and said good bye to them. We played outside and then inside we had a time for sharing. Several kids stood up and thanked us for visiting them, asked us to warmly greet their sponsors, and blessed us. One child gave us a card he had made with a drawing of the Bible and it said, “Power of God”. Another child showed us a drawing he had made of Christ, and then he sang us a song. We prayed over each one of the kids, spreading out & laying hands on every single one of them. And when we were done praying for them, their house “Uncle” prayed for us & blessed us as well. It was powerful.
As I am typing this now it is Friday night. We sent off our team today & the Mission House is strangely quiet & much more empty now. It is just our family, a young man from Seattle, and the couple that runs the House. This is how it will be for the rest of the month. I’ve saved some really good news though (to reward those who read all the way to the end of my post)- we got our luggage today!!! Woo Hoo!!! 🙂 When we dropped the team off at the airport Mike went back & checked & there was our luggage waiting for us. Ironic! We are so thankful for this answer to prayer (and in addition to Mike being grateful for his clothes, Nate was very thankful that his snack closet is now restocked)!
Please pray for our team as they make the wearisome journey half way across the world again. We are praying for them that God would solidify in their hearts the work that He did during this trip. Everyone seemed to feel that this time went by quicker than ever before. Please also pray for those that we ministered to – that not one would be lost or doubt the work God has done in them, but instead that they would keep moving forward. God has such good things for this country and we are so glad to be able to be here and, together with you, to be a part of it.
The kids are doing well. Nate has his buddy here at the Mission House- he’s picked John Claude- well, maybe you should pray for that guy- between Nate & KaLia he may have a hard time getting any work done! KaLia has talked about how she misses her family, friends, pets, etc. But she was also very happy not to have to leave Rwanda today & when all the team was saying their goodbyes to the kids this week she kept saying, “But we’re going to be here for 3 months- so I will see you again soon!”
We appreciate you all so much. You are the foundation of anything and everything we do. By your prayers and support is the only way any of this ministry is accomplished. We look forward to sharing more victories with you soon!
God Bless You,
Lisa
