Blog posts keep coming in from the Rwanda Team. . .
Imana Ishimwe (God be praised), Alleluia, awesome! I’ve used these words a lot since arriving here last Friday. However, there are no words to describe Tuesday for me. We went back to the Gikeomero Church to have individual prayer time with church members who would come. Pastor Alfred only announced this time on Sunday when we were at worship.
We arrived at 9:00 and had some worship time. At 10:00, Pastor Alfred split us into two prayer teams with Curt and Eric and two other Pastors and one interpreter in each team. Our particular team was outside and the other team was in Pastor Alfred’s house. We could not pray inside the church because people kept coming, so worship, singing and dancing continued in the church.
People started lining up at both stations. Some helped to keep it orderly. For quite a while, two ladies from the church stayed with us outside and helped pray for many people. The sun was bright so they held two umbrellas over us. The people kept coming. All the school children were out at different times, either in the church singing or watching from a distance—several teenage girls from school came for prayer.
I turned around at one point and saw children hanging out of the doors and windows of the church, children filling up the school yard, music and singing filling the mountainside from the church and a long line of people waiting for prayer(Praise God). We prayed for four and one-half hours—none of us even realizing the time. As I have pondered that sight since Tuesday, I have realized it was the most perfect picture of heaven God has ever shown me where all of God’s saints will be singing, praising and worshipping Him continually!
It was a joy and privilege to be part of a team praying for friends from our “sister” church. I have never felt the Holy Spirit moving in such real and powerful ways. The needs are deep, the prayers went deep and the good news is we serve a God who wants to “go deep” with us!
Alleluia, Amen
-Barbara Wilson
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July 24, 2015
It has been an absolutely beautiful week. As much as I have missed Erin and my kids, it’s hard to believe that we are coming to the end of this wonderful journey. I wish you could see the view from the dining room where we stay. The wonderful mountains, the homes nestled into the banana and eucalyptus trees. The most amazing part, though, is the huge and shining smiles of the people that we have encountered.
Those smiles were nowhere brighter and larger than the smiles we encountered as we spent time with compassion children that team members have sponsored. I was truly moved meeting Claudine who my family sponsors and prays for. Claudine was an absolutely delightful young lady. She is 10 and really enjoys school. My daughter Sophie T asked that we bring Claudine a jump rope. Her excitement over the jump rope was really special. Maybe even more special was that as we went outside to play with the jump rope for the first time, Claudine shared with the younger children before she even used it herself. New toys in the Solomon household are not cherished or shared with such joy.
Talking with the children was not necessarily easy and happened mostly through a translator. One of my big learnings this week is how much can be communicated through the common language of pointing, smiling, and simply being together. Through conversation with Claudine, however, I learned that she is a twin and has a younger brother. The children live just with their mother as their father left several years ago. They grow beans, but she did say that it is very difficult without her father and she asked that we pray that her father would return with a pure heart. She also asked for prayer for her schooling which is going very well, and asked for prayer that she would see Jesus every day of her life.
I had the honor of praying for and with Claudine as our time came to a close. I prayed for the things listed above, but also for her health and growth. Claudine, at 10 years old, then prayed for me, my family and our church. I was blessed to tears, by her faith maturity, her kind and caring spirit, and her love of the Lord. And, truth be told, moved to tears in writing these words to you today.
After visiting with these very special children, and seeing the deep need, I am grateful that God has opened this opportunity for Erin and I to serve the kingdom through our small contribution to Compassion. And I know if you are interested in serving through writing letters and praying for a child or two in Rwanda, Teresa Kincaid would be more than happy to help you make that happen.
-Curt Solomon
