Mexico has taco stands. Taiwan has teriyaki stands. I thought that every culture had street food. But in Rwanda, it's not culturally acceptable to walk and eat. No one eats in public. There's nothing quick and tasty that they make. There's nothing quick that they make at all. The closest thing there is to street food is the Rwandan foods that every minimart has. They are...
Sambusa – Plain ground beef stuffed into a slightly crispy deep-fried triangle-shaped breading.
Ndazi – Fried bread. Like a bread roll that tastes like a plain donut.
Capati – Fried bread in the shape of a tortilla.
Those are the main items that are indigenous Rwandan foods. We make pretty good meals sometimes, but sometimes we're just too busy so we make these foods. At this point, we've had these foods so much that our tolerance for these foods is extremely small, and we mostly just choose to not eat or to eat very little on those meals. I dip into my beef jerky.
I think it might be hard for everyone back home to identify with what a strong emotional reaction everyone here experiences anytime someone starts reminiscing about a bacon cheese burger...
Monday, February 14, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
An Overhaul of Updating
I've been kind of bad lately about keeping this blog up to date. That's because a whole lot has happened, and we've been really busy. I haven't even written a newsletter to my house church for the last couple weeks. That's a mistake on my part. I'm working on it now.
So I just put up five major posts (six including this one).
The first one is about the Uganda decision (we're not going to Uganda anymore.).
The second is about Dawn and Pieter's visit.
The third is a hilarious story. White people are very desirable here...
The fourth is about how some of us have grown, including myself.
The fifth gives a sneak-peak into some of the fruit of our ministry.
In other news, our team has been really sick of the feelings of division on the team. And we've decided to start over fresh and try to connect with each other more. So over the last two days, we've watched all three Lord of the Rings movies. Our music classes have ended to we might (hopefully) start a new ministry or two.
Also, I have a lot of videos to upload. They'll get up eventually.
So I just put up five major posts (six including this one).
The first one is about the Uganda decision (we're not going to Uganda anymore.).
The second is about Dawn and Pieter's visit.
The third is a hilarious story. White people are very desirable here...
The fourth is about how some of us have grown, including myself.
The fifth gives a sneak-peak into some of the fruit of our ministry.
In other news, our team has been really sick of the feelings of division on the team. And we've decided to start over fresh and try to connect with each other more. So over the last two days, we've watched all three Lord of the Rings movies. Our music classes have ended to we might (hopefully) start a new ministry or two.
Also, I have a lot of videos to upload. They'll get up eventually.
"I feel beautiful for the first time in my life" (aka, God's Work in Busanza)
Luke has been co-pastoring with Pastor Sylvan the church we started in Busanza. One day, he devotes the service to letting them come up and share what God's been doing in their lives. Here's a sampling of the things they said.
“I used to beat my kids. But then I accepted Christ in my life. I don't beat my kids anymore, and now I have peace.”
“I used to smoke, drink, and sleep around. And I've always felt sick. But I accepted Christ, and I stopped living badly. I got baptized last week, and when I got baptized, I stopped feeling sick.”
“There was a man that used to come over to sleep with me, but he had other women too. I accepted Christ, and last time when he came over, I said I won't sleep with him anymore.”
“I used to be a Catholic priest. And then I walked away from God and did my own thing. And then I heard there was a church meeting in the area, and I decided to check it out. I'm walking with Jesus now.”
“I have never felt beautiful in my life. But when you showed all those pictures of the stars and the beautiful things in outer space, and then you said God still calls us His main work of art, I felt beautiful for the first time in my life.”
“At first, I put you on a higher level because you were a muzungu (white person), but now I realize my value and we're all on the same level. And even the people that sit on the street begging are loved by God.”
Luke also told us more about that day...
“We had bought them Bibles. And so they were clutching their Bibles when they walked into church. There were three adults when we started. There were 45 this last Sunday.
When we got there, even the adults just looked so ratty. But it seems like they're putting more effort into the way they look.”
“I used to beat my kids. But then I accepted Christ in my life. I don't beat my kids anymore, and now I have peace.”
“I used to smoke, drink, and sleep around. And I've always felt sick. But I accepted Christ, and I stopped living badly. I got baptized last week, and when I got baptized, I stopped feeling sick.”
“There was a man that used to come over to sleep with me, but he had other women too. I accepted Christ, and last time when he came over, I said I won't sleep with him anymore.”
“I used to be a Catholic priest. And then I walked away from God and did my own thing. And then I heard there was a church meeting in the area, and I decided to check it out. I'm walking with Jesus now.”
“I have never felt beautiful in my life. But when you showed all those pictures of the stars and the beautiful things in outer space, and then you said God still calls us His main work of art, I felt beautiful for the first time in my life.”
“At first, I put you on a higher level because you were a muzungu (white person), but now I realize my value and we're all on the same level. And even the people that sit on the street begging are loved by God.”
Luke also told us more about that day...
“We had bought them Bibles. And so they were clutching their Bibles when they walked into church. There were three adults when we started. There were 45 this last Sunday.
When we got there, even the adults just looked so ratty. But it seems like they're putting more effort into the way they look.”
Healing (Or Counseling, Part 2)
It's awesome how our team is growing. We are all growing in the healing that God has for us, and we're also growing together. I thought “Girl A” sounds too cold, so isntead I've come up with Latin-based names for my family here...
Tharince screamed, so I thought she saw a rat or a snake again. So somebody hurries outside and see that's she's crying, and she says she just feels extremely frustrated because she feels fat and ugly. So she got comforted and people continue to encourage her and rebuke the lies she's been believing about herself for the last four years. Next time I spoke in church, it was about Hellenism. It's still a very hard struggle for her, but she's definitely getting better.
Amarice experienced a lot of healing from with her one-on-one with Pieter, just because he's such a good older man. When older men take advantage of a girl, it can make older men seem scary, so just having an older man who is just so good was an extremely positive experience. She's also changed her views on dating and relationships so that she's really hoping to not date til she's found the guy she wants to marry.
Florence broke up with her boyfriend, and he took it really well. It's clear she made the right decision, so I'm happy for her, even though it was still hard.
Aemilia went for a walk with me and we had a really good one and one. She has struggled with the belief that she was created without value, so we did an exercise where she listed good qualities about herself, and then we talked about the ones she left out. It went well, so it was a positive experience, which was very healing for me, cause before the DTS, with one of the last people I had one-on-one's with that I tried to help, I was a complete failure. But the feelings from that experience are fading, which I'm pretty happy about.
Tharince screamed, so I thought she saw a rat or a snake again. So somebody hurries outside and see that's she's crying, and she says she just feels extremely frustrated because she feels fat and ugly. So she got comforted and people continue to encourage her and rebuke the lies she's been believing about herself for the last four years. Next time I spoke in church, it was about Hellenism. It's still a very hard struggle for her, but she's definitely getting better.
Amarice experienced a lot of healing from with her one-on-one with Pieter, just because he's such a good older man. When older men take advantage of a girl, it can make older men seem scary, so just having an older man who is just so good was an extremely positive experience. She's also changed her views on dating and relationships so that she's really hoping to not date til she's found the guy she wants to marry.
Florence broke up with her boyfriend, and he took it really well. It's clear she made the right decision, so I'm happy for her, even though it was still hard.
Aemilia went for a walk with me and we had a really good one and one. She has struggled with the belief that she was created without value, so we did an exercise where she listed good qualities about herself, and then we talked about the ones she left out. It went well, so it was a positive experience, which was very healing for me, cause before the DTS, with one of the last people I had one-on-one's with that I tried to help, I was a complete failure. But the feelings from that experience are fading, which I'm pretty happy about.
"You Are So Womanly"...
Context: We have a creepy neighbor guy named Eric. He's 20 years old. He speaks great French and some English. Here's a story that Michelle told us, written from her perspective...
“One fine day, I see Eric's head pop over the wall. I'm in the hammock. Next thing you know, you see him walking through the gate, cause whoever went through it last didn't lock it. I'm lying in the hammock, so it's awkward just cause he's standing there talking to me. He's goes inside, but must have not gotten enough attention, so he comes back out.”
He says, “You walk out with me to the gate.”
“Sure.”
“Can you walk out here (outside the gate) with me, no problem.”
“I stay here, no problem.”
“Please, come outside with me, no problem.”
[She gives in and steps outside with him, and he begins...]
“I wanted to tell you this last week. You're white and I'm black. You're rich and I'm not. But I love you...
I see you there, and then my heart feels so full. You are so womanly. Do you understand?”
“Yeah... we can be friends.”
“Friends?! I am not child. I do not want friends. I want to marry you!...
I see that you have a good heart. I'm not rich but I'm going to the university. I prayed about it. And it would be good. You're a Christian, and I am a Christian.”
“I'm sorry, but I have a boyfriend in America.”
“A boyfriend?” (He face falls, and he starts stumbling around.) But he says, “We can still be friends. It's OK?
“Sure.” (And at this point, I'm thinking I should probably give him a hug. I meant to give him a hips-out, chest out hug. But he gives really excited and pulls me in for a really tight hug. And then we start swaying and he says...)
“Oh Michelle! Oh Michelle!”
So I push him off of me and run inside.
(When we saw her face, we all sat down on the kitchen floor cause we knew a good story was coming, and I transcribed it.)
“One fine day, I see Eric's head pop over the wall. I'm in the hammock. Next thing you know, you see him walking through the gate, cause whoever went through it last didn't lock it. I'm lying in the hammock, so it's awkward just cause he's standing there talking to me. He's goes inside, but must have not gotten enough attention, so he comes back out.”
He says, “You walk out with me to the gate.”
“Sure.”
“Can you walk out here (outside the gate) with me, no problem.”
“I stay here, no problem.”
“Please, come outside with me, no problem.”
[She gives in and steps outside with him, and he begins...]
“I wanted to tell you this last week. You're white and I'm black. You're rich and I'm not. But I love you...
I see you there, and then my heart feels so full. You are so womanly. Do you understand?”
“Yeah... we can be friends.”
“Friends?! I am not child. I do not want friends. I want to marry you!...
I see that you have a good heart. I'm not rich but I'm going to the university. I prayed about it. And it would be good. You're a Christian, and I am a Christian.”
“I'm sorry, but I have a boyfriend in America.”
“A boyfriend?” (He face falls, and he starts stumbling around.) But he says, “We can still be friends. It's OK?
“Sure.” (And at this point, I'm thinking I should probably give him a hug. I meant to give him a hips-out, chest out hug. But he gives really excited and pulls me in for a really tight hug. And then we start swaying and he says...)
“Oh Michelle! Oh Michelle!”
So I push him off of me and run inside.
(When we saw her face, we all sat down on the kitchen floor cause we knew a good story was coming, and I transcribed it.)
Dawn and Pieter's Pastoral Visit
Dawn and Pieter are our school leaders. Our school split up into six outreach teams around the world, and Dawn and Pieter visit every one of them. They arrived in Rwanda last Sunday night, and they left on Tuesday night.
They like me, and they were happy to hear about everything I've gotten to do in Rwanda and about my role in the team, but they also had a couple rebukes.
Dawn said I need to be doing a lot more to carry Mikaela. I thought that was out of line because I'm really nice to Mikaela. Mikaela had been having a hard time, but there really isn't a whole lot I can about that.
Dawn also said I should be rebuking people for complaining. I think that'd be hilarious because of the nature of the complaints in question.
“I feel like I'm just getting rebuked all the time.”
“You shouldn't say that.”
“But nobody listens to me.”
“Quiet, you!”
I refuse to take sides about other people's grievances. I simply nod and sympathetically say I'm sorry.
Dawn also said she gets the feeling that I would do a lot of things differently than Mikaela. So I said, “Well, when Mikaela spent a week crying in her room because she felt rejected, I would have done things differently.” Dawn said she didn't know that had happened and agreed that that was a fault, but she said the “spirit of disagreement still creeps out” even if I don't say anything about it. I disagree, because I think it's important to have at least some freedom of thought, and I think that it's a very important skill to be able to disagree respectfully. YWAM isn't supposed to be a cult.
Another funny part about the one-on-one was that Dawn said, “You can have a terrible outreach leader and still have a great outreach; not that Mikaela is a terrible leader (then why did you say that?). Maybe it would be easier to have an older, more mature leader, but this is the leader that God chose for you.” WOAH! This is the leader that YOU chose, Dawn. I hate it when she uses “Dawn” and “God” interchangeably. I know a lot of prayer went into it, but the problem with an organization as charismatic as YWAM is that their decisions are often “God's decisions”.
When Dawn was encouraging, it was nice, and when she said something I disagreed with, I mostly nodded and held my peace.
Everything Pieter says is always extremely reasonable. He doesn't say much, but the quality of his words is extremely high.
Both Dawn and Pieter are very strong in the grace of God, and they are very powerful agents of healing. But at the same time, Dawn is a bit crazy.
They like me, and they were happy to hear about everything I've gotten to do in Rwanda and about my role in the team, but they also had a couple rebukes.
Dawn said I need to be doing a lot more to carry Mikaela. I thought that was out of line because I'm really nice to Mikaela. Mikaela had been having a hard time, but there really isn't a whole lot I can about that.
Dawn also said I should be rebuking people for complaining. I think that'd be hilarious because of the nature of the complaints in question.
“I feel like I'm just getting rebuked all the time.”
“You shouldn't say that.”
“But nobody listens to me.”
“Quiet, you!”
I refuse to take sides about other people's grievances. I simply nod and sympathetically say I'm sorry.
Dawn also said she gets the feeling that I would do a lot of things differently than Mikaela. So I said, “Well, when Mikaela spent a week crying in her room because she felt rejected, I would have done things differently.” Dawn said she didn't know that had happened and agreed that that was a fault, but she said the “spirit of disagreement still creeps out” even if I don't say anything about it. I disagree, because I think it's important to have at least some freedom of thought, and I think that it's a very important skill to be able to disagree respectfully. YWAM isn't supposed to be a cult.
Another funny part about the one-on-one was that Dawn said, “You can have a terrible outreach leader and still have a great outreach; not that Mikaela is a terrible leader (then why did you say that?). Maybe it would be easier to have an older, more mature leader, but this is the leader that God chose for you.” WOAH! This is the leader that YOU chose, Dawn. I hate it when she uses “Dawn” and “God” interchangeably. I know a lot of prayer went into it, but the problem with an organization as charismatic as YWAM is that their decisions are often “God's decisions”.
When Dawn was encouraging, it was nice, and when she said something I disagreed with, I mostly nodded and held my peace.
Everything Pieter says is always extremely reasonable. He doesn't say much, but the quality of his words is extremely high.
Both Dawn and Pieter are very strong in the grace of God, and they are very powerful agents of healing. But at the same time, Dawn is a bit crazy.
The Uganda Decision
We have decided to stay in Rwanda for the last month instead of going to Uganda. Here's the story...
The United States and Canada have both put Uganda on the list of countries that they tell their citizens not to go to. So if we tried to get visas to Uganda in the United States, we would be denied. We were only able to get visas because we did it in Rwanda. Because Uganda is on the “do not travel” list, the US government wouldn't do anything to help us if we got arrested because we were told not to go there. Apparently, Fedex also has Uganda in the highest category of risk.
Joseph Kony is a Ugandan. He is the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA is the organization that kidnaps child soldiers and is guilty of pretty atrocious crimes against humanity. Joseph Kony is on the Top Ten Most Wanted list. (#1 is Osama bin Laden). He and his army are currently training and recruiting in Congo. Their goal is to overthrow the government of Uganda and establish a theocratic government. The LRA is thought to have abducted 66,000 children. It's mainly been active in northern Uganda.
Gulu is just a bad area. When we tell Rwandans that we're going to be in Gulu, the expression on their face changes. They don't always believe us, and then they seem worried.
There is an enormous cultural divide between northern and southern Uganda. The languages they speak do not even belong to the same language family. Southerners speak Bantu languages, and northerners speak Nilotic languages. Northern Ugandans hate the current President of Uganda. He has been in power for 25 years, and opposition, especially in Northern Uganda, has been growing.
It is election season. Election day is February 18th. The middle of our time in Uganda. We will be in Northern Uganda. There have already been bombs that have gone off in Uganda.
Our leader, Mikaela, did not know any of this when she chose Uganda. We've given her all this information, and it didn't change her mind. She kept saying she needs a word from God to change her mind. There were three people that said if the team goes to Gulu, they are going home. I just said I don't have the heart to make my family worry about me for a month.
So Mikaela's solution was for us to just keep praying about it until we all got the same answer from God. The problem was that every time we prayed about it and talked about it, the case against going to Uganda just kept getting stronger. This was very upsetting to our leader.
The fourth time that Mikaela started crying at a meeting was when she was saying she felt alone. It's lonely at the top. She took it a bit personally that we weren't willing to go to Uganda. She also said she wants to be pursued as a friend.
The fifth time when she said, “If we're not called to Uganda, why did God put it so strongly in my heart for the last four months?” It was extremely hard for her to let go of Uganda.
Every time we had an emotional meeting, she hadn't been going out and doing ministry with us. She had to take personal days because the stress was really getting to her.
She said she feels like a bad leader. I would feel guilty telling her she's a good leader, because maybe it'd be better if she weren't in positions like this.
First time leaders don't normally lead by themselves on their first outreach. But they had six outreach groups, and it just worked out that this one didn't have a co-leader.
So Dawn and Pieter arrived recently, and they told us the answer about Uganda was a No. They explained that the YWAM council has disagreements sometimes, and they pray about their decisions, and if even one person gets a “No,” then the answer is no, even if the President “got a yes.” “And the fear of God rests on that one person who makes the organization's decision a 'no.'”
Then the apologized to everyone because they felt convicted about telling us the answer is no instead of telling Mikaela the answer is no so that she could tell us so that she would still be honored as the leader of the team.
Then Mikaela apologized to us for drawing out the decision and all of its anxiety because she just had not yet learned that principle about how YWAM operates.
So we've put all that behind us and we're starting over fresh now. :-)
The United States and Canada have both put Uganda on the list of countries that they tell their citizens not to go to. So if we tried to get visas to Uganda in the United States, we would be denied. We were only able to get visas because we did it in Rwanda. Because Uganda is on the “do not travel” list, the US government wouldn't do anything to help us if we got arrested because we were told not to go there. Apparently, Fedex also has Uganda in the highest category of risk.
Joseph Kony is a Ugandan. He is the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA is the organization that kidnaps child soldiers and is guilty of pretty atrocious crimes against humanity. Joseph Kony is on the Top Ten Most Wanted list. (#1 is Osama bin Laden). He and his army are currently training and recruiting in Congo. Their goal is to overthrow the government of Uganda and establish a theocratic government. The LRA is thought to have abducted 66,000 children. It's mainly been active in northern Uganda.
Gulu is just a bad area. When we tell Rwandans that we're going to be in Gulu, the expression on their face changes. They don't always believe us, and then they seem worried.
There is an enormous cultural divide between northern and southern Uganda. The languages they speak do not even belong to the same language family. Southerners speak Bantu languages, and northerners speak Nilotic languages. Northern Ugandans hate the current President of Uganda. He has been in power for 25 years, and opposition, especially in Northern Uganda, has been growing.
It is election season. Election day is February 18th. The middle of our time in Uganda. We will be in Northern Uganda. There have already been bombs that have gone off in Uganda.
Our leader, Mikaela, did not know any of this when she chose Uganda. We've given her all this information, and it didn't change her mind. She kept saying she needs a word from God to change her mind. There were three people that said if the team goes to Gulu, they are going home. I just said I don't have the heart to make my family worry about me for a month.
So Mikaela's solution was for us to just keep praying about it until we all got the same answer from God. The problem was that every time we prayed about it and talked about it, the case against going to Uganda just kept getting stronger. This was very upsetting to our leader.
The fourth time that Mikaela started crying at a meeting was when she was saying she felt alone. It's lonely at the top. She took it a bit personally that we weren't willing to go to Uganda. She also said she wants to be pursued as a friend.
The fifth time when she said, “If we're not called to Uganda, why did God put it so strongly in my heart for the last four months?” It was extremely hard for her to let go of Uganda.
Every time we had an emotional meeting, she hadn't been going out and doing ministry with us. She had to take personal days because the stress was really getting to her.
She said she feels like a bad leader. I would feel guilty telling her she's a good leader, because maybe it'd be better if she weren't in positions like this.
First time leaders don't normally lead by themselves on their first outreach. But they had six outreach groups, and it just worked out that this one didn't have a co-leader.
So Dawn and Pieter arrived recently, and they told us the answer about Uganda was a No. They explained that the YWAM council has disagreements sometimes, and they pray about their decisions, and if even one person gets a “No,” then the answer is no, even if the President “got a yes.” “And the fear of God rests on that one person who makes the organization's decision a 'no.'”
Then the apologized to everyone because they felt convicted about telling us the answer is no instead of telling Mikaela the answer is no so that she could tell us so that she would still be honored as the leader of the team.
Then Mikaela apologized to us for drawing out the decision and all of its anxiety because she just had not yet learned that principle about how YWAM operates.
So we've put all that behind us and we're starting over fresh now. :-)
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