"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us..."
John 1:14
The Holman Christian Standard translation replaces "dwelt" with "took up residence." Jesus came down from Heaven to live among the people of the earth; He met them where they were. Jesus went into homes and neighborhoods. He went into cities and towns. From place to place, He lived among and with the people and endured life with them. And He brought the Kingdom of God into those neighborhoods, cities, and towns when He lived among them. This is how Jesus did missions. He didn't make the people come to Him (although many did follow Him), He went to the people and loved them so much as to live with and dwell among them in their daily lives.
And this is what I can't help but think about whenever I think about the Kageyo Refugee Camp in Rwanda.
Plans have been coming together for me to spend a year in Rwanda with Africa New Life Ministries starting January 2013. This is obviously still being prayed over and planned, but in the meantime I'll visit Rwanda for two weeks this coming February in order to solidify some of those details. How did this come into the picture you ask? Long story short, I've wanted to go to Rwanda ever since I became a believer and I know people who know important people. Currently, the president of Africa New Life is desiring for native English speakers to help teach English in the schools. Teaching English as a native speaker is invaluable in Africa. English is the official language in the education system and essentially, if you don't know English as a child in Africa, then there's no hope for you. Teaching them English helps them help themselves. Anywho, as you saw from the video, Kageyo is way out in the boonies in eastern Rwanda, so out in the boonies that there isn't any running water or electricity. It's also common for water buffalo to be roaming around. It's also not uncommon for villagers to have to shoot a hippo every so often because of the danger hippos are to the villagers. And as you also saw, Kageyo is the home to hundreds of refugees that had once fled Rwanda due to the 1994 genocide. The kids out there need to learn English and, of course, everybody needs Jesus. A church has been up and going for a year or so, but there's more need for discipleship in addition to continue reaching that village with the Gospel.
There's a couple options when it comes to the possibility of me working with Africa New Life. There's the option of working in the schools in Kigali, Rwanda's capital and in the middle of the hustle and bustle. Then there's Kageyo. There's no one out there in the village teaching English. The conversation with a friend went something like this: "So Kageyo, no running water, no electricity, cook all your food over a fire, pee in a hole, 3 hours away from the city...sound appealing?" "Sure does!" "Wait...really?" "Uhhhh yeah, someone needs to go out there. I want to." I want to be the one to go where no one else wants to go. Why? Because Jesus did. He talked to people no one wanted to talk to. He touched people no one wanted to touch. He lived in the places that were counted as measly, nothing towns. I've been told that I could be placed in the city, where I could have the comforts of indoor plumbing, a place to plug in a laptop, and actual floors and walls without the worry of a water buffalo or a hippo running rampant. That's not the point. I could care less about water buffalo or where I pee as long as people are being reached. Jesus never said to go and make disciples and be comfortable, He just said go. Jesus Himself didn't have a place to lay His head; clearly it was not on His priority list. Nor will it be on mine. I will endure whatever it takes to teach those kids English and to share my Jesus with that village in the middle of nowhere Rwanda, the village that has hundreds of people that no one wants. I want to dwell among the people, just as Jesus did. Send me to Kageyo, Papa.
There's a couple options when it comes to the possibility of me working with Africa New Life. There's the option of working in the schools in Kigali, Rwanda's capital and in the middle of the hustle and bustle. Then there's Kageyo. There's no one out there in the village teaching English. The conversation with a friend went something like this: "So Kageyo, no running water, no electricity, cook all your food over a fire, pee in a hole, 3 hours away from the city...sound appealing?" "Sure does!" "Wait...really?" "Uhhhh yeah, someone needs to go out there. I want to." I want to be the one to go where no one else wants to go. Why? Because Jesus did. He talked to people no one wanted to talk to. He touched people no one wanted to touch. He lived in the places that were counted as measly, nothing towns. I've been told that I could be placed in the city, where I could have the comforts of indoor plumbing, a place to plug in a laptop, and actual floors and walls without the worry of a water buffalo or a hippo running rampant. That's not the point. I could care less about water buffalo or where I pee as long as people are being reached. Jesus never said to go and make disciples and be comfortable, He just said go. Jesus Himself didn't have a place to lay His head; clearly it was not on His priority list. Nor will it be on mine. I will endure whatever it takes to teach those kids English and to share my Jesus with that village in the middle of nowhere Rwanda, the village that has hundreds of people that no one wants. I want to dwell among the people, just as Jesus did. Send me to Kageyo, Papa.
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