week one

Oh, my dear friends. It has already been one week in Rwanda and my heart is so incredibly full. Wednesday morning I got to spend time with the Belay Staff as we retreated to a nearby lake in search of guidance from our Father as they take on a new year. These women. Each so full of passion. Their love for the women they work with. Their desire to bring each one to better and fuller lives. This is why my heart is absolutely overflowing. I have never seen a love so profound and vast. I get to work with these women. I get to watch them dream. Bigger than I could ever imagine. How is it possible I get to be a small part in this journey? This beautiful journey that God has set out before them.

Before Wednesday I was exhausted. Jet-lag had overtaken my body as I rested and watched movies all day long. I was tired and felt so inadequate. Satan. He comes in and attacks at my weakest moments. Ladies, I felt weak. I missed my family and friends. The culture was so different. I felt like I just didn’t fit. Can I just take a moment and let you know Satan didn’t win. Wednesday I experienced something like never before. As I spent the morning in prayer I suddenly realized my immeasurable inadequacy and that is when I found this calming peace. I am inadequate but Christ is not. When I see my words as not simply mine but His, what do I have to fear. When I put my life in the hands of Jesus all I can do is follow. I don’t have the wisdom or the experience to know how to give these girls what they need. Jesus does! How amazing is that. We don’t have to carry this weight of perfection and knowledge. All I need to do is get down on my knees and he will lead me. So I laid all the fears Satan had planted in my heart at the foot of the cross and I have never felt more confident in where I should be. Here.

These women that I have only known for one week feel like they have been a part of my life for so many years. They feel like family. I love them and see such value and worth in each and every one of their souls. Gabbie, this girl is so full of life and has better style than most Americans. She is the Rwanda Program Director. Gabbie has such a passion and love for helping the women she works with and their children. Pauline is so quiet and yet I feel this deeper connection with her. Pauline is not only is in charge of the finances of Belay but all the beautiful jewelry you bought from the DuHope women, Pauline designed. Monday she took me through the steps of how the fringe necklaces are made. She is absolutely amazing! Lise is the Business Development Director of Belay. She is really quiet and more reserved but when she speaks, you hear her love for what she does. She acknowledges the need for entrepreneur trainings and wants to do everything in her power to get these women on their feet, providing for themselves. And Jamie, this woman is absolutely inspiring. She has been such a blessing to not only work with but to learn from. I love sitting and listening to her tell me more and more of her journey and all the things she has learned along the way. I admire her, more than she knows. It takes such strength and love and passion to do what she does everyday. To see what she sees. To hear what she hears. To feel what she feels. This is her life. These women mean everything to her. You can see it in her eyes as she talks about them. Gabbie. Pauline. Lise. Rachel. Each so precious to her. One night as we were sitting in her living room she looked at me and said these powerful words, “I can never stop fighting for these women.” After spending one day with them I finally understood why. These ladies are already such big parts of my life. I want to join in this fight. And I want you to join with me.