Monday, April 14, 2008

Silence, storm and now what...?

While hanging over the engine of my car, trying to assist my husband as the steering once again stopped working (thank God we were in a parking lot when we discovered it!!!), I receive a phonecall..."I think it is all stolen..." a sad and shaken voice tells me, ..."What do we do now?"
"Nothing"is my reply. Really what would be the thing to do? Here we are trying to fix our car, 2,5 hours away from home. We would be the ones who had to identify what was stolen... nothing could be done until we would get home.

disappointment, anger and sadness flooded our emotions as we drove home, knowing what was ahead.... we thought.
A bright rainbow appears in front of me. I am immediately reminded of God's covenant with menkind, with me, if you will. As we continue our drive we come to the start of the rainbow... the Rwaza village centre. the arc of the rainbow bends north... I am awestruck, in tears, as I know what this means.
The Lord has told us before to move north, there he will fulfil his promises, where we will build our fine houses. (Deuteronomy 3 and 8).

As we drove on we went through the rainbow as you would go through a door into another place. The doorway to the fulfilment of the promises of god, his covenant. in this case his covenant with the Rwaza children, it is coming, we went through the door...

Coming home we learned that our office was completely stripped and that our personal electronical items were also stolen from our home. The damage... around $12,000.
While cleaning up the mess made by the thiefs I heard myself singing:

"Jesus, Jesus, how I love Thee,

how I prove Thee over and over.

Jesus, Jesus precious Jesus,

oh for grace to trust Thee more."

And a joy flooded my heart in the midst of loss and chaos.

While all this is going on a big miscommunication happens as we were asked to leave the country in 48 hours. This news did not surprise us but caused us to act like whirlwinds, re-arranging our lives, packing like maniacs, organizing many logistical issues and delegating responsabilities while deciding which cloths to take.
Many friends from all walks of life jumpd up to help, and shared our load. We are so blessed!!!
An hour before leaving to the airport news came that this message had been a great misunderstanding, we did not have to leave and were welcomed back when we decided a break would be appropriate at this time, after almost 3 years non stop working in Rwanda.
So here we are. In a very cold the Netherlands, surounded by friends and our home church whom has amazed us with their open arms of service and help. My dear friends, you make us all feel so loved and precious! Your acts of love to us are of indescribable value to us!
We will come to the U.S. beginning of May, where we will share about the wonderful things God is doing in Rwanda and the role SoZo Ministries Africa plays within that.

I am enjoying the luxeries and blessings that come with living in a 1st world country, but my heart is at home... in Rwanda.

I am curious to see what is coming as God so clearly spoke about his promise coming... i can't wait to tell you more about the Lord's heart for Rwanda, for Africa.

I hope to see you in the Netherlands or in the States.

5 comments:

Jenni said...

I bet you can tolerate warm showers now that you're in the cold climate again! It's awesome that right from the start of the present storm God was already showing you that He was with you and He was at work! And what a beautiful rainbow it was!!!

mamareed said...

That rainbow is so amazing! I am so glad you guys are safe and getting a much needed break. Please tell me you are visiting Oregon while in the States? It would be so wonderful to see you guys and hear your amazing stories!

Rwanda momma said...

Just letting you know that our thoughts and prayers are with you as we drive by your house everyday.
ENJOY your time away. May God bring you much refreshing. We look forward to having you back here through too!!
Blessings and love to you all. Jen and Serge

Anonymous said...

although the reason for leaving was bad, it was God's perfect timing. Think of the house, available for you and all the things we could do to give you a warm welcome.
I enjoy that you are here for the time being.
Love you all!
Mam

Tim Reed said...

amazing photo Astrid! Can't wait to see you guys, it has been so long. I am trying to get Living Hope to set up a time to have you and Trav speak, if you have available time. Let me know if that is something you would like to do.

- Tim