The switch

Just the though of it used to give me chills down my spine, while a fear of losing controll would come over me. But here I am today finding that it really is not that bad after all. Furlough... no it did not come with a well organized and planned itinerary nor with plenty of time to pack and prepare. In retroperspective this may have been the better way.

The thought of choice and wealth, being respected and in comfort, which all has been so foreign for 3 years, scared me, as I feared to be overwhelmed and nothing but an emotional mess upon receiving it.

Yaida and Jasmin enjoying a nice meal

It has been a little more than 3 weeks that I have been bathing in a structural culture, with clear cultural do's and don'ts that are all to familiar to me. Where healthy meals come out of can's and freezers and juices are vitamin C enriched. Where I can do the wash, dry cloths, do my dishes and download emails all at the same time. Where people are so respectful that they do not yell Halelujah during the church service afraid for the opinion of their more respectful, conservative neighbor.

Where I can speak freely and my thoughts may be heard.

A place so different than my home.

A people so truthful and opinionated that it makes me speechless.

here there are no poor, no needy as I know from my current home country.

Yet people complain about the tile in the sidewalk that sticks up a bit and might be a potential trip hazard.

Both have been my homeland. Both are nations I love, both have people I love. Yet... the two have absolutely nothing in common. No similarities, except this one thing...

It's people are looking for love, acceptance, security. In both nations people are crying out for a mighty move of Jesus in their land. For Him to restore it's people and for His glory to be poured out.

The switch, that is how this feels, the quick switching from one nation to another, which such extreme differences. Yes, i was overwhelmed with the overstimulis of choice and ease to comfort. But looking at it from kingdom perspective I see a people hungry for Truth and Love to enter their life, their nation. So really, it is all the same on the bottom line.

My work did not stop when entering the plane departing Rwanda, to reflect Christ is a life-style. It means being on call 24/7. Switching is no longer nessecary, we all need Jesus, we all need Love and Truth.

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.