It’s sometimes strange being here in Indiana. In most cases, it feels like I never left. Nothing huge has changed in the way the world operates here. My family and friends have changed in circumstances, but my relationships still remain about the same. I’d say the biggest aspect that has changed is my reason for being here.
In Rwanda, everyone understands that you are on a mission field. It’s not hidden that you are there with purpose and an intentional mindset to make it a better place. Not many people go to Rwanda to retire or to have a carefree vacation. It’s a place of restoration not of refuge. So, in a sense, it is more comfortable to be on the mission field in Rwanda than it is in Indiana.
I am living here with a purpose. The last summer I came home, I felt like a tumbleweed in the wind being blown from place to place with no ambition of landing anywhere because I was heading back to Rwanda soon. Oh, how different it has been this time around! After two years of being geographically and emotionally disconnected from people, I have now been given the mission of being a catalyst in restoring those relationships as well as putting together a community of people who find immense value in being a part of the other mission field in Rwanda. It’s almost as if I God is trying to bridge the gap between Small-town, Indiana and Big-city, Rwanda. So, no matter where I am living, there are people who can be right there by my side while I strive to answer God’s call for my life. In other words, I’m not in this alone. While I struggle to make this connection on a daily basis, I know that there is great purpose for my return to Indiana for a longer stretch of time. I have rekindled friendships that would have possibly dwindled over the next 3 years of being in Rwanda. I have been pushed to live outside of my comfort zone in the pursuit of people I have been distant from for years. I have been forced to evaluate my own relationship with God and to work on areas that I had neglected to see through. I have been called to a season of rest beyond my comfort busy zone I’ve lived in for so long. These are not easy things to change. In fact, they require more strength than my weak little arms can lift on my own. However, if I have the King’s strength spotting me, there is no weight too heavy nor any change too great for Him to see through in my life.
God has never failed me. Sure, there are times when I don’t agree with everything he does in all of life’s circumstances, BUT I have come to understand that, as His creation, I am not going to understand all His ways because He is on a totally separate brainwave than me. He sees the world through an artist’s point of view. We see it as being the dabs of paint or lumps of clay. We can’t know it all. We don’t need to know it all. God cares for us and showed us through Jesus Christ that He’s got a plan for us and His plan doesn’t leave us behind. It embraces us. So, no matter where I am, God offers hope and peace beyond what each season of life brings. My life in Rwanda and my life in Indiana can live in union because of this promise of peace. If we have peace, there isn’t anywhere we can’t be. Ever thought about that?
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