God At Work

I am in my last day here in Rwanda and I apologize for not writing in the blog sooner. It has been a good trip here and I have learned a lot. I feel that the men here were having a hard time with their presentations and it forced me to think carefully about some of the things we are teaching. I think I have come up with some ways to clarify and simplify the material to make it more effective, especially in the area of structure and the salvation story.  

Today I preached at the central church here for the EFC of Rwanda. Only about 35 adults were present. I guess they went through a tough split a couple of years ago and have not fully recovered. I was not feeling fully at the top of my game and I simply asked God to use me as he saw fit this day and I made myself available for his use. I preached on Matthew 15 and the woman that Jesus implies is a dog unworthy of the food designated for the children. It is a difficult passage but one with an amazing lesson. It says that God is not concerned that we come to him with some kind of outside credentials, he simply wants us to come believing in our hearts and seeking grace.  

The people were attentive as I preached. One woman in the crowd stood out to me. She seemed to be wearing a Muslim head covering. I was not sure because I do not know the culture that well. She seemed to join in well in the worship and singing so I concluded she must be a Christian. When I finished calling people to come to God simply in faith the pastor took over and finished the service. Evidently, he gave a call to salvation and this woman came forward and knelt before him. He prayed for her and the service ended. He said that she was indeed a Muslim and had decided that day to give her life to Jesus. She had been attending a sewing class conducted by the pastor’s wife for some time but had made no indication she wanted to become a Christian even though she was learning about it in the class. She came up to us later and said she wanted to be baptized soon and didn’t think she could ever go back to the mosque. This doesn’t happen every day, even here.  

Needless to say, I was overwhelmed with the blessing of the Lord that he was willing to use this tired American to help lead a Rwandan Muslim to the Lord. He is amazing.

Al