Right now my days are consumed with language study aside from the other daily activities of cooking and washing. I had thought I found the perfect language helper but unfortunately all that fell through and at the moment I am on my own. Actually, I am not really on my own at all because I am surrounded by people speaking Kinyarwanda all day long. So between help from my brothers and sisters and my own independent study of a Kinyarwanda lesson book, things are going pretty well. It is exciting to study hard and be able to see the results. I love when I can sit back and listen to my siblings laughing and telling stories and begin to recognize words and concepts. As tedious as it is, it is rewarding as well.
The language itself is quite challenging. It is a tonal language which means you can have a word that looks the same and sounds almost the same but means something completely unrelated. There are high toned words and low toned words and I cannot usually hear the difference. So I am spending much time just listening and trying to train my ear to hear the different sounds.
Turns out the other day, while trying to tell my brother’s little boy (my nephew) Charukhan to wash his hands, I instead told him to wash his banana tree! This is challenging but fun too!
Things here in Rwanda are going very well. It is hard for me to believe that I have been here for over a month now! In some ways it seems like I just arrived and in others like I have always been here. The adjustments are going well and I am grateful that at this point in time my daily schedule is pretty relaxed which allows me time to study language, build relationships, process the culture around me, and pray!
As I was praying yesterday I felt the Lord speaking to me about the ministry of identification. Let me explain. I believe that God has called me to come to Rwanda not just to be a missionary to Rwanda but to really live with and identify with the people. I know to you that may sound insignificant but here in Rwanda it is actually a rather profound testimony. Rwanda has received lots of outside help from various missions and organizations (Christian and not). But you don’t have to be here long to see that many people serving here do not really identify with the people. They drive around in cars supplied by their organization, live in huge houses, and don’t really even try to learn the language of the people. There is really an “us and them” mentality.
So God has been speaking to me about the power of identifying with the people. It happens in simple everyday ways. Learning the language is huge. When I am out in the village or town and I speak Kinyarwanda (limited though it may be) I can instantly see the difference on people’s faces. They love and respect the fact that you want to try to communicate with them in their heart language. It is a beautiful testimony. I think about the ministry of identification when I am sitting in the sun on my little stool scrubbing my clothing by hand. I think about it when I am cooking dinner for my family on our little charcoal fire. I think about it when I am traveling by public transportation. I think about it in the morning when the ice cold water hits my body as I wash up in our outdoor shower. I even think about it when I use the latrine!
You see the thing is, I could have a washer if I really wanted to. I could cook on a gas stove. I could get a hot water heater. All these things, I could have if I was willing to pay the outrageous prices for them. And in fact, here in Rwanda if you are white, you are almost expected to have these things. People look at me strange when I tell them I have to go home and cook on our amakara (charcoal). They think it is strange that I wash my own clothing. They would expect me to at least to pay someone else to do these things for me. But this is the ministry of identification. It is about becoming like the people, understanding their struggles, entering into their lives, experiencing their world. And this is what I have been called to do here in Rwanda.
Yes, I will be doing lots of other kinds of ministry eventually but I never want to forget the power of identifying with the people. God has called to be a different kind of missionary. I cannot just come and do a few good deeds and then go home thinking how I helped the people. My ministry is living in Rwanda. My ministry is having a Rwandan family and loving them just like I would my own flesh and blood. It is a long term thing; in fact it is a life time thing. It is a God thing that I can only do by His grace and power!
