Perfect Reassurance

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

We continue to have wonderful things happening not only in Rwanda but other parts of our field. While our centers are still developing, and many still have problems with power, we are holding monthly field meetings with our field leadership team, using an online program that Blake has found to work efficiently for what we need. While he is still trying to develop centers, and difficulties that each center is discovering, we are expectant to see what God can do with the little resources we have to expand the training and leadership of our pastors and leaders throughout the French Equatorial Field. As I mentioned we have been having monthly field meetings that would have been impossible before, because it would have been more than $10,000 to gather each person into a central location just to talk about advancement for our field and the Church of the Nazarene. Now, though with many centers up and running, we have been able to increase training, and productively talk about areas of our field that need additional support or additional resources or focus in order to advance each ministry.
Blake and I just got back from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Of course you know that DRC will always hold a special place in our hearts, but our travels this time took us to Goma, which is just across the boarder from Rwanda. We were invited to come and be a part of their district for a weekend. I for one truly felt the Lord showing me how my skills are going to be utilized the most for our field. While I came here, specifically intending to do the finances for the field, I am realizing that the Lord is reminding me of my original passion and call for youth ministry. I had an opportunity to speak with the youth group which ended up being about 200 youth. It was a wonderful time of dialogue, as I shared with them my testimony, and what I have learned about living a holy life and a life of becoming a discipleship of Christ. I had a wonderful dialogue with a young man after the service on Sunday, and he asked some very difficult questions, but as we discussed becoming holy, he left reassured that he is able to life in a relationship with Christ, even though we all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God. While the NYI (Nazarene Youth International) is only just now developing, this weekend was an incredible time, and the perfect reassurance for me that the Lord has brought us to Africa at just the right time. Imagine all of the things I can be a part of, as we develop a curriculum that will rise up new leaders in the church. Our vision for the field is that the youth will be excited about theological training and they will be the next group of leaders, which will have a strong foundation in holiness and will learn to take that into a corrupt environment and truly change culture! Wow what an opportunity I have to be a part of some great things. We had many other opportunities to get involved in culture during the weekend, and we can say, this truly is a time to be praising God!