Not Just Another Sunday!

This was Saturday!  My view from the kitchen patio yesterday morning!
Magnificent!  Bruce got home safely last night from being in the States the last two weeks.  We had a great evening and then because he was a tired...Bruce slept in.  We went to late church at 11:30 but that was no accident.  I believe the Lord planned all that.

 No sun today.  It was pouring as we left the house.

I drove to church (since Bruce opened and closed the gate) and on the way there... about 4 blocks away all of a sudden there were about 9 little kids running to the car with their hands out.  Here in Kigali when you see that it means they are asking for a ride.  (When we first arrived, i thought people were putting their hands out for a hand out)... But no, folks just want to hitch a ride.  Anyway... here were all these kids... no adult with them

walking to church all by themselves. 

Well, it was raining pretty heavily and i thought we should give them a ride.  I asked them if they were going to church and they said, YES!  Bruce said.. how will they all fit in here?  I said, don't worry... they'll just pile in. And pile in they did.  Bruce even opened up the back and several got in there and we were off. 

I don't know what I expected from that point on.. but i suppose i thought the kids would  go to church and be with their friends or something like that... but guess what?  They never left our sides.  Bruce and i walked in with our newly adopted family... all 9 of them.  We more than filled a row!! Only 1 girl spoke English and she spoke fairly well-

and then William sat down next to Bruce who spoke English very well.  He was older but as we found out later, lives in the same village as all the other kids.  

So, there we were with all our kids, singing, clapping, praising the Lord together. They would try the English songs and we would try to sing in Kinyarwanda.  But then the worship leader asked us to get in small groups for intercessory prayer.  I moved my chair ahead of the kids to start a small circle and immediately all the kids were circled up ready to pray.  

I asked the girl who spoke English whose name i can say but not spell if she would ask the others what they would like us to pray for them. 

 And then... the unexpected happened.  

One little boy said, the poor, another--all the hurting people--one other said to pray for all the people who lost family in the genocide and when i asked the little girl how i could pray for her.  She said, " oh... i don't want you to pray for me... i just want to give God all the glory and praise for all the things He is doing in my life."  ( I think she was 11-12). 

So, i prayed first for those things and then i asked her if she would like to pray.  She said, can i pray in Kinyarwanda?   Of course!  But first, she said --how can we pray for you?  I told her that i was really missing my grandkids back in America.... and she immediately told the others and they all looked at me like awwwww.... It was so sweet.   But then she prayed.  And as she prayed the other little ones were agreeing with her. I have NO idea what she said... but i do know that her words just flooded over me.  She was so filled with the Spirit of the Lord.  When she finished and we all looked up... all the kids were smiling at me as they saw tears streaming down my face.  GOD IS AT WORK EVERYWHERE AND IN ANYONE WHO WILL LET HIM WORK IN THEM!  I was totally overwhelmed with joy and the sweetness of that time of intercessory prayer with those children.  It is a moment i will never forget.  Heather would call it being Interrupted by Grace!  I certainly was. 

The sermon was on having faith and why we don't ask for more when we need it! 

After the service ended at 1:30, the kids all still by our sides walked out of the church with us.  I asked them if they would like a ride and William asked if he could come, too

since they all live in the same village.  As William and Sarkosey (sp) and i walked along

they told me that there were 5 families represented among them.  So, Bruce popped the 2 back seats together to make a second row and all 10 of them piled in again and we were off-- with them giving us directions of where they lived.  

 

They actually live down the hill from our house in a little village off the main street sort of behind the store fronts.  

So we finally pulled up to their houses... little mud brick 10x10 houses, rooms really.  One of the Moms was standing at her door and as the children kept pouring out of the car she was just grinning with her hand on her cheek--shaking her head as if to say.. How did all those kids fit in there?  After many hugs and handshakes and me promising to come visit their school next Sat. at noon... (when they meet for music)... we pulled away.  Leaving our new little family to each go back to their own!  

The astonishing thing about these kids?   Truly inspiring!!  They had all walked, unsupervised to church IN THE RAIN... for about 2- 2 1/2 miles!   Not only in the rain, but in all the mud... and only 2 of them could even understand the Word and words being spoken.  That gave me reason to pause.  I have to be honest and say I know I wouldn't have done that.  Would you?   

I just thank the Lord that this was no ordinary Sunday.  I saw the Lord through

these children's eyes and I have seen how much they love him... no matter what language they spoke or what the weather was.  Nothing can keep us from the love of God!  No matter how young or old!  And nothing was going to keep those kids from being in the Lord's House today!  What a blessing and inspiration they were to me.  I hope they were to you, too!

love,

margie

I'll take pictures of the kids next week... i was so overwhelmed that i didn't even think about it this morning!