Simplicity At Its Best

(Church on the right, our house on the left :) ) 

This past week we lived in a mud house in a village.

We loaded the back of a bus with our beds,

our mosquito nets,

and all our luggage  

And headed to a village. 

We drove three hours outside of Kigali,

We pulled off on a dirt road and winded the hills side of Rwanda.

I get lost in these hills as I catch a few last glimpses of this beautiful country.

Hills continue in every direction for miles 

with lush vegetation flowing down the sides of them 

with banana, corn, plantains, and avocado trees. 

 We continue to drive in and out of villages

 As kids in their school uniforms

Chase the bus yelling, “MAZUNGU, MAZUNGU”.

An unexplainable joy filled me as I open my window and shake some of their

Beautiful dirty brown hands.

Something about this experience tells me this is going to be an amazing week.

I start to think about what it would be like to have never seen a white person before or to see a new race for the first time.

I have a feeling that childlike amazement would fill my heart and mind

At the sight seeing a skin color I have never seen before.

Then I see a little one,

Who is about a year in a half,

Screams and tears immediately come pouring out of her eyes,

The second she sees a white person for the first time.

I imagine at her age amazement is not there yet just fear.

As we drive through the different villages I keep my window open

and wave to the kids getting out of school 

they chase the bus with smiles from ear to ear.

As we continue on for about thirty minutes 

we become the last people in the bus.

Finally the bus pulled into a dirt drive 

with a large mud building in front of the bus.

People come out to greet us as we arrive and help us with our stuff.

I’m continually amazed at the love that I feel instantly

 from these beautiful people.

As we unload we take our stuff into the large mud building,

which is actually a church.

The church is beautiful in its simplicity.

Mud floors, mud stage, wooden benches, tin roof,

metal windows without glass.

Its perfect.

We get settled into a small mud house behind the church.

Three rooms, one for girls, one for boy,

and a common area for meals. 

 Mud floors, squatty potties, no running water,

 hot milk with every meal,

birdbath showers, become the new “normal”.

I can already tell this is going to be an awesome week!

The next morning we get up and enjoy hot milk and bananas for breakfast.

We have a morning of prayer and revival in our team and then head to church at three to preach and share.

Something about this village just made its place

 in my heart already.

The church is impressed with our Kinyarwanda

and cheers every time we speak their language.

I think learning a new language is a great way to of always being a treasure hunter and really learn to honor people.

The women grin at me as I look at them in awe of how beautiful they are. 

One lady in particular was staring at me for a bit 

and every time I looked at her she would just stare at me 

so I just cracked a huge smile at her 

and I could tell she couldn’t help but smile back.

Her smile lit up her eyes

 and the second church was over she came to me 

and just embraced me with a huge hug 

and for a moment I felt like she 

and I have been friends forever.

I'm pretty sure the kids here know I am one of them.

As I chase them up and down the drive way in front of the church

making them laugh and spinning them around.

Twenty little children chase me around and scream and laugh as I run away and then turn around real quick and scare them.

I feel like they just know,

 everywhere we go I feel like the kids know, 

that I’m the one who will play and scream and be silly 

with them and I think they enjoy every moment of it,

just as much as I do.

Loving Rwanda, Loving Every Bit Of It.