Seeing you work

Knowing that time is somewhat relative in certain parts of the world, and knowing we had to be back to our guest house before 6pm or the nuns would lock the door and give us all a switching and send us to bed without dinner; we decided to start the film at 4pm. This gave us about two hours to finish the fifty minute film and still be able to tear down and make the 20 minute drive.

We set-up the screen and projector around 2:30pm and of course our van full of American kids drew the expected crowd of people who I still haven’t figured out where they must be going, but they always stop and just stare. I guess wherever they were going wasn’t that important anyway.

So we tell the crowd that at 4pm we’ll start the film, they scatter to run home or on their way. The van takes the team back to the guesthouse and I am left with two nationals at the empty church to wait for the crowds. I suppose I didn’t know what to expect really, the church sat empty, quiet and still during the next moments. I had a few minutes to read so I got out my most recent book and began reading again about the “call” to missions that some people must have and others must not.

It always bugged me hearing people say they were called to one place or the other, I remember hearing all sorts of missionaries and people saying they received the call of God to missions when they were whatever age. I don’t discount that or doubt that it’s probably happened. Maybe I just feel left out sometimes that I’ve never experienced something like that. Did I miss the phone call? Maybe I haven’t checked my email recently. Or maybe it’s that the call comes, but there’s too many other voices that drown out His voice.

Then I continued reading about how missions is somewhat unevenly balanced. There are hundreds of churches and missionaries in lots of countries, except where they are needed the most. We send groups and teams to all sorts of countries that already have established churches and heavy populations of Christians. The goal of missions should be to bring in new cultures and people groups to worshipping God. Missions exists in the world today because worship of Him does not. What am I doing today that will bring about Christ’s return to the earth?

So at about ten ‘til four I looked out again across the empty room, I guess we’ll be missing dinner tonight if we’re going to have to wait for people to show up. I suppose even if just a few people come, that’s who God wanted to be there.

Then I looked out through the barred glassless windows, and here they came. Just a handful at first, the school kids came running barefooted along the dusty road; it’s that same red dirt that I’ve been trying desperately to scrub out of my t-shirts. They came running towards the church some carrying schoolbooks and some Books of Hope. A few stood at the door, the pastor waved them in and they raced for the front seats. That’s not bad I thought, we’ve got about thirty kids who’ll be… then more came, and more, and more. The boys all wearing tan shirts, the girls all wearing blue dresses, all school uniforms. Their teachers had not only dismissed them a little early, they had also accompanied many of them to the church. The room soon began to fill with noise and smells and sights of hundreds of children’s faces and feet and hands and the empty quiet of the church was replaced by a joyful expectancy of the unknown. Their eyes locked onto the big white screen in front of them as the images flashed.

I watched God work tonight, I saw Him fill a room full to overflowing, I saw Him bring kids and adults to the windows of the church to watch a film about the greatest love story ever written. I saw children shocked at how Jesus was treated; I heard them cheer when the tomb was found empty. Over 1200 people were at the church tonight, over 1200 kids were told in their language that God loves them and can be their father. I watched God work.

This evening I watched the sunset over the Rwanda countryside. It blazed its reds, oranges and yellows across the deepening blue sky. Clouds showed off their form under the colors. I sat and realized that it will never set on this day again, ever. The sun will only rise once a day and set once that same day, never to happen again. During those twelve hours what did I do with my time? Did I value the moments I was able to tell the children that they are valued and loved? Did I make the most of every moment? Did I answer the “call” to missions and follow God’s leading?

I want to go where there is no guarantee of success. I want to make a trail where there is none, I want to see God work where our human means fail. I want to learn to not even try my own ways, but to trust to His. I want to see You work.


Thanks for reading.