Interviews and Blessings

Today we were supposed to meet up with Bonnie’s team for church, but since This is Africa, it didn’t work out the way we planned.  Jean Marie was going to drop them off at church by 9am and then come back and get us.  However, by 10:15 it was safe to assume that wasn’t going to happen.  Skip finally called and said their church was an hour away so we told him not to send Jean Marie to get us. 

Caroline had sermon pod casts on her computer from Rock Harbor so we listened to an Advent one on hope.  At first I was kind of unsure about it because he was talking about the birth of Jesus and the people of the Bible that were waiting for his birth, but then he transitioned to the difference between wishes and hope.  It was actually really good. 

He explained that a wish means that we are in control.  We say what and how much we want.  We put together a list of wishes, but nothing will ever measure up and therefore we will always be disappointed.   Hope is beyond wishes.  It is focused on a promise that we will never fully understand.  We have to learn to let go of wishes and start hoping.  God has been faithful to us in the past and he will be faithful to us in the future.  Many of us though, look to our past and think of all the bad things that have happened and wonder where God was in those situations and therefore we have a hard time having hope.  Having hope means that we are trusting in something that is way beyond our imagination and comprehension.  We have to learn to fully trust God in order to have hope.  We always have problems when we lean towards what we wish for, versus leaning towards who we hope in.  We will not get what we wish for, but when we hope in Christ we will be put in a place we never imagined.  Wishes are limited, but hope is limitless.  You cannot give God your wish list and you cannot be a Christian because of what WE get out of it.  Jesus came God’s way, not our way.  Elizabeth and Zachariah had hope and then they had John the Baptist, Mary and Joseph had hope, Simeon even had hope and was kept alive until he saw the baby Jesus, even Anna got to see him.  They all had hope and they were blessed by God.  They did not get what the wished for (Joseph and Mary wanting to marry and then have a baby, Zachariah not believing Elizabeth would get pregnant because they were so old) but they hoped.  We have to learn to wait for Jesus and he will come in ways we never expected.  You have to ask God where we need to change and how we can learn to hope.  We have to be open to God.  He does not disappoint because God has poured out his love for us. 

 

It really makes you think about all the things that we wish for instead of hope for.  How many of us actually sit and wish that our lives were different, we had more money, we had a better job, and better spouse, a new car, etc.  We all sit and wish for things.  But how many of us actually have hope?  How many of us actually realize the difference between hope and wishes?  I never really did.  I knew they were different, but after hearing this message I realize that there is a big difference.  Hoping is waiting on God.  Wishing is waiting upon ourselves.  When we wish, we ask ourselves to make it happen.  When we hope, we ask for God to make it happen.  But God never makes it happen the way we expect.  He goes beyond our imagination as if to say, see I told you that I could not only do it, but I could do it in a way you could not have imagined.  It is like my trip to Rwanda.  I had expectations of what would happen and how my experience would be, but once again the Lord showed his mighty power and showed me way more than I had anticipated.  My trip here was full of life lessons that I never expected to learn.  Some were lessons he had been trying to teach me for a while but I never grasped until now.  Others are new lessons and new desires of hope for future things.  He is sovereign and mighty and works in mysterious ways.

So after our “church service” the girls went back to Bourbon, but I just couldn’t do it again so I went to the Serena and met Steve K., Shawn, and Cameron (Relevant Mag) for lunch.  I helped Shawn make some phone calls to build a data base of local hotels/guest houses for future trips.  I finally got my expense report together which was such a relief.  Apparently the girls finally met up with Bonnie’s team for dinner at Bourbon.  I didn’t go though.  Shawn and I were helping Cameron set up for his interview with Rick.  He was doing a pod cast and video taping it so we helped him record it.  Unfortunately Cameron didn’t get a chance to ask all the questions he wanted to but he will get another chance on the way to Kenya.  Hearing Pastor Rick talk about the PEACE plan and Purpose Driven Life you really see the passion in why he does these things.  It is not because HE wants credit or attention.  It is not because he is trying to make himself be a celebrity or a world pastor, but it is because he has a love for people and because he has an incredible love and relationship with the Lord.  The Holy Spirit moves him and God calls him to do things, and it is not Rick doing these things but the Lord that is using him as an outlet to get His work done.  Which is pretty cool to be able to  see things like that.  Pastor Rick has a great deal of influence but it is not his own influence that he is using.  It is God that is shaping nations and people and churches, Pastor Rick just happens to be a tool that God works through. 

After Cameron’s interview Pastor Rick told Shawn how awesome he is and made a joke that Shawn is his replacement.  He is training him to take over one day.  It was funny but a very nice compliment to the work that Shawn is doing not only over here in Rwanda, but also in his position in the church.

So Cameron, Shawn and I had dinner there and then Cameron was going to interview us for his pod cast as well, but he was had to leave with the Fox documentary crew to visit some local Rwandese music and record it.  So Shawn did the interview since they are rooming together at the Serena and I went home to bed.  

It was another amazing and productive day in Kigali and I am so happy for the opportunities that I get to experience here.  God has been so gracious to me and I would not be able to do any of this if it wasn’t first and foremost for God’s divine blessing, my parents support, everyone the contributed to helping me get here, and all of your prayers.  So thank you!  Words cannot express my gratitude towards all of you!