Today I attended an all-day meeting as training and preparation for my first mission trip in Kigali, Rwanda, Africa. This will be my first time going to Africa and my first time participating on a mission trip. Wow! What a mission we have… to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the Rwanda people.
From what I learned today, they used to be 95% Catholic before the genocide in 1994 and now they are about 62% Roman Catholic. In addition, there are now Evangelicals and Muslims. Unfortunately, many people think you’re either Catholic or Christian not realizing that Catholicism is simply one denomination of the entire Christian church. We serve the same God. We follow Jesus Christ. What I want to make sure people understand is that it doesn’t really matter what church you attend or what denomination you belong to. What truly matters is if you have a personal relationship with Jesus. Do you have Jesus in your heart? Have you made a personal decision to follow Christ the rest of your earthly life? Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died on the cross to save us, and that He forgives our sins? Do you believe you are a sinner and accept Jesus as your Savior? Those are the tough yet simple questions we need to ask ourselves.
My personal contribution to this trip is to teach twice at the pastors and leaders’ conference and four times at the women’s conference on the topics of leadership and discipleship. I am looking forward to what God has in store for us on this trip. Even though we go to serve others and to bring the Gospel to that nation, our lives will be changed as well.
They told us the best way to prepare is to not have any expectations of any kind but to instead, be open to what God will do through us on this trip. We need to be open, go with the flow, and be flexible with the entire experience.
I will do my best to journal the trip and will share it when I return. The trip is scheduled for Aug. 5-16, 2016. God came through for me and I was able to raise $5,300 up to now so I’m ready to go! (My goal was $5,000.) Fifty seven families supported me financially in order for me to go on this trip. Thank you!
Please keep me in your prayers and the entire team but, just as important, please pray for the people in Rwanda to accept Jesus and give their lives to Christ after hearing the message of Salvation. That’s what matters!