2 Weeks and Counting...

In less than two weeks our team from Apostles will be on the ground in Rwanda, tired from jetlag and trying to make the most of our incredibly short trip to visit our sister church, the Gikomera Parish. We’ve been preparing for this trip for several months now, yet still, true preparation time has seemed elusive. Sure, we’ve spent time working out all of the logistics and all of the things that HAVE to get done in order for us to physically make it to Rwanda, but the more important work – the work of preparing my heart and my mind for what I will see and hear and experience, for preparing myself for the relationships that will be developed (within our team and with our sister church) - that work has been too easy to put off. Books and movies about the Rwandan genocide and the incredible reconciliation efforts that are now taking place remain unread & unwatched. Articles that need to be read about short term mission trips and about church partnerships between western and African churches are still on my to do list. Prayer for this trip – for God’s presence and protection, for our sister church relationship, for eyes to see and hearts to comprehend what the Lord is doing in and through this partnership – remain unspoken on my lips. I feel like I’ve done the ‘necessary’ stuff, but haven’t yet done the truly important work of preparing for this trip. And the danger is that if all I do is prepare logistically, but not emotionally and, most importantly, spiritually for this trip then I will make it to Rwanda and I will have a great experience, but I will be in real danger of missing what the Lord wants to do in and through me on this trip. It’s amazing, but simply acknowledging that this hasn’t happened, as it should have, feels like a good first step. I feel my heart being drawn towards the Lord in acknowledging my weakness and failure in this. It leads me to want more.

To begin heart preparation, I want to share with you some thoughts about our team verse Colossians 3:12-17 (see below).

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

- Colossians 3:12-17

This passage is too long to share all of my thoughts on, but here are a few:

This is a very famous passage of scripture that is often read at weddings. And as appropriate as this passage is for encouraging a new husband and wife for their lives together in marriage, it is equally as fitting for our team as we prepare for this journey to Rwanda. We’ve spent a lot of time talking about our inclination as Americans to have an agenda, a purpose, a task to accomplish in our going. Yet this isn’t the purpose for this trip. We’re not going to ‘do’ anything. We’re going to simply ‘be with’ our brothers and sisters – to learn from them and encourage them and to try and understand what partnership looks like. The vagueness and inefficiency of this has already caused us to struggle – and Paul’s words are such an encouragement in that struggle. We are called to be compassionate and kind and humble and gentle and patient towards one another. These stand in stark contrast to our natural inclinations towards efficiency and productivity and ‘get out of my way so that I can accomplish this task that I’ve come to do’… And Paul reminds us that we are called towards these more godly, loving character traits because we are dearly loved by God. We don’t have to produce anything or prove our worth to make this trip worthwhile – it is worthwhile because God has dearly loved us and He has dearly loved these brothers and sisters in Rwanda and He calls us to love one another. It’s not that efficiency and projects are wrong, it’s just that they can’t be the foundation of our relationship or else we’ll always feel like we are the superior party in this relationship – coming to save the day with our projects (which obviously isn’t true and honestly isn’t helpful). So we are going – not to ‘do’ but simply to ‘be with’ – to grow in unity and in partnership with one another. We go to teach one another and to sing praises to God together. And we do it all in the name of Jesus giving thanks to God our Father through Him.

I want to close this thought with two prayers from the prayer book. The first is for unity within the body of Christ (and particularly in this case for unity between our team and the people of Gikomera), the second is one of self-dedication. As I move closer towards this departure date, I want to give myself more and more into prayer for this time and into God’s hands to use me as he will.

Prayer for Unity

Almighty Father, whose blessed Son before his passion prayed
 for his disciples that they might be one, as you and he are one: 
Grant that your Church, being bound together in love and 
obedience to you, may be united in one body by the one Spirit,
 that the world may believe in him whom you have sent, your
 Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in
 the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Prayer of Self-Dedication

Almighty and eternal God, so draw my heart to you, so
 guide my mind, so fill my imagination, so control my will, that I may be wholly yours, utterly dedicated unto
 you; and then use me, I pray, as you will, and always 
to your glory and the welfare of your people; through my Lord
 and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.