Africa 2022 Recap
Author: Amy Wolfe
April 28, 2022
As I reflect on our trip to Rwanda, I find it hard to believe that it has been nearly two months since our return. This trip was my fourth trip, and third trip that my husband Ed and I had the honor to lead. Each trip has been uniquely different, with God's work evident in everything we experience.
The joy and peace that we witness in Rwanda is like nothing I have ever experienced. In Rwanda, the average wage in 2020 was $160.00 per month. Less than half the population are connected to the national power grid, and only 57% of the population has access to safe drinking water within 30 minutes from their home. Thankfully, fetching water is a common chore that children often help their family do. Despite all of this, they are the happiest children of God you will meet. It’s so humbling as an American, as it truly puts our lives and the importance we place on material things into perspective.
Another way God has taken bad and turned it to good is the genocide of Rwanda in 1994. This April marks 28 years since nearly one million Rwandans were killed within 100 days. It is hard to fathom that a country the size of Maryland experienced such rage and hatred within such a short timeframe. Today, through faith, forgiveness and reconciliation there is no more segregation but rather harmony within the country. A sense of peace that can only be God.
We had the opportunity this trip to visit a reconciliation village where a victim of the genocide and their perpetrator came together and told their stories. By the grace of God these families now are neighbors, truly loving each other as God calls us to do. God has even brought the son of the man together in marriage with the victim’s daughter. The only explanation for such reconciliation is God. I think there are so many lessons to be learned from the history of Rwanda, certainly benefiting so many that are in turmoil.
The past few years we have started our trip in our focus community of Rubavu. It’s a breathtaking three-hour drive from the capital city of Kigali to Rubavu, near the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is a vibrant, tropical area with lush rolling hills, an aroma from the eucalyptus trees fills the air and the cool breeze coming off of lake Kivu plays into its beauty. We are truly ingrained within the church community and consider them family. During our time in Rubavu, we worshiped with our sponsor children and families, served a nice meal and spent time connecting, being “Set in Family.”
Our team, our sponsor children, and the wonderful sponsorship team in Rubavu spent time advocating for children at the beach on Lake Kivu. We had a goal of seeing twelve lives changed through sponsorship but God blew that vision out of the water. Before we ever made it to the beach 12 children had been sponsored, mostly delivered by casting our nets on social media, what a blessing. Africa New Life worked quickly to add eight more high-risk children to our advocating party and added them to our Creek page. Through the power of prayer and God’s greatness shortly after returning we had over 22 children sponsored. Not only did our Creek family sponsor children, we had folks from CA, WA, MN, NJ, FL and Texas that were led to sponsor.
Africa New Life celebrates 21 years of lives being changed this year with over 11,000 children being sponsored. Africa New Life exists to transform lives and communities by preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and acts of compassion. Sponsorship looks at the whole child and their need for education, strong community, a healthy body, and a growing faith. Sponsorship not only impacts the lives of these children by meeting their physical, educational and basic medical needs, sponsorship also meets their spiritual needs. The Creek Church has over 170 children in Rwanda that are sponsored, changing the lives of their family and yours forever. There is not one person from our team that didn’t feel like their lives have been forever changed because of the experience of meeting their children and the mission of our trip.
There are so many examples that I could talk about in the ways God is working in Rwanda. The women’s programs that are offered to equip women to learn a skill to provide for their families as they also grow in their faith. Africa New Life also has a school to teach and build-up Pastors by attending Africa College of Theology or ACT. Africa New Life also just opened two new churches in rural communities. This allows others to chance hear the gospel, to experience community and give the children of those areas the opportunity to attend school through the sponsorship program. Through prayer, obedience to God’s plans and His faithfulness to His promises these things have happened.
I struggle to speak about my love for Rwanda and our children there without becoming emotional. My tears are not tears of sadness but rather tears of gratefulness and joy for what God has shown and changed in me. The team would say that our hearts have been forever changed through this experience and we would encourage all to pray about joining us for our next trip in March of 2023.
If you would like to connect and learn more about child sponsorship or our 2023 mission trip to Rwanda, please email me at amy@thecreefw.com.
For more information about Africa New Life visit africanewlife.org
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