Passage 01- Going to Rwanda

I traveled to Rwanda on March 9, 2020 with my oldest daughter.  She has been working as a nurse at one of the top medical centers in the USA, in their cardiac unit.  My daughter had been to Rwanda exactly a year earlier, volunteering to serve as a nurse with a group from a college program.  When she heard that I would be going to Rwanda, she decided to join me.

When I returned from my previous mission trip to Kenya and Uganda in April of 2019, God began to work in my heart with a different strategy to use for future mission trips.  Instead of teaching to large groups of 150 to 200 people, my new strategy would be to organize intense teaching sessions for a small group of only 10 to 20 people.  And I would teach them all day, for 3 days or longer.  My desire was to make disciples of these people.

And the things that you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful people who will be able to teach others also. 2 Timothy 2:2 REV

This is the blueprint that Jesus Christ used throughout his earthly ministry.  And it is what our Lord Jesus Christ revealed to me that I needed to do with all of my ministry work going forward.

1. Find a handful of people who are ready to commit in service to our Lord Jesus Christ.  And spend lots of time teaching them the Word of God.  (Notice the word ‘faithful’ in 2 Timothy 2:2).
2. Focus on the youth.  When I say ‘youth,’ it doesn’t necessarily mean physical age.  I am referring to those who are young in their faith.  I am currently mentoring a 53-year old who is a new Christian.  I consider them as being ‘youth.’

Several months earlier I had explained to James my strategy for focusing on small groups.  He replied, “Josiah, that is the same vision God has given me for many years now.”

Guided by this strategy, James had arranged the meetings to be exactly what I had suggested.  He arranged for me to teach from 9:30 am until 2:30 pm each day, for 13 days.  With an hour lunch break.  I would teach at four different locations, to a small group of 15 and 20 people who were eager to hear the Word of God. 

Our flights to Rwanda went well, and we were greeted by our host, James around 7:30 pm, Rwanda time.  We drove to his house.  Not one to waste any time, I was scheduled to be teaching the Word of God at 9:00 am my first full day in Rwanda.  And thus the journey begins.

And they said to one another, “Did not our hearts burn within us as he was speaking to us on the road, as he was opening the scriptures to us?”

Luke 24:32 REV