I must admit I am embarrassed....you see I promised in April to continue to blog about my life changing journey to Rwanda in February and March of 2020. When I wrote that blog post I was on quarantine having returned from traveling through New York and Europe at the beginning of the pandemic. The nonprofit thrift store I manage was closed temporarily and I had loads of time on my hands. And then....my pastor had us listed as essential services with the state (we provide resources financial and material for other nonprofits who serve the vulnerable). That's when my life got crazy! We became the only 2 thrift stores accepting donations in the MatSu Valley and Anchorage area. We went from praying for donations to being extremely overwhelmed. We've just now recovered and life at the thrift store is starting to feel a little less stressful. God is reminding me that I need to finish what I started and that this story needs to be told not only for my benefit. This missions trip was monumental for me, absolutely lifechanging.
In my last blog post, I mentioned the pull...the draw...the opportunity of a lifetime and the fulfillment of a dream to visit the continent of Africa and the nation of Rwanda. I shared a bit about the fundraising aspect and now I will share with you a bit about the spiritual and emotional parts of my journey.
As the finances began to roll in and I knew I was heading to Rwanda, I began to listen to books on audible about Rwanda and watch youtube videos about the history, food and culture of the land. I had a play list to listen to while I mountain climbed on the treadmill at the Alaska Club. I often mountain climbed to the song Million Voices by Wyclef Jean a song I have cried to and prayed through many times over.
A great book I listened to in my preparations is As We Forgive (stories of reconciliation from Rwanda) by CatharineClaire Larson, Larson collected stories of forgiveness that aided in the process of the restoration of the nation of Rwanda following the genocide. It was in listening to this book that I felt the Holy Spirit began to convict me of the people and hurts in my life that I still needed to forgive. If someone can forgive their neighbor for killing their entire family or standing by and watching them be raped then I can forgive too. And forgiveness was definitely something I personally was struggling with as I was preparing for this trip. It's been a rough few years for me and I had so many offenses in my heart I didn't know even where to begin. I had the tools readily available to work on the issues of my heart but just couldn't seem to do it. Every Fresh Start book I began I honestly just felt like I was just going through the motions, checking a step off in my "healing" process. The Holy Spirit used the stories in As We Forgive to soften my heart, to challenge my spirit and to pave the way for a supernatural work that God was going to do in me. I knew even before I left Alaska that God had something big for me in Rwanda. In the coming blog posts, I cannot wait to tell you what God did in me and through me. To share some stories about the amazing people I encountered, how God used teachers and prophets to call me up and out in my giftedness, how God provided a little girl to radically heal my heart, a village bar full of men to lose my tongue and release the evangelist in me and the opportunity to preach a message straight from of my heart to a village on a mountain.
And so the journey of a life time begins! I love to take pictures of my feet in places of promise and significance. In my story you will see photos of my feet often this is because years ago, the Lord promised me that he would give me beautiful feet "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"....and then later he promised me new shoes, a new calling...and again later a word that was given to Moses and then again to Joshua "I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses". And so now you know the why.
Ted Stevens Airport, Anchorage, Alaska Feb 25th 2020
My dear friend, Jenna, dropped me off at the airport as my hubby had started a new job and was working in Talkeetna that day. The flight was delayed due to mechanical issues and I knew if we didn't take off on time, I would miss my connecting flight in Seattle and then in NYC and my team in Kigali! The stress was real but many prayers were lifted up on my behalf. There were 5 people on my flight from Anchorage trying to make it to NYC and the pilot made sure that the plane was held for us in Seattle. I had let them know that I was on my way to Rwanda and would miss all of my connecting flights and God made a way! I landed in NYC in plenty of time!
JFK, New York
Above are my feet at JFK in New York. I was feeling sentimental. Next stop for me was Frankfurt, Germany. I'm a genealogist and I love history. I'm deeply tied to American history as I am descended from many American Colonists. I come from only a few more recent immigrants, one of those was a my German Great-Great Grandfather Karl Christ Setzer. He arrived in New York in the 1880's and settled in Ohio marrying a Lithuanian immigrant and raising my great-grandma in a German speaking home. Here I was, leaving New York and landing in Germany. I knew I wasn't going to get the opportunity to leave the airport but it felt extra special to land in my first European country and have it be the one my last immigrant ancestor left behind.
Frankfurt, Germany
It was a short flight from Frankfurt to Brussels and I was sat next to a wonderful European couple who was very interested in Alaska. I entertained them and invited them to visit Alaska one day. Finally we landed in Brussels and boarded my last flight to Kigali, Rwanda! On this flight of a lifetime, I had an entire middle row to myself, aside from a an older beautiful African woman at the far end who seemed equally happy to keep to herself. It was glorious, 4 or 5 seats between us. Finally a chance to sit and think. To pray and seek God in preparation for the ministry ahead. He had been telling me to get ready. To deal some issues of the heart. That he didn't want anything in the way of what he was going to do in and through me. So I grabbed a Fresh Start processing book and got busy trying to process a major person I needed to forgive. I sat there, just filled in the pages, one by one, almost like an emotionless robot. Finally God told me to cut it out. That I was rushing it. That I wasn't really doing anything productive. And so I did. I set my papers down as the stewardess delivered my dinner.
My row mate and I ate in silence enjoying a very boring meal of meat and potato, cabbage slaw, a roll and cookies. Except me, I didn't eat sugar so I planned to skip the cookies. And then the thought crossed my mind. Give your neighbor your cookies, Maggie. So I was brave and motioned for her to take my cookies, flashing her a shy but large smile. She took them, smiled and began to speak to me in ENGLISH! I guess I didn't expect it because I was headed to a nation where English is not usually spoken by the older generations. We began to talk, she shared with me the most wonderful things about herself.
My row mate was born in Rwanda. She lived in a refugee camp in Uganda as a small child and then returned to Rwanda with her family before the genocide. After the troubles she found herself living as a refugee in Italy. She went to school, married an Italian man and had 2 beautiful children. I told her my husbands family immigrated from Italy to the USA in the 1860's and that he is very proud of his Italian heritage and that we hope to visit Italy one day. With this tid bit, she asked me if I had ever tested my dna with one of those American dna companies. I said yes and she asked what I learned. I told her that I am mostly European and Eastern European but that I had been pleasantly surprised to find that I am a little less that 2% African. To which, with bright eyes and a big smile, she replied "Welcome home!" My eyes teared up. I don't know my African ancestor (a story for another post) and her giant welcome home was something I will never forget her for. In my heart, all along in preparation for this trip...I felt that I was going "home" and I couldn't explain why. My new friend continued to tell me her story. That she goes "home" to Rwanda every few years (she has no family left there). She finds children in small villages that cannot afford an education and pays for their education. She has also multiple times over saved Rwandan children without access to proper medical care by bringing them back to Italy and housing them until they are better. She and her husband once brought a child with cancer into their home and raised her into adulthood. She is like a child to them to this day. I'd never been so happy to give cookies to anyone. I will never regret reaching across that row to gift them to the most amazing woman. Cookies for a story. Cookies for a welcome home. Cookies for a momentary friendship with my first Rwandan. When the plane landed we said goodbye and I knew we'd never see each other again but I still think of her today. I pray she and her family are home and healthy in Italy untouched by the pandemic, so that one day soon she can fly to Rwanda, provide for the education of children that need it and help them get the specialized medical care they need.
We landed in Kigali, Rwanda and it was the first nation on my journey screening for COVID-19. They took our temperatures, asked us if we'd traveled to China and if we were sick. It seemed a little overboard at the time. It didn't happen in JFK, Frankfurt or Brussels. No one seemed to care, it didn't seem like there was anything to worry about until Rwanda. I picked up my suitcases from baggage claim and headed out to find my team. Finally on African soil. Finally in the nation of Rwanda. In disbelief at the Goodness of God and my feet finally in my land of promise.
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