Rwanda: The Lesson of Listening
We were pumped.
It was our day to play with 150 preschoolers in Mbabe. We planned 3 hours of several different activities. So far in the trip we hadn't really put our love into action - physically serving or blessing people - so this day couldn't come fast enough. We were excited to love on the kids!
But evidently our plans broke down in communication somewhere. Because when we arrived, we were ushered into special seats for a 3 hour long ceremony/program honoring our visit. In the schedule was 1 hour of playtime. We were disheartened.
We had learned early on in this trip that we were guests of honor everywhere we went. Which normally meant ceremonies and speeches from everyone and their uncle. It was quite humbling. This day would be no different. The programming included speeches from the town pastor, the town officer, the donor of the land for the school, the parents of the students, and unbeknownst-to-him, a sermon from Pastor Scott on our team. At this point I was thinking, "This is insane! We came to bless you! Not to be honored. Let us bless your kids!!!"
Rewind: 7 Days Earlier...
Pastor Jeff called me days before we left for Rwanda saying 'Someone felt they heard something from God for your team. They're trustworthy and I want to share it with you: You will bless others more by your listening than by your talking.'
Didn't make much sense to me, especially considering I was leading a communication training where I was going to essentially talk all day to bless Rwandan pastors, but I trusted Jeff. Fast forward back to the day at Mbabe... We sat there disappointed. Eager to serve these kids. Then these words popped into my mind.
Listening blesses them.
So we listened. Then played for a little longer than an hour. And listened some more. As a do-er, someone always wanting to be active and productive, sitting and listening was crazy hard. Especially when I felt like so many people from home supported us to come because of the work we were going to be doing. But the truth is we spent far more hours listening than doing on this trip.
-A three hour church service programmed with special parts just for us.
-An hour meeting after church to learn about ways the church is trying to confront poverty
-With a widows and orphans community - where a woman shared her testimony of surviving the genocide after a bullet killed the baby on her back but not her. She showed her scars for the first time ever (19 years later), which were horrendous, but testified of Gods goodness. We were told before coming that our presence was validating their pain and experiences in a way, since many Rwandans felt abandoned by the rest of the world during the genocide. Wow.
-At the school in Mbabe - from leaders in the community and grateful parents.
-Touring a genocide memorial with a survivor, Ben, who became a good friend to many (he owned the guest house where we stayed and started the widow and orphan ministry).
-Spending a few more hours listening to Ben's story on our last day. It was emotional but significant way to end the trip. This is Ben!
Although it was challenging at times, in Rwanda we learned listening to others can bless them perhaps better than any act of service we could have planned. So that's what we did.
Listened with full sincere hearts.