For quite a few years, I was convinced that Africa wasn’t for me. Sure, I was moved by the stories shown in short clips during World Help presentations, but Africa wasn’t “my” mission field. God had called me to other parts of the world, I was sure. Entirely convinced that I had no interest in visiting Africa, I ignored the first ten emails about an educational trip to Rwanda with my school’s Psychology department. Until one day, I saw yet another Rwanda email in my inbox, and I felt God say, clear as day, “Apply.” Thinking I was crazy, I put it off, but the feeling that I should at least apply grew stronger. I convinced myself that I would apply to appease this strong feeling, but surely there was no way I would ever get accepted. By this point, the deadline was in two days, so I hurriedly got all my documents together, hastily wrote the short essays, and scanned everything in to be sent to the leader of the trip.
Fast forward about a month or so, and I had almost entirely forgotten about this trip. Until an email came in that I had been accepted onto the team. So naturally, I freaked out. After a few meltdowns and extreme nerves about the trip, I touched down in Rwanda with my team in November 2015. From the moment we stepped out of the airport, the manager and a few employees of the hotel we were staying at met us to take our bags and give us a flower and a piece of candy, to remind us of the beauty and sweetness of their country. That set the tone for the whole trip.
The people of Rwanda touched my heart in so many ways. They were incredibly welcoming and loving. They truly showed us love and grace, and it was clear that it was not only because we were tourists. They were so trusting… which is so opposite to American culture. They trust you until you give them a reason not to trust you; in America, we don’t trust anyone until they “prove” they can be trusted.
The people we met in Rwanda were also much more focused on interpersonal relationships than we are in American culture. They view themselves based on their relationships with other people, not just on their “individuality” that is so celebrated in America. Although it’s great to be your own person, the people of Rwanda seemed much more fulfilled than many people I know in America.
Every single day since my trip in November I have thought about the sweet people of Rwanda that I met. I thought that we were going to serve them, but instead, they taught me so much about having a servant’s heart and loving everyone like brothers and sisters. I thought that Africa wasn’t a place that I was “called” to go, but I was so, so wrong. I am so thankful for my time in Africa, and I truly hope to go back one day! Never assume that you know where God is calling you, or where you belong. He might just surprise you!
