A Whole New World And a Great Old Church

My wife and I recently traveled from Nairobi, Kenya to attend the 10th anniversary service of the church in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda. The Lord sent us to plant the church there in 1997. We were the only two and we didn't know the language. That was quite an adventure.

Our trip back to Kigali for the 10th anniversary celebration was quite another adventure. We traveled by bus, van, taxi and motorcycle and sprinted through the pedestrian traffic of Kampala, Uganda just to reach Kigali.

Here are some lessons that encouraged me, which I hope may encourage others as well. My thoughts are framed by the lyrics to the song “A Whole New World.”

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:17,18

 

 

Our journey to Kigali and back to Nairobi was indeed a ride. It may not be described as a magic carpet ride, but it was a ride to remember. It was a 66-hour round trip from Nairobi by road (for 20 hours of fellowship in Kigali). We switched from one means of transport to another, taking a variety of buses, taxis, and vans, lugging our baggage and bringing our 5-year-old son along with us. It was exhausting and I got sick. At one point the bus we were in had an accident with an on-coming truck (though thankfully no-one was hurt).

 

God wanted to show us something. He wasn’t saying “I can show you the world” so much as “I can show you the church.” It was the anticipation of seeing the church that God had graciously chosen us to plant that kept us going on our journey even at those points on the 66-hour haul when the strain of it all tempted us to turn back and retreat towards the comfort of Nairobi.

 

God was saying, “Look at the nation of Rwanda and watch – and be utterly amazed. For I have done something in your days that you would not believe even if you were told.” Habakkuk 1:5 paraphrased

A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view
No one to tell us no
Or where to go
Or say we're only dreaming

A whole new world
A dazzling place I never knew
But when I'm way up here
It's crystal clear
That now I'm in a whole new world with you
Now I'm in a whole new world with you

In a sense, it’s whole new church. It’s not the group of 4 people who sat around a table at our first “service.” It was 115 men, women and children, with a great enthusiasm for being Christians, and a carnival atmosphere to mark the milestone occasion.

 

Times like this are essential. They allow us to pause and take stock, breathe in and internalize how God is continuing to work and how he still has a great plan to use each of us greatly.

 

It was a fantastic point of view from which to see the evidence of the heroic efforts of all who have led the Kigali church in the last 10 years and the faithful disciples who remain a beacon of hope for their nation.

 

It is clear that God has a purpose and plan for the Kigali church. It is clear that God has a purpose and plan for every single one of us.

 

“For I know the plans I have for you … plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 “I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.” John 15:16

Unbelievable sights
Indescribable feeling
Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling
Through an endless diamond sky

A whole new world
Don't you dare close your eyes
A hundred thousand things to see
Hold your breath - it gets better
I'm like a shooting star
I've come so far
I can't go back to where I used to be

 

Our feelings were indescribable. How do you articulate what we felt at seeing people we’d reached out to and worked with and seeing people who they in turn reached out to and brought to the Lord. How do you put in words what we felt at experiencing a new generation of leaders, eager to learn, hungry to grow, and ready to take the church forward? This was evidence of God’s power. This was the source of our joy.

 

It was fulfilling to take our 6 year-old son with us. He’d only heard about the church from his parents and seen pictures. Now he, too, could breathe the incredible air of fellowship in Rwanda.

 

There were a hundred thousand things to see. Rwanda is known as the “Land Of A Thousand Hills” and the goal is for it to become the Land Of Hundreds Of Thousands Of Disciples. We saw what the church has become and by faith we saw, in the eyes of the bright, bubbly and buoyant young disciples, what the church will grow to be.

A whole new world
Every turn a surprise
With new horizons to pursue
Every moment red-letter
I'll chase them anywhere
There's time to spare
Let me share this whole new world with you

A whole new world
That's where we'll be
A thrilling chase
A wondrous place
For you and me.

 

 

There are indeed new horizons for the church to pursue. There are towns to reach where we do not yet have a presence. There are people to love who are hurting and yearning for compassion. There are need to be met and souls to be saved. There are relationships to be repaired. There is light and love and life to spread.

 

“Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:37,38

 

We need to chase our dreams. We need to chase and embrace God’s dream for us. We need to have, here on earth as a result of the disciples’ work produced by faith, labor prompted by love and endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, a whole new world, a wondrous place for all.

Only one question thus remains: Will you be poured out like wine upon the altar for Christ, will you be broken like bread to feed the hungry, will you be so one in Him that He can do just as He will, will you be light and life and love His word fulfill?

See the report of the Kigali 10th anniversary service in the Africa: East Africa section of DisciplesToday.org menu.

www.icoceastafricachurches.org