As a former accountant, I decided to try to count up all the new things I experienced while on our big adventure to Rwanda.  I think there are too many to count!  But let me tell you about a few.  First, it’s common when you arrive at your hotel in Rwanda to be greeted with a “welcome juice”—what a nice surprise!  But also that the juice was a combination of tomato and watermelon—that was really new!  We ate a lot of new foods, saw a lot of new scenery, met a lot of new people, and did a lot of things I never did before.  Some of which I’d like to repeat again—like seeing an elephant in the wild.  Some of which I hope to never have to do again—like washing my backpack in the shower because someone in front of us on the plane threw up.  Even at its best, travel is always a mixed bag!

My consistent prayer before we left for Rwanda was, “Lord give us a safe trip.”  But my second petition was just as earnest.  “Lord, help us to be open to whatever you have for us in Rwanda.”  It’s been my experience that, every time I travel, whether on vacation or for missions, God has a surprise for me.  A little moment of joy, a little moment of assurance, as if God is saying, “See Dorry, I am right here with you.  And I’ve been waiting for you to get to this special place to remind you.”  A few years ago we starting using the term, “glory sightings” at Lima to commemorate those special times when we saw God at work or got glimpses of heaven on earth.  One of our key tasks as we mature in the faith is to heighten our senses to recognize when God is speaking to us or trying to get our attention, so we don’t miss out on the “glory sightings” that can encourage and energize us in our walk with Christ.

As a former accountant, I am tempted to count up these glory sightings.  But they don’t lend themselves to counting.  Only to experiencing.  On our first day in Kigali, we had a guide who took the five Lima travelers around the city.  He introduced himself and helped us get situated in the Land Cruiser, and then gave us on overview of our itinerary for the day.  His name is Oscar, and he said, “I hate to start with something so sad, but I was eleven years old when the genocide happened in 1994. I am the only person left from my family.”  Right away in that vehicle, I felt the presence of God, coming close to Oscar in his continued suffering.  But I also felt God’s presence as the day went on, and we got to hear more of Oscar’s story, and see how God’s grace has led him and Rwanda through the darkest of times into resurrection.  I felt very privileged to get a glimpse of this redeeming work.  The whole day was a glory sighting of sorts.

That night, the rest of our mission team arrived from North Carolina.  The next morning, we all piled into a tour bus that would be our chariot for the next four days.  We headed north, to the Gicumbi District (which is akin to our county level of government).  We stopped at the county courthouse as it were, to meet the local officials.  One of Zoe Empowers cardinal rules is to engage local officials as partners in the work of caring for their people. There are many NGO’s, or non-government organizations, that have come to Rwanda since 1994 to provide aid.  But Zoe’s program is unique in that it focuses not on temporary relief, but on permanent empowerment.  The Rwandan government has lifted up Zoe as a model to other NGO’s and is working to help all outside programs become more focused on providing a hand-up instead of a hand-out.  A key to this is the private/public partnership, Zoe working with not only the local government’s blessing but also with their support, to be sure the right children are identified for the program, and that they are mentored and championed by local officials.

We used the bathrooms at the county building (normally I wouldn’t mention a bathroom break, but clean public rest rooms are not nearly as readily available in Rwanda as they are here, so it was noteworthy that they have bathrooms open to the public at each district building!).  We then headed to our first stop, a barber shop where three Zoe graduates work.  It was exciting to see Zoe graduates doing so well.  But we hadn’t come to meet them.  We had come to meet the fourth person working in the shop, a member of our Lift One Another Zoe group.  His name is Jean Claude, he is 23 years old, and he works as a hair dresser.  In Rwanda, children in school, both boys and girls, are required to keep their hair very short.  But as the young women age out of school, it is very common for them to have hair extensions braided into their hair.  Young women wear this style until after they are married.  Jean Claude was in the barber shop, braiding a client’s hair. The Zoe staff translated for us, and they told him that we were from Lima Church and were some of the people who were sponsoring his group.  We got to watch him work, and he shared with us some of his story.  Thanks to the support he has received from Zoe, and his own hard work, his younger brother is in school, they have secure housing and enough food, they have medical care, they have standing in the community.  Jean Claude even got out his phone and showed us a picture of his fiancé!  We took some instant camera pictures, and it was a very happy time.

As we were getting ready to leave, we asked if we could give him a hug.  He said yes, and I was surprised by how emotional it was when he hugged me.  It was a very long hug, with cheeks touches on one side, and then on the other.  I don’t think anyone has ever hugged me like that before.  But it makes sense.  At one point, Jean Claude said to me, “You are my parent.  You are my savior.” He wanted us to know that our sponsorship saved his life.  But in that moment, I felt like it wasn’t just Jean Claude speaking.  It was God who also had a message for us.  I think God wanted us to know, Lima’s sponsorship of the Lift One Another group didn’t just send money to some young people in rural Rwanda.  It sent hope.  It sent love.  It sent a new start.  It sent Jesus.  Our gift was the start of salvation for 27 families that God cares deeply about.

If that isn’t a glory sighting, I don’t know what is!

I have never before had a total stranger say to me, “You are my parent.”  And of course, we are not actual parents to the Zoe children.  But it made me think about the supportive foundation parents provide for their children.  When you are an orphan, or your parents are alive but are not able to be caregivers, you have to provide this supportive foundation for yourself. Which is of course impossible if you have to do it by yourself.  But the Zoe model groups kids together, so they immediately begin to cultivate this supportive foundation in community with others.  It provides them with training and tools.  It gives them a structure to help them achieve their dreams.  And it connects them to local officials and mentors.  The Zoe program reminds me of Emmanual, God with us.  It’s God, coming alongside humankind, and saying, let’s do this life thing together.  We went to Rwanda to celebrate all that our financial giving has done for the families in our empowerment group.  But we came home having received new insight into all we have received because of God’s grace.  God with us, saying let’s do this life thing together.  Which to me means, we get to experience God welcoming us.  Surprising us.  Befriending us.  Hugging us like he means it!  Filling and equipping and supporting us.

And then sending us out.

The writer of the book of Hebrews was writing to encourage people in the early church who had lost much because of their faith in Jesus.  The book contains the words, “we have” so many times!  In our scripture lessons today, we are reminded that we have always with us the word of God—the very Spirit of God—who is living, and active, and knows just what we need.  Nothing is hidden from the Spirit of God.  The Spirit is always at work, drawing us closer to God and closer to the life God has in mind for us.  Which means sometimes we will have to experience painful separation.  The word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword.  It penetrates.  It slices.  It pulls us away from everything that is not life-giving for us, gradually changing our attitudes and our actions.

One area of our lives the Spirit is at work is in how we use our money.  As Paul wrote to Timothy, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.  It’s not money itself that is evil.  It’s how attached we get to it.  It’s the ways we count it, and hoard it, and base our security and worth on it. Last week, our finance chair Larry Bame made a stewardship video, and he mentioned a study that asked people how much money they would need for peak happiness, and even multi-millionaires frequently said “double.”  I was shocked by that!  Of al the new things I heard and saw in the last two weeks, that new information was perhaps the most surprising.  Can you imagine, having over a million dollars to your name, and thinking that if you could only double your wealth, you’d be happier?

As a former accountant, I enjoy counting my money.  I enjoy keeping track of what we have, where it is, and where it goes.  But no money decision we ever made has made me happier than being hugged by Jean Claud and hearing him say, “You are my parent.  You are my savior.”  To be part of Lima’s sponsorship of the Lift One Another group in Rwanda is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.  Everywhere we went, the Zoe groups said thank you to us, over and over.  And I think God is grateful to us, too.  These are children God loves as much as God loves you and me.  God is very thankful for our generosity.

There’s so much more I’d like to tell you about our trip, so many other glory sightings I could share.  But for today let me close with one other event.  On the Monday of our trip, after spending four days visiting Zoe empowerment groups, we traveled east to Akagera National Park for a safari.  Our guides took us out on a short game drive on Monday afternoon, and then we spent the whole day Tuesday also doing a game drive.  The guides were very careful to manage our expectations and reminded us that this is not a zoo, the animals are free to be wherever they want to be in the park, and nothing is guaranteed.  So imagine my surprise when on Monday afternoon, all of a sudden we looked back and there was an elephant, coming out of the bush just a few feet from one of our two safari vehicles!  At first I thought it was fake, it looked so surreal.  But after getting my bearings, all I could do was stare in awe.  A male elephant, indulging in an afternoon snack, right in our midst.  The elephant, of course, did not say a word to us.  But I felt as if God were tapping me on the shoulder, saying, “Tell them I remember them. Tell Lima I am grateful for their support of the children in Rwanda.  Tell them I remember their sacrifices and their generosity and their giving.”  Our guide said seeing the elephant was a gift from God, and I agree.  I would even go further and say seeing the elephant was a message from God.  Welcoming us.  Surprising us.  Befriending us.  Filling us.

And then sending us out.  Sending us home, to spread the word about Zoe and hopefully help get more people to donate and support children in need.  Sending us home, to be part of our Lima church that cares so deeply about missions.  Sending us home, to one of the wealthiest nations in the world, to make choices about how we spend our money, informed by the poverty and need we have seen first hand. Sending us home, to be surprised in new ways, even in the midst of our familiar routines and places.

Thank you, Lima, for giving us the gift of traveling to Rwanda.  For the five people on the trip, this was a life-changing experience.  But we don’t want to be the only ones who are changed.  We want more Zoe kids to experience transformation.  And we want our church to be changed, to become even more committed to faithful giving so that Lima can do all the work God has in mind for us, to help Lima live into its dream of being a church family that cares about all families.

May we be a constant source of glory sightings.  Amen.