Ever awoken under the gentle fabric of a mesquito net designed to discourage Malaria?  Ever observed hard working women learning to sew to avoid poverty and destitution? Ever been to a two-room "home" with dirt floors where a widow and her eight (8) children lived? Ever walked among the unmarked graves of more than 250,000 individuals (that's 2.5 sell out crowds at DK Royal Memorial Stadium)?  Ever stopped to consider God's svereignty and its impact on the atrocities like the Rwandan genocide which resulted in over one million deaths in only 100 days?  Ever been hugged by 120 orphans (each one) who were being redeemed by a program that provided food, shelter, love and attention, and one of the top five educations in the entire country? 

This summarizes Day two.  God has not forgotten Rwanda.  And he doesn't need Austin Bible to "rescue" it from its dark history and the poverty and destitution it faces--even today.  To the contrary, instead the amazing rescue plan is He allows us to particiate in his merciful and perfect plan to reach His people for Him.  A wonderful plan which he invites us to "act" in response to the Gospel.  I have a question for you: When was the last time you acted for another in response to the Gospel?  I don't mean casually offering to pray for a co-worker--I mean really moving from your spot and extending yourself and your circumstances to impart life to another thereby experiencing God's plan for you--life change?  I mean risking it all. 

James says it this way in 2:14-17 "What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace, be warmed and filled,' without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." 

You see, like many before me, I left for this trip wondering am I prepared to impact the people I encounter? And, as usual, I had it totally backwards.  God says give me your faith AND your works and I will make you more like my son.  We don't do the real work--that's God's domain and his pleasure.  Rather, He works through us and as long as we are available and ready, he will do great things.  He has already done great things here in Rwanda.  Join us in continued prayer for mission and His Kingdom here in Africa. 

Andrew