Muraho (Hello),
May 27th
I am finally settled in a house. I am going to be living with Jean McAlister who is from First Pres. Bellevue. She has a large house that she rents and so I am rent a room for her. I am very excited about it. So I will be living in Kigali and commuting to the Center for Champions via taxi. It is a beautiful drive out to Rwamagana which is where the CFC is. I am also going to use that commute time to pray and debrief my days. The students at the Center are great they have been very welcoming to me. It is been a long 5 or 6 days here. I feel like I have been here for months. I have spent more time crying than I have laughing.
One day I saw a girl who looked liked she had been very badly burned on her face and people just tried to steer clear of her. She came up to our window and my driver rolled the window up. I wanted to get out of the car and give her a hug because I am sure she has no one. I just sat in the car with my sunglasses on and looked at her looking back at me. I felt awful for not doing anything. Why didn’t I get out of the car? I was scared and moving or not moving in fear. I have been living in fear for the last five days. God did not create fear so it is me not trusting God. God is teaching me how to trust. I have been missing home a lot but am praying that that will pass. I haven’t been sleeping a lot but last night was able to because I play basketball for a couple of hours yesterday and was super tired last night.
I have been spending a lot of time in prayer and think that that is one of the reasons I am here is to be praying for Rwanda. The moon was out at 5pm yesterday and it was dark by 6:30pm, that too is also messing with my sleep schedule because it is so bright out so early. What else….? I have been eating lots of rice it’s a good thing I enjoy white rice.
Every day I ask God why I am here because I really don’t know why I am, but I am hopeful and know that God is good and that he has the best in store for all of us. I am on my way to Bible study with people who are from other countries so I need to go. Hope you’re all well.
In Him,
Mark Grayson
