Audience of One

Umunsi w’Abagore

Today was the International Day of Women or in Kinyarwanda, Umunsi w'Abagore.  Twenty-three women from my neighborhood gathered together to celebrate the day.  There were some men as well and more children than I took time to count.  The day was celebrated with sodas, goat kebabs and boiled matoki as well as many speeches given by both women and men.

The women took the opportunity to dress up traditional Rwandan style, they looked beautiful!  My neighbor, Beatrice, came over to my house and dressed me up in some of her clothes before we went to the celebration.  I was so glad!  For a few moments during the day I forgot I was white and felt like I blended in.

I want to share one story told by the lady who made the first speech of the day.  This woman is a young mother who has earned a masters degree in economics and works for a bank.  She started her speech by encouraging women that getting an education is very important.  She had to work hard for her degrees and earned them without her family's support.  She went on to remind the women that even though they get an education and a job, there first responsibility is in their homes.  She told them to make sure that they keep their homes nice and that their children are well cared for.  She told them that even if they have a job and perhaps earn more money than their husband, he is still the leader of the family.  She shared an interesting Rwandan proverbial story with the group.

Here is the story:

One day a man came to a widow's house wanting to have sex with her.  She told him to come back to her house later.  While he was gone, she cooked many dishes for him.  Even though she used a variety of ingredients in the various dishes, the main ingredient of them all was beans.  When the man returned, he noticed that she had prepared some food for him.  He began lifting the lids off the different  dishes and what did he find?  Beans, beans and beans.  The woman said to the man, "Even though we women are all a little different, really we are all the same.  Go home to your wife and leave me alone!"

I thought that it was a profound story and very interesting that it was told on a day like today and in a group of women.  I have found it to be true from the United States to rural Togo to urban Rwanda!  Woman are women, we just come in many different flavors.  I enjoyed the day observing these women encourage and empower one another.  I feel honored to be living among them for this season of my life.

Here are a few pictures from the day…

Prayers for Togo and Latay

We ask your prayers for Togo this week. There's a lot of "unrest" due to last week's election. Things are "calm" but tensions are "high" in the southern part of the country. So we ask that the Lord would bless Togo with peace so that the work of the Kingdom can continue. You can read more about the elections here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/default.stm.

Latay, our Ag Missionary among the Watchi, and his wife Minen live in Lome, the capital, where things aren't quite "safe" yet in terms of activity and travel. He had planned to plant a new crop of pineapples last week on the mission farm but decided to put it off until things are back to normal. Pray that God will protect he and his wife. They are safe and we are asking God to keep them safe.

Latay's bag was also stolen last week which had $1000 that had been given to plant teak on the mission farm, his laptop, id, keys, documents, etc. We are thankful that he is safe and pray that God would resupply everything that was lost.

I talked to him on the phone last night and was thrilled to find him super excited about the things that God is doing among the Christians and churches. This "church is growing." That "leader repented." This "family was reconciled." These "churches want to begin three new churches." He said this was testimony that it was God's Spirit moving and not by the power and effort of any man because the spiritual growth was happening long after the missionaries had left. Praise God!

It's such a joy for us to hear of how the Lord is working among our brothers and sisters in Watchiland.

God is listening and answering our prayers, so, let's keep on praying!

Luke10:2b Rwanda

Thank you for praying that the Lord would bless our 5 Year Planning retreat. It was awesome and we are excited about the direction laid out before us. We are still working on finalizing our objectives and goals but the weekend got us off to a great start! Once again, the Lord listened and answered our prayers.

One thing that I am super excited about is the vision that God gave us for a Global Prayer Network for Rwanda focusing on the prayer that Jesus told his disciples to pray as he sent them out into the harvest fields in Luke 10:2.

"The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

Jesus didn't tell them to pray for a ripe harvest. The harvest of people is already prepared. The challenge is that there are not enough workers to bring in the harvest!

As I was preparing for the retreat and thinking about all that is needed to launch a massive disciple-making revival in Rwanda I came across several articles that all emphasized the same point: a prayer movement precedes a disciple-making movement. The same articles used the example of two men in Colorado who were convicted by this passage and led to begin a Luke 10:2b movement of prayer teams to pray this prayer together everyday asking the Lord to send out more workers into the harvest fields. The Lord listened and is still answering their prayer and people are calling them from all across the United States saying "I want to make disciples in my area, can you help me."

Imagine our excitement as we read these stories and were convicted that this is what we need to do!

Thus, the Global Luke 10:2b Rwandan Prayer Network was born.

Here's how it works. We are asking our prayer warriors to find one other person and commit to praying the Luke 10:2b prayer for Rwanda together either on the phone, on skype or in person daily. That's right, everyday. It will take about 5 minutes but impact millions of people! As an example, our task force has committed to praying this prayer together every morning at 6:30am on Skype. For the past two weeks we have all prayed together either on Skype, text messages, on the phone or in person.

Our 5 year plan is to build a global prayer network of teams of two praying this prayer together everyday for the Rwandan harvest in:

• Every Time Zone
• Every State in the USA
• Every Sector in Rwanda

Imagine the impact that round the clock, daily, prayers asking the Lord to send out more workers into the harvest fields of Rwanda would have! We're calling it the Luke 10:2b Rwandan Prayer Virus and we want to infect as many as possible! Already teams of two have committed and begun to pray this prayer for Rwanda.

I'm excited to tell you that the Lord has already begun to answer our prayers! Read this from Felix, our Kinyarwanda language teacher…

"The last weekend, a friend of mine living in … (Southern province) that I had introduced to the DBS (Discovery Bible Study) asked me to come and help him start it there because he felt God was calling him to serve there but didn't know how to start. So I went there and the DBS started with 6 people; 5 of them are non-believers. So let's pray that it will grow and have an impact on the communities there. Thanks!"

Who are these workers? Are they more expats from overseas? More short-term visitors? NO! They're Rwandans reaching Rwandans!

What to join? You will be most welcome! Its easy. Find someone and commit together to pray this prayer for Rwanda everyday. It doesn't matter how, just as long as you pray together. Then, each month, recruit two more people to commit to the same prayer. As you join in and recruit others, please let us know so that we can keep track of how and where the virus is spreading…

Right after the Lord Jesus told His disciples to pray this prayer He told them to GO! So, we are planning to go to every part of Rwanda, from border to border, town to town, sector to sector to begin a Discovery Bible Study. Our goal is to begin a DBS in every sector in Rwanda (450+) in the next five years. Imagine families and communities gathering together to listen to God's Word, discuss it's meaning and then working out what obedience will look like in their lives and then commit to obeying every week! It will transform Rwanda bringing healing and grace to the hurting and imprisoned!

Thank you again for your prayers for our family and for Rwanda. Come Lord Jesus Come! Rain down your Mercy and Grace upon this beautiful nation. Heal the hurting and revive the people!

DMM Rwanda – 5 Year Planning Retreat

This weekend the Rwanda Team will be having a 5 Year Planning retreat together. We've worked hard to develop the vision, mission and core values for the Disciple Making Movement in Rwanda that we are praying for. Now it's time to set objectives and goals that we can work towards to accomplish the Vision that God has given us. Please join us in prayer for the weekend…

• Please pray that the Lord would open our hearts and minds to see Rwanda, it's people and their needs, as He sees them.
• Please pray that the Lord would give us eyes to see clearly what He wants us to do in the next five years.
• Please pray that the Lord would bless each of us with insight into the specific areas that He has equipped us to work in.
• Please pray that God's hand would be upon all those leading and facilitating the weekend's activities.

Thank you for your faithful prayers for our family and ministry in Rwanda!

5 Biggest Church Planting Mistakes–Corrected

Biggest Church Planting Mistakes:

1. Rushing ahead

2. Underestimating the cost

3. Violating the Sabbath

4. Hanging on too long

5. Not having a coach

From "Most common mistakes church planters make" by Shawn Lovejoy and David Putnam, both of ChurchPlanters.com

Marthe

I don't usually write blog posts but Murphy asked if I would write about Marthe.  We moved into our house in Kicukiro, Kigali in February last year and soon after moving in a young woman came to ask if we wanted to have our house sprayed for mosquitos.  I said yes and gave the young woman our information.  She told me her name was Marthe and pointed out where she lived, just up the street from our house.  She told me she had a five year old daughter and that was the end of our conversation.  Almost as soon as she left our house I felt burdened for her.  I started praying for her every time I passed her house.  On two occasions I tried to visit her but she was never home.  I added her name to my prayer list and started lifting her name before the throne every morning.  

A year ago we moved to Rwanda from Togo, West Africa.  It was the most difficult move I have ever made.  Saying good-bye to my Togolese sisters and brothers felt like ripping my heart into pieces.  My first six months in Rwanda were challenging.  I cried a lot mourning the loss of friends and life and  in Togo.  I was unsure of the reason God called us away from Togo to Rwanda.  I did feel certain of the calling so I dove into language learning and began asking God to show me His purpose for me here.  Right away I felt a resounding sense, deep in my heart, to be patient and to trust God.  God led us here and he would show us his purpose in His perfect time.  

At the beginning of this month,  I was having a heart to heart with God about the up-coming year.   I was telling God, "I have been patient, I have been learning language, now what?" The words Jesus spoke to Peter in John 21 came rushing at me like a freight train.  "Simon son of John, do you love me", …"then feed my sheep".  I immediately went to those scriptures and read that dialogue.  I felt like Jesus was saying the same thing to me.  Jesus was challenging Peter, he was challenging me.  At that point in his life, Peter was broken and at the end of himself, now Jesus could use him.  Will I be broken and come to the end of myself?  I hope so!  Yes Jesus, I love you!  I will trust you and feed your sheep, please show me how!

Just a few days later Marthe came to our house.  It had been almost a year since I last saw her.  I had been praying for this woman daily for nearly a year without ever knowing why.  She was at our house conducting a survey for our neighborhood.  I asked if I could come and visit her at her home.  She seemed eager and happy for me to come.  This past Thursday I went to Marthe's house.  It was only my third time to speak to her but I felt like I had known her for so long.  We sat awkwardly for a moment and then she sprang up and announced that she had some photos to show me.  She left and came back with an album and a sack full of snap shots.  For an hour I sat in her small cinder block house, on her gold colored velour sofa sipping warm Fanta and listening as she shared her life with me.  I saw pictures of her as a teenager, pictures with her friends at the lake, pictures of her family.  I saw pictures of her wedding and learned that her husband lives in a town three hours away.  She didn't tell me the reason.  I saw pictures of her siblings and their weddings.  I saw pictures of her teachers and classmates at a technical school and later pictures of her students at that same school.  I saw pictures of her daughter and listened as she explained that four months ago her husband came with civil authorities and took her daughter away, she hasn't seen her since.  In the moment she told me that her loneliness felt palpable.  

I left Marthe's house amazed at the God we serve.  I may never know exactly why he burdened my heart to pray for her but perhaps it was because of the difficult journey that lay ahead of her.  I was overwhelmed by the the love God has for her and for all of us. He knows Marthe intimately and allowed me the opportunity to take just a glimpse into her heart.  I now have a specific prayer to pray for Marthe.  I don't know my future but I hope Marthe is in it.  I praise God for his patience with me!  I feel encouraged to keep pressing forward with my language learning and keep trusting God and feeding his sheep.  That may take many forms and shapes and I pray that everyday my eyes and my heart will be open so that I don't miss the opportunities He lays in my path.

Merry Christmas from the Crowsons!

Our family wishes you a very Merry Christmas this Holiday Season! May the Lord Jesus shine His Loving Light upon you and bless you in every way! To all of our family and friends in the States we want you to know that we love you and miss you and are thinking of you this Holiday Season!

We've had a fun week with four Xmas parties already and one to go! Monday we had a Christmas pancake supper and a visit from Santa (Thanks to Chris Shelby's parents for bringing over stocking goodies for all of the kids and for bringing "Santa"!). You will see pics of Stephen and Matthew with Santa in the slideshow.

Tuesday we made Christmas ornaments and had a party for Stephen and Matthew's neighborhood friends.

Wednesday we enjoyed hot chocolate, Christmas Carols and a White Elephant Gift Exchange. I was so glad to get rid of Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 1. It was great when I was 7 years old! But now, 30+ years later, it's really cheesy…Heath was the lucky winner of that gift:) Enjoy brother… We also video taped our group singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". You'll see it in the slideshow. We do wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Today Christine and Stephen made homemade "York Peppermint Patties". Then she made Christmas Sausage Cheese Balls and is making Carmel Popcorn right now. It's a yummy Christmas!

Tomorrow we are going to have a "Progressive Christmas Dinner" with our teammates. We'll start with hors d'oeuvres @ 4pm at our house, then we'll head to the Shewmaker's house for the main meal followed by dessert at the Koonces (with another gift exchange—real ones this time). All are welcome!

Enjoy the pictures and video! We love you!

17 Years!

On December 19, 1992, I was wed to the most beautiful woman in the world. 17 years have passed and she's more beautiful every day!

Thank you Lord for the blessing of my wife.

I can't imagine life without her.

She loves Jesus with all of her heart. She serves others with all of her energy. She takes care of her family with all of her love. She spoils me every waking moment.

I love you honey!

One thing I love about Rwanda is the abundance of roses. This year I bought Christine 98 roses for our anniversary! Here are a few pictures of my lovely bride with her roses…

Headed to Togo

This afternoon Marty and I are traveling to Togo to visit our Watchi brothers and sisters in the Lord. We'll be gone around 10 days.

Please pray that the Lord would bless our trip and use us to encourage the Watchi Christians and Churches.

As well, please pray that the Lord will watch over my family while I'm gone, keeping them safe and in good health.

I'll let you know how things went when I get back!

Blessings and peace…

Murphy

Prayers this week…

I've got a couple of important meetings this week and ask for some special and specific prayers…

• Tomorrow (Tuesday) I'm meeting with the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) VP of Learning to talk about ways that ATN can partner with their mission in Rwanda.
• Wednesday I have a meeting with Cephas to talk about his work Rwanda and Congo.
• Also, I met a man who's job is to equip and empower prayer warriors in Rwanda! He doesn't speak french or english though. This is super motivating to me to keep learning Kinyarwanda! Pray that we can begin to form a friendship in spite of my struggling language ability!

If you could ask the Lord to bless these meetings that would be great. I want to help, serve, equip and empower Rwandans in every way that I can.