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.