Rwanda me manque

I've been back in Scotland for the last 2 days now. It is absolutely awesome to see the big sis and the parents again...catching up with friends...etc. I managed to slip right back into the materialistic spending culture in the UK within a few hours but am now appreciating how obscene it is compared to where i've come from.

In many ways, being back is not strange at all. Things are mostly in the same places they were before apart from the toilet seat facing a differently direction thanks to my parent's bathroom having been refitted. Car number plates are a lot bigger than i remember them. And i keep trying to put my seatbelt on from the wrong side.

Snuggling up under a thick warm duvet is luxurious and driving a car with a working handbrake is taking some getting used to (i still don't trust it - i sat through 3 hours of coffee with a friend worried that the car had slipped down the hill and smashed into the shiny BMW parked behind).

but surprisingly, i find a bit of myself missing Rwanda. I guess its not really surprising at all, but i'm appreciating how much a really do love living there. Please don't get me wrong, this time at home is so so precious and i'm loving it. I'm just appreciating what it is that i love about living in Rwanda.

The people i'm working with, serving in church with and walking down the street beside have come through times of pain and difficulty that i can only imagine to a place now where they are proud of their country and are working hard to build that country into a great place. Not only their country, but they have had the strength and courage to rebuild their own lives despite what has come before.

That inspires me. It inspires me to use every gift God has blessed me with, to put maximum effort into every part of life, to still have the energy to smile at and care for others despite what side of bed i got out of that morning. I am inspired to live by faith alone as i share in fellowship with brothers and sisters who can testify to the fact that Christ is all they need.

So, i'm going to enjoy eating bacon, going to the cinema, preparing for my sister's wedding, just being with family which i've missed so much. But i'll also look forward to going back to my other home in Kigali.