Maisha

Frida: Chosen to die, destined to live

2010-02-13T20:52:00.002+10:00

Today I finished reading an excellent book called “Frida – Chosen to Die, Destined to Live” by Frida Gashumba. It was loaned to me the other day and have already finished it...read most of it in one sitting! This book has to be the saddest, most horrific and yet inspiring story i think i have ever read. AND all of it is true and very recent history.

Frida grew up in the hills of Rwanda and had a wonderfully happy childhood. But in 1994 the Rwandan genocide erupted, when she was just 14 years of age. As a Tutsi family, they were hunted down and she witnessed what no young person should ever experience – her family being massacred before her eyes by Hutu men with machetes. She too was hit over the back of the head with a club and buried alive with her family in a shallow grave. 14 hours later a neighbour dug them up and was amazed to find Frida still alive. She spent the next 8 weeks in hiding, narrowly cheating death on several more occasions.

This is the incredible story of not only her survival, but of how her life was utterly transformed by her ability to forgive and love her enemies. On page 117 of the book she talks about how hard she found it to obey God and learn to forgive her attackers and then men who murdered her family. I know how hard it has been for me to forgive people in my life who have really hurt me and i have never gone through anything like Frida has gone through. After reading through the horror that she faced in those weeks in 1994, a few chapters later, after she has become a christian, she is faced with being asked to forgive the men who killed her family and attempted to kill her. This is some of what she writes...

...I was cradling my loss to myself and using it as my comfort blanket. I wanted people to feel sorry for me, but God showed me that no child of His ever needed to be pitied...

...From a blank refusal even to contemplate making such a step, i began to consider what the consequences might be if i refused to obey God. Just suppose i refused to forgive the killers of my family. What would be the result in my own life and how would it affect my service of God? God, i knew, would never allow me to be a preacher of His love if unforgiveness remained in my heart. Refusing to forgive would staunch the flow of God's love in my own life. Bitterness and resentment would take over and work like a cancer to destroy me. I imagined myself becoming old well before my years and people pointing the finger as i went about my life, saying, "She's the one who survived the genocide, but her life finished when she refused to forgive those who wiped out her family."

Her hope and joy have been restored and she now has a vision to bring the same healing that she has experienced to the people of Rwanda. Her story will inspire you, overwhelm you, choke you up and challenge you to your boots! Read it if you can!

Malls, Mee and Madness in KL

2009-11-30T20:29:00.000+10:00

Today we spent hours wandering around the malls of KL. so many shops and people selling similar things. We arrived back yesterday evening after our camp in Bentong. What a gorgeous place...the mountains and tiered hills, the trees and the greenery...gorgeous. The camp went well, the church really needs to break more free in the Spirit. Preached on Friday night and was so encouraged that i was hearing from the Lord when Ps Lucy spoke on the same subject....the purpose of God for your life. People got touched...yay Jesus!

It has been so wonderful to have met her...and i know we will be seeing more of each other. She leaves tonight back to Nairobi and a big part of me wishes i was going with her. I now have somewhere else to stay when i visit and someone to do some ministry with.
So...lots of shopping, but not a lot of buying...hmmm...2 pairs of shoes and a flash drive!
just at some church people's home for dinner and using their comp. cant get onto facebook, no skype and their msn isnt updated so refuses me using it...hmm oh well

what else to say? maybe some prayers for my attitude with some people on the team and to get a good nights rest. i resembled a raccoon early this morning..haha. i also want to come to realise the reason for me being here.
love, Ange

OUTBACK SUNSETS

2009-11-21T20:31:00.001+10:00

the one thing i miss from my time living in the outback...the beautiful sunsets we would get. this photo was taken at the dam on the fruit farm i lived on

2009-11-21T20:14:00.000+10:00

prostitutes and their children crowd into the opening of a new drop in centre in Sangli, Maharastra, India; December 2008

beautiful daughter of a sex worker, Mumbai

2009-11-21T20:04:00.000+10:00

my time spent in Mumbai, India working with the Salvation Army's rehabilitation and outreach to the women and girls involved in prostitution and trafficking was eye opening. This picture and the others i will soon post, showed the beauty of these women and their children amidst the horror of their lives. Some of the young girls that i met had been given to the temple priests to serve as the temple prostitutes...basically the bottom of the barel when it comes to the Hindu caste system.

2009-11-14T15:45:00.001+10:00

The Harsh Outback

i took this photo during my time living in Bourke, NSW. It captures the harshness of the Australian outback. The sparse arid ground and the effects of months of drought without hope of rain.

2009-11-13T12:13:00.000+10:00

2009-11-13T11:26:00.004+10:00

Reading a friend's blog has made me think about also writing some of my own thoughts down. I can often have so many thoughts passing through my conscious and sub-conscious that i sometimes find it difficult to articulate them clearly.
Recently i shared with some peers at our bible study/home fellowship group about knowing God and clearly writing the vision down. Proverbs 29:18 talks about the importance of having a vision and Habbakuk 2:2 reinforces the need to writing the vision down. I talked about this, and the benefit of receiving greater clarity when one writes down their prophetic words, thoughts, goals and dreams for their life. This week i opened up a book i have beside my bed written by Bill Johnson, which is titled, Strengthen yourself in the Lord. In it, he confirms what i was sharing at home group, the need to write down the promises and prophecies that are spoken over you.

"I write down the promises and prophecies that are spoken over me. Like the rudder of a ship, they determine the direction for my thoughts and desires, and eventually my life...Since i spend about half the year on the road, i take them with me so i can meditate on them while i'm flying. I often look around and see various businessmen and women who represent companies like Apple Computer or Ford Motor Company. Usually they are looking over their business plans and the notes for their strategic meetings. I, in turn, am examining the mind of Christ about me."

He goes on to say, " i would storngly urge you to collect and record the prophetic words and promises over your life. Take a risk! Even write down the one's your not sure of, and see if God will breathe on them in such a way that they become life to you."

I need to put this into practice a little more regularly than i currently do. It will bring clarity and focus to stay on track and to trust my God in my hopes and dreams!