In Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, he exclaims, “I sowed, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” The Dufatanye Organization (DO) in Nyanza, Rwanda, is in the business of sowing and reaping, but there is no doubt that this couldn’t happen without our Lord giving us the growth, whether physically or spiritually. We thank Him, knowing that He is the Lord of all and uses it all––the good and the bad––to draw us closer to Himself.

THE GOOD: Over the last few months, several special events have occurred at the DO and our nine Villages of Hope, and  I’d like to underscore some highlights. In May, Rwanda’s Joint Action Development Fund (JADF) hosted a special expo in Nyanza town, and we won! Our display highlighted how we make reusable sanitary pads to give away to village women. We have spent years SOWING––perfecting these pads––but have now made 3600!

We also won a contest of all the cooperatives nationwide! Preparing for this competition was a great excuse to spruce up on all of our various fruit trees, vegetables, and flowers, to “rehabilitate” fifteen fish farms, to clean and repair the stalls of small and large animals, and to clean up the grounds and buildings at the cooperative. One woman, Louise, won a contest for being the cleanest and hardest-working member of our cooperative. As an award, the Nyanza District mayor gifted her a calf!

WALKING IN THE LIGHT is necessary to receive the growth that God gives. I asked Godfrey if others became jealous of Louise since cows are considered valuable currency in Rwanda. He admitted that this happened but shared that they had training sessions among the villagers to help them understand their feelings and to discuss how they could constructively deal with them. “[I]f we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John1:7).

WATERING: Last summer when I visited Rwanda, I met two women representing a Swiss non-profit called Suyana. In February, Godfrey traveled to Switzerland to visit with them and to meet with their board. In the end, Suyana gave additional grant monies on behalf of the DO to dig two new boreholes for water at two of our Villages of Hope!

MORE WATERING: Suyana also gave a grant for us to dig 120 latrines! When I first heard that we were digging all those latrines, I could only imagine how much toilet paper we would need to buy! Thankfully, this is included in Suyana’s grant monies.

MORE SOWING: Last year, we planted six hundred apple trees from Kenya called Wambugu apples. At first, we watered these trees by hand using round plastic basins. That was of course very labor intensive! EVEN MORE WATERING: This year, we were able to lay a system of pipes from a water source about three hundred yards away and use a strong water pump to irrigate our trees. These Wambugu apple trees grow straight up, unlike apple trees in the USA that grow up and then arch out over a larger area of land.

The space between the trees along with the water pump are enabling us to buy and plant 600 more Wambugu apple trees in this same plot of land. Eventually, we hope to give Wambugu apple trees to families and schools in our Villages of Hope.

SAD NEWS: On July 23, a fire destroyed the home of one of our most faithful friends at the Dufatanye Organization, Grace, resulting in the devastating loss of her house, furniture, clothes, and other personal effects. She even lost her sources of income, including 20 chickens and 10 rabbits. The also fire destroyed $5000 worth of equipment the DO staff kept in a room in her compound. These are huge losses for us.

So how is God SOWING, WATERING, and even REAPING in the midst of this destruction? We are learning to TRUST GOD even in our loss. From the time I made Jesus Christ the Lord of my life at age twelve, I started learning that IT IS THE LORD who GIVES THE GROWTH, and one of the ways is we are GROWING now is that members of the DO have rallied to help Grace build a new house. They’ve been clearing the site, reorganizing the stones, building new hutches for small animals and simply rallying around her with love. Another way is by developing an attitude of gratitude. The electrical current at the water purification system was knocked out during the fire. We could have very well lost the entire water purification system. Thankfully, we were instead able to repair it, and people were able to use it again within twenty-four hours.

Recently, as I gathered to worship our Lord with others, we sang one of my favorite songs, “Oh, the Deep Deep Love of Jesus.” In verse one, the lyrics exclaim, “Oh-oh the deep deep love of Jesus, vast unmeasured, boundless, free, rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me.”

My St. Philippian friends, as Christ’s body, you have demonstrated the deep, deep love of Jesus in its fullness over me as you have followed along with me on this journey.