By Scott Clattenburg

Our trip to Rwanda was such an amazing, life-changing event. Prior to this trip, the furthest country I had visited was the Bahamas, so going to Rwanda was going to be a real stretch. During our time there I was blessed to be partnered up with Phil Smith as my Rwandan “buddy”. Phil is the World Relief Country Director for Rwanda. He currently lives in the capital city of Kigali with his wife Becca and a temporary foster child named Iranzi. Phil and Becca are both American citizens who felt God’s call to Rwanda a few years ago and transplanted themselves into its culture. Phil was a former business executive with Pitney Bowes, so to say they gave up a bit of comfort is a major understatement. I am still wrestling with the radical change in lifestyle that their family submitted themselves to in order to answer God’s need there.

My time with Phil was quite exciting. It was my desire from the beginning to learn as much about the Rwandan culture as I possibly could and Phil was the perfect person to learn from. Just a few years earlier he was in my exact shoes – an American in a far distant and different land. I spent time with the family at their home in Kigali (what an amazing view), and risked my life on a 15-mile bike ride through the city and parts of the countryside. Their hospitality was endless but what impressed me the most was their desire to love on and intimately know the Rwandan people. After all, they are the real reason the Smith family lives where they do. That kind of love isn’t found every day.