Peace House

Charlotte and Debra run the Peace House for at risk woman and prostitutes. They've found success through love, trade skills, and obedience in Discovery Bible Studies (DBS). Their story epitomizes why Rwanda is the most vibrant mission I have ever seen - foreign or domestic.

Charlotte had a young woman named Josey come to here door after dark one night asking for help to get back home.  Josey had been abused at home and became a prostitute at the age of 12.  She eventually met a man who offered her a job in Barundi.  Once she arrived, the man made her his "wife" and prevented her from leaving. After a few years, she didn't get pregnant so the man kicked her out and took her back to Rwanda. Josey couldn't go back home because her family and community wouldn't accept her.

 Prostitutes in Rwanda are taboo and outcast. Many are sent to the streets by their family. They don't openly advertise themselves because the stigma, but instead "disguise" themselves by selling fruit or other merchandise. A typical prostitur costs around $1 to $3 dollars.

This is about the time Charlotte met Josey. Charlotte grew up as a Christian and her heart was pricked but she wasn't sure what to do. She knew there were others with similar horror stories, so it occurred to her to try to form a support group of some kind. Getting girls to come to such a group was initial very hard because of the stigma and shame.

Peace House offers girls a place to transition away from their desperate circumstances. Girls come and stay for a year. Sometimes there kids stay at the Peace House for kids. During their stay, girls learn a trade. At first it was making jewelry out of tightly round paper. They now make several other things they can sell to make a living without having to abuse themselves in the process. Girls that have been there longer teach the girls that have not been there as long.

This is also true spitiually.  The girls engage everyday in a DBS. They are hungry for the word of God. DBSs call people to obedience based on what they have personally discovered about God by studying the Bible. This is the engine of transformation. The girls form a community around shares struggles.

At one point they learned of a woman in the hospital that was doing very badly. In Rwanda, there is no food service or people taking care of you like you would expect.  Rwanda has a very poor idea of customer service. They don't take care of their sick very well. So, when the girls heard of this woman, even though they didn't know her, they took shifts around the clock nursing her and just sitting with her.

The woman eventually died. Afterward, her family (who wasn't taking care of her) ask what church they went to and how they could join.  To their surprise, they were told this isn't a church, it is just a Kingdom community. This is an interesting twist: they intentionally don't start a "church" because it brings too much baggage with it. Instead, they form Kingdom communities modeling God's Kingdom on earth and send the participants back into their home churches to model the Kingdom. They become the leaven and the change agents in their community.

What happened to Josey? She eventually left the Peace House with new job skills, moved out of Kigali, and became a leader in her community. A girl who could barely lift her head and speak aloud has now formed a second Peace House in her community. The mayor of that town brags on her as shining bright and standing out above all othersmin her community.  There is also a new third group that has started.

This is how you can recognize success: the disciples that Charlotte disciples have now independently begun to disciple others. If we don't see this, we haven't fulfilled the full mission of God.