Mining for Humilty

Muraho!

I was sitting in the guesthouse dining room, fiddling with my netbook in my attempts to secure the strongest wireless signal. According to my computer’s wireless connections listing, there supposedly was a plethora of viable options. However, my efforts to connect failed miserably.

Sitting across from me at this small, round table was my project teammate and roommate, Trevor. It was an hour after the time we were to meet with our two contacts. And they were late. At this point though, we were getting a bit more accustomed to the rhythm of Rwandan life, or African life for that matter. Trevor and I just had to sit back, relax a little bit, and wait. Which is why I was rather disappointed that the internet, a supreme source of distraction, was not available. So, instead, I had to wait patiently without it.

Unfortunately, I was not at all ready to do so. I was very antsy and rather nervous for the upcoming meeting. Trevor and I had never actually met the two men before. We had skyped with one of them for a short thirty minutes a few months prior. That particular call had been one of introduction, in order to launch the preparations for our project.

The project itself was fairly audacious: Trevor and I were to partner with the ownership team of a contract with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo to develop three major mines in the North Kivu district, which is located on the border with Rwanda. The ownership team consisted of two, God-fearing men who had a mission: they wanted to holistically develop the district, which ultimately meant bringing in the kingdom of God to transform all areas of life in North Kivu. In order to do so, the owners were committed and also contractually required to devote 40% of their profits to develop infrastructure in the district. The owners were also committed to using 10% of the rest of the profit in order to develop the region in more overtly, kingdom-based ways, whether by supporting ministries, building churches and Christian schools, or the like.

This noble endeavor, however, had a catch. That catch was North Kivu itself. Although one does not often hear of it in the news, this region is one of the most chronically violent and volatile hotspots for conflict in the world. This noxious, smoldering mass of economic, social, ethnic, geographical, cultural, and political tension has had a very rough history under devastating Belgium colonial rule followed by complete neglect and mismanagement under the now-deposed strongman Mobutu Sese Seko. This already highly pressurized powder keg blew up in the aftermath of the Rwanda genocide when millions of refugees crossed over the border into the region. North Kivu became the battlefield for the next two wars after 1994, and even though the most recent war, which was the deadliest conflict since World War II, officially ended in 2003, guerrilla fighters and proxy armies of all various stripes continue to ravage the district. Although security has slowly grown better, the root causes for its volatility have still not been addressed.

This was the place the two man, Christian, mining company wanted to transform for the kingdom and glory of God!

Now, our roles in this project were never fully delineated. Despite the confusion, I decided that I would contribute by focusing on the community development side of the mining project. My research would especially come into play in helping implement sustainable, gospel-centered development strategies in the more rural, poorer, smaller, and marginalized communities of the district.

However, on day four in Rwanda, an hour later than the time we were supposed to meet with these two men, I was nervous. I had done some previous research and was hoping to conduct the rest of my field work in Rwanda in preparation of my report that I hoped to give to the mine owners. However, my teammate Trevor had completely outpaced me by leaps and bounds. He had decided to focus on helping the owners launch the mines, which I had not understood as being a necessity. He conducted hours upon hours of research on small-scale mining, loaning programs, the certification process of conflict-free minerals, equipment and budgeting, etc… and had formulated a nice report for the miners along with an USB disk with several megabytes of resources and information.

I, on the other hand, had nothing to show for myself whatsoever. And I was hurting for it. When I first realized how prepared Trevor was, at first, I was rather jealous. Then, I felt very humbled. I had become accustomed to being among those who academically excelled. However, in this case, I had completely missed the boat.

Then, finally (in the midst of my antsy-ness, feelings of guilt, shame, and jealousy) the mine owners, Sandrali and Christian, arrived. We exchanged warm greetings and I was able to speak in French with both of them, which was very exciting for me. Christian was more comfortable speaking in French than in English, so I continued to help interpret here and there throughout the meeting.

The meeting started with an overview of where the ownership team was. To my shock, they shared that they were very much in the beginning process of this whole project. Therefore, Trevor ended up being in a perfect position, since he had researched how to start and run a small-scale mine. He continued the meeting with his presentation. We spent the next hour pouring over mining details and documents. While it was very informative and important for the project, I could not help but feel rather worried and ashamed. In compared to Trevor, I had done nothing! Most of my work was to come after the Rwanda trip itself.

So I began to come up with excuses for myself so as to rationalize away my guilt and prop my pride back up. However, before going through my normal repertoire of excuses, a small voice in head merely said “Stop. No more excuses. Just accept it and humble yourself.” Wow. I just had to accept the fact that I had not measured up to the same level as Trevor in my work. There were no excuses. I just needed to accept the responsibility head on. I was fairly dumbfounded by this revelation since my habit dictated that I do otherwise.

Then, it came to my turn to lead the meeting. At this point, I was fairly eager to get my foot in the conversation and give the sense that I had something to contribute. So, after explaining why I did not have a nice report like Trevor, I scrambled to find something worthwhile to discuss. So, in order to make up for what was soon to become an awkward moment in the conversation, I interjected by stating, “So, in order that I might better be able to give you a good report, please tell me again exactly what your goals and vision are and your current plans in regard to community development and transforming the community by the power of the Holy Spirit?”

At this point, I had already thought that I had gotten a good piece of humble pie. But I was soon to realize that I was about to have the whole pie shoved in my face!

Sandrali proceeded to blow me away with an ambitious, spiritually rigorous plan to bring restoration and healing to the war-torn North Kivu. His whole vision was “rebuilding nations on divine principles.” He had a spiritual arsenal ready to combat the spiritual root causes to North Kivu’s dismal situation. As Trevor later told me, “He is truly a general in the Lord’s army!”

To say the least, I was completely floored. What could I offer these two men? Not only did I have nothing, it seemed like they already had a plan of action. What could I contribute?  

At this point, I was feeling rather low. Shortly, after this discussion, our meeting ended and Sandrali prayed over us. This final prayer was the last straw and completely shook me up. The very tangible love, humility, and authority that emanated from Sandrali completely rattled me. I could hardly hold in the tears when we said our goodbyes and arranged a time for our next meeting.

God is good!

Murakoze!

Eric