Taekwondo Journey – Part 1

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.  So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  John 3:8

I could have never predicted that God would use something like Taekwondo to build his kingdom in Rwanda by affirming our team’s role and its responsibilities to the Rwandan people as well as initiating disciple making.  Even if I had conceived of it, I would have done so on a much smaller scale than what I have experienced in the past couple of months.  But, rarely does God think small, even though often he begins with minute and limited resources.

Over the past nineteen months, God has provided me the opportunity to help Rwanda’s Taekwondo players to get master level accreditation and start a nationally recognized sporting federation.  Out of this has come numerous relationships that are now maturing into the formation of disciples of Jesus who make other disciples (the goal of our work in Rwanda).  In March, though, that work began to blow me in a direction that I hadn’t really considered.

Feather weight champion receiving award.

We held our national championships and prepared to join the World Taekwondo Federation, the governing body for this Olympic sport.  Our membership was to be voted on at the General Assembly held in conjunction with the World Taekwondo Championships in Gyeong Ju, South Korea.

It became very clear that I needed to make an ‘in or out’ decision.  As God had been so faithful to guide up to that point and as there were many indications that he had not finished, I made a decision to continue.  This direction was affirmed by the ATN team and Louise and so we sought the proper credentials and travel arrangements for me to represent Rwanda at that General Assembly meeting in South Korea, as no one else had the funds or time available from the federation.  Additionally the opportunity presented itself for me to begin my journey in Mombasa, Kenya by taking three of our top players to compete in the Chairman’s Cup tournament there.  So, with itinerary in hand, on the 22nd of April a bizarre journey began. . .