Rwanda, the Tibet of Africa, shocked me by its beauty and the harsh reality of a broken nation. Despite the beautiful scenery and friendly greetings, I have never witnessed such tragedy. But the presence hope and restoration was obvious as well. Our group spent 6 nights in Rwanda, staying mostly in Kigali and visiting memorials and different missions. I was really blessed to see the Evangelical Friends Mission there and to hear from the Carpenters about their development-focused ministry. It was a good relief to all the hard things that I witnessed on the trip. When we visited the memorial in Kigali, the history and brutality of the genocide of 1994 left me completely numb. But the hardest part of the trip was visiting the Church at Nyamata where 8, 000 people were murdered. Our tour guide, Charles, was one of the 5 survivors and he was a little boy at the time. All of his family died that day and he was only saved because his older brother hid him under other dead bodies. Hearing what he witnessed literally made me sick to my stomach but Charles has been able to forgive the murderers and lives near the man whom he saw kill his mother. All over Rwanda, victims live in peace and even support those who hurt them and broke their families permanently. How can such horror and beauty live together in Rwanda? In the memorial it said, “Forgiveness is the greatest form of love” and I fully believe that now having been in Rwanda. I saw so much hope there as I witnessed widows smiling and dancing and as I got to worship with fellow Rwandan believers. I have learned the horrible power of fear and what happens when our identity is not in Christ alone. And I have witnessed reconciliation and hope. So many tensions remain but to keep from going crazy, I must cling to Christ and trust in His Presence in me.
