Forgiveness

Last weekend, the Muslim community celebrated Eid, the end of Ramadan, and we celebrated a holiday from school, and a reason to get out of the city and see God's beautiful creation. A few teachers journeyed up and 'round some serious winding mountain roads to the tiny village of Kibuye on lake Kivu. Kibuye suffered the worst casualties during the genocide, with 95% of their population slaughtered, leaving many areas with no witnesses or survivors. You can do a circular walk around the town in less than 2 hours....past the stadium where 10,000 perished, and the church where 5,000 died. Those 5,000 were led to the church by town officials, thinking they were being led to a safe haven, but were sorely deceived. A mob, drunk on banana beer, threw grenades through the building, and a total annihilation took only 3 hours. The church has now been rebuilt, with new stained glass in the broken windows, and new hangings on the altar. We attended Catholic mass there on Sunday, and it was one of the most memorable church services I have ever attended. The sounds of the choir, Tutsis and Hutus alike, singing praises to our God in their shared Kinyarwanda language, was deeply moving. It's only in Christ, that genocide survivors can sit on the same wooden bench each week, and sing hymns together with the people who killed their entire family. If there's ever been a lesson for forgiveness, I think this is it. There's a memorial outside the church to remember the victims. There's many genocide memorials all over Rwanda, some still with bones and skulls and perserved bodies in limestone. But to me, this small church in Kibuye is a more evocative, memorable place than the other ones. Because this church is not a reminder of death....it was made alive again! "But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions...it is by grace you have been saved." Thank God for His grace. The rest of Kibuye was just as memorable...a gorgeous view of the hills and islands, looking down the cliff from our Presbyterian guest house....hitching a boat ride to Amharo "Peace" island...waiting three hours for our food to be ready....and singing praises to Him every night, with our fellow musician, Doug. I was thankful for the time away to be reflective. Even though Ramadan is over, I ask you to keep our Muslim brothers and sisters in prayer. Lift them up. One of my professors at CIU told us that if we would commit to praying for the Muslims named Mohammed, Abdullah, Fatima and Khadijah, we would be praying for millions around the world. Enjoy the pics from Kibuye! God bless!