Scott McClimans and I meet at Dulles International on New Year’s Eve, boarded Ethiopean Air and headed to Addis Abba. Things went fairly smooth with only one slight issue. Our flight from Addis Abba was cancelled and we had no way to communicate with Theophile in Kigali. They put us on a later flight, arrived in Kigali, called Theophile when we landed, picked up “all” luggage, and went outside to be greeted by Theophile. Some of you know him as Theophile “I am coming” Rugubira. He got us to our rooms, took us to dinner and after about thirty hours of being up, Scott and I were both ready to get some sleep.
A boiled egg, Rwandan bananas, fresh bread, Rwandan honey, and Rwandan coffee!
This is going to be a good day.
This is going to be a good day.
This morning Scott and I woke up refreshed and enjoyed our first Rwandan breakfast of 2015. After solving all the world’s issues we began to wonder when Theophile “I am coming” was going to show up. Late morning he showed up, we dealt with some of the trip preliminaries and headed to the Genocide Memorial in Rwanda. Tomorrow we will plan to experience the memorial at Nyamata.
I have asked Scott to share his experiences of the day.
As we flew into Kigali yesterday this land's remarkable beauty was on full display. After my first breakfast with Rwandan coffee and Rwandan honey, we made our first of two visits to Rwandan genocide memorials. At Kigali National Genocide Memorial the tragic history of Rwanda is preserved as a constant reminder to its people for the need to work together for unity and peace. Displays explaining the roots of genocide in Rwanda, similar genocides around the world since the 19th century, and the children lost to the massacres here provide the unsettling picture of humanity at its worst. One room in the museum displays the skulls and femurs of dozens if not hundreds of victims while outside stunningly beautiful gardens attempt to lend beauty to the mass graves here that contain over 250,000 bodies of genocide victims. It was a stark and grim contrast.
I never knew any of the victims. But one thing about the genocide was clearly recognizable: Sin-- Cain vs Abel writ large with nearly 1,000,000 victims. In Genesis 4:6 the LORD God said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you, but you must master it." So Cain heard God's words, decided to do his own will rather than God's and went out to the fields and killed his brother Able. Mastering sin. Seeing the genocide memorials would make anyone wonder if such a thing is possible. Indeed it is. But only through the transforming power of Christ. Paul writes in Romans 4: 11 & 14: "Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus...for sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law but under grace."
Frank and I will visit another memorial tomorrow. We didn't come to Rwanda to visit the memorials, but how can you speak to people about grace without first coming to some understanding of their present reality? Thank you Jesus for the church leaders here working diligently to proclaim the gospel of grace to the hearts of broken, hurting and wounded people.
I have asked Scott to share his experiences of the day.
As we flew into Kigali yesterday this land's remarkable beauty was on full display. After my first breakfast with Rwandan coffee and Rwandan honey, we made our first of two visits to Rwandan genocide memorials. At Kigali National Genocide Memorial the tragic history of Rwanda is preserved as a constant reminder to its people for the need to work together for unity and peace. Displays explaining the roots of genocide in Rwanda, similar genocides around the world since the 19th century, and the children lost to the massacres here provide the unsettling picture of humanity at its worst. One room in the museum displays the skulls and femurs of dozens if not hundreds of victims while outside stunningly beautiful gardens attempt to lend beauty to the mass graves here that contain over 250,000 bodies of genocide victims. It was a stark and grim contrast.
I never knew any of the victims. But one thing about the genocide was clearly recognizable: Sin-- Cain vs Abel writ large with nearly 1,000,000 victims. In Genesis 4:6 the LORD God said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you, but you must master it." So Cain heard God's words, decided to do his own will rather than God's and went out to the fields and killed his brother Able. Mastering sin. Seeing the genocide memorials would make anyone wonder if such a thing is possible. Indeed it is. But only through the transforming power of Christ. Paul writes in Romans 4: 11 & 14: "Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus...for sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law but under grace."
Frank and I will visit another memorial tomorrow. We didn't come to Rwanda to visit the memorials, but how can you speak to people about grace without first coming to some understanding of their present reality? Thank you Jesus for the church leaders here working diligently to proclaim the gospel of grace to the hearts of broken, hurting and wounded people.
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