I finally made it to Rwanda! It’s so good to be in Africa! After just being here for one day, I can tell that these next 2 weeks are going to be great! The people here are so kind and friendly. The climate is also very pleasant. The humidity is low and the temperature is very moderate.
Yesterday (Sunday) I had the opportunity to visit the Kigali Memorial. This is a memorial for the genocide that happened in 1994, where in 100 days an estimated 1,000,000 people were innocently murdered. It was absolutely heartbreaking to say the least. As I walked through the memorial many questions filled my head. I couldn’t help but wonder why. Why did so many innocent people have to die? And if not killed then mutilated with machetes, raped, and left for dead. I understand this was a tribal/ethnic dispute that brought about this mass killing and I know that man is evil and fallen. I know that in my head, but my heart does not understand.
Anyway, we also went to a small church today. It was very enjoyable and encouraging! We’ve also been preparing for teaching. This week we are teaching a long term group that Frank has been working with! They are very nice men and want to learn and understand God’s word better! Amen!
Ben
Yesterday (Sunday) I had the opportunity to visit the Kigali Memorial. This is a memorial for the genocide that happened in 1994, where in 100 days an estimated 1,000,000 people were innocently murdered. It was absolutely heartbreaking to say the least. As I walked through the memorial many questions filled my head. I couldn’t help but wonder why. Why did so many innocent people have to die? And if not killed then mutilated with machetes, raped, and left for dead. I understand this was a tribal/ethnic dispute that brought about this mass killing and I know that man is evil and fallen. I know that in my head, but my heart does not understand.
Anyway, we also went to a small church today. It was very enjoyable and encouraging! We’ve also been preparing for teaching. This week we are teaching a long term group that Frank has been working with! They are very nice men and want to learn and understand God’s word better! Amen!
Ben
Yesterday, we went to the Genocide Memorial, and we will be going to the other memorial later this week, as it was closed yesterday. My heart was overwhelmed and burdened as I took in the pictures and descriptions of the genocide. It’s hard to fathom how man can commit so much evil. It’s difficult to take in the pain that was inflicted upon so many innocent individuals. It is especially hard after being here in Rwanda for two weeks and meeting so many Rwandans. The genocide is brought closer to home as I have met so many people who lived through it. The genocide is no longer just words on a page or a number of deaths; rather, I felt the pain, fear, confusion, desperation, and hurt of those who experienced the genocide. The genocide was not the murder of a million individuals; it was the murder of one individual and then another and then another. It is difficult to understand the amount of evil that was present during the genocide. Men and women, just like me, killed their neighbors, friends, and even family. How can man commit such horrendous acts? Learning about the evils committed reminded me that every man and woman, including myself, are fallen and broken with a tendency to do evil. Paul explains my personal response to yesterday, better than I can, as I learned about the repugnant acts committed, knowing that I am just as capable of evil; “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature…I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 8:18, 23-25).
Ben, Patrice, and I began the morning with a 2 mile run (No worries mom, we all felt safe) and we’re enjoying some worship music as we get ready for the day. It’s a great day already! I am excited to teach about worldviews to the leaders this morning. This week, we will be teaching 20 leaders who are from all around Rwanda. This is the main group of leaders that Frank works with every time, so I am looking forward to going even deeper in our study of the Bible with these leaders.
Alison
Ben, Patrice, and I began the morning with a 2 mile run (No worries mom, we all felt safe) and we’re enjoying some worship music as we get ready for the day. It’s a great day already! I am excited to teach about worldviews to the leaders this morning. This week, we will be teaching 20 leaders who are from all around Rwanda. This is the main group of leaders that Frank works with every time, so I am looking forward to going even deeper in our study of the Bible with these leaders.
Alison
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