Rwanda genocide

A Story of Forgiveness

Carrie Nye — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:48:11 -0800

Earlier this week I read an article on CNN's belief blog that threw me into a stewing pot of thoughts. At the core is one simple word that seems so complex to live out, even in the shallowest of circumstances.

Forgiveness.

Celebrity Portrait Photographer Jeremy Cowart set out on a mission with filmmaker Laura Waters Hinson (As We Forgive) to produce a photo series project called "Voices of Reconciliation." Cowart and Hinson went to Rwanda. They wanted to give Rwandans the opportunity to make their own statements to the world about the 1994 mass killings and uprooting that took place in their backyards.

In the article Cowart says, "I grew up in the church and am a practicing Christian. I've heard "love your neighbor" and "forgive others because God forgave you" my entire life. But I don't recall my church ever discussing the idea of forgiving killers."

With the season of Thanksgiving and Christmas knocking at the door, I have been thinking about the gifts I'd like to give to my friends and family. I'm beginning to wonder what this season might look like if I gave the gift of forgiveness where I need to with others and with myself.

"He who is devoid of the power to forgive, is devoid of the power to love." MLKJ

"Without forgiveness, there is no future." Desmond Tutu

"Forgiveness is the remission of sins. For it is by this that what has been lost, and was found, is saved from being lost again." Saint Augustine

"To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you." Lewis B. Smedes

Cowart goes on to say in his blog, "While incredibly difficult to accomplish - especially if the offender has not admitted their wrong and asked for forgiveness, it’s a force that has the power to tear down walls and free hearts."

In terms of those in Rwanda who are the forgivers, Hinson said, "“For the victims, forgiving their offenders is a way of setting themselves free from the chains of anger and bitterness.”

Forgiveness is a powerful act. One that cannot be divorced from that of love. I'm incredibly touched by the radical grace these Rwandans have extended to each other despite the cruelest and most horrifying circumstances. I am humbled by their acts of love and forgiveness towards each other. It takes a lot of courage to snuff out the darkness with a ray of light.

Cowart touches on the fact that this type of radical forgiveness is not part of our culture. In fact, it's counter-cultural on every level. Forgiveness of this magnitude is Kingdom forgiveness. It's the kind of forgiveness that turns the ground over and sifts through muck. It up roots and replants. It seeps in deep and transforms from the inside out. It's redeems and it heals. It offers second chances and it sets us all free.

I hope this season of thanksgiving and Christmas gift giving is full of kingdom type radical love and forgiveness.

Check out Cowarts photo series of those Rwandans who have courageously chosen to forgiveness and love and who are now teaching the world to do the same; starting with me.

"Christianized" - a word in search of a meaning

Richard Dahlstrom — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:33:29 -0700

My studies of Acts 18 and 19, along with a conversation this past Sunday evening, have reminded me of the great tragedy often happens in the church because of our failure to proclaim the "full gospel". No, I don't mean speaking in tongues; I mean the earth shattering power and priority of Jesus power to reconcile us, not only with God but with each other. Miss the human reconciliation and the gospel is hardly the gospel at all. Here's what I'm talking about...

Rwanda's been in my world a fair bit this past year. This past week, and old friend was in town who has travelled to Rwanda and been the Genocide Memorials. When I spoke near Boston last winter, I had the privilege of meeting some Rwandan Christians and hearing, first hand, about the genocide that occurred in the mid-nineties. You can read about those thoughts here, but if you're in a hurry, just consider this quote from the article:

Rwanda is generally regarded as one of the most "Christian" countries in Africa and the world, one of the real "successes" of Christian missions in Africa! Statistically speaking some 80% to 90% of the population regard themselves as Christians. An absolute majority are Roman Catholics, and a strong minority Protestants. Much of this Christianity is of a strong evangelical persuasion

Of course, the mystery question is this: Why would the most intense genocide in recorded African history occur in the most "Christianized" nation in Africa? The answer to the question seems to hinge on the meaning of this verb, "Christianized". When I was in seminary, back in the 80's, there was a big debate about what it meant to be Christianized.

At the time, the prevailing definition indicated that someone was "Christianized" if they'd received Christ as their personal savior. "No", the missions professionals were telling us back then, "that's not enough. They need to not only know Christ as their savior, they need to share Christ, and be following in the footsteps of Jesus guiding other people to become followers of Christ. Until that happens, people are "Christianized."

No, I don't like the word Christianized either (it sounds like people have had some sort of chemical treatment or medical procedure, like sanitized, or sterilized), but don't miss the point because you don't like the word. The missions pros said that replication of one's faith was the determinant of faith's reality.

By that definition Rwanda was a smashing success story - until all the Christians started slaughtering each other. The genocide memorial in Rwanda includes this church building. If you want the straight truth, pictorially, you can find that here. The fact is, families fled into the church thinking that there they'd find safety, but the reality of tribal hatred and loyalties ran deeper than the blood of Christ.

And therein lies the problem. When the gospel we preach declares our hope for reconciliation with God, but ignores the explosive truth that God invites, even requires, our testimony of reconciliation with one another, we emasculate the message, stripping it of it's life changing power in the here and now. It was, many believe, this truncated 1/2 gospel, that explains the "Christian genocide", an oxymoron if ever there was one.

Let me make this clearer. It's not enough to get people to accept Christ as their personal savior. It's not enough to teach them how to get others to accept Christ as their personal savior. Ultimately, the gospel as about far more - it's about granting us, by virtue of our own transformation, the power to live differently, as instruments of reconciliation rather antagonism; peace rather than war. This was, and IS, the offense of the gospel, because it demands of us a laying down of human loyalties, and an appropriation of Christ's love, enabling us to love those who we wouldn't otherwise. Thus are the walls broken down between black and white, slave and free, rich and poor, Tutsi and Hutu - or that's as it should be.

But when all I have is a 'personal savior', I can keep my nationalism, my lust for power, my resentments, as long as I've prayed the prayer to accept Jesus. We'd never say it that way, but look at our own history of slavery and racism, look at Germany, look at Rwanda. What we say doesn't matter. It's how we live.

Did you know that if you go to Rwanda today and ask a person which tribe they belong to, Rwandans are forbidden, by law, to answer the question? "I'm Rwandan" is the answer you'll get. Yes, what Jesus said is true, "the world puts us to shame sometimes". (That's my paraphrase of what he said here)

O Lord of Reconciliation...

Forgive us for reducing the gospel to nothing more than appropriation of your death, while failing to allow the realities of your resurrection life affect our politics, relationships, sexuality, buying habits, and so much more. Shepherd us, that we might increasingly represent, in all these areas, the fulness of what you came to bring. And may our understanding of the scope of your salvation continue to grow until the end of our days.

Amen...

LIVING BRICKS and GOLD MEDALS

Craig Detweiler — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:45:06 -0700

Two years. Two Student Academy Awards. For aspiring filmmakers wondering how to get noticed, how about noticing the suffering of others? Friends of mine have won the gold medal at the Student Academy Awards by focusing their camera upon the plight of those on the margins of society. Their compelling films are not a calculated stunt to win prizes but a heartfelt conviction that we must care for the poor, the hungry, and the hurting.

American University student Laura Waters Hinson won best documentary in 2008 for AS WE FORGIVE, a moving portrait of reconciliation in Rwanda. It highlights both the harrowing genocide and the profound healing that has come to a fractured country. To commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Rwandan horrors, As We Forgive will be screening on PBS stations around the country, including PBS WORLD on July 15th. Check the PBS schedule for stations and times near you. In the meantime, you can join the Living Bricks campaign, designed to rebuild houses for the victims’ families. Murderers and survivors live alongside each other in a stirring example of forgiveness in action.

Bricks also serve as the central metaphor in Gregg Helvey’s USC thesis film, KAVI. Last weekend, Kavi won the Academy’s gold medal for best narrative. Kavi focuses upon bonded labor, a modern form of slavery still haunting children in India. A young boy longs to escape the brick kiln that binds him to the land (and those who exploit him). Helvey’s award winning drama is rooted in stories of poverty that have appeared in places like the New York Times.

These are stories any young filmmaker could have told. But do we have eyes to see and ears to hear such harsh realities? Gregg Helvey did. He made the movie to inform audiences about a heartbreaking, real world situation. Get involved in the movement to abolish modern slavery via the Not for Sale Campaign and International Justice Mission.

Congratulations to these young filmmakers who combine artistry with social justice. May their success inspire the next wave of faith-fueled filmmakers.