HOW HOPE ROSE FROM THE ASHES OF THE RWANDAN GENOCIDE
The healing journey is not over yet.
“We stood at the pit of hell. We looked in, and we never want to go there again.”
Those words, shared with a Canadian Christian worker in Rwanda, deeply describe both the depth of pain that marked a generation of Rwandans and their resolve to see systemic, lasting transformation in their country at the deepest levels.
This year marks 25 years since the Rwandan genocide – among the darkest in history.
For a hundred days the genocide raged, from April to July 1994, killing up to a million people. As high as 70 per cent of the Tutsi population was killed as were many Hutu. Government forces and their militia backers perpetrated co-ordinated mass rapes. They even released HIV-positive hospital patients on a mission to infect as many “Tutsi snakes” as they could.
Yet, 25 years later, Rwanda has experienced massive change. While there is still significant work that needs to be done, ministries working in Rwanda took time this year to celebrate the changes and reflect on the lessons learned in the wake of such tragedy.
“The 1994 genocide against the Tutsi was one of the darkest events for any country in the world to have gone through,” says Doreen Muzirankoni, communications and public engagement manager with World Vision Rwanda. “We continue to work with victims and survivors of the genocide. Through restored relationships we see communities working together, helping each other so that their lives and futures are filled with hope, promise and well-being.”
World Vision began working in Rwanda in the wake of the genocide. The international development and child sponsorship organization focused on providing food and first-aid to vulnerable children. Muzirankoni explains, “Many [children] were sick as a result of spending nights hiding in the bushes or swamps.
“Genocide has long-term effects. Recovery is a long journey and process. The first six years of World Vision’s operations in Rwanda were focused on relief and rehabilitation, especially of children left without parents or caregivers. There were close to 3 million people who were vulnerable and displaced as a result of the genocide. The post-traumatic effects are still evident today in the young and old, both survivors and perpetrators.”
Allison Alley, president of Compassion Canada reflects, “What made this genocide so brutal was that it was neighbour against neighbour. Normal, everyday people were encouraged over [government] radio broadcasts to slaughter their Tutsi neighbours.”
The mass murder, an AIDS epidemic caused by the mass rapes, and the extreme poverty as people fled for their lives all led to an orphan crisis. Compassion already had strong local relationships and a well-established presence in Rwanda. Their child development programs, caring for children’s physical, spiritual and educational needs, offered a natural place to implement trauma care.
“Children in Compassion programs participated in various forms of therapy and counselling,” Alley says.
“Because Compassion’s programs are led by church partners, these churches were then able to lead reconciliation efforts in contextual ways while also sharing the gospel, and the hope and peace that Jesus offers.”
Like World Vision, Compassion continues to provide Rwandans with trauma counselling. This deep work by many ministries has born much fruit. Through the gospel, Alley says, kids who were filled with thoughts of revenge experience forgiveness and hope. With collaboration between the government, churches and development organizations, a generation is growing up with a strong focus on unity and reconciliation.
Some of the key lessons come from looking back at the roots of the genocide.
“Genocide ideology doesn’t happen overnight,” Alley says. “It slowly begins with seeds of division. It is incumbent upon Christ-followers to recognize the cultural and societal pulls toward otherizing, and to stand firm against that and do everything we can to break down seeds of division.”
Sadly, churches were not immune to the spread of hatred. Church buildings were among the sites of the worst mass killings. That dark fact points to a crucial lesson the Church needs to remember in any mission or development work.
When the gospel first came to Rwanda, the country experienced a revival called the Balokale Movement. Balokale is a Bantu phrase meaning “the saved ones.”
“The unfortunate thing is the movement so emphasized the saving of souls that there wasn’t a really in-depth focus on discipleship,” explains Ida Kaastra-Mutoigo, director of World Renew Canada. “In countries with a strong animistic history there is a real hierarchy. What was existing in that society was an ethnic division in the way people saw themselves.”
At the time of the genocide, Kaastra-Mutoigo worked as the East Africa lead for World Renew, which originated from the Christian Reformed Church. World Renew works with local churches and other organizations to do community development. Kaastra-Mutoigo was heavily involved in World Renew’s response to the genocide.
Whenever you objectify another person, Kaastra-Mutoigo states, it essentially gives you a licence to kill. She explains a lack of a focus on discipleship training left churches unprepared for the horrors of the genocide – many churches even participated while some provided refuge and safety. Churches were in disarray, she says, during and after the events, and sometimes illequipped, at least initially, to offer healing and solace.
“A huge part of our role partnering with local churches through the country began as getting back to the fundamentals,” says Compassion’s Alley. “It was re-envisioning them into God’s universal love for all people and the fact that reconciliation is the heart of the gospel message.” Alley says before Compassion could support church partners the organization spent time with church leaders and their volunteers to get back to the fundamentals of that message.
“The gospel is a holistic message,” she adds. “We have a responsibility to address the social and physical needs of those around the world while always keeping the gospel message, and the spiritual needs of individuals and communities, central.”
Following the genocide Compassion and many other organizations doubled down on discipleship. They emphasized Christ’s ministry of reconciliation and the Church’s role as an agent of reconciliation in the world. Kaastra-Mutoigo shares that some ministries launched “a whole trauma healing with the local pastors . . . and used their resources to connect Scripture to how we understand prejudice, identity, how we understand the Church as an agent of change, God’s response to suffering, how do we deal with wounded hearts, how do we transform hurt to repentance and forgiveness.
Those churches and leaders have been effective in fostering change in Rwanda.
“That’s a very significant part of the change in Rwanda. That’s why Rwanda is celebrated today for the progress that it has made. You need the Church along with government to come together in this healing and reconciliation. A lot of government policy that was put in place made a very significant difference.”
Although the results of church, political and governmental changes have been very positive, many challenges remain.
“It is a small country with limited resources,” explained one source, who requested anonymity because they work closely with the Rwandan government.
“There are some problems with the semi-autocratic government that makes very quick decisions and doesn’t like opposing points of view. Some of the things that happen, happen quite quickly. It is often with good intentions, but some of the outcomes can take time to see both the negative and positive consequences.”
However, the source also praised some key governmental decisions that, along with efforts from churches and other organizations, have seen amazing outcomes.
“One of the biggest lessons is you can’t just say, ‘We’re all Rwandans, we are going to be united.’ Reconciliation is a long, long process. It is about having a world view that embraces that every person is made in the image of God. They realized that and set up courts where people could meet those who killed their family members. [Today] you have story after story of people living side by side with people who were engaged on the opposing side.” /FT