Confess truth,

MANZINI – Bishop Samuel from Rwanda has admonished the country and the church to confess the truth and create a space for dialogue.

Bishop Samuel was speaking after sharing their experiences of the 1994 Tribal Genocide in Rwanda, where a million people were killed in a space of 100 days.

He said the painful occurrence forced the people of Rwanda to find solace in church, and to dig deeper in the foundations of peace in an attempt to go past pain. The Bishop said, peace was founded in confessing and confronting the truth. He encouraged the country’s leadership to confront the truth and the church to represent the truth in all its dealings.

Bishop Samuel said the truth was embedded in the Bible and it was not a coincident that Bible Society Eswatini was pioneering the calls for prayer. He said God’s counsel was founded on the bases of the truth.

He expounded that a true and meaningful dialogue should be based on the truth and unless the country’s political issues are dealt with in honesty, the country was not going to get out of its problems.

“The year 1994 was a very painful year for the Rwandan nation and we saw over a million dead bodies of friends and relatives in period of 100 days. Nobody could have though such would happen and to see that some people were killed even after running to hide in churches. When a nation fights against itself it becomes very deadly. I can imagine that the pain would double here since you are just one tribe. The church must be in the forefront and the church must not shy away from confronting the truth,” he said.

CORRUPTION

He stated that in Rwanda there was a glimmer of hope because the church took a stand to fight against corruption from those that are in power. He said after the dialogue, the church decided to do introspection and they found out that there was a need for them to repent.

“After the genocide, the church resolved to sit down and repent. We also decided to confess the truth and forgive one another. The church is now confident and brave to oppose criminal tendencies, especially when they are from those in power. Now the church is able to shout out loud when human rights are being muted. As we are calling for peace in this land, we are also called to shout out loud where human rights are being abused. The church is called to create space for dialogue, where its members can face the truth. Please as we are pleading peace in this land, we have to create space for dialogue where