Tragedy, Beauty, and a Rockin' Choir
I'm writing from my usual spot in the library at FAWE Girls' School in Kigali. There is a hum around me as the other team members read with students, other students sit with each other and study, and the general hubbub takes place all around the building.
We are starting week four of work here, and the pace is picking up dramatically as our schedules continue to fill. There certainly still is the expected downtime as African culture has a very loose conception of time, which means lots of late readers and a good number of no-shows, but that's okay because the readers who have become regular at this point are opening the door to some powerful times of sharing, discussing, and opening up with each other. The girls at FAWE are exceptionally bright and our readers at Christ's Church in Rwanda are diverse and always interesting.
This is probably obvious by now, but one thing that almost all native Rwandans have in common is the massive genocide that took place in 1994 that resulted in the brutal murders of almost one million people. As we continue to get to know our readers, some have opened up about their experiences with this, which are always unimaginable stories of violence, evil, hatred, and extreme loss. A handful of my readers are the only ones who survived from their entire families. One thing that I came to realize as I talked with one reader, even though I had known it intellectually, is that a great number of the thousands of people that we pass on the streets every week are people who participated in the madness of mass murder only a few years ago. As I have shared before, Rwandans, strangers or otherwise, like to stare you in the eyes. It's eerie to know that many of the people who look you in the eyes every day are people who proved they are capable of deadly violence, even against innocents. I've concluded that I will never understand the realities of genocide.
But what amazes me even more is how well so many have handled having been through such an atrocity. Some of my readers witnessed the slaying of their entire families, but they don't live with hatred or bitterness. They simply accept the situation of their lives and work to make the best of it. One of my readers is highly involved in memorial and reconciliation efforts, which means being in regular outreach to the people who, by all reasonable standards, destroyed her life. She lives in the midst of what we would call her enemies. But to her, those labels simply must be banished and the love of God put in its place. It's an incredible display of the extent of the call of God to love. I know for a fact that we do not know what this is like. How can you unless you are taken to this extreme? Many Americans will sit in death chambers waiting for capital punishment against someone who has killed one person in their family, and these Rwandans have no choice but to walk the streets every day with people who took everyone in their whole lives. Forgiveness is the only way to not drown in your own bitterness, sorrow, and vengeance here. It's an incredible lesson, the depth of which is very hard to truly comprehend.
Most children here have no idea what it is like to have grandparents.
On a lighter note, we had a great party on Sunday with students and teachers at the FAWE school. With almost fifty total in attendance, we played a great big game of Scrabble on the wall with big letters and about seven teams of five or six each. It was a blast and we capped it off with a treat of Cokes, Fantas, and homemade cookies for all. This is a rare experience in Rwanda.
We spent our "weekend" (Monday and Tuesday) at the town of Gisenyi on Lake Kivu in the Western province. We stayed at a nice place on the lake south of the town, which had its own little beach, dugout canoes, and beautiful views over the lake, which really seems like the ocean. Bryan and Holly, the missionaries, came with us and spent Tuesday at Volcanoes National Park where they hiked out into the bamboo forest to literally hang out with groups of mountain gorillas, including some of the biggest silverbacks in the world. This was a gift to them from Harvard, Dana, and Rod, as it costs hundreds of dollars to do these expeditions and they probably never would have had this experience on their own.
As nice as the location and the relaxation was, the true highlight experience came unexpectedly. While we were sitting near the shoreline, we heard a chorus of singing wafting over the lake from down the road a ways. I rounded up Amy and we went exploring. We walked down the road into a small part of the nearby village, where there was a old brick building up an eroded path off of the road. We could hear the high-energy singing coming from inside this buidling, so we hiked up the little path and cautiously peered inside one of the open doors. The group inside could see us and immediately started waving us in. We walked into the building, which was a large open room with several dozen low wooden benches. The group was a choir of about two dozen or so in ratty clothes raising the roof with some of the most high-powered praise you've ever heard, along with a rythmic drumbeat. One young man came over and sat by me and helped us to understand some of the things they were singing about. At one point they would not continue without us introducing ourselves to the entire group, which was followed by them extending a very enthusiastic "God Bless You" from many individuals. This was an incredible change from the reception of most Rwandan strangers towards a couple of muzungus.
Rwanda continues to hold many blessings and surprises. I am confident that our remaining three weeks will be full of continued reminders as to why God has us here.
We are starting week four of work here, and the pace is picking up dramatically as our schedules continue to fill. There certainly still is the expected downtime as African culture has a very loose conception of time, which means lots of late readers and a good number of no-shows, but that's okay because the readers who have become regular at this point are opening the door to some powerful times of sharing, discussing, and opening up with each other. The girls at FAWE are exceptionally bright and our readers at Christ's Church in Rwanda are diverse and always interesting.
This is probably obvious by now, but one thing that almost all native Rwandans have in common is the massive genocide that took place in 1994 that resulted in the brutal murders of almost one million people. As we continue to get to know our readers, some have opened up about their experiences with this, which are always unimaginable stories of violence, evil, hatred, and extreme loss. A handful of my readers are the only ones who survived from their entire families. One thing that I came to realize as I talked with one reader, even though I had known it intellectually, is that a great number of the thousands of people that we pass on the streets every week are people who participated in the madness of mass murder only a few years ago. As I have shared before, Rwandans, strangers or otherwise, like to stare you in the eyes. It's eerie to know that many of the people who look you in the eyes every day are people who proved they are capable of deadly violence, even against innocents. I've concluded that I will never understand the realities of genocide.
But what amazes me even more is how well so many have handled having been through such an atrocity. Some of my readers witnessed the slaying of their entire families, but they don't live with hatred or bitterness. They simply accept the situation of their lives and work to make the best of it. One of my readers is highly involved in memorial and reconciliation efforts, which means being in regular outreach to the people who, by all reasonable standards, destroyed her life. She lives in the midst of what we would call her enemies. But to her, those labels simply must be banished and the love of God put in its place. It's an incredible display of the extent of the call of God to love. I know for a fact that we do not know what this is like. How can you unless you are taken to this extreme? Many Americans will sit in death chambers waiting for capital punishment against someone who has killed one person in their family, and these Rwandans have no choice but to walk the streets every day with people who took everyone in their whole lives. Forgiveness is the only way to not drown in your own bitterness, sorrow, and vengeance here. It's an incredible lesson, the depth of which is very hard to truly comprehend.
Most children here have no idea what it is like to have grandparents.
On a lighter note, we had a great party on Sunday with students and teachers at the FAWE school. With almost fifty total in attendance, we played a great big game of Scrabble on the wall with big letters and about seven teams of five or six each. It was a blast and we capped it off with a treat of Cokes, Fantas, and homemade cookies for all. This is a rare experience in Rwanda.
We spent our "weekend" (Monday and Tuesday) at the town of Gisenyi on Lake Kivu in the Western province. We stayed at a nice place on the lake south of the town, which had its own little beach, dugout canoes, and beautiful views over the lake, which really seems like the ocean. Bryan and Holly, the missionaries, came with us and spent Tuesday at Volcanoes National Park where they hiked out into the bamboo forest to literally hang out with groups of mountain gorillas, including some of the biggest silverbacks in the world. This was a gift to them from Harvard, Dana, and Rod, as it costs hundreds of dollars to do these expeditions and they probably never would have had this experience on their own.
As nice as the location and the relaxation was, the true highlight experience came unexpectedly. While we were sitting near the shoreline, we heard a chorus of singing wafting over the lake from down the road a ways. I rounded up Amy and we went exploring. We walked down the road into a small part of the nearby village, where there was a old brick building up an eroded path off of the road. We could hear the high-energy singing coming from inside this buidling, so we hiked up the little path and cautiously peered inside one of the open doors. The group inside could see us and immediately started waving us in. We walked into the building, which was a large open room with several dozen low wooden benches. The group was a choir of about two dozen or so in ratty clothes raising the roof with some of the most high-powered praise you've ever heard, along with a rythmic drumbeat. One young man came over and sat by me and helped us to understand some of the things they were singing about. At one point they would not continue without us introducing ourselves to the entire group, which was followed by them extending a very enthusiastic "God Bless You" from many individuals. This was an incredible change from the reception of most Rwandan strangers towards a couple of muzungus.
Rwanda continues to hold many blessings and surprises. I am confident that our remaining three weeks will be full of continued reminders as to why God has us here.
posted by Cary | 3:40 AM
2 Comments:
Rod Howell was also participant in blessing us with this wonderful experience of seeing the mountain gorillas that can only be found in this region. As missionaries we are dependent upon God's provision through His faithful people. To go for such an adventure on the backs of supporters outside the context of this kind of special blessing can be quite difficult to justify so we say thank you for this wonderful opportunity and for this short break away from the stresses of the normal day.
Thanks Cary for your bond pursuit of the singing. Cool story.
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