April in Rwanda is a somber time, a time of national grief and mourning. During the week set aside to remember the 1994 genocide, public services shut down, stores close early, and there are memorial services each afternoon. Throughout the month, people visit the burial places of lost loved ones. The trauma of this horrific event is close to the surface, and many people seem to exist in a sort of fog. They are known as the walking dead.
“The wounds are very deep. People are still very traumatized,” says CBM Global Field Staff Kathleen Soucy. “But our Rwandan colleagues also say there is healing in the land… there’s a lot of hope as well.”
Diane Niyomukiza (pictured above) is one sign of hope. She belongs to a peacebuilding youth group trained and mentored by CBM Global Field Staff Gato Munyamasoko as part of a pilot project among youth in the churches and schools of the Association of Baptist Churches in Rwanda.
“This project helped us to get a better understanding of peace,” Diane says. “We talked about peace that must be between people and God, among people themselves, a person with himself and peace with the environment.”
As well as providing a safe place for members to share their stories and seek reconciliation, groups are given practical training in problem solving and conflict resolution, and encouraged to reach out to the community in ways that build sustainable peace.
Diane’s group has started saving money together with the intention of starting a small business. They meet twice a month to practice peace-related dramas. Some have formed a football team and encourage discussions about peace with other teams. Others have started a tree nursery to promote environmental conservation.
“Many leaders with a passion for peace will come from youth,” Diane says. “They will influence their families, community and Rwandan society.”
Click here to read more about CBM's peace and reconciliation work in Rwanda.
The Ministry of Reconciliation
By Andre Sibomana, CBM's Integral Mission Coordinator in Rwanda
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5: 17-20 NIV)
At the very heart of God’s mission is to restore all the relationships broken by the Fall – our relationship with God, with our neighbour, with our environment and with ourselves. This lack of harmony affects all of life. We need to understand peace not only as the absence of the war but as a multi-dimensional concept, where there is food, health, good social relationships, justice, peace of mind and fellowship with God. This is shalom, life in abundance (John 10:10).
Jesus inaugurated the restoration of all relationships by reconciling us with God the Father through the cross. From the salvation of this One, we can love, forgive and reconcile with our neighbours. We will recognize the value that we have in Jesus Christ and reconcile with ourselves. We can enjoy creation and reconcile ourselves with the environment.
The Church is called to bring peace and reconciliation to people and communities in conflict in our world today. Jesus said: Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God (Matthew 5:9). The question is: how do we make peace?
In
Gender, Religion and Spirituality, Linda Tripp says: “In Christ we have the role model who healed the sick, fed the hungry, clothed the naked and comforted the outcast, and whose message was about restoring relationship and reconciliation.”
By supporting development work around the world, you contribute to the eradication of poverty, restore dignity, reduce coping mechanisms that are degrading our environment, and build peace in millions of poor homes. You are spreading a full peace… you are spreading shalom.
