Opening Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank and praise thy name that we all can gather here in this country of Rwanda where so many innocent men, women, and children were murdered. We pray for their souls, and we pray for their families and relatives. Today we ask that thou may send your spirit to fill our hearts, to lead and to guide us, and we pray that everything we do is done for thy glory and honor. Most of all, we ask that in this conference souls might be healed and comforted. May healing of soul be given to every survivor, perpetrator, and family members affected by the genocide. We ask this especially for the mothers and the children. May all feeling of shame or guilt be removed. Give us the strength to understand the meaning and power of forgiveness. Only this will free us from bitterness. We know that when Jesus was on the cross, he said: “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” May we also have the strength to pray the same prayer. May thy kingdom come. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Keynote Speech

Thank you for the invitation to come to Rwanda. We are very happy to be here. When one hears the name “Rwanda”, the word “genocide” immediately comes to mind, along with horrifying images from 1994. With this comes a feeling of shame and humiliation, which will be passed on to future generations. But this is not what God created this beautiful country for. He had a different plan when he created the universe, and created human beings in His image. We are gathered today to find that purpose, and ask Him to be with us and show us what love and forgiveness really mean.

After 9/11, I talked about forgiveness at many schools in the New York City area. Our city lost about 3000 people on that day. When I talked, I often said that there were thousands of angels hovering over New York, taking the departed souls to God. In the same sense, I believe that there must have been thousands of angels hovering over Rwanda in 1994 to gather the souls of innocent men, women, and children who lost their lives in those days of bloodshed. All these souls are looking down on us now, as they gather with the same longing and prayer that we have. If they are praying and we are praying, then lives will be changed—completely transformed. This is the purpose of this gathering.

As an American citizen, I am ashamed and grieved that our country—as well as other countries—did nothing to stop this massacre. Our apathy and indifference was wrong, and we need to repent for it. We ask your country to forgive us. All we want to be is your brothers and sisters. America needs your prayers just as much as we will always have you on our prayers. May all the horrible reminders that haunt this country spur us on to a life of love and forgiveness. Then none of those who died will have died in vain.

What is our task? No matter how violent and dark the world, we have one task: to be faithful to the words of Jesus. When we return to our homes, we will each have a message to proclaim: that in spite of all that happened in Rwanda, there are people here who love and forgive, who long to live in community, and who seek God’s will in their lives. Let us proclaim the ancient message of the angels to the shepherds: “Fear not; I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”

As people of faith let us also tell the world “The kingdom of heaven is near.” It is this proclamation that will gather people for God. We need to find the kingdom of God in one another. That is why we are here. We know that just because of the Genocide that God is very close to you.

We all long for a better world. We all long for brotherhood, for truth, and for justice. But the road to this love is long and hard. It is the only way one can forgive and where people will be united. Like Martin Luther King Jr., (a man I knew personally) I have decided to work and live for love, for I know it is the only answer to humankind’s problems. And I’m going to talk about it everywhere I go. I know it isn’t popular to talk about it in some circles today. I’m not talking about emotional love. I’m talking about a strong demanding love, with power to change the world. Because I have seen too much hatred. God is love, and he who hates does not know God. But he who loves has the key that unlocks the heaviest door. Love can turn the worst enemies into friends.

Gods sees every person as important. Nobody needs to be ashamed of who they are, regardless of what has been done to them. In this sense I have the suffering of Rwanda’s women and children especially on my heart, in particular its widows, orphans, and victims of rape. God knows all the crimes and wrongdoings that have been done in this country. He will set it right in His time. He will judge all the wrongs. So every person has a story to tell – especially the children. It is our task to encourage everyone young and old to tell their stories. These stories are for the whole world, and may Rwanda lead the world in forgiveness.

The power to forgive is a gift from God that only comes when we are willing to repent – to see that we are sinners. Jesus says “that when even one sinner repents the angels in heaven will rejoice.” Repentance is a requirement, so powerful things will happen if we are willing to embrace repentance and forgiveness. When it comes to opening up old wounds in order to heal them; to face one’s own past wrongdoing and repent for it – that is hard.

In Rwanda asking for all of this is asking a lot. There are neighbors who killed each other’s families. There are brothers who betrayed each other. But forgiveness is not my teaching. It is what Jesus commanded for his Disciples. So to transform Rwanda through forgiveness is going to be a hard battle. It’s going to need more than talk about reconciliation and love. It’s going to require people who are willing to risk everything even their lives. It is going to require a lot of work and prayer for this message to become a reality here. It’s going to involve a prayer battle - the hardest battle you can imagine. There are many demons on the loose here that were unleashed and have never been rebuked - demons of death and murder. I don’t need to tell you. You’ve experienced their reality. Jesus said we should drive out demons in His name, heal the sick, raise the dead, and preach the good news of forgiveness—and he promised us that then the kingdom would come:

Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and you shall be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many shall be offended, and shall betray one another, and hate one another. Many false prophets shall rise and deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Matthew 24

Don’t these words describe Rwanda in the last decade? Hatred – betrayal – love growing cold? And yet in these words, we have an answer - such a wonderful and simple answer in the face of all this. We are to preach—with our deeds, and with our lives—the gospel of peace, love, and forgiveness, and be a witness to all nations. Just think: instead of being a place that makes one think of genocide, Rwanda could become a beacon of forgiveness for the whole world.

Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within you.” We know the opposite can be true, too – that hell is within us. Rwanda was hell ten, fifteen years ago. A million corpses cannot be so easily forgotten. But God constantly seeks to transform human hearts that find themselves in hell to bring them the peace of God and not the peace of the world. “Where two or three are gathered, and ask for anything in my name….”

What does the kingdom of God look like? It is the goal we are all working for – the peaceable kingdom envisioned by Isaiah thousands of years ago – a place of love, of community, of hope. A place where there is no more suffering and every tear is dried.

When I first met the organizers of the conference last September, we sat in my home and read several passages from Revelation. I would like to read them now. I think they could inspire and strengthen us. It is my longing that we taste something of the incredible promises they hold out for us.

They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.
Rev. 6:10-11

Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes--who are they, and where did they come from?" I answered, "Sir, you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, "they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
Rev. 7:13-17

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write all this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
Rev 21:3 –5

As we bear witness to the power of forgiveness—here in Rwanda, at this gathering, and wherever else we may go in the future—let us carry these words in our hearts. And let us really believe them. Because we have seen enough of what the devil can do. Now is the time to see what God can do.

Johann Christoph Arnold

 

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Responses

We showed "Hotel Rowanda" to the students at our Collage last year..........then had a "Coffee Shop Chat" afterward. My son Levi is writing a paper on the question "is Anabaptism viable for today." He is using the quote from Christoph "What is our task? No matter how violent and dark the world, we have one task: to be faithful to the words of Jesus. When we return to our homes, we will each have a message to proclaim: that in spite of all that happened in Rwanda, there are people here who love and forgive, who long to live in community, and who seek God's will in their lives." This way of Jesus happens today!
Seek peace, Wendy Ziegler