Thoughts Pt. 3

God and the Genocide (The worst of man and the best of God)

Being in Rwanda, it was hard not to notice their intensely different take on religion and God. In Canada, devout Christians seeking to express their faith in some way might hang a rosary around their rear-view mirror or slap a Jesus-fish decal on their trunk. In Rwanda however even the biggest Jesus-fish would be too small of a statement. Instead, nearly every mini-bus, car, moto/ bike-taxi has large decals plastered on it front and back expressing their love for Jesus or God. Three by one foot decals shout: "Jesus is my friend", "I love God", "God bless you" (in one of their three spoken languages). Their shameless zeal can also be seen nearly every morning of the week when many business gather early to sing and pray before starting the day or on the Weekends when many attend church and nearly all available businesses, buildings or shelters become a place of worship. Some might say it is easy for them to be so open and expressive about their faith in such an overwhelmingly Christian nation, but in seeing the earnestness of their faith in real life it's easy to see their faith plays out much differently than the majority of Westerners. JoAnna and I saw many with faith that could move mountains or at least a small hill. The only possible explanation I can come up with for this is that they have no choice but to rely on God to provide. In North America, we have pension funds, RRSP's, 401k's and hefty savings accounts to fall back onto should life every take a turn for the worst. Nearly all of us have never had to consider the possibility of going without food for a day or two because we couldn't afford it. In Africa, many have no choice but to remain faithfully reliant on God to provide them with a means to eat or clothe their children and no doubt many have seen God come through in a big way in their lives. Not, only is their faith and zeal impressive but it is doubly so considering their past. How does a nation remain so faithful in light of what they experienced? After many saw lifelong church-goers turn on their fellow congregants or a pastor or priest gleefully opening the doors of their church to a militia so that they can slaughter the hundreds of asylum-seekers inside? How can one exclaim God is great after their entire family was murdered before their eyes? The answer that I received time and time again was shocking. Many summed it up shortly in saying that the genocide was the worst possible acts of man (all men, men of faith included) and the mostly successful reconciliation that has taken place since they say is only due to God's grace and goodness. This shocked me because the reaction would have been much different (probably the inverse) in North America. I can only help but think that the reaction in North America would have blamed God or the church for the genocide and what happened and saw the reconciliation as the work of man's greatness. After all was said and done I thought it absurd that North America or elsewhere would send missionaries to Africa, instead they should be coming here.

Now for something completely different!
JoAnna and I are now back safe and sound in Canada where we will spend the next couple of days visiting friends and family in High River, Lethbridge and Red Deer before moving to Edmonton to continue our studies in September. This blog will be the last of the Thoughts series and another couple of blog entries will come before we shut things down.

We hope to see many of you soon and wish you well,

Alex and Jo