Genocide Survivor, Orphan, Widow, Mother, HIV+

Xtra Mile Ministries, one of the ministries we are working with in Rwanda, has an Education Program where they find jobs for Genocide Orphans and then help with scholarships so they can study at one of the Universities.

Since our arrival in Rwanda, we’ve had four of these young people working in our home at various times. The first two were Fredrick and Joseph. Fredrick wasn’t able to stay long and had to go back to repeat his last year in secondary school. Bizimana came and replaced Fredrick. Joseph worked with us for a year and then received a full scholarship to attend a brand new government university. Ange (Angel) came after Joseph left. Our love for them grows everyday. Their stories are incredible and their strength of character inspiring.

One day Bizimana (pictured top left) invited us to visit his home village and to meet his surviving sister and two brothers. He especially wanted to show us where he hid during the genocide! On our trip we met his sister Jane (pictured top left with her two children) and his brothers Nsengimana and Kanyarwanda. As they talked about what happened to their family during the genocide we walked to the papyrus swamp in the valley behind their village. There they pointed out the places where they hid from the “killers” as they described them.

Originally there were eight people in their family. Their parents were killed and then two of their older brothers were killed trying to fight off the “killers”. “Here is where my father was killed.” “There is where my mother was killed.” “Here is where my brother and I hid.” Jane was a teenager and Bizimana was five when all of this took place.

Later, I visited their village again and got to know their family a little better. My heart especially went out to Bizimana’s older sister, Jane, as I heard her life’s story in more detail.

When the “killers” came to Jane’s village and killed her two brothers and parents, she was hiding in Kigali. Somehow she survived there and was later married after the genocide ended and had two children, a boy and a girl. Her husband died a few years later of AIDS and then she was also diagnosed as HIV+.

As I sat there my heart was moved deeply in compassion for this family. As disciples of Jesus we’re supposed to take care of the poor, the sick, the hurting, the fatherless and widows. Here sat Jane, genocide survivor, orphan, mother, widow and HIV+ without a way to support herself. All of the struggles that Jesus cares about wrapped up in one person.

“He lifted the needy out of their affliction” Ps. 107:41.

There are 10′s of thousands of Rwandans just like Jane. As we get to know them one by one our heart’s cry and the daily prayer on our lips is “O Lord, lift the needy out of their affliction and restore life to their souls!”

A huge part of the Xtra Mile ministry is forming what they call “Mobile Family” where orphans without families become a family to each other. Through Xtra Miles, Jane, Bizimana, Nsengimana and Kanyarwanda now have a much larger family that will work together to be the Kingdom Community that Jesus established on earth through His love and sacrifice.

Our vision is to form thousands of these Kingdom Communities all over Rwanda that not only help each other with their daily struggles but also transform their nation as their lives are changed by the Life of Jesus!

Join us as we pray for Jane and the thousands of others like her. May their burdens be lifted, their hearts healed and their souls filled with the living water of Jesus!

Pictured above is our dear friend, Charles Kabeza. On this day we were in Gisenyi in the Western Province of Rwanda with a group of friends and family members. Just behind Charles is the place where his brother and sister were killed. When the militias came, his brother ran to the left, his sister was on the right and he jumped over the fence in the back. He was the only one who survived. This day was the first time since 1994 that Charles had revisited this site. He came back with those who loved him to tell his story of what happened. Telling the story helped him to heal. Telling the story helped him to forgive.

Pictured right is another memorial where the bones of genocide victims were gathered for burial.

May we forgive as we remember. May we purge hatred and fear as we remember. May this never happen again. Not in our time. Not on our watch.

Disciple Making Movement principles also focus on rapid reproduction of disciple-makers, people of peace who seek out more people of peace with the focused intention of discipling new communities through the study of God’s Word. New leaders are quickly mentored and trained to begin new DBSs in new communities as the Spirit of God leads them.

This movement is not and will not be foreigner focused. Non-Rwandans will remain in the background from the beginning. There will be no “passing the baton” from foreigner to national. Rwandans are at the forefront of the movement.

ATN-Rwanda is a local, Rwandan Christian NGO dedicated to the spiritual and physical transformation of Rwandan communities through discipleship, partnership, service and development. It’s service focuses on ESL, Literacy, Xtra Mile Communities, Street Kids, Leadership Training, Vocational Training, Sports and Health.

ATN seeks to be the hands and feet of Jesus; serving the poor, reaching out to the marginalized, binding up the broken hearted, and restoring hope were hope has been lost.

For more information please visit the ATN-Rwanda website @ http://atn-rwanda.org

Pictured above is a room full of clothes from over 6,000 people who were killed in a church building in Nyamata in the Southern Province of Rwanda. There are hundreds of sites just like this one scattered all over Rwanda. One Rwandan even said that there are as many Genocide Memorials in Rwanda as there are Wal-Marts in America.

Atop of the clothes lays a wooden cross. A symbol of hope, renewal, mercy and redemption. As proclaimers of the Good News, we are challenged with what Justice, Mercy and Forgiveness will look like in a land so devastated by evil. Our heart’s desire is for God to redeem the land from the curse of the blood that was shed with the cleansing power of the cross.

The time has come for Rwanda to have a new name, a new history. A future of hope, reconciliation, peace and justice. A future that glorifies God’s Goodness. This is our New Mission in Rwanda.