Rwanda 2020 ~ Day 2

The Rwanda Genocide occurred from April 1994 until July 1994. In that short 4 months an estimated 1,074,017 were brutally killed by the government, militia, friends, and neighbors. Many of the women that survived were purposely infected with AIDS/HIV to kill off future generations. As a result of the genocide there were approximately 400,000 orphans. Many of these children witnessed the killing of their parents and siblings. Nearly 85,000 of the orphans were forced into adulthood by having to provide for younger surviving siblings. The Kigali Genocide Memorial has approximately 250,000 people buried in mass graves on the property. There are other memorial sites throughout the country where other victims are buried.

Reflections

I am reminded of what Paul writes in Romans 12. Paul is telling Christians to not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. He goes on to instruct Christians on how they should live so they are set apart from the world. The last verse of Chapter 12 Paul writes: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” As I walked through the Rwanda Genocide Memorial I was deeply sadden by all the evil that has occurred and is still occurring in our world. However, even in the midst of this horrific time, several people stepped up and harbored refugees. One was an old woman, Zura Karuhimbi. Some believed the woman had magical powers. When a group of heavily armed militia heard that she was gathering people to hide they kept coming to her home. She would shake her bracelets and tell the men that they would incur the wrath of God if they killed the people she had rescued. The men were always frightened and left without harming anyone. It is said that Zura saved more than 100 refugees by hiding them under her bed, in her roof, and in ditches in her fields. God used a old woman in the midst of evil for His purpose: To overcome evil with good!