Sunday, September 11, 2011

"you have come to a country where every house is a ghost"

These quotes tell a story. A story of my learning, of the lessons and lectures I have sat through. Some difficult to swallow. Many lessons that were disheartening, disturbing and discouraging, while it wasn't intentional, they were only speaking truth. No one really sugar coats anything here. Some days I would leave our classes feeling close to hopeless, wounds too great to comprehend. The past has been hideous and now the future too seems maimed. So much pain with so little progress and no easy fix. Most of these quotes are from my professor who is a Rwandan Pastor, others are from guest speakers we've had visit. All tell a story... A story that binds itself together in the issues of peace and reconciliation.

 Genocide.
"If you knew me and you really knew yourself you would not have killed me" -Felicien Ntagengwa
"Don't kill him. Kill what is in him."
"Dead bodies had become a common place"
"The people who should protect you are the very people who kill you. You see... that was an issue."
"Being a refuge is a terrible thing because you have no right to yourself... you are an inferior person." 
"Rwanda had become worse than the animals. Even a dog had been more friendly to a human." 

Trauma.
"don't look at my physical, I am dead while standing"
"They have built a fence inside themselves and cannot open"
"There is this silence in others that has caused them to suffer within"
"You have not killed but you have not helped"

Healing.
"you can feel angry about something unrighteous or unjust"
"God shapes events in history, some are fortunate and unfortunate as well"
"...trying to revive the values in human beings"
"will this justice be justice?"

Forgiveness.
"I have been killing you within my heart because of my hatred towards you."
"Forgiveness detoxifies the memory. It purges the poison from the offense"
"people have come back to being people"
"seeing where we are now is a miracle"

While the beginning weeks have been overwhelming, we're now seeing glimpses into the sweet redemption of God's moving hand. It's been a difficult and painful journey to reach this point but the reward is and will continue to be worth it.
"healing invades when we accept the suffering of another."

2 comments:

  1. Lindsey these quotes are so inspirational and beautiful. I look forward to finding out what else you are learning over the next months. It sounds like a very bittersweet experience.

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  2. This is a moving update- Also the picture you have shared is amazing! We miss you and are praying for you daily!!!!

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