Forgive not Forget

Our first morning in Rwanda, and a beautiful view from our guest house.

The day was spent organizing our drivers / translators, transportation, supplies and visiting the Genocide memorial.

There is no easy or delicate way to discuss a genocide, so I am going to be straight.

The reason most of you know the name Rwanda is due to the horrific genocide that played out in the sprint of 1994. For 100 days, Rwandan turned against Rwandan, neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend… 1 million people died, in the most awful ways imaginable.

Everyone was impacted… and 20 years later, out of the ashes is a country reborn.

It would have been easy to seek revenge, even almost understandable, however the people chose a different way, the way of forgiveness… forgive NOT forget. I strongly encourage everyone to read more about these events and how a people can move beyond horror and towards love and forgiveness.

As a team about to engage and serve the people of Rwanda, it was extremely important to understand them, their history, their culture, their fabric… the Genocide weaves through all of these.