This week in Rwanda is known as "Memorial Week." Each year since the horrific genocide of 1994, Rwanda takes a week to hold meetings and services to remember the events of the past tragedy.
Although this is a somber way to start a ministry blog - we want to give you a window into what took place here 19 years ago. Much of our ministry is shaped by this event. Pastors and church leaders are trying to help people recover, reconcile and forgive one another. Some Rwandan friends of ours have written a good description about Rwanda's history and so we want to share it with you in the hope that it will lead you to pray for Rwanda. Pray also for us as we serve the people here.
Grace and Peace to you,
Matt, Jeana and Emma Nash
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Rwanda History
In 1994, the swiftest genocide in history took place in Rwanda. More than 800,000 people were killed in just 90 days. The brutality is unfathomable to us today. Hutu and Tutsi, Rwanda’s two most dominant ethnic groups at the time of the genocide, warred against each other. During Belgian colonization in the early 1900s, the minority Tutsis were given favor and considered superior to the majority Hutus. As a result, Tutsis benefited from better jobs and educational opportunities.
Hutu resentment built up. In 1959, more than 20,000 Tutsis were killed by angry Hutus. Thousands of Tutsis fled Rwanda and settled in neighboring countries: Uganda, Tanzania, Congo, Burundi. In 1962, when Belgium pulled out of Rwanda, the Hutus took over the government. With the Hutus in power, the minority Tutsis were blamed for every problem and crisis in the country. Political tension increased.
Tutsi refugees—with support from some moderate Hutus—in Uganda formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) with an aim to overthrow the then-current President, Juvenal Habyarimana, a moderate Hutu, and return to their home country. In an effort to improve his waning popularity, President Habyarimana exploited the RPF’s threat. As a result, Tutsis still living in Rwanda were accused of being RPF collaborators and were mistreated. In April 1994, President Habyarimana’s plane was shot down. No one knows who actually ordered the assassination.
Regardless, the assassination was then blamed on the RPF and the killing spree began. Overnight, roadblocks were put up and thousands were armed with machetes, guns and clubs. Three months later, 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus had been slaughtered. In July 1994, the RPF captured Kigali. With this shift in power, a ceasefire was declared and the genocide was over. About two million Hutus fled the country to Congo.
Between 250,000 and 500,000 women were raped during the 1994 genocide, which is believed to be the cause of the AIDS epidemic in Rwanda. Due to the genocide and the ensuing HIV/AIDS epidemic, more than 600,000 orphans lived in Rwanda by 2001. Additionally, there was virtually no psychological care for anyone in Rwanda after the genocide.
There is camaraderie in similar experience, regardless of the devastating nature. The people of Rwanda bound together in the aftermath of the genocide. Today they are filled with joy, filled with love. Rwanda’s people are reconciling, forgiving, growing, and overcoming.
Since the 1994 genocide, Rwanda is rebuilding itself. Many people involved in the genocide were tried and put to death or imprisoned. The educational system is strengthening. The economy is rapidly growing. There is reconciliation in Rwanda.
For More Information about Rwanda and Her story, please check out these great resources
BOOKS
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch
Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculee Ilibagiza
A Thousand Hills: Rwanda’s Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It by Stephen Kinzer
FILMS
As We Forgive
Sometimes in April
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