I wanted to bring light to an incredible country that is being transformed through second chances. In 1994, the assasination of the Rwandan President sparked the Rwandan Genocide, a killing of 1,000,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in only 100 days. Since then, government has been revamped, social stability reached, and a heartwarming national forgiveness.
An award winning documentary, "As We Forgive," highlights the current state of Rwanda. Here is the synopsis for this compelling documentary:
Could you forgive a person who murdered your family? This is the question faced by the subjects of As We Forgive, a documentary about Rosaria and Chantal—two Rwandan women coming face-to-face with the men who slaughtered their families during the 1994 genocide. The subjects of As We Forgive speak for a nation still wracked by the grief of a genocide that killed one in eight Rwandans in 1994. Overwhelmed by an enormous backlog of court cases, the government has returned over 50,000 genocide perpetrators back to the very communities they helped to destroy. Without the hope of full justice, Rwanda has turned to a new solution: Reconciliation.
But can it be done? Can survivors truly forgive the killers who destroyed their families? Can the government expect this from its people? And can the church, which failed at moral leadership during the genocide, fit into the process of reconciliation today? In As We Forgive, director Laura Waters Hinson and narrator Mia Farrow explore these topics through the lives of four neighbors once caught in opposite tides of a genocidal bloodbath, and their extraordinary journey from death to life through forgiveness.
For more information: http://www.asweforgivemovie.com/
Now, I am particularly intersted in Rwanda as my boyfriend, Josh Groves, will be moving to Rwanda in March to work with a non-profit organization Bridge 2 Rwanda. He will be working with the Bishop of Rwanda to train pastors in doctrine and theology. This is an incredibly important task because most pastors have a fourth grade reading level or less. He will have contact with hundreds of pastors and consequently effect thousands of Rwandans for the sake of Jesus Christ. Therefore, Rwanda is the most consencrated country in basis of population with a significantly high level of orphans due to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. He has an incredible opportunity to further the kingdom of God!
Josh has been working to raise enough money to move to Rwanda for two years. He strives to raise $15,000 per year and has raised approximately 1/3 of the money for this year. If you would like more information, please read his blog (http://grovesinthemist.tumblr.com/) or contact him at jgroves@bridge2rwanda.org If you are interested in giving, please give online at
http://www.bridge2rwanda.org/get-involved/borrowed-talent/#josh-groves and make sure the donation is directed towards Josh Groves. We are so excited about the way God is transforming Rwanda through second chances and are delighted that Josh gets to be apart of it all!
Me, Josh Groves, and Elisee (Josh's best friend and college roommate from Rwanda)
Josh and I
Musanze, Rwanda: Josh's home for the next two years (paradise, right?!)
Rwandan child. Image borrowed from B2R volunteer blog (http://www.annanafrica.blogspot.com/)
