Church

My internet has been less than ideal the past few days so I have some catching up to do.

I went to church on Saturday with a friend, JP. I have heard rumors that church here is very different (longer) than church at home. I thought I was prepared. It is impossible to conceptualize sitting on an ill made wooden bench for 4 hours listening to incomprehensible English. To be fair, the man’s English was very good however, the man that was translating into French would start translating as he was still speaking. The French translation over powered the English and I only know that the topic was “Heaven is for real.” Which was fine with me as I had other things to occupy my thoughts that morning.

At the beginning of the service (and by beginning I mean 45 minutes in when we arrived with everyone else like it was not a problem) there was an announcement about the construction of the church. The service I attended was outside in something similar to a pavilion. I did not think anything of this until a man stated that after 18 years the church was almost complete. The congregation has been meeting in various building for almost two decades since the 1994 genocide. I’m not sure how much readers know about the genocide so I will briefly explain…

During the genocide, Tutsis fled to churches in hopes of protection and safety. Religious leaders encouraged Tutsis to come, would fill the church with people, then lock the doors and send for the interahamwe to come and kill all inside. I did not ask JP what happened to his church so I cannot be certain that this is what happened but it is probable. 

I am pretty much constantly amazed at how stable and vibrant Kigali is. Within my lifetime, over 1 million people were killed in this country and somehow, people moved on. My friends, and as I understand it, most people under 25, have no idea whether they are Tutsi or Hutu. Nor do they care. Ethno-nationalism has effectively been extinguished. They identify as Rwandese. It took roughly one generation to turn around decades of colonial oppression, a civil war, and a catastrophic genocide. By no means is the Rwandan government operating entirely on the up and up and things are a bit tenser in the rural areas outside of Kigali. But people returned to church. To a place that was used for murder and mass violence. Women were raped in front of their communities inside buildings where they used to pray. Those who survived and those who returned to Rwanda post genocide found a way to continue living.

 I don’t know that kind of strength and courage and forgiveness.