The Lausanne Global Conversation is on the World Wide Open Network
Author: Antoine Rutayisire
Date: 10.09.2010
Location: Kigali | Rwanda
Category: Reconciliation
Editor’s Note: This Cape Town 2010 Advance Paper has been written by Antoine Rutayisire as an overview of the topic to be discussed at the Morning Plenary session on “Building the Peace of Christ in our Divided and Broken World.” Responses to this paper through the Lausanne Global Conversation will be fed back to the author and others to help shape their final presentations at the Congress.
In his book, The Wounded Healer, Henri Nouwen speaks of ministry in a wounded, dislocated world, populated by a rootless generation made up of “desperate men”, ministered to by “ a wounded healer”. In the chapter on “Ministry by a Lonely Minister”, Nouwen writes: “Since it is his task to make visible the first vestiges of liberation for others, he must bind his own wounds carefully in anticipation of the moment when he will be needed. He is called to be the wounded healer, the one who must look after his own wounds but at the same time be prepared to heal the wounds of others. He is both the wounded minister and the healing minister…” (p.82). This is an accurate description of the ministry of reconciliation in the church. In every nation where reconciliation is needed, the “healing ministers” are part of the population and they too are wounded. And it is only when they are healed that they can minister healing to others through sharing with them the experience of a healed life. And that is what I will try to do in this paper. The content of this paper is not taken and presented from an academic perspective but rather distilled from the experience of 16 years of active participation in the healing of a broken nation, first as a Christian and preacher and also as a member of the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission in the aftermath of the Rwanda genocide of 1994.
Contradictions in the Christian Setting: Flourishing Churches and Festering Wounds
Many Christian writers today agree that the epicenter of Christianity has moved to the southern hemisphere. But how do we reconcile that phenomenon with the opposite contradiction of tribal wars, ethnic clashes and genocides? How do we reconcile the joy of the fastest growing churches with the sadness of the worst history of internal killings and wars? Most of the countries with a dominant Christian presence in Africa are deeply wounded. And even when they look normal, the healing is superficial,
festering with wounds underneath like a volcano ready to explode. We cover up, but life circumstances keep showing us that we are not healed. We have growing churches, but we also have the worst wars and even genocide. How can we be Christians and still live with hatred and anger? How can we be Christians and live with slavery, apartheid, ethnic and racial hatred, family dislocation and divorce? What has gone wrong with our evangelization and Christian discipleship? What can we do to become “ambassadors of reconciliation”? The plea in this paper is for a rediscovery of “the Gospel of reconciliation”.
Failure and success: Rwanda as a case study
The general population census of 1991 showed that Rwanda was 89% Christian, with a large proportion of Roman Catholics (62%), followed by Protestant denominations (27%), with 8% Traditionalists and a few Muslims (1.5%) and other religions (0.5%). The White Fathers, the first Catholic missionaries to arrive in Rwanda, came with the specific mission of creating “a Christian Kingdom in the heart of Africa”, a dream long cherished by their Founder, Cardinal Lavigerie. Christianity arrived in Rwanda in 1901. By 1941 the king of Rwanda was baptized. All the chiefs and influential personalities followed suit, making Rwanda the epitome of a fulfilled dream. The Protestant missionaries were also successful despite the stumbling block of the merciless opposition of the Catholic missionaries who had cut a lion’s share for themselves. In the early 1930’s, a mighty revival broke out in the Anglican Mission of Gahini, setting the Eastern Africa countries on fire and reaching even beyond. Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi and other countries still celebrate the fruit of that mighty revival. The “Tukutendereze” anthem is still sung with nostalgic ecstasy.
But between 1959 and 1963 the cradle of the revival was rocked by a bloody ethnic massacre that led many Tutsis into exile. The roads that had been trekked by missionaries and revival teams were now trodden by refugees running for their survival. While the church kept growing and was working hand in hand with the Government, discriminatory policies were put in place and even complied with by the churches. Between 1990-1994, ethnic tensions were visibly growing and eventually culminated in the 1994 genocide against Tutsis where more than 1,000,000 people were brutally massacred––often inside church buildings and in many cases, with the participation of clergy members. What went wrong with our Christianity?
An Autopsy of the Church Failure
There are many reasons that can explain the situation, but we will state the most obvious before drawing lessons for the future.
The content of the message: a partial, selective gospel
It is very clear that the message that was presented was not contextualized to respond to the needs and problems of the nation. When the missionaries arrived, they found a unified nation with three groups: Hutus, Tutsis and Twas, the power being in the hands of the Tutsi monarchy. These groups were more social classes than ethnic groups. But there were already some seeds of future evil in their relationships––such as inequalities in power distribution, negative social stereotypes, contempt for the poor and other social ills. Rather than correcting the injustices and the negative social biases, the colonial authorities and the missionaries built on them, favoring the Tutsis over the other two groups. The gospel that was presented never addressed these social problems to correct them. In some cases, hints of what could have been done were visible during the revival when people repented of contempt and lack of love between the different ethnic groups and even between the missionaries and the local population.
The methods of presentation: intellectual vs. experiential
African spirituality in general and Rwandan spirituality in particular is experiential, always linked to personal, family and national life. And in African spirituality, everything is linked, such as the living and the dead, the animal kingdom and the inanimate world. The world is one. It is not dichotomized between the material, physical and visible and the spiritual and invisible. The way Christianity was presented did not take into consideration that reality: it was an intellectual presentation, with memorization of verses and catechism, but most of the time without any link to daily reality. As a result, many people turned to Christianity but kept finding answers to their daily problems in the ancestral religion, relying on their traditional perceptions to define their ethnic, racial and tribal identities and relationships. It is then no wonder that in times of conflict, people did not rely on their Christian faith but rather on “what their fathers had told them.”
The problem of the messengers: talking love, sowing divisions
The messengers themselves were not a good model of relationships. When the Germans lost World War I, the Lutheran missionaries in Rwanda were chased by Catholic missionaries who kept blocking the advance of other Christian denominations in the country. This created more divisions and animosities among the people who did not see Christianity as a unifying factor but rather another colonial importation. And what about today? Have things changed? Are our churches and denominations setting the model for brotherly relationships? Aren’t we rather exacerbating the divisions?
The relationship between church and politics
From the colonial period, the church in Rwanda, mainly the Roman Catholic Church, worked hand in hand with the political leadership, often influencing their decisions. This prevented them from keeping a critical distance to raise a prophetic voice. Has the situation changed today? Aren’t we siding with governments based on our racial, ethnic and tribal biases rather than on truth?
Rediscovering the Gospel of Reconciliation
After the genocide of 1994, the church was covered in shame and sat on the bench of the accused with so many questions thrown at her. How could such a thing happen in a country that was almost 90% Christian? Has Christianity become an obsolete practice to be deleted? The amazing thing is that despite the questions, Christianity is still growing in Rwanda. Just eight years after the genocide, the 2002 general population census showed that Christians stood at 94%, Muslims having grown only to 1.8%, with the other religions sharing the rest of the 4%. And the question today is: has anything changed? Yes and no! Yes, because we now know the message we should preach to heal the wounds of our nation. No, because not many people are preaching it and those who preach it are not doing it with intentionality––that is, preaching until we see change! Some aspects of the healing message we have re-introduced include:
1. A new perspective on sin and alienation: Genesis 3
Divisions are the result of sin! When sin entered the world, it brought 4 levels of alienation:
A complete, full gospel will be a gospel that will continually analyze the situation of each community in terms of these 4 levels of alienation and bring a relevant message until change happens.
2. A new perspective on preaching Christ crucified: Isaiah 53:4-6
3. A new perspective on our identity: 2 Cor.5:17
Helping people to explore their roots and see the influences that made them what they are––the legacies of their human condition, their native continent, country, region and family, as well as of their personal problems––gives a new perspective on one’s identity. It is our old bitter roots that yield the bitter fruit of the flesh (Gal.5:19-21). But when we are grafted into Christ, we become a new creation and we bear the fruit of the Spirit (Gal.5:22).
4. A new perspective on the mission of the church: 2 Cor.5: 18
Once the church has understood and started preaching this message, we become ambassadors of reconciliation not just between God and man but also between man and man. “He has entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation.”
5. A new perspective on social relationships: The Holy Nation of God
Ethnic, racial and gender divisions are all against the spirit of the gospel. Galatians 3:26-28.
6. A new perspective on the power of our unity: Mission and Reconciliation
It is when the church of Christ will live in love and unity that great things will happen in our nations.
People will know we are Jesus’ disciples: John 13:34-35.
Conclusion: What lessons can we draw from the Rwanda experience?
© The Lausanne Movement 2010
References
Bourdanne, Daniel (ed.). (2002). Le Tribalisme en Afrique. Abidjan: PBA
Deyoung, Curtiss Paul. (1997). Reconciliation: Our Greatest Challenge…Our Only Hope. Valley Forge,PA: Judson Press.
Dallaire, Romeo. (2003). Shake Hands with the Devil: the Failure of Humanity in Rwanda. Toronto: Random House Canada.
De Lacger, Louis. (1961). Rwanda. Kabgayi.
Gourevitch, Philip. (1998). We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With our Families. New York: Picador.
Guillebaud, Meg. (2002). Rwanda: The Land God Forgot? Revival, Genocide and Hope. Oxford: Monarch Books.
Guillebaud, Meg. (2005). After the Locusts: How Costly Forgiveness is Restoring Rwanda’s Stolen Years. Oxford: Monarch Books.
Rutayisire, Antoine. (1996). Faith Under Fire: Stories of Christian Bravery. London: African Enterprise.
Smedes, Lewis B. (1996). The Art of Forgiving: When You Need to Forgive and Don’t Know How. Nashville: Moorings.
Tutu, Desmond. (2000). No Future Without Forgiveness. London: Random House.
Volf, Miroslav. (1996). Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation. Nashville: Abington Press.
Keywords: Reconciliation, wounded, wounds, ministry, minister, broken, Rwanda, revival, Hutu, Tutsi, spirituality, divisions, genocide, healing, alienation, forgive, identity, unity
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Views: 71971
Comments: 88
Recommendations: 6
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United States
In reference to the Christians not being a good model of relationship, I believe that we are not doing a good jab at all. For example, there are so many divisions between denominations in such a way that the lost world is getting the negative message about how the Christian should be. And, not only that, but, most of the non-believers are walking away from listening to the good news of the gospel because the majority of Christians are busier attacking and critizising each other in a way that they forgot the main purpose that God saved them, which is to be the salt and light of the world instead to the stumbling stone.
11.10.2011
United States
I think that Antonie is right when he said that the offended people need to be healed by taking their burdens to the cross through Jesus. In addition to that we as Christians need to proclaim the powerful message of salvation by living a righteous life before those who are in desperate need of salvation. In doing so, I believe that the non-believer will be able to see the wonders of our all mighty God through our lives as we give a Christ-like testimony in our daily lives.
11.10.2011
United States
Concerning a most worthy article, I am move by your caption that depicts the church worldview of how we have treated global evangelism. Most too often we portray form of widow dressing evangelism wherein we look strong in presence, but is devoid qualitative impact. There is a massive need for the body of Christ to give away themselves away to Christ in their deeds and not their words only. The great power of the Christian faith is it’s ability to reduplicate itself in the wining of another to Christ. Failed and corruptible policies often embedded in the traditions of the church must be reevaluated and have a willingness to allow the power of God to work in the hearts of mankind as God has intended.
02.10.2011
United States
Antoine, thank you for your insight and courage to address the issues that are going on in Rwanda. There is much that the churches of the world could learn from this tradegy. Many of the things you pointed out in your article as being the root cause in Rwanda such as hatred, division, racism and others things, seem to be univerisal in the church today. Many Christians are walking around with that "superfical healing" that you spoke about, but there is a "festering wound undernealth". Is Rwanda truly healing? In your article you spoke about returning to the Gospel. In your article, you made a brief refrence to forgiveness in section 2 number 3. Should there be a stronger focus on forgivness and healing so that the foundation to reconciliation can be laid? What seems to be the focus of the preachers and other spiritual leaders in Rwanda these days? Can you see visible signs of healing? Thanks again for your insight.
22.09.2011
United States
Deeply moving! I am wondering about the healing process. How is it going?
28.06.2011
Australia
Thankyou Antoine ... such an authentic and insightful critique of this tragic genocide in Rwanda. If your humility was the starting point for all involved--and us who stood idly by on the sidelines--then we should have great hope that things will change.
I appreciated your point about preaching the full gospel, and its social implications also. That if we announce the Kingdom, then we must simultaneously denounce all that is anti-Kingdom and call for repentance. In this, judgment must begin in God’s house--the church.
Similar critiques lay behind a recent series on the book of Ruth our church explored last month, hitting head on the blessing and curse of friendship where commonality is built upon a foundation other than the crucified Christ and His open embrace (following Miroslav Volf, Exclusion and Embrace). Perhaps this message may be of encouragement: http://www.kbc.org.au/media/message-what-does-love-look-like-2/.
27.09.2010
United States
@ David_Benson:
This is so true. part of proclaiming the gospel is proclaiming freedom to the captives and social justice for those that are oppressed. But not simply proclaiming it but bringing it to light yourself in your own community among your own people.
11.04.2011
Australia
Thanks for this paper.
I appreciate the sharing from what is a great human tragedy.
I found the concepts useful in reflecting upon engaging with young people "at risk" in my context who are unable to live with their families and are "wards of the state".
Our camping ministry with these young people may be helpfully framed by seeing it as a ministry of healing and reconciliation.
28.09.2010
United States
@ Peter_Barney:
I think any work with children and youth can be seen as a healing and reconciliation ministry. There seems to be so much hurt in their lives, if not from family, from their education, or friends, or teachers that are in their life. Children are so young and dont understand or heed the need for healing so we must be the guidence that helps them to this.
11.04.2011
United States
Thank you.
I especially appreciate equating the ability to forgive with healing. So often we want to rush people into a false sense of forgiveness without letting them grieve through the offense, or experience the radical, soul-healing of Jesus. It’s such a process.
05.10.2010
United States
@ Maryedemuth:
This is so true, and what a process it is. Sometimes I think we expect immediate grace to show up on our door steps and jump into all of our relationships. But we must realize that becoming like Christ is not immediate and neither are his practices, so we too must be patient allowing Christ to work within us to help us administer healing and grace to others. Even the disciples didnt do this perfectly the first time. Jesus worked them through a process as well.
11.04.2011
United Kingdom
Moving and challenging. We have in our church in the North East of England the daughter of one of the Church brothers who ministered in Rwanda for many years and were instrumental in the East African Revival. She grew up in Rwanda, and her love for the country has brought home to me the challenges for Christians that flow from all that has happened. It is powerful reminder to us all that sin goes very deep in the human heart. Our repentance is all too easily superficial. Our discipleship so easily only affects certain areas of our lives. It is a vital task of the church to ensure that our discipleship training and teaching is comprehensive. We all have blind spots. That is one of the glories of the global Body of Christ and our cross-cultural fellowship - we need to help one another to identify those blind spots, that may be easier to see from outside. You say "It is only when people have been healed that they can forgive." I’m not sure. Jesus forgave from the cross. He taught us that we cannot find forgiveness ourselves without forgiving others. A radical experience of God’s grace both enables us to forgive, but also enables us to rely on God’s strength as we confront sin in our churches and societies. For all the suffering and failures, it is astonishing how far the church in Rwanda has come in just over a century since the gospel first arrived.
05.10.2010
United States
@ Jonathan_Pryke:
It seems as though hurt and pain do run deep and yet we believe that forgivness and reconciliation are meant to be shallow. What a contridicition in order to root out that deep hurt and pain that was instilled in people or nations we must offer an equally deep solution of forgiveness and a hand of true and pure reconciliation.
11.04.2011
Switzerland
Dear Antoine
Thank you for sharing the powerful message of reconciliation. The part on rediscovering this gospel was something that I found particularly appealing (and helpful). As you say, the communities need to hear prophetic voices. Still, I was wondering whether the solution could be birthed in the pulpits. I agree, it is an important part of the solution. However, the words of Jesus at the end of the sermon on the Mount came to my mind: It is one thing to hear (and to preach) and another to put it into practise. Maybe modelling and learning to cross boundaries (the whole area of discipleship) could be an essential part of the healing process too? This has been my experience in the setting of an multiethnic Evangelical church.
Blessings
Michael H
05.10.2010
United States
@ Michael_H:
The greatest omission of the great commision is making disciples I once heard a preacher say. It has stuck with me ever since. We omit the change that develops, and while it is true that we can do a lot better at preaching the doctrine of reconcilitation we could do much better at living it out in our daily lives. We need to "make disciples." Not simply preach to them.
11.04.2011
United States
Thank you for this paper. It is honest and penetrating. We repeatedly see the devastating affects of tribalism, communalism, racism, and ethnocentrism in our world. We also see the divisive impacts of sectarianism in our churches. You have raised a clarion call for us to rise and be those who model and are intentional in promoting reconciliation in our communities.
11.09.2010
United States
@ Bradford_Greer:
one of the major things is that this division does happen in the church. Not simply the government, the church holds its poisions too, and we are getting more and more dangerous in the doctrine of reconciliation. We are beginning to track back to earlier times and offer forgivness and reconciliation only at a high price. And some can not afford what we are demanding.
11.04.2011
Canada
I too am challenged by your article. I also appreciated your description of our alienations from Genesis 3. In thinking through the life that I have lived as a Canadian I have not thought about reconciliation. I have not had to in the capacity many others have. And yet, it is something I see is very important.
On a smaller scale I see the importance in the lives of the next generation to understand and embrace the gospel of reconciliation. While many Canadian young people do not face genocide, they must come to terms with the home life they grow up in. There are children who face atrocities everyday. Seeing Christ with the gospel of reconciliation and healthy discipleship will help the next generation and the church.
I also appreciated your quote from Henri Nouwen at the beginning. It was a good introduction to your topic.
17.09.2010
Rwanda
@ Shannon_L:
Thank you Shannon for understanding that point: reconciliation is not just for us who live in countries that have known ethnic problems, it is for everyone. Some have problems in their families, others in their work places, others just with themselves... we live in an alienated and alienating world and reconciliation should be our lifestyle, not just for some occasions. We all get wounded and thus need healing- what wounds us may different but we all bleed!
21.09.2010
United States
@ Antoine_Rutayisire:
I feel as though reconciliation is a personal matter as well. We must become reconciled with our past, and future, so that we may also reconcile with others. It is more than just group depravaty it is personal depravity as well.
11.04.2011
Zimbabwe
Thank you so much for such a powerful paper. It is very vital for missions. Many times we fail as ministers in that when we go to missions we overlook the background of the nations and we preach amiss. Many people are hurting and if this is not addressed from the roots, and without the ministry of reconciliation, we labour in vain.
It is also very true speaking from personal experience that without healing its impossible to forgive and reconcile with others. For 5 years I tried to forgive but could not, each time the people who wronged me did something, it would trigger the pain. God healed me according to Jer 30:17 and from that time all the pain and hatred disappeared. Then and only then was I able to minister healing unto others effectively. God bless you!
19.10.2010
United States
@ chicochico:
This is an amazing story about your hatred being dealt with. reconciliation comes in many forms and forgiveness is one of the major areas that is needed when reconciling to another.
04.04.2011
United States
Thank you for your powerful and challenging message of reconciliation. How sad it is that Christians are not able to reconcile with other fellow Christians. How can we preach the message of reconciliation to reconcile the people of other faiths with our Savior. God has given his church different kinds of leaders to equip the believers and building his church, until the believers attain the unity of faith and grow in the knowledge of our Savior in order to make them mature manhood and grow into the stature of the fulness of Christ. As Paul writes to the Ephesians: "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes" (Eph 4:11-14). If this purpose is not fulfilled, then the gospel has not changed our lives. There will be many more such "Rwanda genocide" within the Christian communities in different parts of the world. Let us pray that the Spirit of God will continue to transform the church to be a true ambassador for Christ to bring healing and reconciliation to the broken world.
18.10.2010
United States
@ sssircar61:
I think one of the first things we must teach through the doctrine of reconciliation, is release. We must release the control the ability to have the power of the situation and allow the healing to come from God and the power of forgiveness to be initiated by him.
04.04.2011
Rwanda
I wrote a reflection on the post-genocide church in Rwanda. My worry is that the church is remaining silent once again in the midst of imense political persecution.
Brothers and sisters, we need your prayers. Romans 8:38-39
http://newsrwanda-nkunda.blogspot.com/2010/10/church-in-rwanda-today.html
28.10.2010
Australia
Profoundly impacting, especially the scriptural references to 2 Corinthians chapter 5.
21.10.2010
South Africa
Recognizing the high rate of violence against women does the church promote the African customary notion of the need for men to protect women? Please read the blog on "Justice for Clergy wives, myth or reality?"
19.10.2010
United States
Thank you for your amazing and poignant paper! I’m planning on reading it next week as part of my lectures (I teach a couple of psychology classes at a local community college). By Providence, it also happens to fit perfectly with current and upcoming chapters and the end of semester projects coming up. I have honestly struggled to find the best words that express my joy at finding your paper...perhaps the word "validation" is what I’m looking for - because your paper validates my experience of what being a follower of Christ is all about. Few and far between, few and far between - thank you for allowing me this unintended benefit!
16.10.2010
India
I appreciate your article. Thank you so much.
16.10.2010
United Kingdom
Thank you SO much for this paper and for the authentic experience of ministry that it represents.
It is a profound challenge for us to allow the gospel to change and expose our cultural blind spots.
15.10.2010
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