14 years is not really that long

"There is a well-known verse in Psalm 30 that says: 'Weeping may last for the night.' The Hebrew words say: 'Weeping comes in at evening to lodge.' In the years following the genocide it sometimes seemed that the dark night of weeping had lodged for a lifetime, but God's compassion is bringing a dawn to light that casts its warming glow on a beautiful country and a beautiful people." -Callum Henderson, "Beauty from Ashes: Journeys of Recovery from the Rwandan Genocide"

Henderson's book is full of horrific descriptions of violence perpetrated during the genocide....but it is filled with stories of hope, healing, and restoration. If you can get your hands on a copy, it's super instructive about the nature of man and the nature of God, both, in the most difficult of situations.

This morning at WR's weekly chapel service, there was a time to share testimonies of the past, and to share words of hope for recovery, restoration, and the future. What I saw was painful, as terrible memories surfaced amongst my co-workers. One of my other colleagues, an American, commented to me afterward that when she thought back 14 years, there were some formative memories that she still remembered clearly. How much more so, something traumatic, dramatic, horrible. It takes a long time to heal from something so hurtful.

And yet, healing is happening. There are accounts of radical change in the face of great evil. Thank you for joining in prayer this week for Rwandans as they reflected together on the past. And thank you for your continued prayers....