There is an old saying in Rwandan culture:
"Imana yirirwa ahandi igataha mu Rwanda."
It means, essentially, "God spends the day elsewhere, but He sleeps in Rwanda."
Here we have it... I'm bringing God into the discussion.
They say never to discuss politics or religion at the dinner table.
But this isn't my grandma's holiday table, so its all fair game.
Don't like it? That's okay. I ask you, though, to go to Rwanda and tell me afterward that your spiritual beliefs, whatever they are, are still completely intact and unwavering. I challenge you.
Its all just something to think about. I have no intentions of propagating my beliefs on anyone. The point is simply to make you ask yourself the same question I asked every single day of my four months abroad:
why?
A common theme of my time in Rwanda?
If God exists, where was He as one million lives were taken without cause?
No matter what your beliefs, its an idea impossible to ignore.
Was God elsewhere during daylight killings, and sleeping through those of the dark nights?
I recently realized I never told the story of yet another genocide site we visited in Rwanda. How I skipped over it I really don't know, but all I can say is it left me filled with unanswerable questions. This time I have offered no narrative. The only thing you need to know is that when these victims sought refuge and protection from their God, it wasn't enough to save them.
A church in Nyamata, Rwanda.
A door, the last barrier between victims and perpetrators, blown apart by a grenade.
Torn, bloody clothing of victims on the simple wooden benches.
Ceiling and walls, with blood stains still visible, ripped apart by guns and grenades.
The Virgin Mary peacefully watching over the destruction.
Catacombs full of coffins and unidentified remains.
Two thousand people died here.
Two thousand people asked God to save them, and He turned His back on them.
Tell me about "God's plan" and I'll tell you about genocide.
