Friday, March 6th

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Friday, March 6th

A Message of Encouragement

The men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message.

—Acts 15:30-31

In 1994, Rwanda experienced one of the most horrific genocides of the twentieth century. The country was divided into two ethnicities—Hutus and Tutsis—an arbitrary distinction that had its roots in colonialism. In the racist perspective of the European colonists, the Tutsis, with their lighter skin and taller stature, were considered superior to the Hutus.

The tension and resentment festering from this division worsened for decades until the 1990s, when an extremist Hutu regime came to power. They claimed that the Tutsis were inyenzi (cockroaches)—an enemy that must be crushed. Thus began an ethnic genocide that lasted one hundred days and left nearly a million Rwandans dead—about 20 percent of the country’s total population and about 70 percent of the Tutsi minority.

Some twenty years later, the country is still trying to heal from such hatred and atrocities. Not only did Rwanda experience deep schisms, but so did the church, as there were believers on both sides. Could a country that had experienced such fracturing find unity again? Could believers from both groups forgive one another and find oneness in Christ?

It sounds impossible, but God specializes in making the impossible a reality. Remarkable stories of redemption and reconciliation have emerged out of the rubble as Rwanda puts the pieces back together again. Hutus and Tutsis are living in the same neighborhoods, next door to people who killed their own family members. One woman forgave the young man who killed her son, and went so far as to adopt him and bring him into her home as her own son. Bishop John Rucyahana of Prison Fellowship Rwanda says, “Those who are forgiving are not forgiving for the sake of the perpetrators only. They need to free their own selves. Anger, bitterness, the desire to revenge, it’s like keeping our feelings in a container. When you forgive, you feel whole.”

This kind of cultural divide may be difficult for us to comprehend in our context, just as the Gentile-Jewish debate is foreign to us. But although the specifics of what divides us differ, the problem is the same—and so is the solution. We need the kind of unity that can only come through the Holy Spirit.
We read about the fruit this reconciliation within the early church:

• joy (Acts 15:31)
• strength (Acts 15:32)
• peace (Acts 15:33)

We need joy, strength, and peace to stand together as a united church today as well. The church from thousands of years ago in Acts 15, along with the modern-day church in Rwanda, serve as powerful examples that if God can bring unity amid such deep division, surely he can bring unity to the church today too.

Challenge: Is there someone you are experiencing disunity and division with right now? Prayerfully and humbly, with the Holy Spirit’s guidance, take a step toward reconciling with that person.

—Stephanie Rische