Ready! Set! “BEEP!” The crowd begins moving in unison….some people pull ahead while others lag behind—but everyone has a common goal: to finish. Everyone during the Kigali Peace Marathon/Half/Fun Run (including me!) also had a common goal: Peace. The idea behind the Kigali Peace Marathon started in 2004 as an amateur race to use sports in the healing and reconciliation process in the aftermath of the 1994 Genocide of the Tutsi people (one of three clans in Rwanda).
Let me share some information about the Genocide of 1994 from info I have received/been told (mind you, killings began in the mid 1900’s but 1994 started the biggest 100 day massacre).
-In April of 1994, systematic killings of Tutsi people were ordained by the government.
-They were tortured before they fully killed them including cutting their tendons so they couldn’t run, raping them, clubbing them, cutting off body parts/seriously injuring with machetes, and even throwing people down latrines.
-70% of people witnessed someone being killed
-By the end (100 days), over 1 million Rwandans were killed, over 300,00 kids were left as orphans, at least 85,000 children became the head of their households….and you can only imagine the number of survivors who had physical injuries and scars, spiritual warfare, and unseen emotional hurts.
-Bodies are still being found….including one just a week ago.
-In 2001, prisons were so full of perpetrators that something had to be done. They started Gacaca courts.. The Gacaca trials served to promote reconciliation by providing a means for victims to learn the truth about the death of their family members and relatives. They also gave perpetrators the opportunity to confess their crimes, show remorse and ask for forgiveness in front of their community.
-The United States did not help…
If you know anything about me, you know that I find the Holocaust interesting—I always have. That psychology/sociology mindset always has me curious about the mindset of people. The Rwandan Genocide has me fascinated too (and the fact that I have NEVER heard of it….fun fact: the OJ Simpson trial was happening at the same time in the US).
My heart has been broken since going to the memorial and church site (where the church was bombed, children’s heads were smashed against the walls…and so much more terror). I literally lived through this—what if I wasn’t born in America? What if my family lived in Rwanda during the Genocide? Would I have been one of the 300,000 Tutsi children orphaned? If so, at 3 years old—would I know my name? Would I know my birthday? Or, would I even be alive? Would I have been one of the 1 million PLUS people who were killed? What if I was born into a Hutu household? What if we turned on our neighbors…. What if my parents were the ones who killed Tutsi people and I grew up under parents who murdered others?
PEACE. Wiki defines it as harmony in the absence of hostility. Although peace is far from the feeling Rwanda felt in the past, it’s not an uncommon feeling today. There are no longer distinctions between Tutsi or Hutu. Everyone is Rwandan. Forgiveness and reconciliation is a lifestyle. The peace you feel is overwhelming. The hope that stems from it is like none you have ever felt.
Going into this month, our squad decided to do a social media fast But I’ve wanted to also fast food and learn more about fasting in general—it’s not something I practice at home. On the race I’ve fasted a few times—it just gets tricky when you have hosts cooking for you—you don’t want to seem ungrateful. However, this month, we are cooking for ourselves.
When we went to church our first Sunday here, the church was doing a week long social media fast as well as fasting from food for 12 hours a day. I decided at this point God was telling me that I was to fast food. I fasted the first week (M-F) and we broke the fast together on Friday night at church with communion. Then Monday rolled around, and I felt like God was telling me to fast again. So I did.
A fast is giving up something so you can be filled with more of God—more surrender—something I continually want to grow in. I spent this time devoted to praying about Rwanda…for the people still struggling with forgiveness, grief, and reconciliation… that this would be a nation filled with God, peace, hope, unity, and a bright future.
And then a bunch of us decided to sign up for the Peace Marathon Event (I just did the 10k). But what an amazing way to really end this fast–to run with people from over 35 countries…all different backgrounds…all walks of life…each kilometer I ran, I prayed for the people of Rwanda.
I wear a cross necklace almost every single day. It says forgiven. Christ offers this forgiveness to both you and me every day if we would just accept him as your Lord and Savior. As I was running, I couldn’t help to think about all that Jesus bore on the cross for us…all the pain and suffering that happened during the genocide…he takes on that pain each and every day. Every time we miss the mark and sin, Jesus feels that pain. Yet he forgives each and every time.
Rwanda has learned the art of forgiving and to trust in God and I hope the world will follow in its footsteps. It’s not always an easy task to surrender your own plans, but in the end it’s a beautiful result. Seriously. Just take a step onto Rwandan soil and you will feel the hope and peace.
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.“ 1 Corinthians 24-27
