The following was written by my mom, Jodi Deur, with her reflections on what she learned while in Rwanda with me for our Parent Vision Trip:
In February I had the opportunity to join Paige for PVT (Worldrace Parent Vision Trip) in Rwanda. In preparation, I read the book Left to Tell, Discovering God Amid the Rwandan Holocaust, by Immaculee Ilibagiza. The book gives a personal account of the spring of 1994, when Rwanda experienced genocide against the Tutsi in which 800,000 people were murdered over a period of 100 days. Through many miracles, Immaculee’s life was spared as she was hidden in a 3’x4’ bathroom with 6 other women. In this tight space, she spent 15 hours a day reading the Bible and praying, and her relationship with the Lord grew. This devotion helped her transcend from her physical existence and helped her daily struggles to fade. But, even while hidden, she felt the full impact of what was occurring outside the bathroom window to her family, to her community, and to her nation. Despite her deepening relationship with God, she struggled with hatred for her oppressors. One day she overheard someone boasting about brutalizing a pregnant woman. Her hatred was so great that she wanted to kill him and many others in retaliation. That night, she had a dream in which God said to her “These are all my children, and the baby is with me”. In that moment, God spoke to her of the need to forgive– that her oppressors, although misguided, were in fact children of God.
Back in Michigan, my church is in the middle of a sermon series on I Corinthians, and I’ve focused my personal devotions on this book as well. The church in Corinth was divided about many things, such as whom they followed (Paul? Apollos? Cephas? Christ?); whether to marry or stay single; which foods to eat or not to eat – and who gets to eat or drink first; about whether or not to circumcise, and so on. On top of these there was also the matter of spiritual gifts–which is most valuable? Speaking in tongues? Healing? Prophesy? It seems there was no end to the things that brought division to Corinth.
I can relate. I think that most of my fellow Americans are all too familiar with division. I feel like I live with it all of the time–the focus always seems to be on what divides us. Are you Democrat or Republican? Black Lives Matter or All Lives Matter? Are you in favor of gun control or a gun rights advocate? What sort of immigration reform are you after–wall or no wall? DACA or no DACA? Global warming or fake news? CNN or Fox? And on it goes–division after division. When I reflect on the Rwandan genocide, I worry about what sort of end all of these divisions might lead to.
So there I was, in Rwanda, with all of these thoughts from these two books swirling in my head. Rwanda is strikingly beautiful (you seriously need to consider adding it to your bucket list!), but as Joel and I drove around the country with a guide for a few days before PVT, I couldn’t help but think about all of the death and destruction that occurred on that very soil only 23 years earlier. I couldn’t fathom how the Rwandans were able to move forward and forgive after neighbors, classmates, and congregants murdered each other. It weighed heavily on me. At one point I asked our guide, Eric, if he lost anyone in the genocide, to which he answered with a list–not a name, a LIST– of family members. Father, mother, siblings. Later in our journey Eric talked about the Gacaca Court system and how they had the opportunity to forgive those guilty of murder, rape and torture. He spoke of how this has brought healing and unity to the country. To be honest, I had a hard time understanding how that was possible. His response? “Its a real thing.”
After we joined Paige, our ministry during PVT was to help build roads. We were told that communities in Rwanda are encouraged to identify problems and work together to find solutions. The leaders of the community we worked with had met and determined that their greatest issue was poor quality roads. They put a team together to research and get organized. Pastor Moses, who had been working with some of our Worldracers before PVT, connected our group with their community to work on the road. I must make it clear that this community did not need Americans to come do the work for them–they could have done it all without us. Although poor, they are harder workers than most of us that joined them! So we worked side by side with our Rwandan hosts. We invested in them and they invested in us. We played with their kids and held their babies. We celebrated what we had accomplished together. We were united in purpose and our love for Jesus Christ. Here, in this community of people that has experienced the worst of what division can bring, was this amazing sense of common purpose. It was beautiful, and I was privileged to be a part of it.
Side note: Sometimes you know that God is trying to get your attention because He keeps teaching the same lesson from different angles. He gives you books, he gives his word, and he brings people into your life. God must have known that I still hadn’t figured out how much He longs for unity, because after all this, He went one step further with me.
On Thursday we went on a day long safari in Akagara National Park (Amazing. Add this to your Rwandan bucket list!). It was a day of seeing God’s creative power in the skins of zebras, the size of hippos and the power of a sudden thunderstorm. But my favorite moment of the entire PVT week occurred as we left the park. Paige had spent her time before PVT in northern Rwanda and was hopeful we’d get to see where she had worked because the village was near the exit to the national park. As we drove into this village, our jeep suddenly stopped. I looked ahead and there were several of our safari jeeps at a stand still. Racers were pouring out to greet their non PVT squadmates who were working in the village and happened to be walking through the town to go to church. Everyone was hugging a squealing as if they hadn’t seen each other in months (in reality, it was weeks at most!). It is clear that W squad loves each other deeply. When I got back into the jeep, the phrase “perfect unity” popped into my head. It gave me such a sense of joy.
When I got back to the guesthouse, I was reflecting on that feeling I had in the village. Again I read in I Corinthians about spiritual gifts and I thought of the testimonies the racers had shared during the week–how some prayed and miraculous healing occurred, while others prayed for healing but didn’t see immediate results. I thought about a brief conversation with Paige about how some racers have the gift of speaking in tongues, but others do not. Every month the squad splits up into different ministries and has different experiences. I thought about how easy it would be for these racers to focus on the differences. And then it dawned on me how strategic God was in placing I Corinthians 13, the famous chapter about love, right in the middle of all that talk about division. Love and unity go hand in hand! Love is what makes unity possible!
God brought me all the way to Rwanda to remind me that love is a spiritual gift from God that I should eagerly desire (I Cor 12:30), and that love is what shifts the focus from division to unity. I learned so much from Rwandans and Racers about what unity looks like, and it looks a lot like this:
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:12-14
