Rev. Todd C. Foster

TWO Saturdays ago, on my first night in Rwanda at Hotel Des Milles Collines — made famous as “Hotel Rwanda” in the movie of the same name — I reflected on the national tragedy that took place all around that site a mere 15 years ago.

During 1994, in a 100-day death campaign, nearly 10 percent of the nation’s population was executed in an extraordinary display of man’s inhumanity to man. As the world stood by, men, women and children were literally butchered.

Women were raped as a matter of course. Families fled for their lives.

Many crossed the Rwandan border, only to die in refugee camps. Many who survived had lost limbs to vicious attacks by formerly peaceful neighbors.

I’ve heard the accounts of survivors, a United Nations peacekeeper and perpetrators of the violence. All testify to the demonic influences that contributed to the atmosphere of a callous

disregard for what it means to be human. Whatever political and sociological forces may

have been at work, the wave of terrorism surely was not without a dark spiritual dimension.

During my time in Rwanda, I visited a “reconciliation village” outside of the capital city of Kigali. In this village and others like it, former “genocidaires” and the families of their victims come to learn how to reconcile and ultimately live in harmony in the public housing being provided.

One man spoke of how he had murdered six members of another man’s immediate family. Before my eyes, both men stood as the tale of murder, remorse, repentance and forgiveness was being recounted. Continued...

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It’s a story that is amazingly common in Rwanda today. Government officials understand there can be no real peace in the nation until the issue of deep personal reconciliation is facilitated to the fullest extent possible.

People all across the religious to nonreligious spectrum are giving credence to the necessity of grace, mercy and forgiveness in the national pursuit of reconciliation.

Even the nonreligious acknowledge that these faith matters have a major role in shaping Rwanda’s destiny.

People from around the world are flocking to Rwanda to see the miracle that is unfolding in the 15 years since the genocide. Understandably, many will never bring themselves to forgive the atrocities. The amazing reality is that there are so many who have been able to transcend. I arrived home from my deeply moving journey Monday. At a prayer meeting the next day, someone asked for a prayer for New Haven firefighters. The rift stemming from the court case is deep, wide and obviously racial.

Left unchecked and unaddressed, it will weaken the city.

It’s not a matter of genocidal proportions, but that’s my point. If the people of Rwanda can effectively pursue reconciliation after all they have been through, what about us?

Beyond black firefighters, white firefighters, New Haven firefighters, there is a city that needs to transcend and move forward. God calls us to ascend to the realm of faith, grace, mercy and forgiveness as a bridge to such transcendence.

More than ever before, I am overflowing with hope and faith. Now I know for certain. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. It can be done. All things are possible.

The Rev. Todd C. Foster is president of New Haven Help Alliance’s Poor Connection and senior pastor of Church on the Rock, 95 Hamilton St., New Haven 06511. E-mail: info@poorconnection.org.

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