It’s Good Friday, the day Christians remember the death of Jesus. To remember more vividly, I prayed the stations of the cross at a Catholic church. The prayers led us in imagining ourselves as bystanders of Jesus as he carried his cross to the place of his execution, then envisioning Christ’s presence in our daily lives and relationships. At the end of the prayers, we made our way to the cross,...
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It’s Maundy Thursday, or Holy Thursday in the Christian calendar — the beginning of Easter, our most sacred holy day. The whole weekend is devoted to remembering Jesus’ teaching, betrayal, death, and resurrection. From Thursday to Saturday, we will keep vigil, reading Biblical records of this weekend’s events over two millennia ago. We will pray, fast, repent, and remember. We do this to reground...
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Reverend Désiré Rutaganda is the Coordinator of the Centre for Documentation and Training in Kigali, Rwanda. This interfaith organisation was established in 1999 to live out the Christian values of peace and reconciliation, which were disappointingly absent from some churches and believers during the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Today, as people of God, they model how peace...
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"I’ve covered many wars and seen many acts of courage. But for sheer grit and determination I’ve never known anyone to compare with Captain Mbaye Diagne, a United Nations peacekeeper in Rwanda," said Mark Doyle, an international development correspondent. Armed only with cigarettes and whisky, and an indefatigable sense of humour, Diagne talked his way through numerous checkpoints, transporting...
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This month, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is attending events in Rwanda and posting news online about the history of the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in Rwanda. At numerous points, the story could have gone differently. What if Romeo Dallaire's fax warning the UN of impending violence was heeded? What if the Arusha Accord was implemented? It's extremely painful to...
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In 1994, I watched the events of the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in Rwanda unfold from my living room in Toronto, Canada. I felt distant from the crisis, insulated, safe, and powerless. At the same time, I was in anguish that people could kill other people, especially those whom they previously called friend. Within one hundred days, over 1,000,000 lives were lost. It seems to me...
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We sang Hillsong’s Oceans (Where Feet may fail) on Sunday; it’s a beautiful song about following Jesus onto the water. It alludes to the Biblical passage in which Jesus walked past the disciples on a stormy sea, while they struggled against the wind in a boat (Matthew 14, Mark 6, John 6).
Envisioning the scene, Jesus is on the lake; I’m on the shore. If I’m going to follow Jesus, I’m going to...
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I work with a global team of colleagues at World Vision International. One of them is John Locke from California. Like many of our staff, John works with people from around the world, often spanning 12 hour time zones in long days of meetings and deadlines. To destress after a busy day, he goes to the martial arts studio to exercise body and mind. John attributes meditation for reducing "three...
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Once in a while someone makes an indelible mark on people's lives. Such heroes can touch our own hearts even if we've only heard about them. One such person is Pastor Lee Jong-rak from Seoul, South Korea. Compelled to help abandonned babies, many of them disabled, this ordinary pastor is inspiring people around the world with how much love he shows the "least of these."
"They're not the...
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As I write this, I am watching a tribute to the victims of the massacre at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris today. Charlie Hebdo, a satirical French magazine, was targeted by terrorists today. In an attack by two gunmen, twelve lost their lives, including nine employees, two policeman, and a building maintenance man. The suspected motivation was revenge for publishing cartoons satirising the...
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