Tears in Rwanda-4/11/06
Every couple of weeks my wife Angela and I get an email from our good friend Cyprien. Cyprien is from Rwanda and works on staff for Global Family Rescue. His story, like so many that survived the genocide, is remarkable. He considers Angela his sister and he looks at me as a brother…because everyone in his family, brothers, sisters, parents, cousins…were all killed in the genocide. Yesterday Cyprien cried for the first time in twelve years…the first time since he saw his family killed in front of him. He has been holding all the pain inside for so long and yesterday he finally started to let go.
As you know I will be traveling to Rwanda this summer as part of a group going to help the widows and orphans that have struggled to survive for the past decade and continue to live in some of the poorest conditions imaginable. We will build homes, we will dig wells…we might play soccer…or help plant a garden…but most of all we are going to be a brother or sister to someone who has no family to cry with. Sending money to give people food and water and shelter says a lot…they more than appreciate the aid they receive. But I believe that showing up and letting someone know they are loved helps them start to heal a heart that has been broken, and hardened with grief, abandonment and anger.
I wish we could be there with Cyprien and his wife and Vianney the case worker as they struggle to deal with things that have gone unspoken for so long. This month marks the 12th anniversary of the 1994 genocide that started with 100 days of killing (more than 800,000 were killed in 100 days). It has taken much too long for the world to notice the devastation of those days and the wake of devastation that has been left behind- even 12 years later.
Angela and I (leading 20 others) will be departing on June 9th to join the staff of GFR to continue to build hope for the people of Rwanda. We are still short $2000 on the money we need to raise. Please consider giving to the worthwhile mission of helping these people heal their land. All donations are tax deductible and can be mailed to Global Family Rescue ▪ PO Box 529, Wheaton, IL 60189 (Please indicate Kirchner Trip 2006). If you have questions about Rwanda or the work that GFR does please visit Globalfamilyrescue.org.


To read more about Rwanda go to
http://globalfamilyrescue.blogspot.com/