wfn.org | Rwanda: Adventists Should Be Peacemakers, Good Citizens

[Christian B. Schäffler (APD Schweiz)]

May 15, 2005
Adventist Press Service (APD)
Christian B. Schaeffler, Editor-in-chief APD
Fax +41-61-261 61 18
APD@stanet.ch
http://www.stanet.ch/APD
CH-4003 Basel, Schweiz

Rwanda: Adventists Should Be Peacemakers, 
Good Citizens, Paulsen Says

Kigali/Rwanda. The Seventh-day Adventist Church "must be known 
in the community and by the government as peacemakers and as 
good partners," Pastor Jan Paulsen declared in a May 9 address 
at Nyamirambo regional stadium, the start of a multi-day visit 
that emphasized the need for Christians to focus on 
reconciliation, forgiveness and moving forward. 

Pastor Paulsen, world president of the Seventh-day Adventist 
Church, spoke to more than 5,000 Adventists as part of his 
second official visit to the East African nation. Although 
there are nearly 1million Adventist Christians, including about 
400,000 baptized adult Adventists in the nation today, the 
church in Rwanda has suffered much over the past 11 years since 
the 1994 genocide. 

Arriving during a spring rainstorm, Paulsen and his party were 
greeted at Kigali's airport by Adventist pastors, women's 
ministry leaders and youth groups. Dignitaries welcoming the 
group included Mrs. Edda Mukabagwiza, the justice minister and 
Dr. Ephraim Kabaija, chief of staff to Rwandan President 
Paul Kagame. 

In his stadium address Paulsen often referred to the past 
atrocities and to the soon return of Jesus Christ, saying, 
"in heaven there will be no genocide. And perhaps for many the 
scars may never go away but you must learn to forgive, find 
healing and move on. This is what God expects of us as a 
community." 

Paulsen added, "We must see that something like this never 
happens again. Our children deserve better!" 

On May 11, Paulsen met with Rwandan President Kagame, who 
thanked the Adventist church "for the good work that has been 
done, because the church has been in the forefront of 
development and reconstruction." 

Kagame said he was well acquainted with the work of the 
church particularly in education and health, as well as the 
humanitarian work through the Adventist Development and Relief 
Agency (ADRA). 

Paulsen told the president the Adventist Church "cannot forget 
the painful past, but we must forgive and move on. In a sense, 
we all failed Rwanda 11 years ago, the church and the world, 
but we must ensure that such a tragedy never happens again." 

The world church president also referred to an Adventist 
Women's Ministry program on the outskirts of Kigali, where 
women are trained to sew, and then return to their village to 
be self-reliant. He then indicated the church was offering 
additional funds for this project, for which President Kagame 
expressed gratitude. 

The meeting ended with an exchange of gifts and a prayer 
by Paulsen for the president and the Rwandan people. 

On the same day, Paulsen visited the Kigali Memorial Center, 
which contains the remains of 250,000 genocide victims. He 
laid a wreath inscribed with the words "In memory of those 
who suffered. Presented by Jan Paulsen, world president of 
the Seventh-day Adventist Church, May 11, 2005." 

He said, "It is a sobering experience to visit this memorial 
-- a place that honours those lost during the tragic events 
of 1994. Why in this most Christianized of African countries, 
where almost 90 percent profess to be followers of Christ 
did such a thing take place? 

"One can try to comprehend the magnitude of this tragedy, 
but it is an impossible exercise. It is with humility that 
all Christians must examine the events of 1994. And it is 
with sadness that the Seventh-day Adventist Church must 
also acknowledge that in the midst of this tragedy, many 
church members -- people who should have known better -- 
failed to display basic love and care for their brothers 
and sisters." 

Many Adventists lost family members in the genocide. One 
church member, now a theology lecturer at the Adventist 
University of Central Africa, says he lost more than 150 
family members in the killing. At the same time, it must 
be acknowledged that some Adventists also participated in 
the attacks; two were sentenced to prison terms for 
genocide-related offenses in 2003. 

Nearly 3,000 Adventist local congregations hold weekly 
worship in Rwanda. In addition, the church operates 39 
primary, or elementary, schools, four secondary schools 
and a university. [John T.J. Banks and Christian B. 
Schaeffler for ANN/APD]