Jamie Keith: Who Does God Call to Serve?

Jamie Keith, a member of the Missional Engagement Council, is sharing with us her look at serving God, and what it looks like to find her place in God’s story through service.

When I came to Belmont as a freshman, I set a goal to graduate not wishing I tried something that I had the opportunity to do and to do things for my own enjoyment. This goal has pushed me out of my comfort zone and into wonderful new experiences. Since starting college, I’ve added a second major in economics, studied abroad in China, held internships, led the copyright society as the vice president, and been a spiritual life assistant for Freshmen. I am truly grateful for all these opportunities. At the same time, the more I experienced the more confused I became. I struggled to figure out how to fit all that I enjoyed and all that I was good at into a fulfilling and meaningful career. Can music business, economics, and legal studies somehow fit into God’s mission to redeem and restore creation? Through my experience with Belmont on Mission as a trip leader and student on the missional engagement council, I’ve been able to further explore the way my talents and interests fit into God’s story. One of my “Before I Graduate from Belmont Bucket List” activities was to go on a mission trip. I never imagined that meant I would be leading one. Last year, during my sophomore year, I co-led the mission trip to El Paso to work with Casas por Cristo. Going into the trip, I felt extremely unqualified to lead. First, I had never been on a mission trip through Belmont. Second, I am far from outgoing in a group of strangers. I was uncertain that I could connect to and lead a team of students on an international mission trip. Finally, I was a music business and economics student, not a faith and social justice student. I didn’t fit the typical profile of a student who should be leading a mission trip. I relied heavily on a phrase that the SLA team talks about often: God doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called. Throughout my experience as a trip leader, I saw the truth of that phrase. Within the first few days of the trip, I realized how limited my imagination was in envisioning the ways that God would use my existing skills and develop new ones. Except for my prior construction skills, most of my technical skills were useless. Instead, I had the chance to use my organization skills to plan the pre-trip meetings, communication skills to lead morning devotionals and prayer, language skills to develop relationships with the family, and ability to exercise patience and make sound decisions in stressful situations. I did not have to know everything going into the trip, and I still don’t know everything coming out of the trip. There will never be a situation in which I will be the perfect volunteer or leader, but God isn’t looking for perfection. God will provide the opportunities and the skills needed to serve to anyone who has the desire. This year on the missional engagement council, I’ve been able to combine my passion to serve others with my business and finance skills. I get to use my analytical and technical abilities to support the administrative work that is required to run the student mission trips. I get joy and satisfaction from the work that I do not just because I like working with numbers and technology but because by doing my role, I can help other people discover their role in God’s story. My experience with Belmont on Mission showed me that I do not have to fit a certain profile to participate in the work that God is doing. While I am still finding my place in God’s story, I find great comfort in the fact that I can be a music industry professional, an economist, or any other professional and still be able to faithfully participate in God’s mission. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

Follow us on social media @BelmontOnMission to stay up to date with everything going on in the future!

Questions Answered: Come on Mission with Belmont!

How do you know if you should do something or not? What questions do you ask yourself? What factors go into your decision making? Who do you consult? Ultimately, what pushes you towards your decision?  When deciding whether or not to take part in a mission trip with Belmont on Mission, there are so many questions that you ask yourself before submitting an application. Here are some answers to a few of them:

Do you have to be Christian to go on a mission trip?

No! While we do want to be clear and upfront that these kinds of trips are offered as a way to partner with God in the world, all students should feel welcomed to sign up. The trip will include opportunities for reflection on faith, theology, and mission throughout the trip, though no one is forced to lead in any religious activity with which they aren’t comfortable.

How do we know that we are actually doing anything when we serve?

All of our mission trips partner with longstanding host partners who have been in the communities in which we serve for a long time.  By partnering with these host organizations, and through serving with the mindset of being invited into these communities along with the host partners, we are able to ensure that we are indeed serving in a responsible manner with long lasting impact.  

Who will be in charge?

Belmont on Mission trips have student leaders and faculty leaders, all of whom have gone through really focussed training to provide a great foundation to lead the trips.  The teams will have leader-facilitated meeting times to enable all members of the team to take on leadership experiences during the trip. The leaders will have all the information needed to carry out a really great missional experience along with the host partners on the field.

Is it safe to travel to _________ ?

All of our locations are monitored for safe travel.  In addition to this, because of our host partners’ presence in the locations in which we serve, the area is well known. More information about each trip’s location can be found at global.belmont.edu

How do I pay for something like this?

Trip participants are highly encouraged to take part in support raising for the trip.  Once you are accepted to the trip, you can “opt in” to the Belmont on Mission fundraising program.  The program involves a training on how to ask for support for your trip, as well as resources which will help you meet your goal.  All donations can go through your own personal fundraising page within your team page on MobileCause, and are tax deductible!

Am I committed to going once I apply?

Once you apply for a trip and are accepted, you will be asked to “commit” to your trip.  Oly once you click “commit” will you be committed to going.

What do I get from going on a mission trip?

In addition to a really amazing and life-orienting experience, there are a few incentives to going on a mission trip.  Once you have completed the trip, you can submit your service through get connected, which will count towards all of your Community Service and Reflection convocation credits.  In addition to this,your service through Belmont on Mission can count as service hours for clubs and organizations that you are a part of on campus.

 

If you have any other questions about getting involved with Belmont on Mission, please do not hesitate to reach out! The deadline to apply for a spring break trip is tomorrow (11/15/19)!  Check ou global.belmont.edu for more information about specific trips, and follow us on social media @BelmontOnMission to stay up to date with all that we have going on!

Ford Chittom: What Cliffs and Jesus Taught Me About Connection 

Today, Ford Chittom, a freshman Biblical Studies Major, is sharing with us what being in relationship means to him, and how that connects to being “on mission.”

A few years ago, I was stressed about the future, so I decided that the best solution was a  kayaking adventure. I drove my truck fifteen minutes from my grandparents’ house to the bridge  over Yellow Creek in North Alabama. Yellow Creek is a small tributary of the Coosa River that empties into Weiss Lake in a beautiful waterfall. I set out, alone, with my kayak, a cooler with a shameful amount of La Croix, and a life jacket that was too big that I had gotten to “grow into a few years before.” I pulled the boat over some rocky creek bank to the small, narrow, main channel. I paddled a few yards, but the water was too low so I had to drag my kayak over the rough rocks for a lot of the time. I alternated between dragging, pulling, and chugging La Croixs until I got to the first waterfall. I was unprepared for the twenty foot waterfall and I eventually pushed my kayak off and found a conveniently placed rope that I used to repel down. I pulled and dragged until I got to the big waterfall.

I planned on meeting my Dad and grandfather at the big waterfall so they could drive me back to my truck. I had no idea how tall the waterfall was beforehand and later learned that it was over forty five feet tall.When I got to the waterfall. I looked down at all the families and friends picnicking under the waterfall and swimming together. Alone, covered in mud, scared, and out of La Croix, I realized I didn’t need the adventure as much as I needed the connection with people. They were only fifty feet away from me, but they were so far away. I couldn’t just jump off of the waterfall or I would have gotten hurt. I couldn’t connect with people even though I was right there. I ended up throwing my kayak off of the waterfall in a safe spot and dangerously climbing rocks until I ultimately found my way down. When I finally reunited with my family at the bottom, I was so happy to see them and connect with them. The warm hugs and jokes from my family gave me more than a perilous adventure ever could. 

Sometimes we are only separated with someone by just a few feet, but so many more things. We get separated by our fear of rejection, our insecurities, our own selfish desires, and our phone screens. I’ve spent a lot of time looking for the feeling of satisfaction from adventure that we can only find through God and community. I was physically above everyone and we can often treat people with contempt when we feel intellecutually, morally, economically, socially, or spiritually above other people. God loves us and makes us all special. He designed us to be with one another and love one another in spite of our differences. God gifts us in different ways and he calls all of us to live in community to be the church. Jesus had his people during his time on Earth. He had twelve disciples that he spent most of his time with, and he served with. Being with the disciples wasn’t always easy. They argued about who was the greatest, betrayed him, sliced off some guy’s ear, doubted him, and took him by a bad fig tree.

However, Jesus did some great things with the disciples. He sent them out, and they witnessed to hundreds of people. He got to share in his ministry with them and help them grow in their faith. He also got to be friends with them. They went fishing together, stayed together, spent time together, ate together, and I bet they pranked each other. Jesus and his disciples grew so much from their investment in one another, but they also branched out to other people everyone and served everyone. He was friends with Mary Magdalene, Martha, Lazarus, and While he had a relatively small crew of people that he served with, Jesus was friends with Zacchaeus. He ate with tax collectors. He went to someone who lived in the middle of nowhere, cast out a demon, put the demon on some pigs, and the pigs ran off of a cliff (Yes I know I’ve said a lot about cliffs). He talked to the woman at the well and changed her so much that she ran into town and proclaimed his power. Jesus was not afraid to be with everyone and did not only spend time with the disciples. It is important to have a group that you really invest in, but it’s important to have people outside of that group. There’s so many great people in the world and Jesus did not limit himself to only a few to be with. He served and spent time with people outside of his inner circle. I think it’s important to do that also. It’s important to work out issues within a community, but don’t be afraid to let your circle grows. 

Another thing that Jesus did a great job of was being alone. Jesus retreated to the mountains for a whole night to pray about who would become his disciples. Just as Jesus did, it is very important to connect with God through prayer to prepare for connection with others. Psalm 121:2 says “my help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and Earth.” God absolutely intended us for connection with others, but he also wants us to pray make him the source of my help. Jesus illustrates this especially with the greatest commandments “And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.This is the great and first commandment.And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:27-29.Jesus calls us to love and connect with God and with people. So go therefore and connect with people, love people, and make disciples.

We are so happy to have had Ford share this great message with us.  If you want to take part in relationship-based missions, check out global.belmont.edu before Friday! If you have any questions about Belmont on Mission, reach out, and follow us on social media @BelmontOnMission

Why go “on mission” with Belmont?

Have you ever been on a mission trip with your church or youth group? Or maybe you have gone to serve with an organization in your town for a day, or maybe you have spent time working with a nonprofit around Nashville for a couple of hours for class.  Most people have had some kind of experience serving, and it is our goal in Belmont on Mission to take that experience, harness one’s heart behind it, and use that to create better service experiences for those who serve and those being served.

When it comes to short term missions, there is a lot of controversy surrounding how and why people serve.  When many missions experiences surround some kind of project that needs to be completed like building a community center or an event that is being put on like a vacation bible school. While this work is not inherently bad, it does not necessarily honor the idea of what a mission should be.

In analyzing what drives a mission trip, we must think about God’s call for people.  Belmont on Mission believes that it is our role on earth simply to love God, and to love people.  In doing this, we are ultimately serving God by loving and serving God’s children. As a steward of this earth and as a participant in God’s mission, we are able to discover our place in God’s story.  When we discover our place in God’s story, we are going to discover or own stories.

Over the past few weeks, if someone has talked to you about going on a trip with Belmont on Mission, it is because they want to help you own your story.  We believe that when we are able to own our own stories, that enables us to share with others what God has done in our lives. This type of empathy-based-relationship is the end goal in a Belmont on Mission trip.  We do not care about a project being completed or an event being executed; if we can identify with the people we are serving, we can serve them better. In the end, that’s what it’s all about: loving God by loving people, and loving people by serving alongside them and entering into a relationship with them!

This week we are encouraging people to commit to serving on mission with Belmont as an outward commitment to a life of God-centered service.  If you have any questions about serving with Belmont on Mission or missions in general, please do not hesitate to reach out! Also, follow us on social media @belmontonmission

From a Host Partner’s View: Beth Virostek

Hi, I’m Beth Virostek, a sophomore Psychology and Faith & Social Justice major from Columbia, Maryland. On campus I serve as the Operations and Logistics Chair on the Missional Engagement Council this year! 

This summer I had the absolute joy of working full-time as a summer staff member with the Appalachia Service Project, one of our host partner organizations! I spent two weeks in training at the year-round center in Jonesville, Virginia, and then with my staff of four lived for almost eight weeks in a preschool in Louisa, Kentucky, the heart of Lawrence County. With teams of visiting volunteers offering their labor, we were able to help 10 families make their homes a little warmer, safer, and drier in six short weeks.

The Appalachia Service Project is a home repair ministry that deeply loves people and builds connections and relationships with ‘a little construction on the side.’ A ministry that holds dear its founder’s statement that “We accept people right where they are, just the way they are.” After serving as a volunteer for a week each summer during my four years in High School, I was already in love with Appalachia and all it has to offer. I could not wait to follow in my brother’s footsteps and join staff in college. However, there is a large difference in being a week long volunteer and being a summer staffer. Being a summer staffer involves a lot more responsibility, including learning all about and advising construction projects, leading teenage and adult volunteers in programming throughout their week, and juggling situations that I had never considered would occur. 

 

My eight weeks in Lawrence County, KY included some of the most joyous celebrations and sweet glimpses of heaven that I have ever encountered yet also some of my most stressed and defeated moments. Through this experience I learned the reality of some of the difficulties and realities that missions and nonprofit organizations like our host partners with Belmont on Mission face. Budgeting, communicating with volunteers, and loving well the people we encounter, and many more things are hard. 

It is not easy telling a family who is so deserving of a new, leak-proof roof over their heads that we are unable to help them this summer due to time, volunteer, and budget limitations. It is not easy trying to lead volunteers through fixing a leaking roof in a week full of thunderstorms. It is not easy driving a 12 passenger van filled with lumber down narrow and steep roads for the first time. It is not easy making deep relationships in a week, or even in six weeks, with people you have never met before. It is not easy, but it is deeply worth it. 

It is worth it to wake up every day and see teenagers have a drastic change of perspective of the world in a week. It is worth it to see the joy of a mother who can worry a little less about the electrical bills and spend more time loving and raising her kids. It is worth it to watch people who would not know each other in different circumstances come together over peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and share a meal together. It is worth it to watch the joy of an older woman walk down her new ramp to the mailbox instead of struggling on the stairs. It is worth it to watch kids take a bath in their new bathtub, one without a hole in the bottom any longer. It is worth it to rest knowing that a family no longer has to worry about putting out buckets each time it begins to rain in order to catch the rainwater that leaks through their roof. I’ll spare you my continued pages of why it is worth it with this: It is profoundly worth it to serve. It is profoundly worth it to fall in love with a small town and its residents in just eight short weeks. It is profoundly worth it to work with a host partner organization, and for this experience I am forever grateful. 

 

Testimony Tuesday: Corey Rhoades

Corey Rhoades served as one of the adult leaders for this year’s Birmingham Plunge trip, and in the spring he will serve as an adult leader for the Nicaragua Casas por Cristo trip.  Today, Corey is sharing with us how his past work on Mission has shaped his mindset.  Corey’s missions testimony encourages us to question our place in God’s story.

“Growing up in Southern California, just a couple hours drive away from Mexico, I was always involved in short-term, international mission trips. At least three times a year, I traveled with my church family to serve at an orphanage in Ensenada or to build a house with my youth group in San Felipe. These were formative years, in which I developed a love for the Spanish language, which would eventually become my college major. 

Corey is a Graduate Assistant and Bridges to Belmont faculty at Belmont

As a teenager, it was easy to neglect the reasons why we went on these trips. Mostly, I saw it as a road trip with my best friends. But my youth minister made us write essays before every summer Mexico trip—yes, written essays like in school, but this time not for a grade! And after much whining and complaining to our parents, we all begrudgingly complied. Only in retrospect do I appreciate the motives behind those dreaded essays. It compelled us to ask questions: Why are we going? Who are we helping? Are we actually helping? These essays forced us to contemplate our own blessings and privileges as citizens of the U.S., to discern our individual gifts and skills that we contribute to the team, and to wrestle through our relationship with God.

Group photo of one of Corey’s past missions.

These essays were a start, but college forced me to ask even more questions. What do I want to do with my life? How can I make a positive impact on the world? Does my career fit into all this? Additional opportunities to study abroad and participate in short-term mission trips led me to Honduras, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. I began to realize that Mexico is just one small part of the greater panoply of countries that make up Latin America. As I worked toward fluency in Spanish, I began to wonder what the point was. Every new place I traveled was like discovering and opening another can of worms. How could I, just one person, possibly make a difference?

Corey working construction on mission

During Spring Break 2020, I will be leading a group of Belmont students to Nicaragua to build a house with Casas Por Cristo. It will be yet another small attempt to help a family in need—another house that will not reverse cycles of poverty, not displace corrupt government leaders, and not make much of any difference in the scope of world history. But I still believe this trip will be important and worthwhile. If you are considering a Belmont Spring Break Mission Trip but are hesitant to commit, I would encourage you to shift your mindset away from answer-seeking questions and toward growth & trajectory questions. Rather than asking, “Should I go? Will I know anyone? Will it actually make a difference?” instead ask yourself, “What made me interested in the first place? Who might I meet? What might I learn?” Going on an international mission trip may raise more questions than it answers, and that’s okay.”

If you have any questions about the Nicaragua Casas por Cristo trip, or any other spring break mission trip, check out global.belmont.edu.  If you have any questions about Belmont on Mission events, reach out and follow us on social media @BelmontOnMission

Transforming Lives with Caring Hearts Ministries

Some of the International Missions trips offered are more immersive in nature than project based. This means that, the trip itself is a chance to be immersed in a local culture outside the U.S., to grow in one’s understanding of the cares and concerns of those communities, and to promote fellowship and mutuality in your interactions with others. In other words, while there are opportunities to serve and complete projects, the emphasis is on learning and relationship. While some international missions trips have a really clear objective, some have more of a projected outcome that teams likely will not see manifested within the short period of time that they are there.

A child from Oasis Boy’s Home

This spring break, a team of students and Fit Rec faculty will travel to San Luis Mexico to partner with Caring hearts ministries in a community development initiative.  Caring Hearts Ministry is an interdenominational non-profit whose mission is to be a blessing to the people in the extremely poor border town of San Luis Rio Colorado in Sonora, Mexico. Currently, this is being accomplished through short term missions trips and a permanent local Church. This local church partners with our other ministries such as  Oasis Boys’ Home, Medical Outreaches, A Soup Kitchen, Drug Rehab Center, and Blind Center. In these really amazing partnerships, a variety of special needs arise for programming.

A group praying with the shut in ministry

The Belmont team will invest in San Luis Mexico by practically applying health and wellness knowledge to empowering those in need physically and spiritually with the following ministry opportunities.  Students will implement a food garden at the Caring Hearts Soup Kitchen where 150 kids come daily for meals and tutoring.  Further, the team will teach the basics of nutrition and meal preparation at the church and in the community, that are culturally accurate and in line with the available resources in San Luis, Mexico.  The team will also lead a 5-day exercise course for the kids at a soup kitchen, men at a rehab center, churches in the community, and the Oasis Boys Home.  Some unique ministry opportunities include visiting the individuals in the community who live at the Garbage Dump and the sick families in the shut-in ministry.  The team will also conduct a small work project for a family in need (painting, fixing a roof, etc), which will provide some basic assistance to allow the community members to access and harness their opportunities to thrive.

An image from “The Lord’s Watering Hole”

This trip will provide students with a really real look at the beauty of communities unlike the ones that we are used to.  If you have any questions about Caring Hearts Ministries or other Belmont on Mission Trips, check out global.belmont.edu and reach out!

Student Take: Abby Connolly Practicing a Discipline on Mission

 

Abby Connolly is a sophomore Experiential Design major.  Over the summer, Abby participated in the Athentikos trip to Guatemala! Today, she is sharing with us a little bit about her experience serving on a discipline specific trip.

 

“Coming to Belmont, I was amazed with how this community serves others. I knew I wanted to contribute in sharing my gifts to benefit others. Last year, during my fall semester, I met with Dr. Meaghan Brady Nelson so we could talk about the possibility of me going to Guatemala with Belmont on a Mission in partnership with Athentikos. If you have never met Dr. Meaghan Brady Nelson, she is one of the most wonderful and spunky professors I have gotten to know since my time here at Belmont. She is so passionate about art and has such a servant’s heart. She gave me a run down of what the trip would be like explaining that we would we doing art therapy with at risk youth. Immediately after leaving her office I called my mom and told her that I needed to seize this amazing opportunity that Belmont was offering. 

 

 

Fast forward six months later I began this life changing journey to Guatemala. I got to work with an older group of boys ages 14-16 who came from a very tough part of Guatemala. Having the chance to help them heal using art was an experience that I will never forget. One thing that I learned from the journey was that language is no barrier for love. It was so interesting to see the transformation of these boys through just one week at camp. They came in putting up walls, but by the end they opened up so that I could really get to know them and meet them in their suffering. As one of my boys Miguel said, “The memories will last a lifetime.” Belmont on a mission allowed God to not only transform my life but also the lives of the kids I served. The program also enabled me to meet so many new people from Belmont that I would not have gotten to know otherwise. If you are considering doing service whether it is here in our backyard of Nashville, or on another continent I would highly encourage you to do so and Belmont on a mission is an incredible place to start.”

If you have any questions about this trip, or any other Belmont on Mission trips, please reach out!

Casas Por Cristo: Building Relationships

In the field of missions, there is a much needed push to support the effort of relationships over projects.  This idea stems from the bigger break away from the “Savior Complex” often found in short-term missions.  The Savior Complex speaks to the idea that an outside group must come into a new place to fix the problems that the community has developed.  In breaking this down, groups and individuals engaging in the Savior Complex also take on the role of deciding what the individuals in the communities they step into need.

Belmont Mission Trip in Acuña, Mexico on March 11, 2019.

Belmont on Mission challenges this phenomenon by partnering with host organizations that are well established in the communities in which we serve, and who know the needs of their own community.  Through partnering with well established, effective host organizations, the mission seamlessly shifts from projects to people.

Belmont Mission Trip in Acuña, Mexico on March 11, 2019.

Casas por Cristo is our Host Organization for the Acuna, Mexico and Chinandega, Nicaragua spring break International Trips.  For the past few years, students have been traveling to Acuna to build a house with Casas por Cristo.  The organization has been in Acuna for over 25 years, and the people working for Casas por Cristo have developed longstanding relationships with the people living in the community.  As a result of these longstanding relationships, Casas por Cristo was able to develop a building floor plan that matched the needs of the community, work with local faith leaders to connect with individuals who could be served, and cultivate long lasting change in the community by meeting the need of stable housing.  In spending time with those who are served, Casas por Cristo could learn from them what they need, and use that knowledge to shape the ways in which they serve.

Belmont Mission Trip in Acuña, Mexico on March 12, 2019.

This spring, Belmont on Mission will send another group to Acuna, MX.  Additionally, a new trip to Nicaragua will allow more students to participate in the people over projects model for mission trips!  Check out this video to learn about Casas por Cristo’s introduction into Chinandega!

Rwanda Post – Lauren Weaver

Ubumuntu—Humanity.

I took a class this past semester surrounding Postmodern American Literature and History, and after we finished each novel, we always asked the question: “Is this novel hopeful?”

Now, if you know ANYTHING about Postmodern literature, you probably know that themes tend to lean towards the brokenness and darkness of our complicated realities, so finding seeds of hope tends to be a difficult task. But, regardless of the novel and its tragic ending, we always concluded that, yes, there is hope. Because something always had to persist, whether it be a character, an idea, a dream, or just the fact that the author chose to write the story in the first place for others to remember—to have the tale endure as to not be forgotten to the oblivion of history—is in itself hopeful. If one thing is able to escape the darkness, it is a victory for humanity, and the Rwandan community has taken that belief and ran with it.

This is what’s been consuming my thoughts as I’ve begun to process the magnitude of what happened 25 years ago—what has persisted and kept affected Rwandans hopeful? Because, you see, the way that the Rwandan Genocide differs from the Holocaust is the distance from violence. The Nazis attempted to remove themselves as far as possible from the conflict, performing mass killings in gas chambers and death camps scattered around countries outside of Germany. In Rwanda, the Hutu people set out to kill their Tutsi neighbors and family members, and they succeeded… to a degree. Yes, one million lives were lost in the most horrific way, but a man whom we spent quite a bit of time with here and who survived the Genocide as a young boy, Edward Makara, made a great point early on in our trip by saying something along the lines of, “They tried to kill us all, the Nazis tried to kill all the Jews, but when will they learn that it never works? It never has worked! We always come back and survive.”

Before visiting any of the genocide memorials, our group visited an organization called ‘Never Again Rwanda.’ NAR’s mission is to work with youth in peace building and reconciliation. We spent over an hour learning about the methods, beliefs, and goals of the organization—how to deal with soon-to-be released perpetrators of the Genocide, educational programs for disadvantaged youth, and mental health initiatives (to name a few). Once we concluded our meeting, the man who we talked with asked what our plans were for the rest of our stay. When we told him of our plans to visit the Nyamata Genocide Memorial—a church where 10,000 people took refuge from the Hutu but were still killed—he then told us that he had been there. He had laid under a broken bench (we realized there was only one upon visiting) as bodies piled up around him and hid him from his persecutors.

He had been around 6 years old.


I don’t think my heart has ever hit the ground faster—and we hadn’t even visited the memorial yet at that point. I don’t know what I found more compelling—the fact that he survived, or the fact that he was dedicating his time and effort to work at preventing future genocides. NAR has plans to work with recently released perpetrators and their families in readjusting to life after their release. How could he forgive them? How could he look them in the eye and equip them with tools and strategies to prosper?

And then I realized that was the humanity. The persistence of a little boy who survived a horrendous massacre, forgiving those who hurt him and countless others, in the hopes of bettering the world and Rwanda for the next generation. So that they would never have to see the horror that he saw.

That’s what it takes. One person, one spark, to inspire hope into a broken nation torn apart from the inside out. And of course it is more complicated than that. This transition to forgiveness didn’t happen overnight or at the snap of his fingers, but IT HAPPENED. And I wish I had the vocabulary to enforce just how powerful and courageous I think that is. What I’ve seen is that when ubumuntu is fostered in just ONE person, it can lead toward the reconciliation of a whole group, or even a whole nation. And I would say that’s pretty hopeful.

We always come back and survive.

 

Submitted by Lauren Weaver