If you go
› What: “Healing the Wounds of Genocide in Rwanda” program.› When: 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 7.› Where: New Hope Presbyterian Church, 7301 Shallowford Road› Website: www.newhopechattanooga.org.
A survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide says the horror of that conflict, in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsis were slaughtered by Hutus, remains fresh 24 years later.
But the Rev. Jerome Bizimana Nkumbuyinka says the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program with which he is involved is making a difference. He will speak on the program's efforts Sunday at 4 p.m. at New Hope Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga. The title of his message is "Healing the Wounds of Genocide in Rwanda."
"I will share how the Presbyterian church in Rwanda is helping people who faced different problems following the genocide," he told the Presbyterian News Service. "I will share stories of what the Light Group is doing and strategies that the church has prepared to help the next generation."
Nkumbuyinka has been pastor of a Presbyterian church since 1998 and served as the initiator for the Light Group, an organization composed of genocide survivors and perpetrators.
"The Light Group is helping people to live in peace through testimonies," he said. "The state of mind following the genocide is improving. The church and government have worked hard to build a trustworthy community which can accept each other no matter what happened."
The mass slaughter of Tutsis, a minority ethnic group in Rwanda, happened over 100 days in April through July of 1994 following the assassination of the country's president. The Hutu attackers came from the ranks of the Rwandan army, government-backed militias and national police.
"Rwandans were destroyed economically, physically, socially and spiritually, but now you can see how people have been restored," Nkumbuyinka said. "Both perpetrators and genocide survivors are living and working together, and some have even exchanged marriage vows."
Nkumbuyinka is one of 10 international peacemakers of the Presbyterian Church (USA) visiting the United States this fall, according to the Presbyterian News Service. This is Nkumbuyinka's second peacemaking tour. He previously visited three years ago.