Inside the prison

Yesterday I was taken to my first Rwandan prison. On the way Guma matter of factly stated something to the effect I would be preaching. Well...talk about cross culture. I have done a fair amount of extemporaneous speaking so the speaking part wasn't particularly a problem. However, what do you say to 3600 people in prison for genocide down to you name it?

The prison is close to the Burundi boarder and is as close to the end of the earth as I have been lately. Its director became a good friend who invited us into his office, shut the door, and asked us to pray for the sermon and the service to follow. Afterward he escorted us into a mud and brick barriered structure with a large iron rusting gate. We marched past prisoners seated cheek to jowl and awaiting who knows what. They began by singing several kirwandan songs, setting up an ancient microphone, and eventually handing it to me. Guma translated. After warming up I decided to share some thoughts about a lawyer 2000 years ago. He had been a persecutor of those he believed to be bad people. He sought them out and killed them believing his actions to be obviously correct. He then had a vision of Jesus asking him why he persecuted His people and calling him to share the good news with others even more unlike him...the gentiles.

In Romans 7:14 to 8:1 Paul describes his inability to live correctly...his need for Christ Jesus...and the healing he found in experiencing God's forgiveness, grace, and love. As the sun got lower in the sky these sad souls comprising my audience considered their need for the same God in their lives. I have to confess, so did I. What a powerful thing to think that God can reach inside a genocide offender's heart and begin a healing process. Guma leaned over and informed me I needed to ask them for a commitment. And commit they did...so did I.

As we prepared to leave the prison we were greeted by the women prisoners and their children. Talk about a broken heart! The women bring their children into custody in this hell hole with them. All I could do was fight back the tears and try to show a bit of love...a cup of cold water.

My personal wiring is such that I always want to make a change. Here change is palpably needed but impossible to imagine on the scale required. Like Sue I struggle with the question of why and how. The why is best set out in Adam Hochschild's book, King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa, and General Romeo Dallaire's book, Shake Hands with the Devil...The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda. We, the first world, have a whole lot to feel guilty about. But then, guilt rarely solves anything, does it? Maybe the real question is how do I, we, love these children of God? Maybe the real answer is in not giving up, but staying committed to their journey up close and personal.