Posts by worldrelief
Africa dangerously behind in global race for virus gear
Photo: In this March 22, 2020, file photo, a municipal worker sanitizes the street of Dakar’s popular Medina neighborhood after a bulldozer demolished informal shops in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Africa is bracing for a surge in coronavirus cases, but its countries are far behind in the global race for medical equipment that’s dangerously scarce. (AP Photo/Sylvain Cherkaoui, File)
By Cara Anna // AP
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Africa’s coronavirus cases have surged 43% in the past week but its countries are dangerously behind in the global race for scarce medical equipment. Ten nations have no ventilators at all.
UN: COVID Pandemic May Trigger Global Famine of ‘Biblical Proportions’
The United Nations’ food chief is warning that while the world fights the coronavirus pandemic, it is also on the brink of a hunger pandemic. The executive director of the World Food Program met with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to discuss ways to avert the worst humanitarian crisis since the World War Two. VOA’s Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine has more.
Love in Action: Volunteering with Outreach Groups in Haiti
This week, our World Relief U.S. offices have been celebrating Volunteer Appreciation Week by sharing stories and celebrations in honor of all the volunteers who serve with us across the United States. Today, we’re expanding that celebration by highlighting one of the many volunteers who serve with us globally.
Recently, World Relief Haiti’s Esther Pyram connected with Suzette over the phone. Suzette is a volunteer with World Relief Haiti’s Outreach Group Initiative (OGI). Suzette’s brother, Dieuquifait, is on staff with World Relief Haiti, and her mother and husband also serve as volunteers.
You can read Esther’s interview with Suzette below to find out what volunteering as an Outreach Group volunteer in Haiti is all about.
What is your name? Tell us about yourself and your family.
My name is Suzette Louis. I have been married to Prince Octavius since March 31, 2012, and God has given us three boys. It hasn’t always been easy for us because he was a widower with children, but God helped us to find balance in our marriage. We have been living in the town of Terre-Rouge for eight years, and we are members of the Gerizim Baptist Church.
Tell us a little more about yourself. What are your favorite foods to eat? What kind of music do you listen to?
I really like small ripe bananas with ground corn. I don’t have a favorite kind of music, but I do have a dream to learn dressmaking. I think it would allow me to help my husband with some of our household costs.
What is your favorite thing about where you live?
I love Terre-Rouge because it’s an agricultural area and I love the culture. We don’t have problems with livestock or farming and the people here are very supportive.
How did you get connected with World Relief and what made you decide to sign up as a volunteer?
Our church is part of one of World Relief’s Church Empowerment Zones (CEZs) in Haiti. This means we work together with a network of other churches in our region to meet the needs of our communities and share the Gospel at the same time.
When a church joins a CEZ, the pastor chooses someone to attend trainings with World Relief. This person then shares what they learned with their congregation. Illiteracy is a big problem in my community, but since I attended high school and can read and write, my pastor chose me to attend the training. Since then, I have been assigned more tasks and responsibilities as World Relief has brought more programs to our community.
World Relief is like a branch of my family. My husband works to recruit other churches to join our CEZ, my father and brother-in-law are both pastors and their congregations are part of our church network. My mother volunteers with World Relief’s outreach groups (just like me), and my brother is on staff with World Relief Haiti.
Suzette is pictured here on the left with her brother, Dieuquifait who works for World Relief, her mom and her husband — both of whom volunteer with World Relief.
Tell me more about what an Outreach Group is. What kinds of things do you do as an Outreach Group volunteer/team member?
Outreach Groups are teams of church volunteers that go into the community and visit families that are struggling and need help. I help train volunteers using the information I receive from World Relief. Those volunteers then provide their communities with lessons in things like marriage and family, finance, health and faith. I support these volunteers as they go out into the community and visit homes. Sometimes Outreach Group volunteers are nervous, but after training and encouragement, they take charge of the work and enjoy it. The changes we have seen in families that have received visits from our volunteers have been very encouraging.
Every week I also volunteer with World Relief’s Families For Life (FFL) program by providing married couples with lessons on God’s view for marriage, gender equality and how spouses can love and support one another.
What is the most challenging part about volunteering with World Relief?
In the beginning, volunteers were not welcomed by some families. But today there is a very good relationship between our volunteers and the families they visit. Families testify to the positive impact these visits had on them and keep on thanking us.
The other thing that was hard for some volunteers initially was that World Relief doesn’t pay them for this work. In Haiti, volunteers in other programs have often been paid for their work. It took some time for people to understand that what they are doing is a part of God’s call for the church and an act of ministry. In the beginning this was really hard for our volunteers because many households they visited were unkind and humiliated them a lot. But I thank God that this has changed and there is a lot of progress in the community now.
Can you tell us a memorable story about one of your home visits?
I helped my brother-in-law and his wife who were experiencing trouble. The couple was separated, my sister-in-law had abandoned the family home for several months and was preparing to move to Port-au-Prince. I started meeting with each of them separately for a time, but then I organized some sessions and insisted that both of them should be present together. I am always happy to say now their life is much better. The husband agreed to buy a piece of land in Thiotte and they went to live. They have built their house, the husband is working, they are doing very well now.
I also had a volunteer who refused to go for training because she wouldn’t receive any money and she is a very busy woman because of various activities she already had. So I went to her house and taught her the lessons and then I also accompanied her to visit the households. I am happy because she is now one of my best volunteers. Her name is Dieunise.
What do you dream of and hope for your community?
Terre-Rouge is a good area, but I would like to see the people in my community continue to grow in respect for one another as we work together. Sometimes people are not well organized or have a bad habit of not respecting the time or showing up for meetings. I would like them to be more conscious of that. I also want to see more development for Terre-Rouge. I pray to God to send us the support for the construction of a health center and a school for the area. The children are young and they have to walk for more than an hour to get to the pre-school in Marchasse.
How have you seen lives transformed through the lessons you share as a volunteer/team member?
As soon as World Relief started coming with the programs we saw a lot of change. Husbands began accompanying their wives to church. Thanks to the Outreach Groups, many new people have joined savings groups and are now members of our Families for Life program. They have learned to respect basic hygiene principles and many have built tippy taps — simple outdoor hand washing stations, which has become very important right now in fighting the spread of the COVID-19 virus. There is a lot of good change.
How has your life changed personally since becoming a volunteer/team member?
I have learned that if you only give advice and you never take it, you will struggle because people only will follow if you practice what you say, if your testimony is strong. I’ve also learned that there will always be things that will bother you, but being in a leadership position means you have to approach issues with tact and discretion. Volunteering has helped me to communicate better with my husband when we disagree about something. It has also helped me to practice the rules of hygiene and follow the advice we give to other families.
How do you spend your time when you’re not volunteering?
I live off the land. My husband is also a farmer, and I thank God our children can go to school, their school fees are paid and they have enough to eat. But apart from volunteering with World Relief, I also support other child health and agricultural programs in my community.
How can World Relief staff and volunteers around the world be praying for you?
Pray for my family to know God. Pray for a better financial situation in my family, because it is not always easy for us. My husband is getting old and can no longer work the land as he used to. Pray for my dream to learn dressmaking too. Pray for more love between the children, my community and my church. Pray for me, pray for everyone. I will do the same for you.
We are grateful for volunteers like Suzette who put love into action by serving others right within their own communities. Our mission to serve the most vulnerable would not be possible without Suzette and the thousands of other volunteers who serve with us across the globe.
Rachel Clair serves as a Content Writer at World Relief. With a background in creative writing and children’s ministry, she is passionate about helping people of all ages think creatively and love God with their hearts, souls and minds.
World Relief Responds to Announced Restrictions to Immigration Due to COVID-19
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
April 23, 2020
CONTACT:
Lauren Carl
Lauren.carl@pinkston.co
703-388-6734
BALTIMORE – In response to President Trump’s announcement via Twitter and subsequent executive order halting immigration in the light of the COVID-19 crisis, World Relief urges the administration to reconsider. These measures to shut down already restricted travel – temporarily halting most categories of immigrant visas for those coming from outside of the U.S., with limited exceptions – are inconsistent with expert health advice, disregard immigrant contributions to frontline efforts and are contrary to the U.S.’s role in demonstrating leadership in managing the disease and opening the country up for work.
“Temporary travel restrictions are appropriate if driven by public health best practices,” commented World Relief President Scott Arbeiter. “But as the country slowly emerges from the COVID-19 shutdown, we must not use the pandemic as a pretext to restrict legal immigration that is essential for rebuilding our economy and for reuniting families.”
Every individual granted an immigrant visa is already required to undergo a thorough medical examination to ensure they do not have any contagious disease before being allowed to enter the U.S., so there is no reason to think that the immigrants who will be restricted under this new order would pose a public health threat.
The administration has also cited economic concerns as a rationale for this new order, but the vast majority of economists believe that immigration is actually a source of economic strength. Immigrants do not only “take jobs,” they also add to the economic pie through their consumption and through entrepreneurship, starting new businesses and creating jobs at higher rates than native-born U.S. citizens.
Refugees and individuals who served the U.S. military who qualify for Special Immigrant Visas are specifically exempted from this order, for which World Relief is grateful. However, the U.S. refugee resettlement program remains on hold. World Relief urges the refugee resettlement program to be reopened, allowing refugees to be reunited with their family members already in the U.S.
World Relief CEO Tim Breene said, “We have long affirmed that families are the building blocks of society, and the current crisis has underscored for many Americans the importance of family. Because the primary impact of this executive order is to restrict family-based immigration, it represents a new form of family separation, penalizing families that have already paid visa petition fees and waited for months, years or, in some cases, decades in our family reunification system. This is unacceptable.”
World Relief is supportive of the administration’s efforts to manage and prevent the further spread of COVID-19, but urges the government to reconsider measures that contradict both public health advice and the principles on which the U.S. is formed.
Download the PDF version of this press release.
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About World Relief
World Relief is a global Christian humanitarian organization that brings sustainable solutions to the world’s greatest problems – disasters, extreme poverty, violence, oppression, and mass displacement. For over 75 years, we’ve partnered with churches and community leaders in the U.S. and abroad to bring hope, healing and transformation to the most vulnerable.
Learn more at worldrelief.org.
The Impact of COVID-19 in Developing Countries and Ways to Respond
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
April 22, 2020
CONTACT:
Lauren Carl
Lauren.carl@pinkston.co
703-388-6734
The Impact of COVID-19 in Developing Countries and Ways to Respond
Global Humanitarian Organization World Relief Hosts Press Call on COVID-19
BALTIMORE – On Wednesday, April 22, 2020, World Relief, a global Christian humanitarian organization that brings sustainable solutions to alleviate poverty and respond to disasters worldwide, hosted a live press call on how COVID-19 is impacting developing countries, particularly in Africa, and ways to respond. For over 75 years, World Relief has partnered with community leaders around the world to help with disasters, extreme poverty, violence, oppression, health issues and mass displacement.
As the first cases of COVID-19 are now being reported in parts of Africa, the international community needs to continue to partner with and provide support to people on the ground there in response. The call covered World Relief’s work and the need for more international humanitarian assistance to help respond to COVID-19.
“This is one of the greatest global humanitarian challenges we’ve ever known. While we are currently working through our extensive, on-the-ground networks to respond to COVID-19, we have ongoing concerns about the potentially devastating impact this virus will have on developing countries that often don’t have the resources or capacity to respond fully,” said Myal Greene, SVP of International Programs. “We are asking that as Congress considers a fourth stimulus package, that it includes robust funding for international humanitarian assistance and continues to partner with organizations with extensive networks on the ground that can be critical in an effective public health response.”
Joanna Kretzer Chun, Director of the Program Resource Team, commented“Through our work, we’ve seen the impact that grassroots networks can have to spread critical messages and save lives. These networks will be critical in the months ahead to ensure that COVID-19 does not spread and that those who are sick are cared for appropriately.”
Gibson Nkanaunena, Malawi Country Director and Deputy Director for East & Southern Africa, provided information on the state of Malawi and how COVID-19 is impacting the country and other areas, such as Rwanda and Kenya. He commented: “Currently in Malawi there are a few cases of COVID-19 identified. However, there could be more, but there are not enough tests being done. So far World Relief has given forty churches handwashing buckets with soap as a startup kit, and we are planning to reach out to households with public health messages through church networks across all impacted districts. Currently, we have 30,000 volunteers across the districts that we work in who are ready to share the message with close to one million in a population of 17.44 million.”
“The health care systems in these countries are completely unprepared and incapable of mounting a reasonable clinical response of anything comparable to the U.S. response,” said Charles Franzén, Humanitarian and Disaster Response Director. “There will continue to be significant health challenges especially around the capacity of health clinics, and we anticipate an acute challenge around food security and food supplies as well. In addition, there are a lot of issues with trust and stigma, and so working with trusted leaders has been critical. All of our country’s programs have begun responding to COVID-19, and we’ve seen the impact that grass roots have on spreading messages and bringing resources. We’ve also seen the importance of home-based care and are helping to provide teaching and resources as many people can’t make it to clinics or hospitals. But we cannot emphasize the importance of testing enough as a key to control.”
To learn more about how World Relief is responding to COVID-19, visit: https://worldrelief.org/covid-19
Download the PDF version of this press release.
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About World Relief
World Relief is a global Christian humanitarian organization that brings sustainable solutions to the world’s greatest problems – disasters, extreme poverty, violence, oppression, and mass displacement. For over 75 years, we’ve partnered with churches and community leaders in the U.S. and abroad to bring hope, healing and transformation to the most vulnerable.
Learn more at worldrelief.org.
A Spirit of Welcome: Volunteering at the Northwest Detention Center RV
Earlier this year, before COVID-19 transformed the ways in which we work and travel, I had the privilege of visiting World Relief’s office in Seattle. The energy in the Seattle office is incredible. English classes, job coaching, meetings with newly arrived families, immigration legal services — the list goes on.
One of the most meaningful parts of my trip was visiting the Northwest Detention Center. In an industrial area outside of downtown Tacoma sits a nondescript cinderblock building that houses thousands of detainees from countries around the world.
Recognizing the incredible stress and anxiety that detainees often experience, World Relief’s Detention Center ministry staff offers spiritual support to those who have been detained. And thankfully, World Relief’s support and care isn’t just limited to those inside the detention center.
In an RV parked outside the detention center gates, World Relief offers released detainees some much-needed hospitality through a Welcome Center run by our partner, AID Northwest. Last year, 274 men and women were welcomed and cared for in the RV Welcome Center by volunteers like Amanda Carlson.
I recently had the chance to talk with Amanda about her experience as an RV Welcome Center volunteer.
Hi, Amanda! How did you first hear about World Relief’s Detention Center ministry and how long have you been volunteering?
I’ve been volunteering for a year-and-a-half and I serve once a month. I had heard of World Relief, but decided to get more involved after learning about the new administration’s rules limiting immigration. I went to a meeting and heard Scott Arbeiter (World Relief’s President) speak and then, Stephanie (World Relief’s Post-Release Coordinator for the Detention Center) came and talked to my church, Urban Grace in downtown Tacoma, about the needs of detainees. It turned out that she had an office right here in our church building, so I signed up for the volunteer training.
Tell me a little bit more about what the Detention Center is and why we have an RV parked outside of it.
The Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma is one of the largest immigration detention centers in the nation. People are detained for a number of reasons — not having the right paperwork, illegally crossing the border, or legally claiming asylum and being detained while their court cases are processed. Some people are there for a short time and many are there for quite a long time.
When people are released, there is nothing there for them. It’s a long walk to the bus station or to get someplace where you could make a phone call or charge your phone. The RV is there to meet them as soon as they walk out of the detention center gates. We give newly released detainees a chance to catch their breath and figure out their next steps.
It’s always really fun to welcome people to the United States. We provide backpacks for everyone because most people come out with a hodgepodge of belongings and lots of paperwork. We offer them snacks and drinks, give them toiletries and have phones and iPads to help people contact relatives or make travel arrangements. There’s also a big collection of clothing that people can go through. Some people come out in the Detention Center uniform of gray sweatpants. Some people come out wearing what they were detained in, so if they were detained in the summer they might be wearing shorts but now it’s the dead of winter and they need warmer clothes. People are so happy to go pick out some new things for themselves. We want to do everything we can to try and facilitate a smooth transition for someone who has just been released.
How has volunteering at the RV shifted your perspective on immigration or impacted your faith?
I was so surprised at how many nationalities are represented in the Detention Center. I ignorantly thought that most people would be from Mexico or from Latin America, but there are literally people from all over the world. More importantly, I have never met people who seem so rootless. People seeking asylum often have no support and no connection. They either had everything taken from them because of violence and conflict in their home countries or they had to leave it all behind.
They’ve left their family, children, everything — in search of safety and a better life. All they have is this little stack of papers that they have been released with and then what we are providing them and that is it. I have so many roots here in the U.S.– family, a modest savings account, a home and citizenship in a powerful country that will protect me. I often take these things for granted, but these people have none of it at that moment. While they are incredibly independent people because they have gone through this huge thing on their own, they’re also incredibly dependent on the goodwill of others to help them rebuild their lives.
Are there any memorable stories that you would like to share?
The story that comes to mind is one of a young woman who was from Cameroon. She had been at the RV for a few hours and I ended up taking her to the airport. She shared that she was impatient to get on a plane. I learned that she was flying to reconnect with her husband and her one-year-old twin babies that she had been separated from for four months. She was heading to Denver, so I pulled up some pictures of Denver on my phone and showed them to her, and she just cried. She was so excited to get there and build a new life with her family.
How has COVID-19 impacted the RV welcome center?
Unfortunately, all visitation and church services inside the detention center have stopped. The RV is still functioning, but it’s all happening in a tarped tent outside the RV so we can maintain appropriate social distancing. Everything has been loaded into tubs that can be moved outside. Thankfully it isn’t winter anymore so it’s been okay so far.
What is something that you know now that you didn’t know before you started serving at the RV Welcome Center?
That God’s love is alive and well, functioning and serving outside of the traditional Christian box. World Relief is right in the middle of an issue that can be so politically controversial in the Christian community, but as I have expanded my faith and walked into different communities, I’ve loved discovering how vibrant God’s love is in communities that I was previously unaware of. And I’m very thankful that World Relief is willing to be a part of it. Maybe in the fringes where it’s messier and controversial is where God’s love is the most evident.
What would you say to someone who is wanting to get involved with World Relief or serve in some way but is maybe hesitant?
There are so many ways you can get involved. With my lifestyle and family, I can only volunteer one day a month. It’s so minimal but has impacted me so much. I’ve learned a ton, I talk to people about my experiences, I bring people with me to shadow. You can send letters to people in the Detention Center and when the virus calms down you can go visit. It is a real one-on-one, person-to-person way to serve a really vulnerable community. A lot of times with volunteering, you can’t actually get so close to the people you want to help. But the detention center ministry lets you get close so it’s a really amazing way to try to help a little bit.
As we celebrate Volunteer Appreciation Week, we are so thankful for amazing people like Amanda who partner with us to bring God’s love to vulnerable and marginalized people around the world.
Love Remains: Devotional Series
In times like this, when fear and uncertainty threaten to overwhelm us, it’s helpful to take a step back and ground ourselves in the truth of who we are and whose we are. The gospel message we celebrate at Easter is one of absolute, unconditional love. You are more deeply loved by God than you can possibly imagine, and it is out of this love that we find the courage to stand.
This truth remains even amidst a crisis. The early church, itself, was birthed in a time of crisis and grief, right on the heels of Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension.
On the night of his arrest, Jesus gathered with his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane and acknowledged the fear and uncertainty they were likely experiencing. He said, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart for I have overcome the world!”
We are all experiencing some amount of trouble this Easter season. Yet, during this time of crisis, my prayer is that we would heed Jesus’ words and take heart, for he has overcome the world! Though it might be tempting to fall back into fear in this time, my prayer is that you would lean in with courage. Lean in and ask, “God, what do you have for me in this season? What do you want to say in the middle of uncertainty? Who do you want me to be, and what are you calling me to do?”
It is with these questions in mind that our team has developed a four-week devotional titled: Love Remains. We invite you, starting on April 20th, to join us on as we study portions of Acts. We’ll discover how the early church blossomed in the wake of Christ’s ascension and how we are a part of that continued growth and restoration today.
As we each take time to sit in the presence of God, my hope is that the church would emerge as a people fully known and loved by God, now empowered to extend that same love, healing and courage to others. May you find that it is when we most want to look inward the Spirit seems to call us outward.
You’ll see this very sort of story reflected in this devotional series as the early church, in the midst of crisis, came together in love and moved forward in spirit-filled action. Couched in the knowledge that God would always be with them, the early believers found a way to move through fear and answer God’s compelling call — a call to love, a call to serve, a call to be a transformative light in the midst of a dark world.
It is our hope that as you experience his love in this season you, too, would find the courage to stand, and to be an irresistible witness for Jesus to all who are confused, scared and suffering during these times.
Scott Arbeiter retired from World Relief in 2021 as president after serving the organization in various roles for more than two decades and is a former pastor of Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
The Good News Report
“We are all going through an incredibly trying time. But through all the anxiety, through all the confusion, through all the isolation, through all the Tiger King, somehow the human spirit found a way to break through and blow us all away.”
— John Krasinksi
The world is crumbling… or so it would seem. Everywhere we look stories of viruses, job loss and economic collapse fill our newsfeeds. In such a time as this, it would be easy to draw back in fear, to collapse under the weight of the unknown. But we’ve been wondering — might there be a better way to cope with our collective grief? We think so!
Enter: The Good News Report!
Every day, we receive stories from our local offices and church partners around the world — stories of people, just like you, who are sharing love and spreading hope right within their own communities. Whether it’s apartment dwellers in Atlanta cheering on healthcare workers from their balconies, or a World Relief volunteer in Dupage donating a much-needed wheelchair to an asylum seeker, these stories from our World Relief family and beyond are inspiring. They’re uplifting! They’re a breath of fresh air in the middle of much unknown.
While there is still much to mourn and a lot of change and uncertainty to walk through, these stories have brought us some much-needed refreshment, and we thought you might need the refreshment as well.
With that in mind, we are committed to sharing good news from our offices and communities for the next several weeks. We hope these stories are a welcomed break from the heavy and the hard. We hope they give you strength as you move through your day. We hope they lift your eyes and fill your spirits as you discover that love still remains, even in the midst of crisis.
Westwood Community Church – Excelsior, MN
One of the best things we’re seeing come out of this crisis is the creativity springing up out of local churches as they find new ways to connect with their communities and serve others.
In Excelsior, MN, World Relief church partner Westwood Community Church had no problem shifting their services to an online experience. They had been LiveStreaming their services for several years and had recently implemented an online campus service just six months earlier.
In the midst of the transition, they reached out to one of their immigrant church partners, Destino Covenant Church in Minneapolis, to see if there was anything they needed. Destino’s lead pastor, Mauricio Dell, expressed a need to create a video so his church could put their Sunday services online. Westwood sprung into action, and days later, members of the Westwood Communications team met Mauricio and his wife, Jacquelyn, to film the service. Mauricio preached in Spanish while Jacquelyn translated in English. The video was uploaded and ready to stream the following Sunday.
But perhaps the best part of the story is that Mauricio and Jacquelyn were able to learn how to video the service themselves. The Westwood Communications team showed them what type of lighting to use and how to properly upload the videos. Now, Mauricio and Jacquelyn are taping their own services and no longer need to travel 30 miles to Westwood to get the job done.
The Spokane Chinese Association: Spokane, WA
Washington State has been one of the states hardest hit by the Coronavirus. Our World Relief Spokane team has been hard work making adjustments and meeting needs even as they social distance. Last week, they shared a story from within the Spokane community that encouraged them and us!
The Spokane Chinese Association first became aware of the novel Coronavirus as it was spreading across Wuhan. When the virus hit their own community in Spokane, they wanted to help. Led by their president, Ping Ping, the association was able to distribute more than 600 masks to people throughout the community. But Ping wanted to do more!
She began collecting donations and was able to donate 400 masks to the Spokane Police Department, a gift the police captain said was much needed. Now, Ping has raised more than $6,000 that she plans to use to donate more masks to first responders and medical workers in the Spokane area.
You can read more of Ping’s story here.
Rachel Clair serves as a Content Writer at World Relief. With a background in creative writing and children’s ministry, she is passionate about helping people of all ages think creatively and love God with their hearts, souls and minds.
Grief and Hope: A Rwandan Story
History
Today marks the 26th Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi, a grim moment in my country’s history and one that I remember vividly.
I grew up in Rusizi District on the western side of Rwanda. The genocide was carried out in my home village the same way it was throughout the rest of the country. Although communication technology was not as advanced as it is today, information was still able to spread, proof that the genocide was well planned.
In Rwanda, the post-independence period (1962-1994) was run under divisive and discriminatory ideology, where the successive regimes considered some of its citizens as foreigners, enemies and moles in the open. Most of these citizens were denied education, jobs and other rights including trading licenses and driving permits, to name a few. This discriminatory ideology culminated in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, killing a large number of people in a just few days (about 1,070,014 Tutsi killed in only 100 days). The genocide left behind around 300,000 orphans and non-accompanied minors, about 500,000 widows and over 3,000,000 refugees.
My home was completely destroyed during the genocide, and the people I lived with had been killed. By God’s protection, I survived and left my village at the end of April. In September, I was blessed to get to travel to Kigali, which was the secured area at the time. I joined my uncles who had just returned from another country.
Grief in the Aftermath
The aftermath of the genocide was horrible. Everywhere I looked dead bodies lay in the streets. Dogs roamed around, becoming aggressive as they got used to feeding on the bodies. Most of the homes had been destroyed. Hospitals were filled with wounded people, but had very few supplies and almost no personnel to care for the wounded. There was no security. Widows and orphans were desperate. Hopelessness pervaded every corner of the city.
Survivors were very scared. They had lost everything. They were traumatized, and their trust in others was gone. They felt that no one could understand their sorrow, which was true. The few people who were out walking around cried in deep grief as they retold stories of how their loved ones were brutally killed. It seemed impossible that peace would ever exist again. No one could imagine that the city would ever be rebuilt.
I, too, felt little hope. I was ready to die, actually. My prayer was to die soon because I didn’t have any hope of living when I looked at the circumstances around me. I couldn’t expect that life would ever have meaning or flavor or that the country would ever have peace again. I was full of tears as the horrifying memories of noise and sounds of both perpetrators and victims were buried in my heart.
It was difficult for me to return to school. I didn’t have any reason to go back because life was pointless in my mind. The only thing that kept me going and convinced me to go back to school was my faith. I kept reminding myself that God loved me and trusting that, even though I didn’t feel it at the time, he was a Provider and Healer. I prayed often and read my Bible, clinging to the words in John 3:16— For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.
Rebuilding Peace
During the 100 days of genocide, our country felt abandoned by the outside world. There was no global response. After the genocide, though, we began seeing NGO’s and other stakeholders come to help with food, medical supplies, blankets, rehabilitation services and more.
The soldiers who had liberated the country walked the streets saying, “Humura,” which means “don’t worry”, to everyone they saw. They were kind and supportive. Their words were comforting and powerful in restoring peace of mind and building trust and hope.
World Relief arrived shortly after the genocide to provide humanitarian support as well. They brought food, clothing, shelter, medical supplies and counseling to all who were affected. In addition to meeting these basic needs, it was clear that a long road lay ahead for rebuilding peace and finding reconciliation. As Rwandans, we’d need to confront all forms of discrimination and exclusion. Unity and reconciliation was the only option for our country to emerge from its divided past.
We’d need to redefine the Rwandan identity, replacing the ethnic identities of the past with a shared sense of Rwandanness. We’d need to rebuild trust in our leaders and create a culture of responsiveness, transparency and accountability across the public and private sectors. And we’d need to establish equitable and inclusive policies that addressed issues on gender, disability, poverty alleviation, education and public service.
It has been 26 years since the genocide took place, and I am proud to say Rwanda is a completely different place than it was back then. It was not easy to get people to believe that unity and reconciliation would be possible after the genocide, but we have proven it is possible if concerned people own the process and commit to changing their thoughts and behaviors.
I have watched as our nation and our people have owned the healing process and committed to whatever was necessary to see it through. We’ve accepted and acknowledged what happened. We’ve set goals and thought often of all the reasons peace and reconciliation were worth fighting for. We’ve monitored our progress, acknowledged failure and learned from it. We have worked hard and forgiven often, and we have celebrated every victory and achievement.
Hope for Today
Rwanda today is so different from Rwanda in 1994. Development and education has improved. Investment in youth and capacity building initiatives have grown. Women have been lifted up and their contributions to the development of the country have been highly noticed. The government has been highly committed in bringing peace, establishing clear policies and monitoring compliance as much as possible.
My hope is that other countries would learn from Rwanda because no one benefits from cultural or ethnic conflict in the short-term or long-term. The wounds from cultural conflict can last for years, and are felt by all. Prevention is much better than having to go through a healing process so I pray that other countries would be proactive and implement strong investments in current conflict resolution strategies.
I am grateful for the healing Rwanda has experienced. I am grateful for the healing I have experienced. I can testify that God is Protector, Provider, Healer and that he can restore life to everyone and every nation. Even now, as I know so many are struggling with fear and uncertainty with the global COVID-19 crisis, my encouragement is to trust God even during the impossible. There is no season, no virus, no situation that He cannot change from dark to bright. God is Faithful.
Jacqueline Mukashema is the Director of Administration and Finance, World Relief Rwanda. She began working for World Relief in 2006 as a Chief Accountant and has served faithfully in various finance and administration roles. She studied accounting up to the Masters level and loves this field. She is a born again, committed Christian and is passionate about serving the vulnerable— especially orphans. In her free time she likes quality time with her family and cooking. She’s married to her husband, Jean de Dieu, and they are blessed with five children— Esther, Etienne, Ruth, Honnete and Asher.
5 Reasons for Hope
We are living in extraordinary times. The impact of the Coronavirus is being felt deeply across the world. Increasingly, this pandemic is disrupting our everyday lives and virtually every structure in our home cities and countries. This is a matter of great concern at every level of government and society, yet it is also a very real personal concern for each of us as we feel its impacts socially, economically and even mentally and spiritually.
It would be natural for us to consider the various risks swirling around us and pull back in fear. But while we may each understandably “visit” the place of fear, as the people of God, we must not “live” in such a place.
As those privileged to serve alongside you, we’d like to offer you five reasons for hope as we consider our calling and our posture in this time.
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Crisis is not new or unique to this moment in time.
Throughout history, the people of God have been called to live extraordinary lives – especially in times of crisis. We are not exempt from war, famine, violence or disease; rather we have been entrusted with the high calling to live in faith, hope and love when the foundations around us have been shaken. In a very real sense, we have been fashioned by God for such a time as this. He is trusting us to be his witness to a world facing fear and uncertainty. The unshakeable confidence and extraordinary love displayed by God’s people is our unique gift to those gripped by fear of an uncertain future.
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We have God’s Spirit.
The Apostle Paul reminded his young and timid protege, Timothy, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7). To have the courage to look outward when everything within us cries out to look inward is possible only by the Spirit of God. We cannot will ourselves to act with power, love or a sound mind; rather, we find these things coursing through our veins only as we surrender to the Spirit of Christ given to us by faith.
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We have God’s Promise.
Jesus told us we could expect troubling times. “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). God has further assured us with these words, “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) These and many other scriptures remind us that God’s love for us is intimate, personal and faithful. We walk together in peace and confidence knowing we are secure in the love of God — whatever the days may hold.
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We have a compelling call.
We are compelled by love to fulfill our calling to be light amidst the darkness and to serve the most vulnerable. Love is our enduring motivation and allows us to live out our call in seasons of plenty or want, safety or danger, freedom or restriction, sickness or health. We know that sadly, it is the marginalized and vulnerable who will feel the greatest burden of this disease. Yet our calling compels us to go further, love bigger and give more to reach those who are most in need, yet often forgotten.
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We have one another.
Recent conversations with our staff as well as our church partners and individual supporters have been a life-giving reminder of our mutual love, respect and unity. We have experienced the power of shared conviction, calling and values of our global family, many of different national heritage, gender, culture and experience. There is a solidarity that unites us, empowers us and comforts us. Wherever in the world we are, we know we are in this together with one mind and one heart. Our solidarity in this cause gives us hope and keeps us moving forward.
God bless you and your families. Know that we are praying for you each and every day.
Scott Arbeiter retired from World Relief in 2021 as president after serving the organization in various roles for more than two decades and is a former pastor of Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
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