1994, The Rwandan Genocide

don · 03-05-09 12:04 pm

<img src="http://www.atomorrow.net/discus/messages/10/720.jpg" alt=""> "Carl Wilkens is the former head of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency International in Rwanda. In 1994, he was the only American who chose to remain in the country after the genocide began. His choice to stay and try to help resulted in preventing the massacre of hundreds of children over the course of the genocide.” <a href="http://worldoutsidemyshoes.org/" target="_blank">The World Outside My Shoes Speaking Tour</a> Carl Wilkens visited our Religion 11 class March 4. In preparation for his visit, we studied the various news accounts of the Rwandan genocide, watched “Hotel Rwanda”, and examined the Adventist connections to the event, both positive and negative. At some point we hope to report on what Carl Wilkens shared in detail. He proved to be an effective communicator. For our class of ninety minutes, the interaction between the students and Mr. Wilkens remained focused and lively. He used Google Earth to show the geographical setting. He mentioned Hôtel des Mille Collines of “Hotel Rwanda”. He went there several times during the crisis. Paul Rusesabagina, the hero portrayed in the movie, attended Gitwe Adventist Secondary School. He reported that he had been so busy that he had not become acquainted with his neighbors but that his children played with their children day after day. A friendly rapport developed. During the crisis, this saved their lives. People stood up for them. They had some Tutsis hiding in their house. But the people protected them. Wilkens showed pictures of the people affected by the tragedy. Seven people hid away in a friend’s bathroom for three months on meagre rations. Another man had to whisper in his place of hiding for so long that he could not speak otherwise afterwards for some time. One boy found his mother among the dead. He noticed a pulse. Got her to a hospital. Begged for them to help her. She lived. The Adventist pastor convicted of war crimes declared his innocence until his death. Carl Wilkens knew this pastor-administrator. They had worked on church matters together. The pastor was on the opposite side of town from where Wilkens was when the church betrayal took place. The pastor went to jail. Even while in prison, he gave Bible studies to his fellow inmates. His accusers related stories of him taking certain individuals out of the church before the massacre began. Grenades were thrown into the church. As people ran to escape they were cut down, slaughtered. The pastor’s medical doctor son drove around in a jeep with a machine gun. His complicity was obvious. Church administrators ordered Carl to leave. Even President Folkenburg sent a personal message telling him to leave. They did not want to order him to do so, nor to violate his conscience, but that he should get out. He stayed because people need him. He saved lives by staying. He stressed that he did not do this all alone. He worked together with others. The children and adults connected with an orphanage owe their lives to his intervention with the Prime Minister who was one of the main perpetrators of the genocide. There were many international soldiers present in the country; the UN, etc. They could have prevented the massacres. We asked him how the experience affected his faith in God. Before the crisis, he was a weak, insecure Christian. The crisis helped him realize that his salvation was in Jesus and that he could count on Jesus for his assurance of salvation. This awareness of salvation in Christ inspired him to live for Him. More on Rwanda can be found at The Adventist History Library. <a href="http://www.covenantforum.com/discus/messages/584/1653.html" target="_blank">***HERE***</a> .

neal · 03-05-09 8:45 pm

Wasn't an SDA minister the first person in the world to be convicted of genocide at the Hague over something at an SDA church there? Were SDA's more of a help than a contributor to it? They tore up my brother-in-laws grave during that time but I don't follow that area of the world closely. Curious to see what you are able to add here or at your covenant link. Thanks

don · 03-06-09 1:14 am

Wasn't an SDA minister the first person in the world to be convicted of genocide at the Hague over something at an SDA church there? Yes. Read over the previous post. The pastor/administrator that Wilkens knew and worked with was that pastor. Both the pastor and his son, a medical doctor, were found guilty. The son received a longer sentence than the dad. This evening I attended a lecture by retired Brig. General Romeo Dellaire. He was the Canadian in charge of the UN forces in Rwanda during the time of the Genocide in 1994. (In "Hotel Rwanda" <a href="http://www.rwandagateway.org/article.php3?id_article=1957" target="_blank">Nick Nolte played Dallaire.</a>) He mentioned the strategy of the rebels re: the churches. They promoted the churches as neutral places of safety, then when they had them all gathered, they would massacre them. All the churches were used this way, he said. The main Adventist tragedy followed the same pattern. The father and son, leaders in the church, betrayed their people. Many pastors and lay people were slaughtered in that church. Across the country over 10 000 Adventists were killed out of a total of over 800 000. (Some say the real number of SDA's who lost their lives is closer to 100 000.) Dellaire and Wilkens both refused to obey orders to evacuate. Dellaire says that the order to leave from the UN was legal but it wasn't moral. They were protecting over 20 000 people. If they left, those people would have been massacred. He described an ethical dilemma for his soldiers. After one massacre, they discover 100 people alive in a church. As they prepare to evacuate them, child soldiers fire machine guns at them. On the other side are a group of females, some pregnant. They stand as human shields infront of another brigate of child soldiers. .

neal · 03-06-09 10:34 am

Read over the previous post. I read it thoroughly the first time but the way it was downplayed the person/event mentioned could have been convicted in an African village of killing 20 people from multiple tribes. It didn't seem to depict the person/event that was tried for GENOCIDE at the HAGUE.

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#1 03-05-09 12:04 pm

1994, The Rwandan Genocide

#2 03-05-09 8:45 pm

Re: 1994, The Rwandan Genocide

#3 03-06-09 1:14 am

Re: 1994, The Rwandan Genocide

#4 03-06-09 10:34 am

Re: 1994, The Rwandan Genocide

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