Luke Parrott

Great Pictures from the Rwanda Trip (by Nate Friend)

You can check out more of his photography here.  http://framesofn8.tumblr.com/

Follow Me to Rwanda

Next Wednesday the 18th I leave for Kigali, Rwanda.  I'm traveling with Kanakuk Colorado and 30 other students from all over the country.  We will work in an orphanage, paint the houses of a few widows, see the future campsite of Kids Across Africa Rwanda, visit one of the Genocide Memorials, and who knows what else.

I want you to come with me on this trip.  I will update my blog with video posts as frequently as I can.  (Daily if possible).  So join me by checking my video posts each day as I take you into Rwanda, March 19th to 28th.

Hutu and Tutsi as ONE

Bishop John Rucyahana explains how the family trees of Hutus and Tutsis are interconnected.  They are ONE.  They are not Hutu or Tutsi.  They are Rwandans.  They are children of God.  We are a family.  Our fates, our lives, our families are intertwined.

This is a clip from last weeks luncheon.

Video Messages from Last Night

In case you missed last night here is a few video messages from Mike Newman of Kids Across Africa Rwanda and Andy Braner from Kanakuk Colorado.  The show was a great success.  Over the past 2 worship nights we raised roughly $1300 for the trip.  And last night we had 50+ come to the coffee shop as well as up to 50 visits from the online community.

Worship Night for Rwanda 8pm MST tonight!

A Night of Worship for Rwanda.  Join us as we pray for healing and reconciliation for a nation that continues to recover from the genocide of 1994.  You will also hear from 10 students who are traveling to Rwanda next month to love and serve the Rwandan people.  To support their funds to travel over there, you can donate using paypal right below.

Join us live at the following link between 8-9:30pm MT.  http://www.ustream.tv/channel/night-of-worship-for-rwanda

What We Can Learn from Rwanda

I went to a luncheon today in which Bishop John Rucyahana of Rwanda and Immaculee Ilibagiza spoke on the reconciliation in Rwanda.  Both of their stories are fascinating.  Here is Bishop John explaining what our global community can learn from the 1994 genocide.

Bishop John Rucyahana at Church Today

I had the pleasure of hearing Bishop John Rucyahana speak at our church today.  He spoke from Ephesians 2:14 about reconciliation and the struggle of uniting the nation of Rwanda after the 1994 genocide that took over 1 million lives in 100 days.

Myself and 30 other students are traveling to Rwanda on March 19th.  This Friday Night we are having a "Night of Worship for Rwanda" in order to lift up the nation to God.  Check out the live video feed if you'd like to join us (8pm MST, Friday Feb. 27). 

So I asked Bishop John after the service to share with me what we can be praying for specifically. 

He said this, "The schools will always be there.  But you need to pray for the people of Rwanda to discover who they are.  Many of them are still in denial of what happened.  They need to rediscover who they are.  That is the one thing you must pray for." (paraphrased)

Discovery.  Who are we?  As a people.  As a nation.  As individuals.  It is a path we must all be on in our own lives.  It is the path Bishop John feels is most crucial for recovery and reconciliation in his country of Rwanda.

I pray today for Rwandans to discover who they are.  And find it in Jesus.

(Stay tuned this week for more about Rwanda and Bishop John.  I am attending an event on Thursday that is more Q and A focused.  I'll try and get some video footage for you!)

Rwanda Missions Trip...Here's the team.

A Preview Video before Tonight's Live Worship Night for Rwanda.

Quote from Bishop John Rucyahana

I just finished, "The Bishop of Rwanda" last night.  It recounts in horrific detail the story of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.  I am reading as much as I can in preparation for my trip to Rwanda end of March.  (I still need to raise about $1500 if you'd like to help!)

It's interesting how popularly concerned yet ill-informed we are when it comes to Africa.  I tell people I'm going to Rwanda and they have little to no understanding geographically of where I will be.  I suppose they assume that I will also be deep in the jungles.  I think all of us (myself included) need to be more educated on the countries of Africa before we become so "concerned" about the continent of Africa. 

Anyway, here is a quote from the Bishop as he works to rebuild a country recovering from genocide.

The context here is the people asking to build a church.  He says,

"...God does not want me to make the building a priority.  I'm building the church by building schools.  I'm building the church by repairing the hospital.  I'm building the church by taking care of remote areas where children have nothing and we are losing generations of youths.  Therefore I am building the church first.  Then, after I build the church, I will build the building."