It has been twenty years, but the time is far too short for the pain to be ended. In those days I was distracted by the events of my everyday life and not keeping up with all of the news from Africa. Our congregation had a small refugee resettlement ministry and when one family got settled, we would notify the agency that we could sponsor another refugee. Two single men were recommended to us. They were from Rwanda. I had to get out a map to find out where Rwanda is. The basic story that we were told was that there was ethnic tension in the region and that the two young men who had come to the United States had both been employees at the US embassy and therefore had received some assistance expediting their move to this country. We were told that one was Tutsi and the other Hutu. We didn’t know what that meant. We rented a small apartment and furnished it and prepared for their arrival. When they arrived, one of the most difficult hurdles of refugee resettlement was already overcome. Their English language skills were excellent. Before long they had jobs and were on their way to self sufficiency.

It was only after they arrived and I began to pay attention that I became aware of the horror that was taking place in their country. It was April 6, 1994 when President Habyarimana was killed when his plane crashed. There were reports that the plane had been shot down. The very next day Rwandan armed forces began the killings. Tutsis and moderate Hutus were targeted. The rate of killings was incredible. Entire villages were rounded up and slaughtered, many killed with a machete to the throat. By the time we heard of the events a week had passed and the Red Cross said that tens of thousands may have died.

We wondered why some other country didn’t intervene. Where was the United Nations? Why didn’t someone go and stop the killing. The reports became more and more fantastic about the numbers who were being killed. Stories emerged of entire extended family systems hunted down and slaughtered. villages were surrounded and everyone killed. So called “safe places” were announced and when the people came, they were far from save at all - on the contrary they were traps.

Soon it wasn’t clear who were members of official military groups and who were simply extremists stirred up by hate radio which encouraged the killing in nation-wide broadcasts every day.

At least 800,000 people died at the hands of the extremists over a period of about 100 days. The killings finally ended in early July when Rwandan Patriotic Front rebels finally took control of Kigali. More than 6 million people were displaced during the killings.

We can say whatever we want about what should have happened. The bottom line is that one of the most devastating genocides of a century marked by incredible violence and genocide left a nation torn and millions grieving the senseless slaughter of human beings over some kind of supposed ethnicity. It was racism at its worst and most of the world couldn’t tell the difference between the two sides.

I have never been to Africa. I have never visited Rwanda. But I have heard the stories of those who have. It is an experience that forever changes those who undertake the pilgrimage.

Solemn and intensely emotional ceremonies have marked the anniversary of the killings each year since 1994.

Ten years after the genocide, in 2004 the movie Hotel Rwanda, based on real events, told the story of Paul Rusesabagina who attempted to rescue fellow citizens from the genocide. His actions saved the lives of at least a thousand people. The movie explores the political corruption and the repercussions of the violence. It isn’t for the faint-hearted. It did help to educate the world, and especially those of us in the United States about the scope of the killings and the failure of the international community to provide what was required to save the lives of hundreds of thousands.

Yesterday it was 20 years. A week of mourning began with a wreath laying at the national genocide memorial and the lighting of a flame at Amahoro Stadium in Kigali. UN peacekeepers did manage to protect thousands of people in that stadium during the killings.

Yesterday speeches and performances recalled the genocide and traditional mourning songs were sung.

Perhaps the biggest challenge in the aftermath of the genocide is how children are taught the lessons learned from the awful tragedy. Children in Rwanda attend schools that are literally next door to places of massacre. How are they taught the truth about their history without being destroyed by the weight of the tragedy and devastated by the fear of the horror that is their heritage?

Children in Rwanda are taught that they are now one people - they are just Rwandan, not Tutsi or Hutu. Ethnicities are officially banned in the country these days. But those children are growing up in the shadow of death. They can’t escape the grief of all of their elders at the horrors of 20 years ago. All children are taught about the genocide and its causes as part of the official curriculum in school. Elementary education is free in Rwanda and most children are able to be educated in schools where there are no ethnic distinctions.

I hope they are also taught the stories of those who bravely risked their lives to save others. The story of Paul Rusesabagina and his hotel, and the story of Captain Mbaye Diagne, a United Nations peacekeeper who saved many lives through his courage are stories that need to be preserved and treasured as parts of the national heritage.

Twenty years is all too short for the world to have learned the lessons of this horrible event. But we start by simply remembering. As painful as the memories are, the tragedy would be compounded were we to fail to remember.

As we weep with Rwanda, may we increase our resolve to never again allow such horror to get out of hand.

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