{"id":1992,"date":"2018-10-13T14:17:29","date_gmt":"2018-10-13T13:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/?p=1992"},"modified":"2019-10-02T15:31:40","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T14:31:40","slug":"ministers-letter-october-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/ministers-letter-october-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Minister’s Letter – October 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: <\/i>that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people\u2019s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. <\/i>We are therefore Christ\u2019s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ\u2019s behalf: be reconciled to God. <\/i>God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (1<\/i>st<\/i><\/sup> Corinthians 5: 18-21 NIVUK)<\/i><\/p>\n

One of the most difficult parts of my recent trip to Rwanda was learning of the country\u2019s recent history: specifically, the events leading up to and during the 1994 genocide. The events of that time were appalling: 800,000 people were murdered over a period of 100 days. The death and destruction brought the country to its knees: lives were lost, infrastructure destroyed, and the ability to function ruined.<\/p>\n

If you visit Rwanda today, it is impossible to tell that these horrific events took place, 24 years ago. Homes have been rebuilt, roads re-surfaced, and the country functions once again, just like any other. Given the level of destruction, this was achieved in record time. And it could only be achieved if the whole country united and worked together in the rebuilding process. The question is this: how could such a divided population be brought together? How could there be reconciliation between Hutu and Tutsi, after the pain and suffering caused by one on the other?<\/p>\n

On the one hand, the government which took over in 1994 led a huge campaign of reconciliation. The new leadership understood that the only way for the country to move forward was to bring people back together. Yet, with the best will in the world, governments cannot manufacture the kind of deep healing and reconciliation which was required for Rwanda to move forward.<\/p>\n

During the genocide, the Church did not give herself a good name. While in some places, the Church worked to help those being killed, in others she stood by and did nothing; in others still, the Church was complicit in the killings! After the genocide, and despite the poor reputation of the Church, the message of the Gospel rang out through Rwanda: a message of the deep reconciliation Jesus achieved between us and God. If Jesus can reconcile us, horrid sinners, to God, perhaps He could also reconcile the Hutu and Tutsi?<\/p>\n

Today, 94% of Rwandans identify as Christians. While this figure may be inflated by those who identify because it\u2019s the cultural thing to do, the fact that the country has been, and continues to be, reconciled after such a dark period suggests to me that a majority do seriously believe this Gospel, and have allowed it to shape their lives and their actions.<\/p>\n

The Gospel of reconciliation is so powerful, it can re-unite a country divided by ethnicity and genocide. I wonder: what could this same Gospel achieve here, if we took the same approach, sharing it believing and being confident in its power?<\/p>\n

Some food for your thoughts. God bless, Stuart<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[288],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ministers-letters"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8z2vw-w8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2178,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/ministers-letter-march-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":1992,"position":0},"title":"Minister’s Letter – March 2019","author":"admin","date":"12 March 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here! 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Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here! (2nd Corinthians 5: 16-19\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2075,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/ministers-letter-january-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":1992,"position":3},"title":"Minister’s Letter – January 2019","author":"Stuart Love","date":"6 January 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.(1st Corinthians 10:31 NIVUK) The question, \u201cwhy?\u201d is an important one. It is often one of the most basic questions a person can ask. Children will ask things like, \u201cwhy is the sky\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Minister's Letters"","block_context":{"text":"Minister's Letters","link":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/category\/ministers-letters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/letter_wide-114373157624ef432f57452b56c2eb19289fd314.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/letter_wide-114373157624ef432f57452b56c2eb19289fd314.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/letter_wide-114373157624ef432f57452b56c2eb19289fd314.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/letter_wide-114373157624ef432f57452b56c2eb19289fd314.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/letter_wide-114373157624ef432f57452b56c2eb19289fd314.jpg?fit=1200%2C674&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2336,"url":"https:\/\/www.clincarthill.org.uk\/index.php\/ministers-letter-september-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":1992,"position":4},"title":"Minister’s Letter – September 2019","author":"admin","date":"3 September 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever (Hebrews 13:8 NIVUK) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here! 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