USA (MNN) — It's been 15 years since more than 1 million people were killed in Rwanda's genocide. Hundreds of thousands of Rwanda's Tutsi and Hutu political moderates were murdered by Hutus under the Hutu Power ideology.
The city of Kigali, partnering with the local church, recently commemorated the genocide over 100 days, and the Luis Palau Association was there to help. They organized a Season of Service campaign: 100 days where Christians went out into the community to provide for the needs of the city in Christian love.
Andrew Palau says, "They had a 100 days of the genocide. They have 100 days of commemoration each year [of the genocide]. This is the 15th year. So, we laid the Season of Service right across that and finished with the festival. We were able to work with 350 churches with the focus of lifting high the name of Jesus and winning people to Christ."
The festival was held over two days at the national stadium in Kigali. Palau says it was a "full-blown music festival, world class extreme sports demos, with a big children's area."
According to Palau, thousands participated. "We had about 75,000 people hearing the Gospel and over 5,000 people responding to it. Some of our staff and the committee are working hard to distribute the decision makers information to the churches and those who will follow up."
Churches helped the community with some road building, home repair and construction, food distribution, water, medical clinics, and simply loving on those in need. Palau says, "We have a continuing goal to bring water into all the schools in Kigali. About 85-percent do not have ANY drinking water, let alone clean drinking water. So we have a family that's moved there for the next three years to work with the city and the churches to bring water."
Palau is asking you to pray for Kampala, Uganda. The community had representatives watching the event with the hopes of bringing the Palau Association's Season of Service to their city.
