LEGATO...

Reflections on the Rwandan Genocide in the Light of James 3:7-9 John Barber, Ph.D. Most of us know of the genocide in Rwanda that began in April, 1994. The Hutu tribe, in a mission of ethnic cleansing, committed itself to thoroughly wipe out the minority Tutsi tribe that had ruled Rwanda for many years. In a period of 100 days the Hutus killed one million people: 800,000 Tutsi and 200,000 Hutu sympathizers. To accomplish that required the death of one person every second for 100 days! In August of 2013, I had the distinct pleasure of traveling to Kigali, Rwanda to conduct a 3-day pastor’s conference on the Cultural Mandate. Before I arrived, I read widely on the genocide, watched “Hotel Rwanda”, and a movie my son suggested, “Sometimes In April.” Although my reading and movie-watching helped set things in context, none of it answered the fundamental question that bewildered me. How? How could marauding bands, led by the Rwandan government, systematically slaughter one mill...

The Traditional Dowry-System in Africa [1] Arguments for traditional dowry   1.       It stabilizes the marriage and prevents the wife running away from her husband. 2.       Payment of dowry demonstrates that the husband-to-be is capable of supporting a wife. 3.       Payment of dowry makes the wife feel that she is worth “something” and that her husband considers her valuable. It can be considered a proof of love. 4.       Christian missionaries have often supported and encouraged the dowry system as a safeguard to the stability of marriage. 5.       The parents of the girl feel repaid for all their expense of caring for her and educating her. 6.       Bride Price enables the girl’s parents to provide similar dowry for their sons to marry wives. Thus the bride price becomes a kind of revolving fund in the family. 7.  ...

TimesOnline December 27, 2008 by Matthew Parris... Before Christmas I returned, after 45 years, to the country that as a boy I knew as Nyasaland. Today it's Malawi, and The Times Christmas Appeal includes a small British charity working there. Pump Aid helps rural communities to install a simple pump, letting people keep their village wells sealed and clean. I went to see this work. It inspired me, renewing my flagging faith in development charities. But travelling in Malawi refreshed another belief, too: one I've been trying to banish all my life, but an observation I've been unable to avoid since my African childhood. It confounds my ideological beliefs, stubbornly refuses to fit my world view, and has embarrassed my growing belief that there is no God. Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. ...