December 20, 2005
Dear Friends,
Greetings form the green hills of Rwanda. I’m writing this
after having just returned from the General Synod of the Presbyterian
Church of Rwanda, the chief governing body of the church that
assembles every other year. The college where I work did very
well at the Synod. The dean of the college, Elisée Musemakweli,
is also the president of the church. He had just completed his
first four-year term and was elected to a second term, now extended
to six years. The Synod also elected a vice president who is a
recent graduate of the college. In fact, of the seven or eight
recently graduated college members present, all but one were elected
to positions of responsibility in the church. I think that this
shows both the need of the church for educated leadership and
also the confidence it has in the quality of the education provided
at the college.
The theme of the Synod and of the new year is the expression of
confidence and hope given by the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians
4:9: “persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not
destroyed.” The words were inscribed in large block letters
across the new church calendars presented at the Synod, both in
Kinyarwanda and French: “Abattus mais non detruits.”
Although it has been over eleven years since the genocide ended
in June 1994, it is still very much a present reality for Rwandans.
This is the first General Synod that I have attended. From what
I had heard in advance, I expected that the assembly would be
dominated by the distractions of a public election. I was prepared
for politicking, discussions of the relative merits of the candidates,
and election speeches with damning charges and soaring rhetoric.
But none of this took place. People seemed to be bewildered by
my desire to discuss the elections and simply wouldn’t talk
about it. In the event, there were no speeches or obvious campaigning,
but also no untenable promises made and no public divisions or
apparent conflicts. When the moment for the election came, about
25 or so of the church’s worthies went into another room
to make all the important decisions. They emerged about two hours
later and simply presented the results to the assembly, which
warmly cheered and in turn duly “ratified” each of
the decisions. The church leaders that constituted the Synod,
half pastors and half elders, had no real expectation of having
a voice in the elections, so they were not disappointed. In the
interests of peace, unity, and deference to authority, they were
content to let a college of cardinals make all the important decisions;
and if its decisions were really suspect, the synod could always
exercise its right to a veto.
I received several very nice responses from my last prayer letter.
Some of you really seem to have taken the problems in Butare to
heart and lifted the needs of the school and community up to God
in prayer. I can happily report that some of the problems that
I mentioned have been resolved or at least ameliorated. For almost
two years, most of the nation, and Butare in particular, has suffered
from not having much electricity, often only a few hours a week.
The government finally put in place a number of large diesel-powered
generators as a stopgap measure. Butare, though not all the nation,
now has regular electricity. However, I must hasten to add, this
is not a return to Eden. The cost of electricity was doubled earlier
in the year, and now it will double again. Also, since we are
now receiving regular power (whereas before it was nearly non-existent),
our future electricity bills may be astronomical in comparison
to what we’re used to. But given the obvious choices, I’ll
take the electricity. The government estimates that it will be
another six years before a permanent solution is in place and
costs return to normal.
Another welcome development is that all the computers that I
ordered last January finally arrived—about a week after
my last letter. Four of these were for faculty members, and twelve
were for student use. The students have been making very good
use of them in finishing up their senior theses, and I have also
been contentedly taping away at my various projects. We haven’t
yet resolved the problem of the lack of permanent professors,
but the school recently hired another former student to teach
the Old Testament. He will begin as an assistant under the current
Old Testament professor and eventually obtain his masters degree.
Relying on Rwandans rather than temporary foreign visitors is
a very good step in the right direction.
I write this during the week before Christmas, but I’m
sure it will not be received until sometime in the New Year. So
I wish you all Bonne Année!
Yours in Christ,
Michael Parker
The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
322 |
