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Rwanda is a place of many paradoxes, or ironies. Its on the equator, but can be very cool at night (thanks for its high altitude); people are warm and lovely, yet the country was plunged into a terrible genocide of neighbor against neighbor; there is an overwhelming natural beauty, but poverty and deep need exist at so many levels; a place of new and vital growth and expansion, yet where ancient customs and traditions are reverently honoured.
On the grounds of the Shyira Diocese stands an old building that seems to resonate with this kind of paradox. In the midst of so much new construction and expansion it is a reminder of the diocese’s past, particularly the healing work it offered in the period immediately following the genocide in 1994. Its hard to know how old it is, and no one seems to remember, but it has stood empty for the last 15 years or so, especially since the dedication of the new cathedral in 2004. A small building, it has a simple yet beautiful architectural wholeness that reveals its true purpose. It was from this place that Bishop John Rucyahana and a few clergy worked to bring healing, reconciliation and hope to a region particularly hard hit by ethnic cleansing.
It now appears that it will have a new life. Plans are in the works to renew this space as a place of prayer and worship after many years of neglect. The interior is more or less ‘gutted’, but it will be remodeled and restored. The healing that it nurtured in its walls for so many may now be known by the building, itself.
In Genesis 26, Isaac returns home only to find that the wells so needed for life had been plugged up by the enemy, so he opened them up in order to find water for his sojourn. “Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them (Genesis 28:18). The ancient wells were renewed and again flowed with life and health. Often, as we look for new ways of living and doing ministry, we can neglect those places that nurtured life to those in days gone by. We’re enamored of innovation and new discovery, and that can sometimes be the best way forward. But often its the wells that have been stopped up–by enemies, by circumstances or by our own neglect–that hold life and healing for us if we will do the work of digging them again. This was the word Jeremiah gave to the people: This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls… (Jeremiah 6:16).
The old Rwandan cathedral put me in mind of our own search for a church home and our desire to renew a former place of praise, learning and mission. We could buy land, perhaps, and build a brand new building. There would be practical advantages to that, and it remains an option. But over and over again our leaders have prayed to find a place to renew, that would mirror our call to heal and renew souls. May God grant our desire and help us, even as we move forward into new ways of being as a church, to follow Isaac, Jeremiah, and the Shyira Diocese.