MEET PASTOR STEPHEN

I am Pastor Steven Gahigi, I am a pastor of the Anglican church of Rwanda and I work at the Maranyudo parish where I am pastor for 20 years. I want to start telling you the blessing and strength this church has used after the genocide, helping Rwandans and their country to rebuild Rwanda where Genocide had destroyed the country and families. I am able to tell you this because I was in the country when genocide happened and I was so affected for I lost my family, my siblings and I was so harmed. Afterward I was blessed when I felt my heart being healed and Jesus made a miracle in my life and my heart that I was able to be reconciled with God and got the strength to forgive. And that’s when I joined the journey with my fellow brothers, pastors and evangelists to reach out to people proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ regarding forgiveness.
And that’s where I found the strength and willingness to make people know that even after genocide there still life and hope for the church. I say this because the church has really been so important with sharing the gospel even in prisons; in prisons here in Rwanda there are many genocide offenders and the church played a big role to reach out to them and know that even after genocide, Jesus is able to forgive them.
And also there were survivors who were sad, were furious and angry after losing their families and theirs, they also needed to hear about Jesus, that Jesus accept their pain and their cry. Jesus also feels the cry of the weak and welcomes them. That’s when we started going to the villages where the survivors were and where some started to get houses, we were able to tell the good news and that’s where some used to think that life was no longer worth living, then more widows and orphans were able to trust in Jesus and believed that even after genocide Jesus still comforts them.