"I’ve covered many wars and seen many acts of courage. But for sheer grit and determination I’ve never known anyone to compare with Captain Mbaye Diagne, a United Nations peacekeeper in Rwanda," said Mark Doyle, an international development correspondent. Armed only with cigarettes and whisky, and an indefatigable sense of humour, Diagne talked his way through numerous checkpoints, transporting...
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This month, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is attending events in Rwanda and posting news online about the history of the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in Rwanda. At numerous points, the story could have gone differently. What if Romeo Dallaire's fax warning the UN of impending violence was heeded? What if the Arusha Accord was implemented? It's extremely painful to...
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In 1994, I watched the events of the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in Rwanda unfold from my living room in Toronto, Canada. I felt distant from the crisis, insulated, safe, and powerless. At the same time, I was in anguish that people could kill other people, especially those whom they previously called friend. Within one hundred days, 800,000 lives were lost. It seems to me that...
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We sang Hillsong’s Oceans (Where Feet may fail) on Sunday; it’s a beautiful song about following Jesus onto the water. It alludes to the Biblical passage in which Jesus walked past the disciples on a stormy sea, while they struggled against the wind in a boat (Matthew 14, Mark 6, John 6).
Envisioning the scene, Jesus is on the lake; I’m on the shore. If I’m going to follow Jesus, I’m going to...
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I work with a global team of colleagues at World Vision International. One of them is John Locke from California. Like many of our staff, John works with people from around the world, often spanning 12 hour time zones in long days of meetings and deadlines. To destress after a busy day, he goes to the martial arts studio to exercise body and mind. John attributes meditation for reducing "three...
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Once in a while someone makes an indelible mark on people's lives. Such heroes can touch our own hearts even if we've only heard about them. One such person is Pastor Lee Jong-rak from Seoul, South Korea. Compelled to help abandonned babies, many of them disabled, this ordinary pastor is inspiring people around the world with how much love he shows the "least of these."
"They're not the...
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As I write this, I am watching a tribute to the victims of the massacre at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris today. Charlie Hebdo, a satirical French magazine, was targeted by terrorists today. In an attack by two gunmen, twelve lost their lives, including nine employees, two policeman, and a building maintenance man. The suspected motivation was revenge for publishing cartoons satirising the...
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Josh was just an ordinary kid, and he had an ordinary problem - he was being bullied at highschool. Wanting to let people know he existed, he was a good person, and to react positively to the negative attacks, he wondered what he could do. So he held open a door. Every day. For months. That small act changed everything.
Perhaps because it's such a small thing we can all relate to it, or perhaps...
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It’s Christmas – the day Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus two millennia ago. One of the carols we often sing is, “O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see they lie.” Until this year I envisioned a peaceful village when I sang it, replete with angelic choirs, awestruck shepherds, and the blessed Virgin Mary and Joseph admiring the newborn baby Jesus. This summer I imagined myself...
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My grandfather’s village is just down the road
It’s blessed with the richest of olive groves
On Fridays when grandfather takes me on his knee
I feel the shade of a tree that I’ve never seen
I’m fighting for freedom, peace and security
I’ll never forget what they’ve stolen from me
Wrongs like these must be avenged
I will not rest until they taste just revenge
We’re fighting for freedom in a...
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