Prison Fellowship Board Recognizes Rwandan Bishop for Outstanding Acts of Forgiveness

Bishop John Rucyahana Honored for Developing Program that Helps Perpetrators and Victims of Genocide Meet Face to Face

LANSDOWNE, Va., Jan. 17, 2009—Bishop John Rucyahana returned from exile to his native Rwanda in 1994 to find a country he barely knew:

• The remains of men, women and children who had been hacked to death by machetes
• Stories of mothers forced to bash their own babies against walls
• Accounts of women raped and children burned alive
• More than one million Rwandans dead in a country of just 8.5 million people

On Jan. 17,  Prison Fellowship and BreakPoint presented Bishop John Rucyahana the 2009 William Wilberforce Award in recognition of his remarkable example of forgiveness and leadership in bringing reconciliation and reunification to Rwanda.

As chairman of Prison Fellowship Rwanda, Rucyahana organized the Umuvumu Tree Project, a nationwide program to prepare perpetrators and victims of the genocide for face-to-face meetings.  During the program, killers have the opportunity to admit their terrible crimes, ask for forgiveness, and take steps toward restoration.  For Rucyahana, the need for forgiveness became personal, and the need for restoration was overwhelming.  He had lost many members of his family in the genocide, and even after he had begun preaching forgiveness and restoration to the murderers who were imprisoned, his niece was brutally raped, tortured and killed.

"Without God, I would hate such killers with all of my heart," said Rucyahana.  "But with God, I can truly say that I love them.  We cannot wait until the pain is over.  We must forgive now, like Jesus did while He was on the cross."

Fearing Rwanda could lose an entire generation, Rucyahana also founded Blessed Mustard Seed Babies Home orphanage and Sonrise School for children orphaned by the genocide and AIDS.

"Bishop John believes that if the Rwandan situation can be amended by repentance and forgiveness, and the people there can be reconciled to live together again, forgiveness can happen anywhere," said Prison Fellowship and BreakPoint President Mark Earley.  "We recognize that reconciliation is a key to achieving restoration and criminal justice worldwide, and we applaud Bishop John for his monumental efforts in Rwanda."

Named in honor of William Wilberforce, the English statesman who waged a 40-year campaign against the slave trade in Britain, Prison Fellowship and BreakPoint present the William Wilberforce Award annually to a distinguished Christian leader who has confronted formidable societal problems and injustices.

MEDIA NOTE: Rucyahana will be in the United States Jan. 15 - March 3 and is available for interviews.
To request an interview with Rucyahana on site at the Jan. 17 Wilberforce Award ceremony or anytime between Jan. 15 and March 3, contact Kelly Wells at (770) 813-0000 or (404) 545-1855 cell.

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