“If a man strikes someone with an iron object so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death” (Numbers 35:16). “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man” (Genesis 9:6). “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13, Deuteronomy 5:17). In 1994, these words were clearly void and absent in the hearts of the Hutu people. Rwanda was swept over in blood, mass murder, genocide. In about 45 days, “about half a million defenseless women and children were hacked to death by their neighbors” (Haugen 23). There was no discrimination between children, adults, family members or strangers. Those innocent people were cut down by their fellow citizens with machetes and clubs with nails protruding from them. Gary Haugen retells the horrific story of the Rwandan genocide in his book, Good News about Injustice, which tells stories of survivors, the history and facts about the situation and other events occurring around the genocide, such as the creation of the International Justice Mission. The depth and stretch of death in Rwanda is and was disgusting and disturbing, yet, the stench of the genocide reaches beyond several hundred thousand dead bodies. In hindsight, this event is much more appalling than I originally understood it to be. As a passionate, fist shaking U.S. citizen, America’s nonchalant approach to the genocide makes me want to vomit. Although Haugen says little about what could have been done better by the U.S., he does say plenty about what can be done well now and in the future. Good News about Injustice and Terrify No More teach us three things very clearly: terrible injustice happens everywhere and all the time, God hates it, and by us, through him, there is always hope.
Although there were red flags to be seen in Rwanda, such as segregation and violence, they received little recognition from the global community. After all, what country hasn’t seen its fair share of violence and segregation? However, in the early 1990’s, numerous reports were received about Hutu extremists supporting genocidal ideology; they threatened anyone who opposed the Hutu power movement. Tutsis’ were the enemy of supposedly “good,” oppressed Hutus (ConvertAction Quarterly). Though the cautionary flags were present and the reports described an environment on verge of mass murder, our supposedly “good” country did nothing. It has been said countless times before, and the simple truth of it assures its innumerable future references and proclamations: “the only thing necessary for evil to prevail is that good men do nothing.”
Our country’s high officials, although not personally responsible for the deaths in Rwanda, do have those innocent Rwandan’s blood on their hands; so does the rest of the earths power force and authority at hand. In some degree, the blood lays even on our hands; the common citizens of each country. Terrible injustice happens everywhere and all the time. Though we know that God hates injustice we often consider ourselves too far away from the pain and suffering to help stop it. We give up and lose hope before even being faced with something that could potentially be “hopeless.” How could we ever do anything to stop all the bad surrounding us? This wide spread apathetic attitude should really make all of us wonder how much we really trust in the word of God. After all, God’s word says “He will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight” (Psalm 72:12-14).
Most of us can understand that statement of truth the Psalmist tells, but most of us fail to relize just how God plans to do all those things. When Jesus asended to heaven he left with us only two things: the Holy Spirit and his followers. (we), His followers are called to live in accordance with his Holy Spirit; by his divine power “we can do all things through Him who strengthens us” (Philippians 4:13). We all need to stop believing that we can love God without loving our neighbors. We must stop justifying our lack of love and care for others by deeming them too far away to be our neighbors. For when we participate in this watered down version of partial christianity, the Lord declares: “when you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen” (Isaiah 1:15). We must “learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow” and make the world a less injust place (Isaiah 1:17). Only when we embrace our responsibility does the world have any hope to get brighter. Only when we stand and fight in love will we ever have any hope for ourselves. The Word of God is a promise, not a suggestion. When we live as if the words in the Bible are promises instead of suggestions, then we will make our families, neighborhoods, communities, states, countries and world a better place.
When Haugen stood infront of the horrific grave sites he recognized that there was nothing that could now be done to prevent the Hutus’ act of genocide “but by calling these men to account we can hope that the next generation of wicked “princes” will think twice about perpetrating such abuses, and the dead will not be mocked by impunity for their murderers” (Haugen 34). We would be wise to follow this method of action; instead of focusing on the bad that has occurred and the damage that has been done we must look toward hope by focusing on what we can do now. Understand that what has happened has happened and now we must “do what we can, with what we have, where we are” (Theodore Roosevelt). Do not lose hope, God hates injustice. “I have put my hope in the Word of God” (Psalm 119:147) When we understand the truth about Gods character we can begin to grasp the courage required to have hope amongst all the injustice. “It is through his word that God reveals his character and it is Gods character, and his character alone that gives me hope” (Haugen).
When we believe and know that God hates the injustice that happens everywhere and all the time, we can share the hope that comes with such understanding with everyone across the world. “Jesus calls us to be witnesses of his love, truth, salvation, compassion and justice ‘in Jerusalem [at home], and in all Judea and Samaria [nearby], and to the ends of the earth’” (Haugen 83, Acts 1:8). A great way to do this is to follow Haugen’s outline: Go, Send, Pray. Whether it’s for the millions of children being forced into prostitution, sold into slavery, forced to work for pennies with ten thousand percent interest for their parent’s debt; whether it’s for the runaway teenage girl being raped by two police officers, the children raped and abused in brothels, the young women and girls being stolen and transported across borders for sex slavery or the millions of people who are murdered, we all can pray. Pray, call out to the Lord. “God never cuts himself off from those who cry out to him in their suffering” (Haugen). We should be suffering with and for all these innocent people who face such terrible injustice. When we learn what Gods character is we begin to actually see things for what they are. “Our God is full of compassion” (Psalm 116:5). He is “the Father of compassion” (2 Corinthians 1:3). Haugen shows us the meaning behind the word compassion in chapter five of Good News about Injustice. “The word compassion comes from two Latin words: passio, meaning ‘to suffer,’ and cum, meaning ‘with.’ To say that God has compassion for the victims of injustice is to say that he actually ‘suffers with’ them” (Haugen 78). We too, should suffer with the rest of God’s children. When we do, we will remember to pray for them. When we pray to God, God communicates to us as well. Our prayer may very well lead us to Send; send money or other resources to missionaries, charities and those suffering injustice. For those whose hearts are still not settled after praying and sending, God may reveal to them their calling to Go.
When Haugen described to us the Go, Send, Pray system for getting everyone involved in helping those suffering injustice it might help us to understand that Haugen himself is one who is called to Go. That may be the reason for his Go, Send, Pray system instead of a Pray, Send, Go one. Prayer is our foundation for helping others. “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” (Matthew 5:44). “Pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Prayer is our calling out to God, our cry for his help. Our prayer to God will promote and empower the ability to Send; our prayer to God will help guide those who can Go and perhaps awaken us to our calling to Go. So Pray; pray for all reasons and for all people, and do it continually. Gary Haugen brings to life the terrible injustice that happens everywhere and all the time in his books Good News about Injustice and Terrify No More. He lets us know with a plethora of scripture that God hates all the injustice. He hates injustice and promises to bring those perpetrating it to justice. The most important thing to remember however is his third theme: by us, through him, there is always hope. That hope should and can be shared with those across the world who are suffering injustice. We can share gain the hope ourselves and share it with others by praying, sending, and going. Above all else, pray and remember the sufferings of those at every corner, field, street, village and city all across this dark and wicked planet. “One man’s faithful devotion to his Masters call, can transform the destiny of millions” (Haugen). “Take heart” (Matthew 9:22, John 16:33)!
References
Haugen, G. A. (1999). Good News about Injustice. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.
Haugen, G. A. (2007). Terrify No More. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
Quarterly, C. (n.d.). The Ungodly Missionary legacy. Retrieved May 7, 2010, from Mediafilter.org: http://mediafilter.org/CAQ/CAQ52Rw2t.html