genocide Archives

Minute for Mission: Holocaust Remembrance Day

Posted April 22nd, 2019

Ben Ferencz was only 27 when he stood before the judges at the Nuremberg Military Tribunal as the chief prosecutor in the Einsatzgruppen trial. The defendants were 24 high-ranking SS officers responsible for the deaths of over 1 million innocent people. Ben had never tried a case before. He was barely 5 feet tall and was dwarfed by the podium, which came up to his chest. And yet photos from the trial show a composed young man. When the trial ended, the defendants were found guilty on all counts.

Discover Armenia

Posted March 11th, 2019

A young family in a remote region of Armenia runs a fruitful greenhouse business, a venture made possible through a microloan and coaching program offered by the Jinishian Memorial Foundation’s Youth Business Project for underserved youth otherwise ineligible for any loan. The project is motivating young people feeling stuck in generational poverty to realize their dream of owning a business to support their families.

Rwandan peacemaker to return to U.S. this fall

Posted August 23rd, 2018

The horror of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda is still fresh for Jerome Bizimana Nkumbuyinka. That’s when more than 800,000 people were slaughtered during the 100-day period following the assassination of the country’s president. The attackers came from the ranks of the Rwandan army, government-backed militias and national police and grew from a conflict between two groups: the Hutus and Tutsis.

Rwandans remember the genocide but forgive

Posted October 6th, 2017

At the end of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, 16 Presbyterian pastors had been killed, many had been wounded and some had fled the country. The churches that remained were empty.

Leading by example in Rwanda

Posted July 26th, 2017

Rwanda is known for the genocide that swept the country more than 23 years ago, leaving the nation with an impoverished and traumatized population. But Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission co-worker Kay Day is focused on the future, not the past. And she believes the thoughtful theological leaders she and others are working to train will build the future.

Hope, forgiveness in aftermath of Rwandan killings

Posted July 24th, 2017

The Rev. Jerome Bizimana knows the work of forgiveness is “never easy.” This is especially true in Rwanda, where 23 years ago, in April 1994, hatred between Hutu and Tutsi tribal groups led to the death of more than 800,000 Rwandans. Although it has been more than two decades, the wounds are still very much alive.

Hope and Forgiveness for Rwandan genocide victims and perpetrators

Posted June 21st, 2017

The Rev. Jerome Bizimana knows the work of forgiveness is “never easy.” This is especially true in Rwanda where 23 years ago, in April 1994, hatred between Hutu and Tutsi tribal groups led to genocide and the death of more than 800,000 Rwandans. Although it has been more than two decades, the wounds are still very much alive.

A fight to end genocide and injustice

Posted April 21st, 2017

Released in movie theaters in April, ‘The Promise’ is no mere period love story but a ‘fight to end genocide and injustice,’ promoters say. Actor Christian Bale plays an American journalist trying to expose the Ottoman plot to exterminate millions of Armenians.

PC(USA) related Racial Ethnic school educates future Rwandan leaders

Posted September 28th, 2016

Rwandan Bonita Murara is thrilled to be going to school at Menaul School, a Presbyterian Church, (U.S.A.) related college preparatory and boarding school for students in grades 6-12. “The knowledge gained here is good,” she says. “One day we can return home to teach other people how to improve their lives.”

Armenian struggles are topic of peacemaker visits this fall

Posted August 15th, 2016

For Dr. Tamar Wasoian, the historic genocide of the Armenian people between 1915 and 1918 is more than just a history lesson. Her grandparents escaped the killings of Armenian, Greek and Assyrian Christians in Asia Minor by Ottoman Turkey and relocated to Aleppo.