Magdalene and Rwanda

Below is a note from Rev. Becca Stevens who came to speak to us last September with the women from Magdalene. They are helping other victims of rape and abuse around the world recover and develop their own cottage businesses. They recently sent an envoy group to Rwanda.

Rwanda was amazing and we are home, and the seven of us that traveled from Magdalene are safe and sound. The women we met fell in love with the message and community of Magdalene. We read letters the women from Nashville sent and in response, the women who are part of the sisters of Rwanda started sharing their experiences of surviving incest, violence, addiction and prostitution. Their staff said that they had never heard the women talk so openly. In gratitude and solidarity with the women of Magdalene, the sisters of Rwanda wrote letters and sent video messages to us. The stories are hauntingly similar.

Rwanda is full of people walking around with ghosts, while new life is strapped to the backs of women. Hearty crops are blooming next to people so poor they can't feed their children. It was so much to take in sometimes my legs would shake or my head would throb. Our small group carried you all with us the whole time. It was the right trip and we all think there are many more villages of women who want us to be with them. We found the cousins to the thistles. One of the many lessons I learned in Rwanda was that rape and love are universal actions. Neither get lost in translation and our job is to love the whole world, one person at a time.

Seeing women in traditional African dress with goggles and rubber gloves preparing to make soap is awesome. They were so excited when we started the second morning, they had already started cleaning the equipment. We went to villages where women waited all day to see us. They were stunning, poised, and almost whispered what they needed to tell us about their lives and their need for hope and money to keep going. We went to the market and purchased shovels, seeds, and sewing machines in response to some of their requests. Sometimes its just a fishing pole people need. They already know how to fish. The faith we saw was inspiring and a little intimidating. The singing and dancing were beautiful. The landscape is hilly with mists that come in like sweet blankets. It is strange to think of a million people dying on that land.

We are thankful to be home and I posted a few pictures on the blog beccastevens.org if you want to visit. thank you all for being such a great community to share all of this with.

love and peace, becca