00:00:32 With us today, we have Eugene and Odile Nteziryayo.
00:00:37 They’ve graduated from the 145th class of Gilead,
00:00:40 and they lived through this mayhem.
00:00:44 Odile, now, your family is Tutsi,
00:00:47 and this must have certainly put them in danger.
00:00:50 The killing was happening all over the country,
00:00:54 so my parents and my brother were killed.
00:01:01 I saw that some religious leaders were involved
00:01:05 in killing people in the genocide.
00:01:08 I couldn’t believe how friendly people
00:01:10 who were previously living together
00:01:14 now started killing their neighbors.
00:01:18 How did you get contact with the truth?
00:01:20 So after the genocide, I was taken in by my aunt
00:01:25 whose family were Jehovah’s Witnesses,
00:01:27 so I began studying the Bible with them.
00:01:30 I was in the Live Forever book.
00:01:33 I saw a picture of a priest blessing people in the church,
00:01:37 and then he was blessing troops who were going to kill.
00:01:42 But also I could see how brothers and sisters in the congregation
00:01:47 would love and encourage.
00:01:49 And they risked their lives to take care of one another.
00:01:52 Oh, that’s touching.
00:01:55 Now, Eugene,
00:01:57 your family was not a direct target of the violence,
00:02:00 but what other hardships did you face?
00:02:02 The economic situation was very difficult.
00:02:07 My family had no money,
00:02:09 and they could not buy food.
00:02:12 I remember my mom
00:02:14 —I can still see her lying on the bed in complete despair,
00:02:18 not knowing what she could do for us children.
00:02:23 The elders asked me to go to the Kingdom Hall,
00:02:26 and when I arrived,
00:02:29 they handed me 18,000 Rwandan francs.
00:02:34 The elders told me that my brothers and sisters from abroad
00:02:39 offered us this gift.
00:02:42 So I immediately ran back home,
00:02:45 found my mom still lying on the bed,
00:02:47 and gave her the money.
00:02:49 I can still see my mom crying
00:02:53 because of the joy
00:02:56 and thankfulness of what the brothers had done.
00:02:59 Excellent.
00:03:01 Now, looking back at all the injustices you and your family have suffered,
00:03:05 Odile, what has helped you to not become a bitter person?
00:03:10 The preaching work is very important to me
00:03:13 because the more I talk about the Bible’s promises,
00:03:17 the more they become real to me.
00:03:19 For example, when I talk about the resurrection hope
00:03:23 and the condition of the dead,
00:03:25 this helps me to feel
00:03:27 that my loved ones are not suffering anymore
00:03:30 and they are waiting to be resurrected.
00:03:33 So this makes me feel happy.
00:03:38 The scripture that comes to mind is
00:03:41 1 John 2:6, 7,
00:03:45 where the apostle John repeated Jesus’ command
00:03:49 of loving one another just as Jesus loved us.
00:03:54 Christians during that time were facing persecution,
00:03:58 and now they needed a fresh application of that scripture in their lives.
00:04:03 We all love one another,
00:04:05 but during difficult moments
00:04:07 like the ones our brothers in Rwanda went through,
00:04:11 they needed that fresh application
00:04:14 of this very commandment of Jesus:
00:04:19 loving one another to the point
00:04:23 of risking our lives for our brothers.
00:04:27 Being here in Gilead has reminded me of that fact
00:04:32 —that I really need to love my brothers and sisters
00:04:36 as Jesus loved us.
00:04:39 You brothers and sisters in Rwanda
00:04:41 have given us a wonderful example
00:04:44 of courage and faith and love.
00:04:47 Please know that we love you all very much.
00:04:51 Thank you.
00:04:52 Thank you for joining us
00:04:54 on this edition of Extraordinary Experiences.
