The greatest and most lasting impact on my life, without exception will be my memories of leaders that I met in Rwanda, DR Congo and Malawi.  Upon making their acquaintance I quickly saw something uniquely different in these African leaders (my brother and sisters in Christ).  I first noticed in these men and women a quiet humility; a quality so wonderfully appealing and one which (surprisingly) required no words to communicate. 

But there was more than genuine humility going on, a quality so unique from any other leaders that I have met in any of my travels.  For lack of a better word to describe this quality I will call it depth; a kind of depth that cannot be manufactured by will or by force; it is a depth of character that can only be borne in pain.

Eighty pastors and intercessors from many churches in Goma, DRC during a training session.  Photo by Katie Garner www.katiegarner.co.uk

While in Rwanda we heard the story about the inception of the African Leadership and Reconciliation Ministries (http://alarm-inc.org/) and learned that its founder recognized the urgent need for grass roots training of leaders for the local church.  The need for such training was particularly urgent because most of the church leaders were massacred during the Rwandan Genocide in which nearly one million people were brutally killed, nearly 20% of the country’s total population not so many years ago.  

I’ll share briefly about my new friend, Benjamin, a survivor of the genocide.  I learned about how he and his wife with two babies in their arms narrowly escaped certain death if not for a missionary pilot who met them while they were on the run for their lives offered to fly them to Kenya at his own peril.  

While exiled in Kenya, Benjamin was given the opportunity to pursue theological training which he gratefully accepted.  I found that Benjamin to be a brilliant and gentle man, a true pastor and teacher of God’s Word (he teaches from the Bible’s original languages) and himself able to speak in four additional languages fluently.  But beyond his credentials and impressive accomplishments it took almost no time to discover what the best thing about him is – he is a man compelling depth of character.  Benjamin possesses the undeniable, unconcealable beauty borne in pain and that has been refined in the flames of suffering.      

Because of my experiences in Africa and the people that I met, I now have a new definition and understanding about what it looks like to be a deep person.   It is only with great care and sobriety that I will ever ask of the Lord to work in me the depth of character that I saw in many of the leaders in the African Church.

Affectionately yours,

Ed