Pastor Emmanuel Sitaki tells of how he lost his entire family except his
mother, now 101, in the 1994 Rwanda genocide, and how God miraculously
spared his life while he was visiting his family from the Republic of
Congo, where he was attending university. Two years later, God called him
back to the homeland he never wanted to see again because of the
unimaginable loss he had suffered there, so that he could bring the message
of Jesus’ forgiveness to the Hutus responsible for decimating his family,
and so that he could embody James 1:37 –” to visit orphans and widows in
their trouble.” Pastor Emmanuel founded Rwanda Rise, an organization dedicated to
connecting children orphaned in the genocide with widows who had lost their
families, and to providing education, vocational training, and other
essential support to youth affected by the genocide.