Grant Welge
Theology III
11/12/08
Model of Faith

Paul Rusesabagina


Image taken from http://www.palmbeachpost.com/shared-blogs/palmbeach/swan/media/rusesabagina.jpg

Paul Rusesabagina was manager of the Belgian-owned Mille Collines, a luxury hotel in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, during 1994. During this time there were two tribes in Rwanda: the Hutus (the majority) and the Tutsis (the minority). He was a moderate Hutu married to a Tutsi. Paul Rusesabagina exhibited outstanding faith in the Rwandan Genocide.

The Rwandan Genocide was the slaughter of roughly 937,000 Rwandans of the Tutsi tribe and moderate members of the Hutu tribe. This terrible event started with the death of the Rwandan president Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, whose plane was shot down above Kigali airport on April 6, 1994. No one knows who shot down the president's airplane, but the Tutsis were blamed, and the massacre began.

Days later, hundreds of Tutsis flocked to the Mille Collines seeking refuge. Since the hotel was owned by an international company, people were hoping that they would be safe there since there were United Nations peacekeepers stationed at the hotel. Taking all of the Tutsis in, Rusesabagina, as the manger of the hotel, showed great courage and bravery, for his life was in grave danger. He did everything he could, such as bribing and tricking the soldiers, to keep them away from the hotel. Rusesabagina had great faith that United Nations reinforcements would soon arrive to put an end to the massacre. He kept encouraging everyone that foreign help was on its way. Finally UN forces arrived, but they were only there to evacuate the white Europeans. Even when his faith was crushed, he continued to shelter 100 employees and 800 refugees. He still believed that they could influence foreign countries to help them; he did not give up faith. He thought that if they held out as long as they could, help would eventually come.

With food and water supplies running low, Rusesagabina knew that they were going to have to save themselves, but he still kept faith. In the end, Rusesabagina, his wife and children, and the refugees eventually managed to escape to Tanzania, thanks to the RPF, also known as the Rwadan Patriotic Front.

When I began this project I watched the movie "Hotel Rwanda," which on Paul Rusesabagina's heroic story. I thought that it was a great movie and I highly recommend it. If you would like to watch a trailer for this movie, please click here. Hotel Rwanda Trailer

http://www.hmd.org.uk/resources/item/47/
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/1209_041209_hotel_rwanda.html
http://www.immortalchaplains.org/Prize/Ceremony2000/Rusesabagina/rusesabagina.htm

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