A report from Conlee and Signa Bodishbaugh
Christ Anglican Church, Mobile, AL

Photo: Lay Pastors at Cleansing service
Christ Church Mobile (along with five members of Holy Trinity Pensacola, one from Church of the Epiphany, Fort Collins, CO, and one from Milwaukee) sent two teams to Rwanda this spring, the first primarily in spiritual ministry, the second as dental and art therapy teams. This is a report from the first team.

Archbishop Kolini requested that we write a liturgy in which people could participate in the spiritual cleansing of genocide sites in Rwanda. Aware that in such a liturgical ceremony God would be commissioning Christians to wage battle in the spiritual realm against the powers of darkness and death, we spent many hours in prayer until God began to pour out the words for the liturgy. Prior to leaving for Rwanda our team gathered to pray through the liturgy. As we did, the Holy Spirit fell upon us in such a powerful way that we knew something awesome would be accomplished through the prayers of the people in Rwanda. We were not disappointed!

On Monday we all went with Abp. Kolini to Ruhanga, a genocide site where about 23,000 victims are buried. We gathered in the old church where many had been slain. As we stood in a circle, several local people joined us, including the pastor's wife. We led the prayers in English which were then translated into Kinyarwandan, phrase by phrase. The liturgy is centered upon confession and forgiveness, and water is prayed over and sprinkled around the site invoking the Presence of God and releasing His Spirit with the blessings He brings. Hope and Life are released where despair and death have reigned.

Abp. Kolini, in his purple cassock, took the blessed water and liberally threw it around the inside and the outside of the church, around the grounds, and into the nearby home of the pastor. Although the pastor was not there, his wife received a great blessing and freedom from the lingering effects of death which had hovered over their home, the place where the previous pastor and his wife had been killed. Although she spoke no English, her dramatic reaction to the prayers demonstrated that God was transforming death into Life!

Conlee and Signa Bodishbaugh then led a four day seminar for lay pastors and other leaders in the diocese of Kigali at St. Etienne's Cathedral. What an incredible time we had with these exciting men and women! We spent each day together exploring such topics as: Intimacy with God, Confession and Forgiveness, Cleansing the Heart, Being Rooted and Establi shed in Love, Holy Spirit, Holiness, and Renouncing Idol Gods. Their participation, great questions, response to prayer, enthusiasm and love was outstanding! We could see lives being transformed before our eyes.

On the final day of the seminar we gathered on the Cathedral steps. Abp. Kolini wanted to introduce the cleansing liturgy to these leaders by having them experience it right where the former dean of the Cathedral was killed. The participants lined up along the bottom step of the Cathedral, their Bibles on the step in front of them. They were solemn and expectant. The Archbishop stood at the top of the steps in his purple cassock.. The equatorial sun beat down on us but no one minded. God was doing something no one wanted to miss. Each leader's face was reflecting a heart ready to receive everything God wanted to give. We went through the liturgy, praying the prayers, confessing, forgiving, renouncing death, embracing life and asking God to send His cleansing streams from the steps of the Cathedral out into the land. Again, the archbishop sprinkled outside and inside the Cathedral, praying blessings even up into the bell tower where the dean had attempted to hide from those who took his life. We then gathered in the pews to listen to the Archbishop's words: "Rwanda needs symbols. Denying the sprinkling of water in this Church (out of concern over the misuse of water by animist religions and superstitions) is the same as denying the waters of baptism. There has been a curse on this land. The soil is supposed to receive water not blood. God has brought Rwanda and America together to accomplish this."

We prayed the liturgy at several other genocide sites and there were many, many more profound experiences we had during our sixteen days in Rwanda. Each one is precious and will last a lifetime. But the message we hope to leave with you is this: God is a God of Blessing and Life. As we obey Him through confession and forgiveness, He lifts the curse of death and raises us up into His Light where there is no darkness at all. It is true!

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched - this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you a lso may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all." (I John 1:1-5).

If you would be interested in obtaining a copy of the Cleansing of a Genocide Site Liturgy or the unabridged version of this report, please email your request to bodishba@aol.com

Christ Church Mobile (along with five members of Holy Trinity Pensacola, one from Church of the Epiphany, Fort Collins, CO, and one from Milwaukee) sent two teams to Rwanda this spring, the first primarily in spiritual ministry, the second as dental and art therapy teams. This is a report from the first team.

Archbishop Kolini requested that we write a liturgy in which people could participate in the spiritual cleansing of genocide sites in Rwanda. Aware that in such a liturgical ceremony God would be commissioning Christians to wage battle in the spiritual realm against the powers of darkness and death, we spent many hours in prayer until God began to pour out the words for the liturgy. Prior to leaving for Rwanda our team gathered to pray through the liturgy. As we did, the Holy Spirit fell upon us in such a powerful way that we knew something awesome would be accomplished through the prayers of the people in Rwanda. We were not disappointed!

On Monday we all went with Abp. Kolini to Ruhanga, a genocide site where about 23,000 victims are buried. We gathered in the old church where many had been slain. As we stood in a circle, several local people joined us, including the pastor's wife. We led the prayers in English which were then translated into Kinyarwandan, phrase by phrase. The liturgy is centered upon confession and forgiveness, and water is prayed over and sprinkled around the site invoking the Presence of God and releasing His Spirit with the blessings He brings. Hope and Life are released where despair and death have reigned.

Abp. Kolini, in his purple cassock, took the blessed water and liberally threw it around the inside and the outside of the church, around the grounds, and into the nearby home of the pastor. Although the pastor was not there, his wife received a great blessing and freedom from the lingering effects of death which had hovered over their home, the place where the previous pastor and his wife had been killed. Although she spoke no English, her dramatic reaction to the prayers demonstrated that God was transforming death into Life!

Conlee and Signa Bodishbaugh then led a four day seminar for lay pastors and other leaders in the diocese of Kigali at St. Etienne's Cathedral. What an incredible time we had with these exciting men and women! We spent each day together exploring such topics as: Intimacy with God, Confession and Forgiveness, Cleansing the Heart, Being Rooted and Establi shed in Love, Holy Spirit, Holiness, and Renouncing Idol Gods. Their participation, great questions, response to prayer, enthusiasm and love was outstanding! We could see lives being transformed before our eyes.

On the final day of the seminar we gathered on the Cathedral steps. Abp. Kolini wanted to introduce the cleansing liturgy to these leaders by having them experience it right where the former dean of the Cathedral was killed. The participants lined up along the bottom step of the Cathedral, their Bibles on the step in front of them. They were solemn and expectant. The Archbishop stood at the top of the steps in his purple cassock.. The equatorial sun beat down on us but no one minded. God was doing something no one wanted to miss. Each leader's face was reflecting a heart ready to receive everything God wanted to give. We went through the liturgy, praying the prayers, confessing, forgiving, renouncing death, embracing life and asking God to send His cleansing streams from the steps of the Cathedral out into the land. Again, the archbishop sprinkled outside and inside the Cathedral, praying blessings even up into the bell tower where the dean had attempted to hide from those who took his life. We then gathered in the pews to listen to the Archbishop's words: "Rwanda needs symbols. Denying the sprinkling of water in this Church (out of concern over the misuse of water by animist religions and superstitions) is the same as denying the waters of baptism. There has been a curse on this land. The soil is supposed to receive water not blood. God has brought Rwanda and America together to accomplish this."

We prayed the liturgy at several other genocide sites and there were many, many more profound experiences we had during our sixteen days in Rwanda. Each one is precious and will last a lifetime. But the message we hope to leave with you is this: God is a God of Blessing and Life. As we obey Him through confession and forgiveness, He lifts the curse of death and raises us up into His Light where there is no darkness at all. It is true!

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