(¼) “First came the meetings. They were openly...

(¼) “First came the meetings.  They were openly advertised on community microphones.  Their stated purpose was to discuss ‘current issues,’ but everyone knew that killings were being organized.  These things were being openly discussed on the radio at the time.  I was always invited to these meetings, but I never attended.  I was a pastor.  I wanted no part in those discussions.  But when the killings finally commenced on April 7th, people came running to my church for sanctuary.  The first of them arrived early in the morning.  They were trembling and too scared to speak.  All they could say was: ‘Hide us, hide us.’  I told everyone to go inside the church.  I said: ‘If our God is true, we will be OK.’  Finally a young man arrived who was able to talk.  ‘They killed my parents,’ he said. ‘All of us are being hunted.’  I was also terrified but I tried not to show it.  I just kept bringing people inside the gate.  By the time the sun went down, there were over three hundred people hiding on this property.”
(Kigali, Rwanda)