100% Courageous: Surviving genocide to proclaim forgiveness & reconciliation.
Faustin Ntamushobora was born and raised in Rwanda. His family lived in the Congo, where his father was the priest in the village. The village worshipped their ancestors, sacrificing animals to demonstrate their belief.
After Faustin’s father passed away, some Baptist Missionaries visited his village. They shared the gospel and told the villagers about how they could have a new life in Christ if they put their faith in Christ and not in the false hope of their ancestors. Faustin’s mother accepted Christ as her personal Savior and then led her children to belief in Jesus. Faustin immediately felt God’s calling in his life and knew he was meant to accomplish great things for His Kingdom.
In the years that followed, Faustin continued to grow in his faith. He married a Christian woman and they started a family. Then, in 1994, Rwanda suffered a time of great horror as genocide swept across their nation. Faustin’s family hid under their bed for weeks, trying to go unnoticed as people around them were mercilessly being killed. Faustin could only trust that God would save his family as he continued to put his hope in the calling God had on his life.
Today, Faustin looks back on that time from a new perspective – as a survivor. As a current PhD student at Talbot, Faustin is learning how to share his experiences with congregations around the world. He has turned his story into a passion for spreading God’s Word, specifically regarding forgiveness and reconciliation.
Faustin knows that it wasn’t by his own strength, but through God’s miraculous hand in his life that he was spared. As he develops his skills at Talbot, Faustin hopes to spread God’s love and healing grace into communities who need it most.