Editor: I have heard that you are planning PEACE initiatives in Rwanda. What are the challenges facing PEACE in Rwanda? What do you hope to accomplish there?

Rick: In one sense, Rwanda is like every other country in the world. Some countries are wealthier, some don’t have as much, but all countries suffer from the same five problems, the five global giants that the PEACE Plan is designed to attack.

Spiritual emptiness: Many Rwandans would identify themselves as Christians, but for most of them it’s just a label. Their Christian religion didn’t keep the 1994 genocide from happening, and it left horrible spiritual scars on the country. More than 800,000 people died and maybe 2 million were forced to flee the country. They have made some good progress in the last 10 years, but the only thing that will heal Rwanda’s scars is the love of Jesus Christ.

Egocentric leadership: Rwandans are better off than most countries in this regard, because their president, Paul Kagame, is a man who loves God and wants to see God glorified in the country. He is the one who offered Rwanda as the place to launch the first national PEACE campaign. There are a lot of leaders—political, business, and church leaders—who are willing to use their influence to help the people of Rwanda. But they need many more leaders, at every level of society, who are willing to serve others instead of feathering their own nest and lording it over others.

Of course, Rwanda also struggles with poverty. Half the world lives on less than $2 a day, and Rwanda isn’t much different. It’s the most densely populated country in Africa, and it doesn’t have a lot of natural resources or industry. The genocide practically ruined their economy, and the country’s women were hit especially hard. Almost everyone grows food for a living, and they produce three times the amount of food than they can eat. But two-thirds of it rots because there is no refrigeration and no place to trade it. They need trade more than they need aid. They need jobs—diversity in their economy—because the only real answer to poverty is jobs.

Disease: Rwanda has about 250,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, and we know the problems that AIDS causes for orphans and widows. They have a real problem with illnesses like diarrhea, hepatitis, typhoid fever, tuberculosis, and malaria—diseases for which we found the cures in the 19th and 20th centuries. The life expectancy in Rwanda is only 47.3 years. That’s unconscionable to me, because a lot of the things that kill people are things we have eradicated in the United States. All that’s needed are people who have the guts to say, “We are going to stop this.”

Lack of education: This is another area where Rwanda is a little better off than many other countries, but it’s still a serious problem. Half the world can’t read and write; in Rwanda, it’s about 30 percent. That adds up to more than 2.5 million people. How are they going to make it in the 21st century if they can’t read or write?

What we hope to see in Rwanda is God’s people obeying the Great Commandment and the Great Commission—Christians from all over the world joining hands with Christians in Rwanda, joining hands with Rwanda’s leaders in government, business, and education to show the world that there is a way to defeat these giants. A shepherd boy named David was able, in God’s power, to defeat a fearsome warrior named Goliath. We want to show that, in God’s power, God’s people can defeat the giants of spiritual emptiness, egocentric leadership, poverty, disease, and lack of education.

Editor: Rick, why do you think Christians can defeat giant problems that governments have been unable to solve?

Rick: Well, it’s a fact that there aren’t enough government workers, missionaries, or teachers to solve all the issues in the world. But there is an army of believers sitting in churches waiting to be mobilized. Think about it: around the world you find villages that have no medical clinic, no grocery store, no post office. But in many of those villages, you do find a church. And in those churches, you find people who are willing and able to help; many of them just lack the know-how. A thousand years from now it’s likely that most of the governments and aid organizations we know today will no longer exist. But the Church will exist. When we mobilize that network of millions of churches and billions of volunteers, we will defeat the giants.

Remember, too, that God has given the Church the moral authority to address the giants. God has commanded us to care for the poor, feed the hungry, help the sick, and reach those who’ve never heard the name of Jesus Christ. And the ace in the hole is that we as Christians have the power of God. While governments often work in their own strength, we have God’s spirit. And He doesn’t call us to do something without giving us the ability to do it.

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