The Rev. Simion Kinono dreams of a church that will prioritize racial reconciliation on its agenda. In December 2021, he held a four-day retreat in the Diocese of Buye, in Burundi. The twenty participants included ten Hutus and ten Tutsis, ten women and ten men.
Kinono discovered that the retreat participants are thirsty for reconciliation. Through teaching and small group work, the retreat addressed what reconciliation is and why it is needed in Burundi, reconciliation in the Esau/Jacob story, speaking the truth in love, and reconciling body and spirit. (See the photos, below, of retreat participants engaging the material).
The Rev. Kinono understands evangelism as knowing Jesus and making him known. Through the retreat, he believes that participants believe that Jesus came to reconcile the world, and that in him, there are no Hutu or Tutsi but only Burundians. They have pledged to go and tell others what they have learned, and Kinono has great hope for the future.
