Comfort Rwanda is firmly rooted in the conviction that the heart of God is turned towards the poor. If we want to show His nature and purposes in the world we must therefore include an active demonstration of such compassion and care.
“… who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoner free. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord raises up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous; the Lord protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow” (Psalm 146:7-9)
For those
children at Remera and many others throughout Rwanda,
bare feet,
hunger and a ruined home are conditions the heart of
God compels us to alleviate.
God has always had
an open
heart and hand towards the
poor.
His love
compels Him to
care for them and His justice
is His way of
ensuring fairness. It is so important to God that he
has made justice the foundation
of the throne
He sits on and the Son of David would combine
this justice
with deep compassion for the poor and needy in
His Kingdom. Because of this God loves equity in the
world - where none have too
much and
none too
little and where those who have
enough give to those who do not so that there is
equality.1
The justice of
God is not a cold legal justice but true justice pours
out kindness
and compassion on the needy such as
the poor, the
orphan and the widow. God’s love has
always been a self-emptying love for the helpless and
this self-emptying, giving love which cares for the
poor reveals the love of God at work in
us.2
Uwimana Marie's
house, built of sticks interlaced with mud, was ruined
and almost collapsed.
Uwimana was the
first to be given a new house in Comfort Rwanda village
at Nyamata.
Because of His love and
passion for justice God calls His people to actively
work for the poor and rescue
them from their poverty. His
prophets lived and breathed prophetic
passion for the poor. Jesus the Messiah was
therefore anointed to bring forth justice, and
laid good news
for the poor at the core of His
preaching. He saw this justice combined with mercy as
being central to the fulfilment of God’s
will and
rejoiced when the repentance of Zaccheus brought
immediate good news to the poor. He confirmed this when
He taught that looking after the poor and needy in
practical ways was what separated the
sheep
from the
goats
in God’s
Kingdom . This last Scripture reiterates the truth that
God loves to identify
with the poor.3
Because of His
heart for the poor, God promised to pour out
His Spirit to achieve justice. So,
when the Spirit came on the church at Pentecost, it was
not long before God’s heart for the sharing of
resources and the help of the poor was shown through
His Spirit-filled people. This concern for the poor
remained central
to the church throughout New Testament
times It is our desire that Comfort Rwanda demonstrates
the wonder of His love for the poor, the glory of His
Kingdom of justice and the depth of His compassion for
the poor, the widow and the
orphan.4
1 Deuteronomy 15:9-11; Psalm
72:13, 89:14, 99:4; Isaiah 16:5; 2Corinthians 8:13-14
and 1Timothy 6:17-19.
2 Zechariah 7:9; 1John
3:16-18
3 Proverbs 14:31; Psalm 82:3;
Isaiah 1:17, 10:1-2, 42:1-4; Jeremiah 5:28, 9:24;
Ezekiel 18:7-9; Daniel 4:27; Hosea 12:6; Amos 4:1,
5:11-12; Micah 6:8; Habakkuk 1:4; Zephaniah 3:5;
Zechariah 7:9; Malachi 3:5; Matthew 23:23, 25:31-46;
Luke 4:18, 19:8-9
4 Isaiah 32:15-16; Acts
2:44-45, 4:34, 6:1-5; 1Corinthians 16:1-3; 2Corinthians
8:1-9:15; Galatians 2:10
