SAVED BY A LITTLE GIRL’S PRAYER

On the day after the plane crash that killed the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi, six government soldiers went to Brother Rwakabubu’s house. Their eyes were bloodshot, their breath reeked of alcohol, and their manner indicated that they were drugged. They demanded weapons. Brother Rwakabubu told them that he and his family were Jehovah’s Witnesses and that they had no weapons.

The soldiers knew that Jehovah’s Witnesses, as neutrals, had refused to support the government and did not make contributions to the army. This enraged the soldiers. Gaspard and Melanie Rwakabubu are not Tutsi, but the Hutu Interahamwe militia were killing not only Tutsi but also moderate Hutu, especially if they were suspected of sympathizing with the Tutsi or the invading army.

The soldiers hit Gaspard and Melanie with sticks and took them, along with their five children, into the bedroom. They stripped the sheets off the bed and started to cover the family with the sheets. Some had grenades in their hands, so their intentions were clear. Gaspard asked, “May we please pray?”

One soldier contemptuously refused their request. Then, after some discussion, the soldiers reluctantly agreed to let them pray. “OK,” they said, “you can pray for two minutes.”

They prayed silently, but Deborah Rwakabubu, who was six years old, prayed out loud: “Jehovah, they want to kill us, but how will we be able to make return visits on the people I preached to with Papa, where I placed five magazines? They are waiting for us to call back, and they need to know the truth. I promise you that if we are spared, I will become a publisher, get baptized, and be a pioneer! Jehovah, save us!”

At hearing this, the soldiers expressed amazement. Finally, one of them said: “Because of this little girl’s prayer, we will not kill you. If others come here, you tell them that we have already been here.”b