Umugwaneza Aline's Testimony of MATTHEW 6:14-15
I was born in a Christian family and every Sunday we had to attend church, but we weren't born again. Â I didn't hear the teaching that Jesus forgives our sins, anything about the cross, or the blood of Jesus.
My mom met a man she loved and after some time she became pregnant. When my mom told him that she was going to have his baby, the man said that he was not ready; he did not want a child, so he rejected my mom. That baby was me, Umugwaneza, Aline. Â From that time they never met again and I never met him because he didn't want to recognize me as his daughter. My moms family also rejected her because at that time it was scandal to become pregnant without having a husband. Because of that rejection it brought my mom great pain and she started becoming increasingly rude to me every day.
Through the years I can tell you that I didn't receive any affection from my mom. She used to beat me, to hurt me. I remember when I was 13 years old a house boy had stolen her money, ($ 85), and it was the school fees for my sister and I. My mom asked me if I knew where her money was and I told her I didn't know. As she continued to ask me to give her the money and I couldn't , within 30 minutes she put me in the car and took me to the police station and she ask  them to beat me seriously. Let me tell you, they beat me until I thought I was going to die. At that time they wanted me to accept that I had stolen her money. In reality I was innocent. They stopped beating me because they thought I was going to die. After one week my mom realized that it wasn't me, but she didn't come to say she was sorry. Many parents are like my mom; instead of saying sorry to their kids they go and buy expensive things thinking that will remove the wounds in their heart. Sometimes parents need to say they are sorry to their children.
In April of 1994 the genocide started in my country and the killing of many people began, including my family. My family members were cut in pieces and burnt alive. I ran away with my sisters and brother. There were seven children and we went to hide in different places. God used a group of soldiers to bring us together in an eastern province camp in Rwanda. It wasn't very easy for me because before my mom died she had a 2 years old that I was now responsible for. By God's grace we survived the genocide.
After the genocide we allowed our homes to be occupied by a friend of our family because I couldn't live their alone with the kids, I was young too. That man betrayed us and thought that if he killed us the property would belong to him. One day I went to visit the people who were helping me with my sister, it was Sunday. In the evening, that man, killed my brother, sisters, and grandparents. He killed the children with stones and crushed their heads. My grandparents were thrown into a 90 foot hole that was used for a latrine. It was a very sad day. I was told to flee before he killed me also. I fled to another town.
From that time I was adopted into a family. Â The mother of that family was born again and she started to tell me about Jesus. She told me that I must receive Jesus as my King and Savior. I welcomed JESUS into my life. After one year some friends came to advise me that I must go to the police station to explain to them about the homes of my family to get them back. I went to meet one of the policemen and explained to him everything that had happened. He was very sad to hear the story and said, you, young lady, go back home and come back next Wednesday. When I returned to the police station; in my mind, I was thinking that everything was going to be ok, but when that policeman saw me he became angry, took my hand, and pushed me into the prison. The prison was like a hole, it had no window, no light. It was a dark place. The plan was to kill me on the third day. I was put in prison because the man who had our homes bribed the policeman with an amount of money if he could keep the homes. By the grace of God he used for the second time, the soldier who saved us in the genocide, and I survived again. I was punished instead of the man who had stolen our homes. From that time I became bitter and angry, I hated everybody, even God. I wanted to commit suicide and I wanted revenge. A short time from then I began meeting many servants of God. THEY CAME TO TELL ME THAT JESUS LOVES ME. I was told I needed to forgive everyone because God had a big plan for my life. Let me tell you, it wasn't very easy for me. It meant I had to forgive my mom, my dad, the people who killed all my family, and the policeman who threw me in the prison. I want to tell you that I knew that I was born again, but always used to say that I'm innocent, others are bad.
As I continually denied to forgive others; in my heart a voice came to me and told me to read, Matthew 6:14-15 When you do not forgive God will not forgive you. From that time I started to feel very guilty any time I came to ask God to forgive my sins. One day I cried and ask Jesus to help me to forgive completely; praise the Lord! I will never forget that day when Jesus came and set me free to forgive others. He healed my wounds, and brought me peace and hope. I want to tell you that I forgave all those people completely. Some of them are friends now. From that time Jesus began to use me in different nations; my own country of Rwanda, America, Uganda, South Africa, and Burundi. God opened many doors for me. Before forgiveness I couldn't sleep well, and now I'm sleeping like a baby. This is a summary of my testimony about love and forgiveness. A complete writing will be published in my book, FORGIVNESS AND RECONCILIATION. I believe after reading the book JESUS WILL HEAL THE WOUNDS OF YOUR HEART, GIVE YOU THE PEACE, AND HOPE FROM GOD THAT WILL FILL YOUR HEART ONCE AGAIN. As I'm writing this testimony I'm in MICHIGAN-USA.
God Bless You All,
Umugwaneza Aline
6221 McCandlish Rd.
GRAND BLANC, MI, 48439
Phone: 559-802-8411
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