[COG email blast] Guest Preacher on Sunday May 16th - Paul Rudatsikira

[admin at bpcog.org]

Paul Rudatsikira will be guest preaching at the Bloomfield Presbyterian
Church on the Green this coming Sunday, May 16th.
Below is a brief bio along with an excerpt from his Commencement speech
when he was a student speaker at his graduation at the University of
California, Riverside in June 2007.

Paul Rudatsikira was born in 1984 and came to the United States in 1994 as
a nine year old child with his immediate family in the midst of the
genocide in their native country of Rwanda where many of their relatives
where killed. Rudatsikira believes deeply in service rooted in love, faith
in action and identifying with the poor in the example of Jesus Christ
when he said "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of
mine, you did it unto me".  With this mindset, Rudatsikira believes in
advocating for orphans and widows and speaking out against genocide.

Rudatsikira is currently a Masters of Divinity student at Princeton
Theological Seminary with a passion for building up young and old to
experience the transforming love of Jesus Christ for what it is, as real
for us today as it was for the cloud of witnesses that have gone before us
living testimonies of what it means to walk by faith and not by sight.  He
believes that God has placed us at a unique time in Earth’s history to be
part of a vision that is God breathed, a calling that is Christ centered
and a love that is life changing.  Rudatsikira is a poet, song writer,
advocate and preacher of the transformative love of Jesus Christ. He has
spoken to diverse churches and universities in the U.S. and abroad,
including Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University,
Stanford University and the Commencement speaker at the University of
California, Riverside.

www.paulrudatsikira.com

EXCERPT FROM HIS COMMENCEMENT SPEECH (JUNE 17,2007):
"I am well aware that our time here on earth is limited and that tomorrow
is not a guarantee.  I am a native of Rwanda, raised in the neighboring
country of Burundi and escaped to the U.S. in 1994 when genocide broke out
in Rwanda. ...Growing up in the U.S., I began to realize the monumental
importance of being a voice, face and human connection for Africa in order
to make a difference in the lives of people in whose shoes I could have
been walking if certain situations in my life had turned out differently.
...I am one person out of many, but I am a believer that big things happen
in small steps and that if we make a difference in the life of one person,
we have made a big leap in making this world a better place."