Hands-down, my favorite Kinyarwanda phrase is ‘Turi Kumwe’. This phrase, directly translated, means “we are one”. However, many Rwandese use it to say “we are together” or “they’re with me”. For instance, before one of my road trips with the General Secretary of the church, we stopped to pick up some snacks and as we were checking out, the cashier looked at me and Pastor Prince just said, “Turi kumwe” and we moved on. This phrase is not utilized as a powerful image of unity and togetherness, but I can’t help seeing it as such.
The world is full of identifying factors that are made to separate, to distinguish those from other people around them. This can lead to beautiful things, like individuality, but it can also have its downfalls, like racism, sexism, and the like. I believe that believing you are different from someone, can give someone the excuse that that difference makes them better, or makes them more important than others. Well I hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but that’s not true. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, a family, friends. Everyone has something that they are better than you at and something that they are worse than you at.
So why waste your time and energy on hate and condescension? To quote my fellow Rwanderer, Abby Larson, “With the presence of natural barriers such as skin color, language, and culture, it takes conscious effort to tear down divisions. That’s the power I feel as I hear or say “turi kumwe.” With each “turi kumwe,” I am reminded of our calling as one body of Christ and I feel the divisions shrinking. Let’s live turi kumwe all across the world in sweet Jesus.” We are all together on this planet. We are all trying our best in life. We are all human beings. We are one body in Christ.
We Are One.
The video is a song that my host dad, Papa Barn likes to play sometimes (we listen to a lot of gospel/christian music at home) and I think that it fits perfectly with the theme, 'Turi Kumwe'. Give it a listen!
The world is full of identifying factors that are made to separate, to distinguish those from other people around them. This can lead to beautiful things, like individuality, but it can also have its downfalls, like racism, sexism, and the like. I believe that believing you are different from someone, can give someone the excuse that that difference makes them better, or makes them more important than others. Well I hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but that’s not true. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, a family, friends. Everyone has something that they are better than you at and something that they are worse than you at.
So why waste your time and energy on hate and condescension? To quote my fellow Rwanderer, Abby Larson, “With the presence of natural barriers such as skin color, language, and culture, it takes conscious effort to tear down divisions. That’s the power I feel as I hear or say “turi kumwe.” With each “turi kumwe,” I am reminded of our calling as one body of Christ and I feel the divisions shrinking. Let’s live turi kumwe all across the world in sweet Jesus.” We are all together on this planet. We are all trying our best in life. We are all human beings. We are one body in Christ.
We Are One.
The video is a song that my host dad, Papa Barn likes to play sometimes (we listen to a lot of gospel/christian music at home) and I think that it fits perfectly with the theme, 'Turi Kumwe'. Give it a listen!