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Dr Rhiannon Lloyd
Dr
Rhiannon Lloyd is a former doctor of medicine and psychiatry. Since
1985, beginning with a time of training with Youth with a Mission , she
has been in full-time Christian work, ministering extensively in cross
cultural situations. Since 1994, she has pioneered a reconciliation
ministry in Rwanda, working with African Enterprise. She has also been
running reconciliation workshops in South Africa since 1996. Teams are
now beginning to go out from Rwanda to take the message of healing and
reconciliation to other nations. More recently she has also run
workshops in Ivory Coast and D.R. Congo. Before starting the work in
Rwanda she spent many years teaching on courses for Christian workers
and counselling people with deep emotional wounds. Although living in Wales, Dr Rhiannon Lloyd's ministry is based at Mercy Ministries in Le Rucher, Geneva . |  |
Dear friends, Praise God I’m home safely after a wonderful trip.
God was so faithful in answering your prayers! We really saw His powerful
intervention in both Zimbabwe
and
Kenya . Everything went very smoothly
and the teams worked together well in both countries. I was able to meet with
the South Africa team and
some volunteers before going to
Zimbabwe and it was a joy to hear
that people were being deeply touched and changed through their
workshops. Zimbabwe. Thankfully the situation in
Zimbabwe has
improved a lot in the past couple of months, so there was good security and food
was plentiful. 32 were expected to attend the workshop which was held in a
beautiful game lodge in scenic Matapos, much to our surprise! Sadly, someone had
influenced several not to attend at the last moment, saying they had been to
such seminars before and didn’t want to be confused with another one! 24 did
attend, including a Govt MP, 2 local councillors, leaders of different
peace-building initiatives, some leaders of church denominations as well as some
of the staff of Churches in
Bulawayo . A handful had to leave early. It was
a joy for me to share the teaching with Maria from
South Africa ,
and she did an excellent job. From the start they were all very receptive and
responsive. It became clear that as well as political divisions there were
significant ethnic divisions, especially in the church. So this became our focus
– to heal, unite and purify the church so that she could shine in the nation and
lead the way to reconciliation. On the second day we looked at how the Thief
(John 10:10) had robbed the Shona, Ndebele and whites. Each drew up a list of
their losses and the false beliefs they have carried. This was a poignant time,
and it became clear that there was much pain from past unresolved conflict that
still needed healing. All this was taken to the cross later that evening.
By morning there was joy in the room! After Maria
had taught on forgiveness, the afternoon was dedicated to repentance. I felt in
my heart that, because of our history as British people of colonial oppression
in
Zimbabwe , I should come in the
opposite spirit and wash the feet of representatives from the Shona and Ndebele
tribes. As I did so, many began to weep. After they had spoken out forgiveness
to us Brits, they began to wash each other’s feet. This went on for more than an hour. The
King’s Table in the evening was a glorious celebration of unity in diversity.
The next morning they were full of enthusiasm to
take the message to their community. “Having done this workshop, we cannot but
use the material to reach others. It wasn’t just information - it touched our
hearts. It went right to the core of who we are. It’s like you lit a fire in us.
Now we have such a drive to go out there and tell others!” We are planning to
return to conduct a training workshop for them. Kenya The following week in
Nakuru ,
Kenya , 53 of us attended altogether.
Anastase had joined us from
Rwanda and Basara from DRC, plus 2 leaders from
the previous MU workshop in
Kenya . The others were all working in
the Kericho diocese (Rift Valley) in some capacity. This was a mixed group
regarding age, ability and Christian commitment, and the first day was not so
easy. Again the Thief section on the second day exposed huge wounds between the
tribes, and these were all later taken to the cross. We did not realise until
after the cross workshop just how needy this group was. During the cross
workshop the small groups are deliberately tribally mixed, and the feedback
afterwards was amazing. -
Yesterday I decided to vomit
everything on the cross. I’m so happy because every tribe brought their issues
to the cross. No-one stayed back. Yesterday I
saw other tribes as my brothers for the first
time. -
My home was totally burnt and
now I’m living in an IDP camp. (Internally Displaced people). I had decided not
to talk to anyone from the Kalenjin tribe. I even felt God hated me. I just
wanted to die. I was so angry I was afraid that I could kill. Yesterday I could
tell a Kalenjin what I really felt. It was a miracle! I can now forgive &
never carry a burden again. I’m going home to visit Kalenjins!
-
My mind was very heavy. I
kept thinking about what happened. I had bad feelings towards others. I feel
like I have been born again through this workshop! There are many more! If you would like the full
feedback from the participants in
Zimbabwe and/or
Kenya , please
let me know. I will try to put photos and short videos on my blog
soon. Once again I felt constrained to wash the feet of
the eldest person in the workshop (79 yrs) to express my deep regret for the
dominating way in which we had ruled
Kenya . We committed terrible
atrocities there, including a forced labour camp for men and a concentration
camp for women and children, where thousands died of starvation and disease. As
I was confessing these things and washing the old man’s feet he was responding
saying repeatedly, “I accept your apology! I forgive you! It’s OK! We’re equal
now!” This led to all the tribes coming forward one by one to ask forgiveness of
each other, while the others came forward to embrace them. This continued for
about 90 minutes. The King’s Table that evening was such a joyous
time with all the tribes sharing food and drink together (something I was told
would never happen), singing and dancing in their own cultural way. On Friday
morning, they divided into around 8 local groups to plan what they were going to
do with what they had learnt and experienced, and then presented their plans to
us. Then each group took a candle and we lit them as a symbol of how each group
would ‘rise and shine’ in their locality. The Bishop of Kericho stayed with us
throughout (though he had not planned to do so!) and testified that he had
received a great deal of healing and would be backing this ministry fully. He
said he wanted Kericho to become a model of healing and reconciliation that the
rest of
Kenya could learn from. We will return to train workshop
facilitators. What more can I say! We are overwhelmed with
gratitude and in awe of God. Before the workshops I felt God impressed Is 30:18
on me. “The Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion.”
We are so privileged that we can be so sure of God’s intentions. Whatever the
group, whatever their condition or situation, this is God’s heart towards them
so we can approach them with the confidence that God will come amongst us and
reveal His glory. Please pray that they will hold on to what they received and
will be able to live this out in their communities. Also that it will be
possible to train anointed teams in both countries. At the end of this month I am going back to
Rwanda and
Congo for just under a month. I will
send another update with the details before I go. In the meantime, I’m still
working on the book, attending a course on mediation, and have speaking
engagements… All the teams in the different countries would
value your continued prayer covering. The team in DRC especially need your
prayers as they are experiencing intense spiritual warfare at
present. Thank you so much for your continuing interest,
love and support. With much love,
