REMARKS BY HIS EXELLENCY PAUL KAGAME,

PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF RWANDA,

AT SADDLEBACK CHURCH

 

 

Saddleback, 17 April, 2005

 

 

Good afternoon to you all Members of Saddleback Church and the Purpose Driven Network of churches from around the world; and thank you for that warm welcome.

I would like to thank my friends, Pastor Rick and Kay Warren for inviting us to be here with you on this 25 th anniversary celebration and for the public launch of the global PEACE plan.

Congratulations!

Ladies and Gentlemen;

An occasion like this gives us a chance to cement existing friendships and to make new friends.

It was a pleasure to meet with Rick and Kay in Rwanda.

They came and saw for themselves how the Rwandan people are rebuilding their country and their lives, eleven years after the 1994 genocide in our country.

But they also told us about the vision of the PEACE plan that you have just heard Pastor Rick explain.

It is a vision with a big goal, which is to confront the world's major problems; but it is practical and simple in strategy because it is built on using average people rather than just the elite.

Rick and I agree that each partner – the church, the government, and businesses have a role to play and we are better together and more effective when we cooperate.

I understand that next month, 16 of Rwanda's religious leaders, representing the leadership of most of the major denominations are coming to Saddleback Church to participate in your International Purpose Driven Church Conference, and meeting with Pastor Rick and others to discuss the details of beginning the PEACE plan in Rwanda.

I would like to assure you that they will have our support.

Some may question and wonder if self-serving leadership is really one of the major problems of the world.

We in Rwanda understand the great need for good leadership because we have witnessed the destruction that self-serving leadership can cause.

I want you to know that we would like to work with you all, the Purpose Driven Network of churches, and we would especially like Saddleback to be the first national model of the PEACE plan.

Of course we will be happy to work with you in other fields as well.

Rwanda is interested in forging business relationships with people in this country, and we will be more than happy to tell you about the investment opportunities that are available.

Before I finish, let me extend an invitation to you all to visit Rwanda.

Come, visit us and meet our people and see our beautiful country.

Bring your love and bring the message and strategy of the PEACE plan.

Together we will all learn from each other, and together we will create a future of PEACE.

May God bless Pastor Rick and Kay.

May God bless the PEACE plan.

And may God bless all of you.

Thank you.