from Clement Mpundu

Rain-induced floods have displaced over 8,000 people in a commune north of Bujumbura, the Burundian capital, and damaged at least 1,200 houses as well as crops, an official has said. 

"The rains have destroyed many houses and crops; others are still flooded," Moise Ndayisenga, the administrator of Buterere Commune, said. 

More rain fell on 12 April in Buterere - a low-lying area - but the displacement and damage caused has not been fully assessed because some locations are still inaccessible, the official said. 

At Maramvya, a settlement in Buterere, another downpour on 12 April displaced 450 households and destroyed at least 100 homes, he said, adding: "Half of Buterere Commune's population might become destitute." 

from Irene Basil Maseveriyo

There is a football team in Rwanda called Rayon Sport, the most-loved team in the country. It was the 2013 champion. This fan is called Rwarutabura. When I took the picture in December of last year, it was a rematch betwen Rayon Sport and APR. I really love Rayon Sport. I miss my favorite team. God Bless the Rayon Sport family.

The Divine Mercy Statue in Kibeho by Claudine

A Brief History of the Divine Mercy Statue

in Kibeho on Nyarushishi (Rwanda) 

The history of the statue began in February of 2000 in Chicago in the United States. The Pastor of the Parish of St. Stanislaus Kostka, Father Anthony Bus, was interested in building a perpetual adoration chapel dedicated to the Divine Mercy. He called Mr. Oscar Delgado, his parishioner, who was very devoted to propagating the message and the devotion to the Divine Mercy, to help him in this project. Mr. Delgado had been involved in the establishment of a few adoration chapels and he agreed to meet to help to achieve this project. 

This Parish is located right next to a huge expressway called the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago. Hundreds of thousands of cars pass by every day, right next to the Parish. Mr. Delgado looked and said to Father Anthony, “By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I would like to commission a very large statue of the Divine Mercy and put it next to the Parish, so that millions and millions of people will see the statue of the Divine Mercy.” 

So he called a famous Mexican sculptor, Gogy Farias to make the statue of the Divine Mercy. It was made in Mexico City, Mexico, in bronze, weighing 2 tons. It is 16 feet tall. He had the statue sent to Puebla, Mexico, so that it could be blessed on May 18th, in that city, because that was the site of the first foreign trip made by Pope John Paul II. It was blessed on May 18th, Pope John Paul’s birthday, by a special delegate from the Vatican. It was then transported to Chicago and it arrived on the feast of Corpus Christi in Chicago in June of 2000, during the Great Jubilee Year. 

It travelled to different parishes around Chicago and Illinois for three years. However, for various reasons, the statue was not to be permanently placed in Chicago. 

On September 8th of 2003, Mr. Delgado gave the statue to our Blessed Mother, on her birthday and he put her in charge of where she wanted the statue of her Son to go. 

At this time, during the International Congress of the Marian Fathers on the Divine Mercy in Poland, two Fathers said that the best place for the statue would be in Kibeho in Rwanda, where they are founding the Marian Formation Center. They proposed putting the statue of Jesus on a hill, about a mile from the Shrine of Our Lady of Kibeho. 

They consulted with Mr. Delgado and the commission for the statue. After he prayed about it, he agreed to send the statue of Jesus to Rwanda, forever. It came to the country of a Thousand Hills in the month of August in 2004 and it was installed in Kibeho, on the hill of Nyarushishi, on November 13, 2004. The official enthronement was celebrated on December 8, 2004, the closing of the Jubilee of the 150th Anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. 

We thank all our benefactors, particularly Mr. Oscar Delgado, his family and his friends and we ask you to pray for them, through the intercession of Our Lady of Kibeho and St. Joseph. 

Every day we pray at 3 pm before the Statue of the Divine Mercy and we entrust the whole world to Him, so that it can live the hope of His Mercy.