Carl Wilkens Speaks to Students

New York, NY - On January 12, 2007, Pastor Carl Wilkens captivated Facing History School (FHS) students with a lecture and question-and-answer period with the whole student body. Pastor Wilkens was the only American who chose to stay in Rwanda through the 1994 genocide, and was able to save over 200 children living in an orphanage in Kigali during the conflict. Now the Pastor at Milo Adventist Academy, a boarding school in Days Creek, Oregon, he lectures widely on his experience in Rwanda. Wilkens has been a friend to Facing History, speaking at various events including the New England Benefit Dinner.

Pastor Wilkens' visit built on the strong Facing History curriculum that the students have been studying at FHS, which teaches about the Holocaust as well as other more contemporary genocides, including Rwanda and Darfur. However, as Facing History Senior Program Associate Kevin Feinberg put it, "It was Carl himself who made the difference. He is funny and engaging, but most of all he is himself. Also, his tears are genuine. How often does a speaker, especially a man, shed tears in front of a room of 200 students and in so doing has everyone in the room feeling like, "my god, of course he should be crying - what a horrible, inspiring, amazing, terrible story he has to tell. If he weren't crying, I would be shocked.'"

One of the highlights of his talk was when he discussed the cost of one life in order to illustrate the impact of the death of hundreds of thousands of people in Rwanda. Carl asked everyone with glasses to stand up, and then he picked one person to single out. He chose humanities teacher Ed Sugden. Carl asked Ed about his family and friends-all the people to whom he was connected in the world. Then Carl asked the students, " what would be the impact on the world if Ed was taken away and killed?" From the discussion that followed, it was clear that everyone understood that just one person's absence left a huge hole in the world. Now, Carl said, imagine if this whole complex (2000+ people in five schools) vanished. The room was silent.

Pastor Wilkens also spoke about the importance of human connections, and told a number of funny, diverting stories about his time in Rwanda before the genocide, and how those experiences laid the foundation for his decision not to leave during the genocide itself.

He told the students, "the moment you say of someone, ‘he is a jerk,' or, ‘I don't want you around,' you pave the path to genocide." He related those experiences to anecdotes about speaking to rude or unruly students in United States in recent years. He said that if he were to write those students off as jerks, or wish that they would go away, he would be starting down a very dangerous path. He said that thinking about people as bad or worthless is the dangerous first step that leads to genocide and other forms of violence.

Following his talk to the entire school, Pastor Wilkens spoke to Emily Haines' 9th grade Facing History class for about 45 minutes. The students continued to ask many questions, wrestling with questions about whether they should take action to stop the genocide in Darfur now or focus on doing things closer to home-in New Orleans or New York City. The students also asked him about how can one person make a difference. Carl talked to the students about the power of doing what you can-regardless of whether you think it will make a difference-to present future disasters like the genocide in Rwanda.