Michiana Adventist Forum

The Michiana Adventist Forum presents “Warnings from Rwandan Churches: Political Identity Encourages Imitation, Extinguishes Imagination, and Can Destroy Sanctuary” with Carmen Lau, chair of the national Adventist Forum Board, on Saturday afternoon, August 24, 2019, at 3:30 p.m in Garber Auditorium, Chan Shun Hall, on the campus of Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan.

About the Speaker

Carmen Lau is the recently elected chair of the national Adventist Forum Board, on which she has served since 2011. She has a background in nursing with a Master of Science degree from Loma Linda University. She recently completed a Master of Arts in Anthropology of Peace and Human Rights at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

She has studied how scapegoating and victimhood impact the project of peace and human rights with respect to language and religion. Her research has focused on the Rwandan genocide.

She and her husband Yung Lau have three children: Christopher, Carissa and Sarah. She is a member of Birmingham First SDA Church and currently serves as a Sabbath School teacher.

About the Topic

Carmen Lau has collected stories from Seventh-day Adventists who were in Rwanda in 1994 during the genocide in order to record memories that give insight into the guiding narratives that were in place in churches as violence began and to document the varied realities that people experienced. Reflecting on the genocide shows a glimpse of what happened at the time and allows one to gain insight into one’s self and one’s context. Such reflection can be an important step in nurturing peace.

Adventist Forum is open to the public. All are welcome. For information, contact Art Robertson at robertsa2@earthlink.net or call 269-471-7150.