SLIDESHOW: 5 Inspiring Stories Of Healing, 20 Years After The Rwanda Genocide

In 1994, Rwanda was torn apart by genocide as the world watched. Just two decades later, the country is a model of peace and progress. These stories show the heart behind that change -- how the human spirit can overcome and forgive in ways most of us couldn't imagine.

1. The world's first glimpse into the holocaust

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An estimated 800,000 men, women and children were killed by Hutus because of they were from the Tutsi tribe. In many villages, neighbor killed neighbor, after decades of living in peace. Buildings like this church showed in graphic detail the scale and horrors of the massacre with hundreds of of jumbled bodies, belongings and pews. When the killings stopped after 100 days, people were left to pick up the pieces. PHOTO: John Schenk / World Vision

2. Remarkable stories of peace, forgiveness and grace emerging

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20 years later, there are remarkable stories of peace, forgiveness and grace that are hard to comprehend. Here are a few of the most powerful and inspiring, all just from one small community. PHOTO: Jon Warren / World Vision

3. Rediscovering friendship

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Andrew Birasa was able to reconcile with one-time childhood friend Callixte Karemangingo despite what happened in their adult years. Callixte was part of a group that killed Andrew’s wife’s entire family. Andrew implicated Callixte in the killings and sent him to prison. Yet as the community began to rebuild, again and again the wives of both men found themselves working together as part of the development efforts that carefully wove reconciliation into every activity. Their hearts began to soften toward one another because of the work they did with children. Today the families are best friends—as are their children. PHOTO: Jon Warren / World Vision

4. No longer alone

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Daniel Safari, 21, was orphaned during the genocide. Growing up he felt isolated and cheated from family love. That is, until he became is part of a bread making group in southern Rwanda. The group, mostly orphans of the genocide, make bread together and raise pigs and goats for income. They have become like family through the project. PHOTO: Jon Warren / World Vision

5. Forgiving the unforgivable

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Juliette Mukabanda was one of a handful of people who survived the massacre at a vocational school in southern Rwanda during the genocide. She escaped with her infant daughter—one month old Pauline —but her husband and two of her children were killed in the attack. Unbelievably, Juliette was able to reconcile with the killer of her family, Emmanuel Nyirimbuga. Emmanuel went to prison after the genocide, but his honesty made an impression on Juliette. She said he was one of the few attackers who told the whole truth of what he did. With that honesty and the reconciliation counseling they received, they were able to heal and forgive. Today the two are fast friends. PHOTO: Jon Warren / World Vision

6. From survivor to healer

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Genocide survivor Assoumpta Uteimbabazi was inspired to help others after she herself found healing in reconciliation. Now she gathers people into groups of survivors and perpetrators. She walks with them through the lengthy process of forgiveness, and has seen hearts change. PHOTO: Jon Warren / World Vision

7. A new generation

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One of the survivors Assoumpta worked with was Christine Wihangayika, a Tutsi, whose entire family was killed in the genocide. “Life was not easy for me,” Christine says. “I was very young and I had no choice. I had to come back to this village. At that time, I hated everyone.” But slowly she began attending reconciliation groups and began to forgive. Meeting and falling in love with Emile Bizumuremyi, who was a Hutu, completed that circle. Today their baby girl, Christella, is a visible sign of that healing. PHOTO: Jon Warren / World Vision

8. How they heal

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To work with survivors like Christine, World Vision had trained all staff to become agents of healing. Healers like Assoumpta gathered people into groups of survivors and perpetrators for 12 day training sessions on reconciliation. The training had three components—bereavement, dealing with emotions, and forgiveness. Those who had participated in the genocide were brought face to face with or wrote letters to those who had been victims. PHOTO: Jon Warren / World Vision

9. The future

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So far the peace building appears to be working and the changes are astonishing. Children whose parents were once enemies play together in one of the worst affected towns during the genocide. Here, 50,000 perished in a day and the physical buildings as well as the townspeople bore the scars. Sometimes transformation is physical -- a school with brand new classrooms, sturdy desks, and paint still wet to the touch. PHOTO: Jon Warren / World Vision

10. When transformation happens to hopeless hearts

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Sometimes transformation happens within groups - a community that learns to work together toward a common goal. But perhaps the most intoxicating transformation of all happens within individuals -- when hearts change from hopeless to happy. PHOTO: Jon Warren / World Vision