The Ministry of Reconciliation
The Gospels are an amazing story of reconciliation. It is the heart of the Christian message. Yet reconciliation is not the first thing that comes into the minds of innocent victims who suffer a loss or an injustice. People who lose a loved one to a violent crime will often feel bitter, angry and resentful. Seldom would anyone be inclined to think first of forgiveness and being reconciled to the offender in such circumstances. As difficult as the process of reconciliation is, a growing number of PF ministries are responding to the challenge of helping victims and offenders grow beyond the pain and anger and alienation of their experiences. The results are often miraculous.
Embracing the Killer of Her Only Son
It had been three years and still Mother You could not recover from the death of her only son who was killed by a 17 year-old boy during a barbecue party. Full of anger and hostility toward the killer, she had sought support and counselling from PF Taiwan and her church, but her desire for revenge continued. Mother You’s festering sense of loss and anger was surprisingly interrupted when she received a letter from the young man who had killed her son. In the letter he simply confessed to his crime and asked her to forgive him. Her heart was touched by his words and as she thought about the killer she began to realize that her desire for revenge was being replaced by a desire to encourage and help the man who took her son’s life. Mother You decided that just responding to his letter was not enough, so she boarded a train to Kuoshuing to visit him personally in the detention centre. When she arrived, PF staff made arrangements for her to meet the young man face-to-face. As they sat next to each other in the chapel of the detention centre and talked, Mother You’s eyes filled with tears. Reaching out to him, she couldn’t help but hug the guilt-stricken boy to extend her forgiveness, a process that has brought healing and hope to both.
Offering Biblical Forgiveness
Taking a life meant nothing to Boyce. He felt powerful when he shot and killed a local businessman during a robbery, ignoring the helpless pleas of the man’s wife. But six years into his life sentence in a Swaziland prison, he began attending church services and realized that only God is truly powerful. Overwhelmed with remorse for his crimes, he desperately wanted to ask the victim’s family for forgiveness, so PF Swaziland arranged for the man’s widow and family members visit him in prison. Boyce prayed briefly before entering the visiting room. Upon seeing the widow again, Boyce broke down and begged her for forgiveness. “I’m sorry for the pain I’ve caused you,” he cried. Quoting from the Bible, the widow tearfully told Boyce that she and the Lord have forgiven him.
Replacing Revenge with Forgiveness
“I will never forgive them,” Inocencio announced at PF Colombia’s first Sycamore Tree meeting. His son was killed in a gang shooting six years ago, and Inocencio still lay awake at night with revenge in his heart. But as the six-session course reached its conclusion, he found himself embracing young men who were paid killers in Medellin. Calling the programme a “beautiful experience,” he said he now felt free to forgive those who killed his son. Later he thanked the PF organizers, saying he was finally able to sleep peacefully at night.
By encouraging victims of crime to forgive, and challenging offenders to take responsibility for the consequences of their actions, PF staff and volunteers are bringing about reconciliation in powerful ways.