Restoration, Forgiveness and Justice
After seeing the horror in Rwanda first-hand, I am more convinced than ever of the radical and reconciling message of Jesus Christ because I have seen the evidence in the lives of Tutsi victims and survivors who are forgiving their enemies, thereby releasing themselves from captivity to anger and revenge.
I vividly remember my visit to Rwanda in the aftermath of the horrible conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi citizens of that country. Seldom have I experienced such excruciating spiritual and emotional pain. I saw the face of depravity, evil and unimaginable horror in the putrid stench of the thousands of corpses that remained in open view at genocides sites around the country. Men, women, children and infants, club-bludgeoned and machete - slashed to death by ordinary people trained to hate and mobilized to massacre their neighbours.
Like most "westerners" I had been led to believe that this was just another African inter-tribal conflict of little consequence. The horrific specter of blatant genocide was downplayed as our own political leaders became complicit, averting their eyes and ours from the perpetrators and turning deaf ears to the screams of victims and survivors. In less than 100 days Hutu extremists, in the fastest and most vicious genocide in recorded human history, systematically executed nearly a million Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
In the company of survivors, I visited places of unthinkable carnage and destruction - places and scenes that I'd just as soon forget, but will always remember. I saw unheeded cries of terror frozen on the faces of mothers, whose rotting arms were still locked around the remains of their cowering children. With their hands still raised in self-defense, the skull-crushed corpses of men remain postured helplessly where they were murdered. The macabre skeletal remnants of tens of thousands of victims remain inside the blood-soaked schools and churches where they sought refuge but found betrayal, often at the hands of their spiritual "shepherds". Tens of thousands of other corpses lay buried in mass graves and shallow latrines all across the country, while the bodies of thousands who were massacred in the streets and thrown into the lakes and rivers have been buried without names, in hundreds of memorial gravesites.
Although I have encountered the face of evil in the depravity of individual men and women whom I've met in prisons around the world, never before have I encountered so closely the contorted face of evil on such a massive scale. Until last month nearly 110,000 genocide perpetrators and participants were still imprisoned in Rwanda. Painfully, a number of victims told me, hundreds more continue living in the community as if nothing happened.
Among those imprisoned are dozens of priest and pastors of many denominations who actively supported the killing of their own people. One of the most painful realities of the genocide is that Rwanda has long been known as one of the most Christianised countries in Africa. More than 86% of the country's inhabitants identify themselves as Christians. Churches abound, dominating the skylines of cities and towns, punctuating the countryside with their steeples.
Why, I wonder, could such horrific and blatant evil take root and flourish in a Christian country? The legacy of betrayal and horror dominated the conversations I had with victims, church leaders and government officials, grappling to find a way towards justice and healing. "Can there be reconciliation without justice?" "Can there be forgiveness without truth? Can there be truth without consequences?" These questions are not theoretical. They are the cries of decimated families, mutilated children, gang-raped women and girls, and traumatized survivors.
I was conscious that as an outsider looking in, I was unable to fully comprehend the depth of Rwanda's experience. Yet in listening to the horror stories of the people, visiting the blood-soaked genocide sites, smelling the decaying corpses and hearing echoes of their terrible screams - I was gripped by anger and rage against the injustice and evil. I cried out to God for judgment and vengeance against those who raped, pillaged and butchered their neighbours, who scorned pleas for mercy, who snuffed out the lives of innocent children, and who betrayed their own faith. What kind of justice can ever address such genocidal evil?
As followers of Jesus Christ we know that vengeful justice only perpetuates violence and will not break the cycle of evil. Only grace and forgiveness can accomplish that. At the same time justice demands that the truth of complicity in evil can be revealed, that perpetrators be held accountable for their actions and that reparations be made. After seeing the horror in Rwanda first-hand, I am more convinced than ever of the radical and reconciling message of Jesus Christ because I have seen the evidence in the lives of Tutsi victims and survivors who are forgiving their enemies, thereby releasing themselves from captivity to anger and revenge.
I have seen it in the lives of Hutu participants in the genocide who are admitting their complicity, thereby freeing themselves from the unbearable burden of horrific guilt. I have seen it in courageous community, government and church leaders who are genuinely concerned less with vengeance than with the healing and reconciliation of their people. In the Rwandans, I see a people who are struggling to do justice, not theoretically, but as a practical response to the evil they have suffered at the hands of their fellow citizens. God's message of reconciliation is healing a nation that has suffered beyond belief and understanding because His message transcends all understanding.
Written by Ron Nikkel, President PFI
Like most "westerners" I had been led to believe that this was just another African inter-tribal conflict of little consequence. The horrific specter of blatant genocide was downplayed as our own political leaders became complicit, averting their eyes and ours from the perpetrators and turning deaf ears to the screams of victims and survivors. In less than 100 days Hutu extremists, in the fastest and most vicious genocide in recorded human history, systematically executed nearly a million Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
In the company of survivors, I visited places of unthinkable carnage and destruction - places and scenes that I'd just as soon forget, but will always remember. I saw unheeded cries of terror frozen on the faces of mothers, whose rotting arms were still locked around the remains of their cowering children. With their hands still raised in self-defense, the skull-crushed corpses of men remain postured helplessly where they were murdered. The macabre skeletal remnants of tens of thousands of victims remain inside the blood-soaked schools and churches where they sought refuge but found betrayal, often at the hands of their spiritual "shepherds". Tens of thousands of other corpses lay buried in mass graves and shallow latrines all across the country, while the bodies of thousands who were massacred in the streets and thrown into the lakes and rivers have been buried without names, in hundreds of memorial gravesites.
Although I have encountered the face of evil in the depravity of individual men and women whom I've met in prisons around the world, never before have I encountered so closely the contorted face of evil on such a massive scale. Until last month nearly 110,000 genocide perpetrators and participants were still imprisoned in Rwanda. Painfully, a number of victims told me, hundreds more continue living in the community as if nothing happened.
Among those imprisoned are dozens of priest and pastors of many denominations who actively supported the killing of their own people. One of the most painful realities of the genocide is that Rwanda has long been known as one of the most Christianised countries in Africa. More than 86% of the country's inhabitants identify themselves as Christians. Churches abound, dominating the skylines of cities and towns, punctuating the countryside with their steeples.
Why, I wonder, could such horrific and blatant evil take root and flourish in a Christian country? The legacy of betrayal and horror dominated the conversations I had with victims, church leaders and government officials, grappling to find a way towards justice and healing. "Can there be reconciliation without justice?" "Can there be forgiveness without truth? Can there be truth without consequences?" These questions are not theoretical. They are the cries of decimated families, mutilated children, gang-raped women and girls, and traumatized survivors.
I was conscious that as an outsider looking in, I was unable to fully comprehend the depth of Rwanda's experience. Yet in listening to the horror stories of the people, visiting the blood-soaked genocide sites, smelling the decaying corpses and hearing echoes of their terrible screams - I was gripped by anger and rage against the injustice and evil. I cried out to God for judgment and vengeance against those who raped, pillaged and butchered their neighbours, who scorned pleas for mercy, who snuffed out the lives of innocent children, and who betrayed their own faith. What kind of justice can ever address such genocidal evil?
As followers of Jesus Christ we know that vengeful justice only perpetuates violence and will not break the cycle of evil. Only grace and forgiveness can accomplish that. At the same time justice demands that the truth of complicity in evil can be revealed, that perpetrators be held accountable for their actions and that reparations be made. After seeing the horror in Rwanda first-hand, I am more convinced than ever of the radical and reconciling message of Jesus Christ because I have seen the evidence in the lives of Tutsi victims and survivors who are forgiving their enemies, thereby releasing themselves from captivity to anger and revenge.
I have seen it in the lives of Hutu participants in the genocide who are admitting their complicity, thereby freeing themselves from the unbearable burden of horrific guilt. I have seen it in courageous community, government and church leaders who are genuinely concerned less with vengeance than with the healing and reconciliation of their people. In the Rwandans, I see a people who are struggling to do justice, not theoretically, but as a practical response to the evil they have suffered at the hands of their fellow citizens. God's message of reconciliation is healing a nation that has suffered beyond belief and understanding because His message transcends all understanding.
Written by Ron Nikkel, President PFI
Last modified
2006-07-17 03:50 PM