by Peggy Sue WrightIt has struck me that we keep talking about and encouraging ourselves and others that we need to work with the community, that our God, and thus we need to be, is merciful and just, but how does that work in the context of strife and the devastation that comes in the wake of conflict within a community. How do the women who are victims of sexual violence that HealAfrica works with, work with their community that let them down? How does a community find justice and mercy at the same time? How can reconciliation be done in a Christian context in a place that has so much history and conflict? What can we as Christians who are ‘outside’ of the conflict say anything about reconciliation? What do we encourage in our discussions and technical presentations?
These have been threads of thought and prayer for me since we visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial. How does a community rebuild and what do we as Christians say to others about rebuilding? How does a community move beyond the horrors of genocide and war without building a cycle of revenge that perpetuates itself down through generations? What does our God say about it? What do we as Christians say, and support? How can we even say anything about reconciliation given our position as ‘outsiders’ without being judgmental or hypocrites?
Listening to the different discussions, preachers and prayer, it seems to me that one of the unique aspects of our God is he is communal and in being communal has to reconcile his triune aspects. But also, and maybe for humans more importantly, he is always reconciling with us as we are all sinners and need reconciliation with him. He achieves this reconciliation with us by knowing us thoroughly and intimately and by holding us accountable. Though there are consequences of our actions that God allows, he also is merciful and through the cross fully accounts for and forgives our sins thus reconciling us to him. For us as Christians and humans maybe this means that for reconciliation to happen, and to even be able to happen, in the presence of some of the worst of human evil and sin, we need to know the perpetrator, and hold them accountable for their actions. We aknowledge that through Christ’s ultimate payment, they are to be forgiven, and that as with us that does not mean there are no consequences, but there is full knowing and accountability, there is justice, and then there is reconciliation through dealing with the consequences and through reconciliation through Christ’s amazing gift of grace.
The picture is from the Garden of memory and reconciliation at the Kigali Genocide Memorial looking out across Kigali. It was one of the things that lead us to pray for and think about what is reconciliation in the face of such history. This town and country has to be able to reconcile the genocide shown in the memorial with the town that needs to function now. How amazing that our God can even take care of this and all reconciliations.
These have been threads of thought and prayer for me since we visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial. How does a community rebuild and what do we as Christians say to others about rebuilding? How does a community move beyond the horrors of genocide and war without building a cycle of revenge that perpetuates itself down through generations? What does our God say about it? What do we as Christians say, and support? How can we even say anything about reconciliation given our position as ‘outsiders’ without being judgmental or hypocrites?
Listening to the different discussions, preachers and prayer, it seems to me that one of the unique aspects of our God is he is communal and in being communal has to reconcile his triune aspects. But also, and maybe for humans more importantly, he is always reconciling with us as we are all sinners and need reconciliation with him. He achieves this reconciliation with us by knowing us thoroughly and intimately and by holding us accountable. Though there are consequences of our actions that God allows, he also is merciful and through the cross fully accounts for and forgives our sins thus reconciling us to him. For us as Christians and humans maybe this means that for reconciliation to happen, and to even be able to happen, in the presence of some of the worst of human evil and sin, we need to know the perpetrator, and hold them accountable for their actions. We aknowledge that through Christ’s ultimate payment, they are to be forgiven, and that as with us that does not mean there are no consequences, but there is full knowing and accountability, there is justice, and then there is reconciliation through dealing with the consequences and through reconciliation through Christ’s amazing gift of grace.
The picture is from the Garden of memory and reconciliation at the Kigali Genocide Memorial looking out across Kigali. It was one of the things that lead us to pray for and think about what is reconciliation in the face of such history. This town and country has to be able to reconcile the genocide shown in the memorial with the town that needs to function now. How amazing that our God can even take care of this and all reconciliations.
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