Forgiveness

I decided to post two blogs today, detailing some experiences for the past two weeks. My first blog dealt with the team I am co-leading. In this one, I decided to talk about two people, who I think get the idea of forgiveness and loving your enemies. Both of these people live in the IDP Camp outside of Kijabi, Kenya. Both individuals have had their share of hard times, and yet, they have come to the conclusion that God has been with them. Beyond that, God loves them and forgives them, therefore, they felt they needed to be able to forgive. So here are their stories…

Francis, is one of the church elders in the IDP Camp. His family was originally from Eldoret, like many who live here, and was an associate pastor at one of the AIC (African Inland Churches) Churches there. His family was forced in 2007-2008 to abdicate and seek refuge for the on going violence that was ensuing toward the people of his tribe and ethic group. Yet he was no stranger to this violence; in 1992, his father was a victim of this senseless prejudice and violence, which caused his untimely death. Despite these atrocities, persecution, and loss of everything he ever had, Francis, said that these people who did this really "did not know what they were doing." He said that he can see how the Father sees them. He told us that he can forgive because there's redemption through Christ and that really, he doesn't want to be bitter anymore because it robs him of the joy that God has given to him.

Naomi, is another person who just really ministered to me through her testimony. Just so you understand the scope of her testimony, I am not going to sugarcoat her story. She and her family were victims of the ongoing violence and persecution that the 2007 election brought to her tribe. While in Eldoret, her home was set on fire. As she got out of there with her mother and three of her children, she was confronted by seven men. Actually, they were seven college students. These seven men raped her and then raped her 60-year-old mother, which left Naomi with AIDS. She was transported to the IDP camp with her mother and children only to realize she was missing two children and her husband. She found out, to her horror, that her husband was burned alive in the home and there were no signs of her two oldest children. A month later she received news that a Catholic mission and convent in Mehru (Northern Kenya), had found her two children and treated them for second-degree burns. As intense as it is, she told us that she has forgiven these people because the love inside of her is stronger than hate that would try to take hold. She told me last week that these same people who destroyed her life deserve the same grace that God has given to her.

I don't know what it feels like to lose so much and still be able to say, "I love and forgive you." I am not sure many can truly say this phrase, and even fewer, that could actually mean it. These two people are heroes of mine because they have decided to take the higher road and show grace and mercy, when others would say that it is dumb or that they are justified to be bitter. I know our Father will honor and restore them for the Christ-like character they have shone.

Hopefully…I can show this same character when I am confronted to forgive.