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Forgiveness and New Skills in Liberia
Robert is a soft-spoken 14-year-old who learned to use an AK-47 rifle when he was eight years old. “I was often really afraid,” he recalled. “Now I’m learning to be a carpenter, but I first want to go back to school before starting to work.”
Tom was 13 when he was forced to join a rebel group. “I was forced to fight because I was separated from my parents,” he said. “I am haunted by what we did during the war.”
At 17, Momo Famol is without a family and without work. He was 10 when soldiers he encountered forced him to the front. He fought so he could eat. “I’m happy there’s peace now in Liberia.”
These are the voices of former combatants in Liberia’s 14-year civil conflict who live together in a camp near Monrovia, the capital city. Here they have begun a transition back into their communities.
The camp is operated by United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). In partnership with other humanitarian groups, UMCOR provides a place where people like Robert, Tom, and Momo can live and find basic necessities, such as fresh drinking water and medical treatment, as well as trauma counseling and reintegration activities.
Thousands of soldiers demobilized at four such camps throughout Liberia in the first few years after the program began in 2004. Once reviled, they are now learning new literacy and work skills.
In the words of one camp missionary, “We must forgive all the excombatants. Jesus requires us to forgive without keeping score. Why do we continue our efforts? Because if only one young man or woman comes to understand the meaning of forgiveness, then it is worth the effort.”
Read the full story “Forgiveness and New Skills in Liberia.” Learn about the International Forgiveness Institute’s involvement in Liberia’s nationwide Forgiveness Education Program by reading the Feb. 26 post at Dr. Bob’s Blog.
Recovery and Forgiveness Follow Crash That Permanently Injures Doctor
KHON2, Honolulu, Hawaii – Dr. Theresa Wang was on her way home on Nov. 19, 2010, when an SUV heading in the opposite direction crossed the center line and crashed into her car. She suffered 22 fractures from her neck to her heels and was in a coma for more than a week.
Since then, Dr. Wang has undergone three rounds of major surgeries, incurred more than a million dollars in medical expenses, and is no longer able to practice medicine. Nonetheless, she has reached out to forgive the woman driving the SUV, Shakti Stream.
“As a doctor, I’ve seen people very bitter from all that,” Dr. Wang said. “But when you let it sink into yourself it just chews you up and you’re actually hurting yourself, and if I got bitter with her, I’m just letting her hurt me more, and I don’t really want to do that.”
Even though Stream’s insurance covered just a fraction of Dr. Wang’s medical bills, the doctor said she will not be pursuing a lawsuit against Stream.
“She’s just a young teacher, and my hope is that she will embrace some of my philosophy to help the community, help everybody else out and to really put a lot into those children. That’s what I’m really hoping. To me, that’s more than just paying my bills,” Dr. Wang said.
Read the full story: “Recovery, forgiveness after crash permanently injures doctor.”
Mother of Murder Victim Offers Forgiveness to Killer
The Lakewood Observer, Lakewood, OH – In nearly 14 years since her son’s death, Rachel Muha of Westerville, Ohio, has learned much about walking the path of forgiveness, even in the face of tragedy and adversity.
On May 31, 1999, her son Brian, 18, a freshman at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, and his friend Aaron Land, 20, were killed when intruders randomly broke into their off-campus house. The intruders assaulted them and ultimately killed them, leaving their bodies off an abandoned stretch of Route 22 in Washington County, Pa., nearly 20 miles from Steubenville. The killers were caught soon after and convicted.
While many in the community expected the families to rally for the death penalty, Rachel Muha–a devout Catholic– stepped forward in the courtroom during the sentencing of one of the convicted killers in 2000 to speak only of forgiveness, asking him to redeem the rest of the years in his life and that she would pray for his soul.
Muha has since turned “grief into love” and has established a foundation in her son’s honor: www.brianmuhafoundation.com.
Read the full story: “Public Lenten Event on Forgiveness.”
A Heroic Vision for Ireland’s Churches
On Sunday evening, January 27, Dr. Robert Enright gave two talks in Mullingar, Ireland, one to clergy from a variety of Christian denominations and the other to the townspeople. Rev. Alastair Graham of the Church of Ireland hosted the event and Fr. Thomas Kilroy was the master of ceremonies for the talk with the townspeople.
Dr. Enright addressed a capacity crowd at All Saints Church, discussing what forgiveness is, why forgive, how we forgive, and how we can give forgiveness away to others in home, school, and place of worship. The goal of the meetings was to being a conversation on how forgiveness might form the basis for more unity among the various denominations within Mullingar–primarily Catholic, Church of Ireland, Presbyterian, Christian Fellowship, and Pentecostal. This is a heroic vision because of the historical tensions among Christian groups on the Island of Ireland. Forgiveness might prove to be a central unifying factor.
Mall Shooter Gets 20 years, Forgiveness
The Advocate, Baton Rouge, LA – An 18-year-old Baton Rouge man received a 20-year prison term and forgiveness after pleading guilty last week in a January 2012 shooting that wounded two innocent teenage bystanders outside the Mall of Louisiana.
The teen victims and their parents said inside the courtroom that they forgive Johnny Williams and pray that he will someday become a productive member of society.
The shooting occurred when Williams fired a weapon into a crowd during an argument with another teen. Caleb Day, 16, was shot in the right arm and chest and suffered nerve damage to that arm. Trenton Miller, 16, was shot in the left arm, and the bullet went into his hip and out his leg, prosecutors said. Day said that despite missing 50 days of school and a year of playing baseball because of his injuries, he holds nothing against Williams. Day’s father, David, said he forgives Williams and prays for him. Miller’s father, John, said, “With our whole hearts we forgive him.”
Read the full story: “Mall shooter gets 20 years, forgiveness”
