Monday, November 10, 2008



I was talking to someone the other day and they were telling me a story about a teacher who's wife and child were murdered in front of him by a rebel during the war here in Liberia. After the war was over the teacher was teaching in a war rehabilitation school, and one day he noticed that the boy who killed his wife and child was sitting at a desk in his class.

The lesson went on.

These kinds of stories are everywhere here.

Our western ideologies of justice are shattered by a country that although having faced some of the most dehumanising and horrific years of brutality and war in recent history, institutes a Truth and Reconciliation Commission with the threefold goals of reconciliation and forgiveness for both ex combatants and their victims, assistance and aid to those affected by the war and then also a platform from which the truth about the conflict is spoken by those involved instead of a criminal court, in order to attempt to restore Liberia to some sense of where she was before any of this began.

Awesome.

TRC of Liberia Website

2 comments:

Greg and Sarah said...

we cannot even begin to grasp the gravity of the situation in Liberia...the grace required to forgive... in such an awful circumstance. This is huge huge stuff you're processing Tim. LOve and Prayers for you today

Sarah

Adrienne said...

Reminds me of how Corrie Ten Boom reacted when she ran into one of the concentration camp guards at a speaking engagement many years after the war had ended. Forgive our sins as we forgive those that sin against us. What a challenge. Enjoying the blog and the photos. Take care.